March Post Round-up

This March has been full of surprises.  Whether you have watched election polls swish between candidates, weather run amok, or you have been, no doubt, baffled by how active the dreariest month of the year has turned out to be.  And the music teaching world has been no exception.  Here is a list a collection of my favorite blog posts from March 2012.

Marketing to Homeschoolers 
Blog: Wendy's Piano Studio
Wendy shares a wonderful collection of tips and tricks for marketing to the homeschool community.  I was a homeschooled student myself, so I can really relate to alot of the things she says.  The only addition I would make is that alot of homeschoolers use online groups, such as Yahoo!, to communicate and advertise so I highly recommend joining some of your local online groups.

Development of Piano Technique all bundled into one collection
Blog: Arioso7's Blog
Arioso7 takes a look at the beauty and practicality of teaching from Burgmuller's Twenty-Five Progressive Pieces.  I am a huge fan of teaching Burgmuller, particularly at the early intermediate levels.  I love how Arioso has broken down the technical aspects of each piece for us.

Tips on Memorizing Piano Music
Blog: Nola Piano Teacher
Although she is just starting out, I am already in love with Nola's Blog.  Her tips and tricks are spot on and very practical.  This post on memorizing tricks is chock full of helpful advice, some of which I have been using for years and some I am now going to start using ASAP.

Note Drop, Write, and Play- A Game from Cecilly
Blog: Susan Paradis' Piano Teaching Resources
If you have been following this blog at all then you already know that I am a huge fan of Susan Paradis' blog.  This game for identifying notes on the staff is definitely this month's favorite.  I love creative new ways to reinforce note reading!

Funny: Sight Reading 

Blog: Clearly Piano Teaching

You didn't think I'd leave us out, did you?  Well, your viewing has chosen and the most popular post from this month has been our comedic take on sight reading.  Don't forget to check it out?  So what would you like to see in our upcoming posts?   

Have I left out your favorite blog post?  Please share it with us!

Yo enseño piano. Do you?

Okay, there is this question that has been rolling around in my mind for the past few weeks: Is knowing a second language important when teaching piano?

In the area I work there are huge Hispanic, Arabic, and Japanese populations.  Will my knowing Spanish, Arabic, or Japanese make me a more approachable teacher to these families?  What have you found?

This point really became obvious to me at a recent music competition.  I was a hall monitor and this sweet Japanese mother came up to me with her daughter.  I could tell that the mother was very nervous and unsteady when communicating to me in English.  My heart went out to her and I so desperately wanted to speak her in a language familiar to her.  But I couldn't.  I don't speak even one word of Japanese.  

Have you ever had a similar experience? What do you think?  Is knowing another language important for a piano teacher?

Photos Courtesy of : YGX and christopherallisonphotography.com

Saving Money on Sheet Music

Let's face it, you don't teach music because of the money.  Teaching music in a private studio is considered one of the lowest paying jobs in the US.  So I know you don't do it for the cushy million dollar retirement package.  You do it because you love the light in your student's eyes as they realize for the first, or millionth, time what beautiful music they can create.  But money ain't bad.

As a teacher I know you have faced that moment.  You are standing in the music store or staring at the computer screen and you know Little Johnny would love to play Billy Bob's Draggin' Dragon Boogie, but it is just so expensive to buy all the music you want to teach.  So to help out here are my suggestions for making your sheet music budget go further.

How to Save Money on Sheet Music 101

1.  Make a list of all the music you intend to use for at least the next year.
           I know this sounds ominous.  But take courage, you can do it.  Think about what lesson books you always use with brand new students.  Add those to the list in triplicate.  What are the next method books for your current students?  Add those to the list.  Especially if you intend to grow your studio soon, think about which repertoire books you most frequently use.  They go on the list.  Are there any competition, or performance specific books you will need?  Toss them onto the list.  Finally add Billy Bob's Draggin' Dragon Boogie, or anything else you think you will need for fun summer music, duets, or have had your eye on for some time.

2. Take special note of which publishers print the books on your list.

3. Now watch and wait.
         This is the hardest part.  We are going to wait for the sales.  Publishers will often give out large discounts on certain months.  By waiting and then buying in bulk you can save alot of money on shipping and take advantage of discounts.

Places to Watch:
Hutchins and Rea:  H&R always have at least one publisher deeply discounted per month.  Free Shipping on orders over $100.00

Sheetmusicplus.com : In addition to having occasional blowout sales, Smplus.com has buy 2 get 8 percent off all sheet music.  Shipping is budget rate: $3.99.

