Do you have students or kids of your own who HATE piano practice? There are so many reasons why kids hate practicing piano, but one of the main reasons is that it can be LONELY. With a little imagination and planning, though, piano practice can be a social event! Watch the short video below to see how…
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel so you don’t miss any out of the box piano teaching/music learning videos! www.YouTube.com/DanaRiceMusic
With a creative mindset, The Dollar Tree can be a piano teacher’s greatest resource! Here is my latest find and how you can use it to make your piano teaching life easier – and more fun!
With 5 minutes and a sharpie, you can transform this simple wooden puzzle into a visual tool for:
1. Teaching Whole Note, Half Note and Quarter Note recognition and their matching rests.
2. Help students understand the concept of REST in music by asking – What side of the house is quite?
3. Help students understand the concept of Symbols representing sound in music by asking – What side of the house do you think is noisy?
4. Reinforce the concepts above by sending an unopened puzzle home with your student (You can afford it – remember it only costs $1). Have your student draw the symbols on the puzzle and take a picture of it at home to show you their creation at the next lesson.
Bonus: Use the back of the puzzle to write steps 1-4 down (with a sharpie) to help you remember for the next time you use this!
Here is what your final creation will look like – 
I found a few other cool things at my last trip to The Dollar Tree which I’ll be sharing in my next post! In the meantime, what everyday things have you transformed into piano teaching tools? Share in a comment below to help other teachers make piano lessons fun!
In a recent post I shared one of my secrets to keeping students motivated AFTER the performance season. Today I’ll give you another way to get students excited about piano learning by making learning faster!
If you haven’t watched the YouTube video above, click on it NOW to be inspired! Daniel Menendez’s unique talent as a piano juggler can help you motivate your piano learners who might be having trouble settling down to do the most necessary task of learning to play music: LISTENING!!!
Too often students just want to get to the playing part and leave out the listening to music part of music learning. Many piano students struggle to learn new tunes simply because they don’t KNOW the tunes. By this I mean they can’t hum or sing the melody and they can’t feel the rhythm. This is because they are attempting to learn to play a song you’ve never heard is like trying to learn how to play the piano in the dark. Why do that when we’ve got lights?!
YouTube is a gold mine of fun listening visuals! The video linked above is a great example of this. If you’re teaching beginning piano, The Can Can is probably one of the songs on your list. Use this video to capture the young student’s attention. Point out things like the differences in tempo, the direction the melody is moving AND get your student to listen to the song over and over again without it being boring! I’m sure you will find that the learning will happen much faster and “funner”!
After the excitement of Holiday concerts what can a piano teacher do to keep up the enthusiasm? Well, for the last two weeks I have been presenting the idea of setting world records in piano to my students! Kids LOVE seeing who is the fastest at something or who can do something the longest. And who wouldn’t want the title of World’s Greatest?! Piano offers endless possibilities for this type of goal from scales (ascending and descending) to age (youngest, only 8 year old to ever, etc).
One thing you want to be intentional about is helping students set goals. I explained to students that we have to train like an athlete to break a world record. For younger kids it is also helpful to set a short time frame. For example – the most songs learned in 1 week. You can even expand the contest to have Studio Records. These will be easier for students to conquer and just might spur them on to beating one of the world records like this one:
Fastest descending chromatic world record.
I will confess that when I tried to do the fastest descending chromatic scale it took me twice as long as the world record! So, I will be training right alongside my students this semester. We will be sure to post our results and pics of all the fun we had!
In the meantime, I’d like to extend the invitation for YOU to join us in trying to set or break a piano world record. You can get all the information by visiting Recordsetter.com
Stay tuned tomorrow for more inspiration on how to use Piano World Records to boost learning in your studio.
As music teachers we spend hours preparing lessons, music learning games, and performances for our students. After doing an adequate amount of scouring music teaching blogs and piano teaching blogs, and attending student concerts and recitals there is little time left to devote to our own musical development. The interesting thing is that the missing ingredient in most music teachers’ studio marketing plans is consistent performance by the teacher! I will speak specifically as a piano teacher, but what I am saying is true no matter what instrument the teacher teaches. The same thing we tell our students applies to us – in order to get better at playing your instrument, you have to PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT!
I know from my own personal experience how difficult it can be to carve out time to flex your performance muscles when you are a music teacher. I also know that carving this time out is absolutely essential. It is also life-giving! The video about is proof of that.
Last weekend I was blessed with the opportunity and challenge to play in the faculty concert for the music camp where I taught. Getting to this point took a couple of years of trying to find time to collaborate with the other teachers because our schedules are so varied. Thankfully one of the faculty members, Russell Ferrara (fabulous guitarist who is fluid in numerous genres) never gave up and simply insisted that we make it happen. Oddly enough it took his persistence to get me and fellow teacher Derwyn Browne playing together for the first time although we work together often and live near each other. Russell lives a thousand miles away!
