The Fabulous $5 Lesson Is Almost Here…
Images
Piano Tuning
February
“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.”
Aaron Copland quotes (American Composer, 1900-1990)
Treble Clef Glasses
If Only They Could See The World Through Our Eyes!
If A Piano Could Talk
Don’t Practice, Play A Game!
I know very few kids (if any) that get excited to practice, but I know a lot of kids (almost all) that get excited about playing games. That gave me the idea to change my assignment sheet from piano homework to My Weekly Practice Games. Using this sheet the student gets to choose which game or games they’d like to play during the week and circles them. The teacher can also choose specific games as well. All that’s left to do is to write the name of the song you want them to use for the game. There is also a space where the student / parent can check off each day. You can download a copy by clicking here or clicking the image above.
Easter Egg Surprises
Here is a quick activity that can be used in the piano lesson or as a piano assignment to be done at home! To use it in the piano lesson, you will need 12 plastic eggs, a sharpie or other permanent marker, and some candy. On each egg draw a staff, add a treble clef or bass clef and draw a note. I used treble clef space notes since my students have been working on these lately. I also made one egg for each space note as a quarter note, half note, and whole note since some kids struggle to grasp the concept that ANY note can be a quarter note, half note, or whole note. You can have students hunt for the eggs around your studio or randomly pick one from an egg carton or Easter basket. If they can correctly identify the note and its value, they get to open the egg and keep the prize inside!
As an at home assignment, kids can draw the notes themselves and write the letter name on the back. A special prize can be given for completing this assignment.
Nice Things Parents Do
The other day I had my son waiting in the studio to answer the door while I ran and grabbed something that I’d forgotten for the next lesson. Shortly afterwards he came to tell me that 2 students had arrived. As I was only expecting one student I was a little confused. When I walked in, there was a parent and her daughter with gifts for the studio! The piece in the photo above is an especially wonderful visual for my studio right now since everybody is working on their CD projects. I am so thankful to Amy and Abby for thinking of me in this way! And this is just one of the gifts they bought. Tomorrow I’ll be posting another pic of a fabulous gift they bought and asking for your ideas on how to use it in the studio!
Fun Practice?
If you are looking for a fresh way to get music students to do repetitions, try Don’t Spill the Beans. This game can be found at any store that has toys like Wal Mart, Target, or Toys R Us and is very cheap. Usually less than $5. This is a game where you try to balance little beans on top of the swinging pot without spilling the beans. I use it to get students to practice troublesome sections several times. Each time they play they get to add another bean. We continue this until the beans spill. It works wonderfully because kids want to put LOTS of beans on without spilling them… and that means lots of tricky passages get corrected!
Spring Time Piano: Take It Outside
Parents and teachers: As the weather gets warmer and days get longer, it’s time to take piano lessons and maybe even practices outside! One fun outside activity for piano is using sidewalk chalk to draw music symbols. You can have students draw them or draw them yourself and have the student identify the symbol as they enter the studio. As other students come to lessons they can name the symbols that were already drawn as well. Of course having a cool treat (like popsicles) or some other prize for “Best Musical Visual Artist” or “Symbol Master” can top off the fun! Check back often for more warm weather piano ideas!
Kids & Keys 