Your Local Store: Don't forget your local store!  They sometimes will surprise you by running specials in addition to normal teacher discounts.

4. Stop before you Submit Order.
         Sometimes online stores, like Sheetmusicplus.com, will also allow coupon codes.  My favorite place for coupons is Retailmenot.com.  They have codes for everywhere.

Happy Shopping! 

So what do you do to save money in your studio?
Photos Courtesy of: Ayla87 and 7rains

Blank Sheet Music: a Conundrum

Since I am a teacher, a composer, and a music theory major I fill way more than my fair share of blank sheet music on any given day.  I have tried all different kinds of products with mixed results.

1.   BlankSheetMusic.net and other websites
              I love this site, specifically for students, because you can print out one page and be done, instead of buying a ream.  But it can be cumbersome to print out as much paper as you would need if you were, say, writing an symphony.   And it can get pricey depending on how efficient your printer ink cartridge is.

Photo Courtesy of ba1969

2. Bound Blank Sheet Music Books
              Okay, if I were Bach, who was known for his neat writing style, then I would love bound blank sheet music because it looks so pretty on the shelf and is compact.  But I am not Bach and I find that I end up tearing out pages and pages and making the book a very odd thickness.  But then again, it is probably just me, since I can be rather a perfectionist.

3. Software, like Finale!
               Nothing beats computers for being both efficient and inefficient at the exact same time.  While I love how tidy everything looks on the page when I write it on my computer, it takes me so much longer.  Now you might say it's just that I don't know my software well enough.  Well, I tell you that is not my challenge.  It is that on the computer I have so many wonderful tools/toys to play with and I get distracted.  It's not that I'm easily distractable, wait, was that a squirrel?

4. Loose Manuscript Paper
                This is what I find myself using the most.  I like that I can write a page and then keep it or throw it out without destroying the appearance of the entire work.  Plus I can stick it in the fax machine for quick assignment submission.  And the only thing that regularly distracts me is myself singing along.  All that said, I have a tendency to lose my pages if I'm not careful.  My solution has been to shove them under a book, but I'm guessing a three ring binder would probably be a better plan.

So what do you use for blank sheet music?

A Funny Thing Happened...

Pink Panther Duet

My dear friend, please bare with me today.  I have a bad case of nostalgia.  It's been coming on for sometime.  I'm afraid it may be catching.

Favorite Memories:
 -  The first time I figured out I could look out of the corner of my eye, say "No playing with your feet or licking the piano keys," and keep right on filling in their assignment book.

 - The little Miss Priss who plays in pink cowgirl boots and hat.

 - When I performed Moonlight Sonata at a concert and the girl who vowed she'd always hate the piece announced to me it was her favorite.  Compliment or not?

 - The 3 year old who took his first few lessons from me from the safe distance of his mother's lap.

 - Audibly hearing friends pray behind me during my performance of a Bach Fugue.

 - The look on my 7th grader's face after he played Burgmuller's Ballade in c minor with the dynamics in place.  It was priceless amazement.

 - The 5th grader who announced only 2 months before the big day that he didn't want to perform 10 pieces at his Guild Audition.  He wanted to perform 15 instead.

 - The Christmas Recital where one student asked to played an extra piece to "make up" for how he did on his scheduled piece - and then wowed the audience with Linus and Lucy.

 - The look on my student's face the first time he won his grade level.

 - Watching two siblings perform their version of the Pink Panther, complete with pink face paint and tail.

 - Sitting on the bench playing duets with my high school senior when she suddenly stops playing.  Her explanation?  "This note surprised me, that passage was hard, my left hand got lost, and my nose itches."

Please don't let me reminisce alone.  What are some of your favorite teaching or performing memories?

Game for Learning Ledger Lines

So this week I have been experimenting with a new game from my favorite blog: Susan Paradis Piano Teaching Resources.  The game is called "Steal a Heart Note Reading Game for Ledger Lines." I have been delighted with my findings thus far.

The idea for the game is for players to fill up their game board with "hearts" by identifying the note on the heart they draw from the pile.  Mixed in are also "Steal a Heart" cards which allow you to steal from someone else's board; "Give My Heart" cards which make you giveaway one of your cards; and "Be Mine" cards which can sit on top of any heart on your board and protect it from being stolen.  The Steal and Give cards were the students' favorite part so I printed an extra set for the pile.

Now, I don't know about you, but finding a game or activity which teaches accuracy in note reading is always a prized jewel in my opinion.  I could have been more thrilled than when my 10 year old and 8 year old began naming notes faster than me!