I can definitely say that it was well worth the wait and that we should have done this sooner. If you haven’t played in a while, please let me suggest that you get out there and go for it! Why should our students be the only ones who get to play? Why should they be the only ones who experience the rush that comes from an audience erupting with applause? Why should they be the only ones who get that undeniable sense of satisfaction from having done their best onstage?
If you haven’t done so already, watch the video. I hope it will inspire you to go out and play!
Parents all over the United States are spending countless hours driving their kids to and from sports activities and in many cases juggling football, basketball, baseball, gymnastics, and soccer all at once. These dutiful parents are working hard to insure that their children have the brightest futures possible. Many dedicate endless hours and make quite a financial investment in hopes that their child will qualify for and earn an athletic scholarship to college. They schedule their lives around their child’s sport. They even ask others to schedule their lives around it as well. When the coach calls an unplanned practice or when a game is rescheduled, they ask music teachers and tutors to make accommodations. Maybe YOU are one of these parents. As the parent of a high schooler that is involved in 2 sports I can totally relate. It’s not easy being a parent and certainly not cheap! That is why I want to give you some information that you may not have considered or been aware of when it comes to the real VALUE of an activity that is often not perceived to be as valuable as sports – PIANO.
I am about to tell you from personal experience that YOUR CHILD can earn money with music even while he/she is learning to play the piano. I started taking piano lessons when I was 5 years old. I started making money with music when I was 12 years old. Here is a list of 10 ways your child can do the same thing.
1. Get paid to play at parties and weddings
2. Play or sing in a band with REAL music professionals
3. Get paid to play for a church choir or children’s choir (Churches are ALWAYS looking for good musicians)
4. Write songs for YouTube video backgrounds
5. Teach music at a summer camp
6. Teach music at VBS
7. Enter contests (Some contests pay thousands of dollars)
8. Apply for music scholarships
9. Earn a 4 year scholarship to study music in college (Did you know that athletic scholarships are only guaranteed 1 year at a time? On the other hand, true 4-year scholarships are available for Music!)
10. Provide rehearsal accompaniment for musical theater
This is just a sample of how Piano Lessons Literally Pay Off. I am in no way saying or suggesting that your child will get rich by taking piano lessons. I am saying that there is more value to piano lessons than many realize.
Feel free to leave a comment, especially if there are other ways you are aware of that piano lessons literally pay off.
Hello Kids and Keys Readers! Today’s post is coming to you from Doug Hanvey, an accomplished piano teacher in Portland, OR. Doug also writes his own blog at www.portlandpianolab.com.
Read on for some helpful tips for getting over the summer piano slump!
Summertime is here! But that’s not good news for every piano teacher. Some students may take a break from lessons, and parents may have to be reminded to start up again as fall approaches. How can you continue to engage your students and their parents during the summer so that the dreaded lapse in practicing – and the possibility that some students might end up leaving your studio, having lost momentum – can be avoided?
Have you ever noticed that the way you ask a question determines the possible answers to it? We could take that question as is, or we could go deeper and ask: How could you make your summer lessons so exciting and fulfilling that they’re not only competitive with all the other fun activities kids can choose, but rise to the top?
If you were a kid, and a long, lazy summer were beckoning in front of you, what would keep you excited about continuing your lessons, and even have you bugging your parents to make sure they’d let you keep going?
Every piano studio is different, and every teacher will come up with ideas that reflect the unique qualities of their students, the area they live in, and other factors. Here are a few ideas to use as starting points for your brainstorming.
Summertime is outside time. Why not throw a party in your backyard for your students (no parents allowed) with a digital piano or two, and a long extension cord? Include lots of games, both musical and not, yummy food, and let the students play for each other (but no pressure – only if they want to). Suggest they invite their friends. Once their friends see how fun and cool it is to make music under the summer skies, you may gain a new student – or two or three.
Take your students on a field trip. Their parents will love you for getting them out of their hair for a day or two. Promise lots of fun – this should be more of a social occasion. They will have a blast hanging out with each other (take a couple of parents along to help you out!) while you visit a nearby city to see a concert or other cultural attraction. Along the way of course, keep them entertained with activities, games and surprises that will make the trip a highlight of their summer.
If you were a kid, what would keep you excited and involved with music during the summer? I think it has to do with the way a child relates to music. Is music something they do or is it something they are?
