Christmas Joy! MUSIC!

What a fun season to enjoy the many musical venues.  We will be having our Christmas Celebrations on the week of the 15th!
Please help your child learn their ensemble parts for the celebrations.
 I am excited for our FROZEN recital in the Spring.  Date is still pending!!!....
My daughter is having her baby the 3rd week of February.  No lessons this week.  (Presidents Day, Feb. 16th-18th)...
Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR...
Lessons will resume the week of the 5th.
Love you all!

RECITAL NOVEMBER 10th FRIDAY

HEY EVERYBODY!  The recital is the 7th!  Please work extra hard to be prepared.  Play with your metronome and music 4 measures at a time 3 times each measured section until hole in one!  Remember LEGATO, STACCATO, PHRASING, DYNAMICS, STEADY BEAT, NOTES....WORK HARD!

What is PRACTICING!

One of the most important part of learning to play an instrument is practicing, but students sometimes are not sure just how to practice.  To become a good musician you should spend a certain amount of time every day working on your music.  How you practice and how long you play will change as you become better at the piano.
HERE ARE A FEW TIPS:

1.  Play every day...Even if you are busy with homework or activities, a few minutes each day is better than one big practice session right before your lesson.

2.  Pick something to work on....It could be the notes, rhythm, or playing form memory.  Don't just play through your music a few times without thinking   Often it is helpful to pick a small section-maybe just a few measures or a line and work on it slowly and carefully.  Then pick another section.

3.  Notice details written in the music...  Composers give lots of information such as dynamics sharps, and flats, and other things written in the music.

4.  Check whether you are playing the rhythms correctly... Are you holding long notes for their full count?

I went to BYU Ed Week last week and loved the instructor Scott Braithwaite.  He gave some great advice on how to improve and progress at anything we do...Check out his prezi...I think you'll understand it even though it's lacking verbatim.

IMPROVEMENT AND PROGRESSION

WELCOME BACK!

Classes begin the first week of September.  I'm excited to TUNE the studio up and get us back into the incredible study of music education.  Dreary the Dragon was exciting and very popular in our Summer piano camps so.... I am extending the theme as we go to the Kingdom of Melody with piano duets and solos for our fall recital... FRIDAY,  October 10th.  Please put this on your calendar, and get your kids excited in re-creating the Kingdom Of Melody.  The children will be able to orchestrate their own repertoire and dress up like their piece to delight the audience through sight and sound!
We will be giving crystals again this year...KIDS LOVE THIS!  Look for your child's 100 day Perfect piano practice sheets.  Have them try to double their practice this year to 200 days!  Each week go through their lesson sheets with them and be interested in their practice....It's easier for children if practice is done at the same time each day.  I split up my daughters practice.  I had her practice her exercises and S/R in the morning, and her repertoire at night.  Try different practicing incentives for your child.  Help your child see that playing the piano is one thing they can do their entire life, a worthy virtue that's is worth their effort.  Most of all enjoy listening to them practice...Praise and compliment their practicing....MOST OF ALL HAVE FUN!

RECITAL/SUMMER LESSONS...

Parents all information has been sent to you....Please look for your email! 

Contemporary Music....

As your child is preparing for the "OUT OF THE BOX" recital in May... continue to give added support to the works they are studying.  Contemporary music is difficult to learn because of the dissonance between keys.  It is incredibly beautiful when all put together, but until then it's incredibly hard to practice and keep motivated.  I love this semester because of the study of this music type last week Chammelia Zentz' piece gave me goose bumps....She only has one page learned, but it's truly ga great work!   Contemporary music is never boring to teach because not many students can play it!  So many people won't take the time to listen to the different complexity or tastes these works brings to their musical palate.  I love contemporary music, and I hope that you will take the time and  listen to the interesting melodies your child is playing.  Keep up the good work!

FUN APPS!

If you want your child to be a whiz at note flashes download these fun apps!
Note Squish...Alias Gopher Game, or Flashnote Derby...I like this one personally.  You can select the notes that your child needs work on and the speed the horses gallop.  Super fun!  Hope you enjoy!

MINI GOALS/Piano Score Mastery!

Helping your child to create mini-goals encourages the mastery of specific details through concentrated, minimal practice time.  The list below shows how a piece's section can be corrected through mini goals which can be assessed easily by the student.  Each mini goal will likely require several repetitions.
1.  I will play all the correct notes in rhythm, RH alone.
2.  I will play RH alone with metronome at 88
3. I will play all the correct notes in rhythm, LH alone.
4.  I will play LH alone with metronome at 88.
5.  I will play HT, correct notes in rhythm, three times slowly.
6.  I will play both hands with metronome at 72 until comfortable.
7.  I will work with the metronome to reach 88 hands together
8.  I will add dynamics to first four measures with metronome, securing rhythm and tempo.
If your child has specific goals in mind before sitting down and practicing, they will be able to accomplish perfect practice in a short time....
I will mark music into bites, chunks and repetitious  sections, that I will call recipes.  Bites take a minute to practice. 3x's hole in one!   I will circle bites in circles.  Chunks take longer to practice.  I will mark [ ] around chunk sections.  Chunks are more measures.... Recipe's take much longer to practice... To memorize a recipe you have to make it more than one time.  Maybe 15 minutes on a recipe....They might be an entire section of work.... I will intrench this concept more each week with my students...Final works if carefully prepared will be simply scrumptious to listen to!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

I'm so excited to start a new year!...New goals, new ideas, new styles, new reading, new knowledge, new commitments, new thoughts, new food (AUGH), new everything.....

The studio will start back up next week.  The theme for next semester will be....drum roll please...."OUT OF THE BOX"!.... The songs the older students will be playing will be modern contemporary works.  Younger students can play anything from Balloons to Circus Clowns!  I am still gathering works to show the students next week.

The recital date is May 9th,  5-9 pm... Please mark that date on your calendars...We will be having a Two group lesson this semester. (VALENTINES AND EASTER) Dates for the group lessons will be February 10th-12th, and April 14-16th.  I will be taking the week of April 21st-25th off and will continue giving lessons until the 23rd of May.

"When is the best time to plant a tree one asked"? "20 years ago",  another said... "When is the 2nd best time",  he asked again?....Quick came the reply... "RIGHT NOW"!  Remind your child if they haven't been productive with piano in the past, it's OK...This is a new year.  New goals to set, new ways to serve! My goal is to make sure every student feels important and confident in playing the piano.  Another goal is to make sure students love music and playing the piano..I hope they never regret the time they've spent practicing to only say when they get older....My Mom made me take piano, or I wish I would have continued my piano studies!

 A new year .... a new musical mindset.  Let's be the best we can be!