Note: It is essential that you tell the student the "FACE" and "All Cows Eat Grass" tricks, especially if you, like me, are letting the whole family - even the baby beginner - play together.  You'll be surprised but, if given the tricks, your baby beginner will be naming notes she's not supposed to "learn" for years yet. Oh, and be sure to leave plenty of time to play because some of the notes are tricky and it takes the kids awhile to figure them out.

So do you have a favorite note reading game you use with your students?

Mister Bass Clef

Faber Primer and Level 1 books are both the joys and bane of my teaching career.  Some kids just love them and thrive, others sizzle and burn.  I'm not exactly sure what it is about students' learning styles that determines whether they succeed at learning notes the Faber way.  But there is obviously something making a difference for them.

Don't get me wrong, I really like the Faber Method.  I enjoy how the songs have the feel of original compositions - unlike Bastien which can feel like a book of exercises.  But I really dislike how difficult the "Guide Notes" technique to staff reading seems to be for kids and adults to remember.  I've tried all kinds of different "tricks" to help students remember where Guide Notes are located on the staff, but with little success.  Repetition helps, but even then they just end up forgetting in the long run.

Joyce Lundeen

So when I recently discovered the new supplements to the Faber method created by Joyce Lundeen, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to try them out.  Joyce has done the work of reinforcing note teaching with Piano Adventures and the Alfred series for us.  Keeping things fun, her new series is titled "Mister Bass Clef," and includes fun pictures and lists "goal times" to encourage competitiveness.

I'm very excited about the potential for Mister Bass Clef Supplements and hope that they will turn out to be everything they advertise.  I will keep you posted with my thoughts as I try it out.  Stay tuned!

Have any of you tried Mister Bass Clef already?  Do you have any tricks or supplements that you like to use for kids struggling with guide notes?

Competition Preparation Checklist

Okay, so if you are like me, when you're getting your students ready for a competition half of your effort is spent trying to remember all the things you are supposed to tell them before they get there.  Now I'm not talking about anything that has to do with the way they play.  I mean the sheer effort of getting your students there and in order.

Thus I have taken it upon myself to alleviate your headaches by creating a no-fail Pre-Competition Checklist.  Please let me know if I left off anything important.

Pre-Competition Checklist:

(The following is in no specific order)

1. Finish filling out any forms and submitting your checks

2. Clean student's music
                -Erase all markings except for your changes (added rit., cresc., etc.)

3. Write measure numbers on their music

4. Optional: Put Sticky Notes on each piece for easier location in the rush of the day.

5. Tell the Parent/Student
                -What time to be there
                -Where to go
                -Where to park
                -How to dress
                -What books they should bring
                -What, if any, necessary forms, payment, or test sheets to bring with them
                -Recommend arriving early

6. (If the student will be playing in front of other students) Remind them how to take a bow.

7. (If there is a written exam section) Remind them to bring 2-3 well sharpened pencils

8. Make sure you have received compensation for competition fees

9. Send a reminder email with everything in #4 and your contact info in case of emergency

10. If your students do not already have the actual book for their music make sure to bring it with you or send it with them.

11. Optional, but recommended: Explain to students and their parents exactly what to expect on the big day and remind them that the judge is not a goblin.

Ta-da!  Happy dance! You made it!!

Did I miss anything?  What else do you do before their big day?

Photo Courtesy of CanonSnapper

Funny: Sight Reading

I can really relate.  How about you?

The Garrick Ohlsson Ending

I was sitting in Ravinia with my Mom and Dad.  The place was packed and the grounds outside were loaded with people with picnics waiting to hear the concert over the loudspeakers.  I had never been to Ravinia before and everything from the rows of seats to the lonely piano on stage left me breathless with expectation.

There was another reason I was excited too.  He was going to play my piece. MY piece.  It would take three years of practice and dedication but I had just been told that my Senior Recital sonata would be none other than Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata - the complete version.  Oh yeah.

And how perfect it all seemed.  The very week we were in Chicago Garrick Ohlsson was to continue his astounding summer long series of the complete Beethoven Sonatas by performing Moonlight Sonata. He also played two other sonatas, whichever they were.

I imagine he played very well.  But honestly, I don't remember.  What I remember was the encore - and it will always stay with me.

The audience had thoroughly enjoyed Ohlsson's performance and gave him several standing ovations.  After which, he sat back down at the piano and began to play this simple, delicate melody - Claire de Lune.  We were all spellbound.  It was like he had magnetized us to his every movement.