If music is something we do (like homework) and not something that is part of us – that helps define us – how likely is it we’ll stay motivated to play or study during the summer, or even at all? For better or worse, by the time I was 12 music had become a major part of my identity. Playing the piano, but even more so, being creative with music, was a therapeutic and enjoyable way for me to express my individuality. I taught myself how to improvise and compose (formal instruction came later). But what if my music teachers had actually encouraged me to do so and given me direction?
Baseball is fun, and so is camping, but neither is very creative. If you haven’t brought improvising or composing into your studio, why not develop a summer creative group program? Your students meet together each week to learn about improvising and composing and to play creative music games. (You could even combine this with outside activities like the above.)
Towards the end of the summer you could bring in students from a couple other studios – such as a voice studio or percussion studio – for a fun, creative jam. Students who have written their own pieces can perform them. The kids will have a blast, they’ll make new friends, and they will be dying to continue their piano lessons. They may even be the ones nagging their parents about signing up for the fall, so you don’t have to.
These are just a few ideas for making your studio so dynamic and exciting that the idea of quitting lessons during the summer is simply inconceivable.
How do you keep your students enthusiastic about summer lessons? Share your ideas in the comments below.
Doug Hanvey is a piano teacher in Portland, Oregon. His Piano Lab Blog offers cutting-edge tips and ideas for piano teachers and students.
You may also be interested in reading:
Piano lovers have been given a special gift by artists John Legend and Common who teamed up to create the song “Glory” for the movie SELMA which opens in theaters nationwide THIS FRIDAY January 9th. This powerful song has received the Golden Globe Nomination for Best New Song and I for one believe they got it right! Piano students are often asking to learn the latest hit song but because not many of today’s radio songs feature piano it can be difficult to come up with an arrangement that a student can play as a piano solo. Thanks to John Legend, who himself is a pianist, we have the perfect song for the upcoming holiday.
“Glory” is a powerful anthem that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled in any way and anyone who has faced adversity or opposition. That’s most of us, right? The lyrics video above features scenes from the movie which has received a total of 4 Golden Globe Nominations including Best Director, Best Picture, Best New Song, and Best Actor.
It’s a new year and the perfect time for a piano studio challenge! With the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday just around the corner on January 19th, you have just enough time for this quick 2 week challenge. So here is the challenge:
1.Listen to the song with your students.
2.Challenge your students to use their listening skills to determine how many chords are used in the song.
3.Challenge younger students to count the number of beats in each measure – or how many beats each chord lasts.
4.Challenge more advanced students to play the melody by ear.
5.Challenge more advanced students to play the chords by ear.
(Perhaps some of these might even be good challenges for yourself as the teacher, especially if you usually use sheet music to learn new songs like I do.You just might surprise yourself!)
Sheet music for “Glory” is available at http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0144617
Remind your students that in order to continue making great music, artists must be compensated. Remind them that as growing musicians themselves they may one day need people to purchase their music. Challenge your students to support their fellow musicians by purchasing the song at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/glory-from-motion-picture/id951104551?i=951104561
To find out what my connection to SELMA is check out the following posts:
The weather is changing and so should the sounds coming from your piano studio! If you’re tired of hearing the same pieces over and over again from the various method books, your students probably are as well. How about taking a trip around the world?! The above video is a song from the Latin America collection of songs arranged and composed by Neeki Bey and Gail Fischler. As a reader of the Kids and Keys blog you probably recognize Gail Fischler’s name. She is the creator of the Musical Words Game that I wrote about recently. Now Neeki and Gail have teamed up in an effort to publish “the finest music of cultures around the world”.
When you hear the term “world music” your first thought might be that it is not something you are interested in because it is so unfamiliar. Well, fear not and get ready to go on the musical journey of a lifetime with Piano Accents! Besides, due to the internet and smart devices today’s world is definitely global. We are communicating more and more with each other across oceans and continents. We know that music is a universal language, so why not try out some musical sounds from different parts of the world?
Right now on the website pianoaccents.com there are 3 collections available. Africa, Bollywood, and Latin America. Each book has popular music from the part of the world for which it is named.
Here are some features that I like about these books:
1. The songs are outstanding and well known in the given culture. This makes it easy to find YouTube videos of famous artists performing it. I think YouTube is an invaluable tool to introduce new music to students because today’s students are so visual. Seeing someone perform the music professionally gets them excited about learning it.
2. There are YouTube videos of students playing the songs. This is also helpful when introducing the music to your students because it allows them to see that students just like them can and do play this material successfully. It gives them an “I can do it too” feeling.
3. There are brief 3-step teaching/learning tips throughout each book.
4. Each book includes info to help the student and teacher gain a little background knowledge about the music of that particular part of the world. This is in the form of bios of famous artists and pictures of traditional instruments.