We watched, mouths a gape, until the very end.  And then he played slowly, ever so slowly, the last few notes, and then he held.  And held.  He didn't move from his place even one muscle.  The sound of his music passed over us like a veil and then quivered and then died, slowly, ever so slowly.  And still he didn't move until the silence itself had become his music.  And then all at once he released and the audience went wild.  From that moment we loved Garrick Ohlsson.

Garrick Ohlsson Courtesy of Mariversa

Later that school year I had the privilege of performing a rather unknown work by Khatchuturian at an Honors Recital.  The piece had an ending not unlike to Claire de Lune.  Since it was an Honors Recital, everyone had come to perform all guns blazing.  All the pieces before me were fast, flashly and difficult.  But then I sat down and played my very simple piece the Garrick Ohlsson way.  They all agreed my performance stole the show.

What trick do you like to use when ending a piece?  Has another pianist's performance ever changed the way you think about performance?

look inside

Clair de lune (from Suite Bergamasque) By Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Edited by Willard A. Palmer. SMP Level 9 (Advanced). Book. 8 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing (AP.2160) (3) ...more info

What's a Girl To Do? Musical Careers for Women in the 1700's

The options for girls wishing to have a musical career during the 1700's and before were very limited.  Some made a go of performing publicly at court and the homes of the rich or noble, like Mozart's sister, but they were few and far between.  More often women, even those of the highest talent, were rejected in favor of their male counterparts.

This left the majority with two options.  The first was, obviously, to teach their own children music at home.  Although this is a worthy occupation, it did nothing for their own musical dreams.

Their second option may surprise you.  Many women chose to join convents as a means to pursue their musical careers. Convents were unique in that they offered women opportunities to perform regularly and even compose and produce their own works.

Within the convent was a strict hierarchy through which women could progress until they became the official Chormeisterin, the head over all music in the convent.  Convents came to be known as places of excellent musical prowess by citizens and the number of musically talents young ladies joining was surprisingly high.

For more information on the musical nuns of the 18th century take a look at the works of Dr. Janet Page, especially her articles in the Oxford journal.

What would you have done if you'd lived in the 1700's?  Would you have become a nun?

Photos Courtesy of homyox and Sunfrog1

It's All in the Family

It was the last lesson of the school year, I had just come down with pneumonia, and I felt like crude.  There is nothing more distasteful than when the only thing you can put your mind firmly on is the clock ticking away the minutes til you can sit on the couch again.  Ughh.

My student walked in bright eyed and eager with her mother following behind her.  One look at the mother and I knew something was wrong.  It didn't take long before she began to explain.  Her very dear uncle was in the hospital and was not expected to make it.  I gave my condolences and pats and we went on with the lesson as usual.

But if there is one thing I have learned from teaching piano, it is that when you take a student you are not just taking a student, you are taking a family.  If you want to have a successful relationship with your student, you need to have a relationship with the family and sometimes that means doing more than the usual piano teacher stuff.

In the case of my student and her mother, it meant that the next day I went out and bought some dinners to send to them.  For another family, it meant that I wrote an encouraging note to thank the parents for telling how well their student was practicing.  For all of the students, I write thank you notes for the gifts they give me at Christmas.  And when we play games in the lessons I will often have the parents play with us.

More Ideas:
1.  Give small birthday gifts
2. Give end of year letters
3. Take students and their families out to special events like a symphony performance or musical
4. Send out periodic newsletters to all the parents with updates on what everyone is doing

But above all the other things you can do to support your students and their parents the best is to simply listen and be their friend.  Ask them about their week and listen sincerely.  Ask your parents to tell you what they are seeing at home.  "Is there a piece Johnny is playing more than the others?" "Do you notice him struggling with something?"  "What is Johnny really interested in in school right now?"  (Sometimes I will use his interests to illustrate a point in a lesson, ie. fly into the notes like Superman, hop on the keys like a puppy.)

But I have to tell you the end of the story of my student and her mother.  So, as you know, I went out and bought them a nice dinner, complete with chocolate pie and side casserole.  At the same time, I picked up some breakfast casseroles for a party I was going to hold later that week.  Being that I had pneumonia, I was unable to deliver the meal myself and instead sent the whole thing off with my dad to deliver.  Imagine my surprise a few days later to find a chocolate pie, casserole, and dinner in my freezer.  Thankfully the students' family likes breakfast casserole.

How do you make your students' families feel a part of your studio?

Photo Courtesy of: rachel_pics' photostream