5. Throughout the books, lyrics are translated to help you and the student better understand the song and thus perform the music with greater understanding and meaning.
6. A wide range of emotions is covered in the material. From the smooth groove Mas Que Nada to the “pulling at your heartstrings” Mi’ Tripon you will laugh, cry and dance your way around the globe with Piano Accents.
There are 3 different books which can be purchased separately or in a bundle.
As you use these books you will definitely want to make use of the pianoaccents.com website. There you will find complete tracks for the songs in the Latin America book and a track from the Africa book under the Audio tab. If you click on the purchase tab for the Africa book you will also be able to listen to more tracks. If you are still not sure after listening to the music (and I doubt it!) there are samples of the sheet music available as well on the same page.
An Important Benefit To Consider For Your Studio
More and more people from all various parts of the world are living in communities together. How cool would it be for people of different ethnicities to hear your students playing music from their home? This will help you stand out even more as a teacher in your area and can possibly bring you families that you otherwise would not attract. With Piano Accents, your studio can be a living example of how music brings us together!
You can watch more videos on the Piano Accents YouTube Channel.
Purchasing Is Easy:
Visit PianoAccents.Com and get all 3 books for only $33 or you can purchase each book separately for $13 each. Individual songs are also available with practice track for $3.
Win A FREE Copy of Bollywood:
Neeki Bey has generously agreed to give one lucky reader their very own copy of Bollywood ($13 value).
To enter, watch the video below of one of the pieces in this book and comment on it here (not on the youtube page).
The deadline to enter is Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014. This contest has ended! Visit pianoaccents.com for great music!
Welcome Kids and Keys readers to our first student/teacher co-review of a music education product! 10 yr old Kennedy liked playing the Musical Words board game so much that she wanted to tell other teachers all about it so they could use it with their students.
Musical Words was created by Gail Fischler. If you read The Piano Addict blog, you are familiar with this amazing teacher. Her game is great for not only piano students but students of other instruments as well! The game is highly suitable for group lessons, buy Kennedy and I wanted to find out if it would work in a private lesson.
Kennedy’s song of choice was Fur Elise. This was perfect since she has the song memorized already and she was able to put all her thoughts on interpreting the piece rather than trying to read notes (which she does well by the way).
Initially I did not fill in any of the blank spots on the game board. My thought process was, “What are the chances she will even land on one of those spots more than once?” Well, what actually happened was that Kennedy landed on a blank spot on EVERY turn. So, we cheated and had her move to one of the pre-marked spots the first 3 times this happened. Finally I had no choice but to think of some words to put in the blank spots! One of the words I came up with was “popcorn”. Kennedy had a terrific time with that one playing the whole thing in staccato! On a different turn she landed on the word “Mysterious”. This was pretty easy for her to do considering her song choice of Fur Elise. (I mean, who really knows who Elise was?) Another memorable moment in the game was when Kennedy landed on the word “comical”. She began to play Fur Elise with a range of different expressions and then added in some nonsensical chords that just didn’t go with the song at all. The result was indeed comical. She laughed and I laughed at her creative genius.
If you decide to play Musical Words with your students (and why wouldn’t you?), there is no need to be afraid of the blank spots. You can just hop over to The Musical Adjectives Project page for ideas or get some ideas from your students.
Here is what Kennedy said when I asked her about the experience:
“I like the choices, but popcorn was my favorite. Do I think other kids would enjoy playing this game? YES! Some words I would suggest are roughly and smoothly“.
Kennedy also said she thought there were too many blanks. I believe that is my fault and the next time I will definitely fill them in!
As a teacher I like the fact that this game pushes the student to COMMUNICATE musical ideas. This is an excellent tool for performance preparation as well as improvisation practice.
Ready to play? There are 2 ways to purchase Musical Words.
1)You have the option to purchase a set that is already laminated and printed with FREE Shipping in the Continental US from Fistful of Notes for $34 or Music Teachers Store. You get:
Laminated Game board with velcro fasteners (2 pcs)
Directions & Tips (2 sheets)
6 card stock game card sheets
1 master card sheet
Free Shipping within Continental US
2) You can purchase a download to print yourself from Music Teacher Store. Studio and family licenses are $14 or you can purchase a school license for $50. (If you choose this option I suggest you take your file to a copy and print center instead of printing at home due to the amount of ink necessary to print it. It uses LOTS of color.)
Gail has agreed to give one lucky winner a FREE download with a single teacher license ($14 value). To enter leave an adjective that you would use to fill in one of the blank spots on the game board in the comments. The deadline to enter is Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014.
Kids & Keys 