Clicking On the Keys

   Ah, the dilemma of telling that pretty little girl she really must cut her fingernails. She has no traction and the clicking is obnoxious.  I personally do not have nails that grow in beautiful petals but occasionally I run for my clippers to take them down. My own granddaughter had the discussion just last month. On that day, there was a real struggle between a future as a pianist and beautiful painted finger nails.

Beats Per Measure

The difference between having group lessons after school and in the middle of the day is astounding. My students are so much more ready to learn and ask questions. Here are the youngest mixed in with the oldest My First Adventure students doing beats per measure. 

What Key Is This In?

   When I bring a few students together in a group lesson I like to start a conversation about musical theory. Yesterday I asked if anyone could explain key signature. 

   "It's your hand position."

   " It's the pattern of notes you play."

   " It's how many black keys there are." 

   It will take a few more discussions to fully understand it, but we tried in in a new way. It begins with the metaphor of a train and how it stops at different stations.

   The main station. Key of C is where the train begins. No passengers are aboard. It is five steps to the next station and there passenger F# takes a seat and stays for the whole ride.

   Five steps further along the track and we arrive at the station called D Major. When the passenger C# comes aboard F# takes his seat at the front of the train. Then it's five steps to the next station called A Major and so the train continues on. After using our feet to make the physical steps we travel around the circle of fifths until we arrive at F# Major, full train of passengers. Another day we can travel the other direction meeting passengers who are flats. Next week in our private lessons we will relate the train metaphor to the circle of fifths on their assignment pages. I hope it gives them another way to see Key Signatures.

The End Of Juneuary

   Yes, Juneuary is what we call this month because we can't seem to get beyond 63 degrees. Brr… It has been ages since I have have written about piano activities. Here in the Northwest, school just let out so my Spring Semester ends this week. It was time for a few groups lessons to check in with skills I hope everyone has acquired. For my First Piano Adventures students I made a last effort to follow up on Time Signature and music elements.

    These students are entering into Book C and I reviewed what a variation entailed and we played those Twinkle pieces at the end of Book B. I was pleased with their recall of the musical changes in each song. We watched a U-Tube video of a young girl playing Mozart's variations, or a few of them, and talked about how each part added more notes.
   Their favorite part was playing for each other and I was entranced with their dancing legs under the piano.

                Three more days of group lessons and I hope they are as fun as this one was today.

Practice Incentive Review

   I have two programs going in my studio that have been invigorating to many and ignored by others. The fact that they might have been ignored could be my own problem. Lesson time is precious and when we are learning I find it distracting to stop and ask if they recorded their practice minutes or if they brought their assignment sheet. My agenda just doesn't always pan out when that excited child comes through my door. But, my failings aside, after many months interest is rising due to the large chart on my keyboard.

   Each little sticker is a level of notes read correctly in just one minute. I add new notes or amount of notes at each level. It started like this.

   The Thousand Minute Club was a challenge, not because it is hard to practice 1000 minutes, but because it is hard to log minutes on the assignment sheet and bring it to lessons. I think I may be teaching responsibility and organization, as well. I am looking forward to trying something new after June, for the summer months.

Another Recital, Come and Gone

 It has been a week since my Spring Recital and I have processed the event. This recital was a success for everyone,which is not always the case. Often there a a few glitches for my students and it makes me anxious for them. In the last three weeks I found a duet arrangement of Hungarian Dance by Brahms which two of my beginning students were playing. Playing the whole piece for them always inspires a deeper love for their two-line simple version. I asked my High School students to play with me but as the day got closer they both felt unprepared. As we met at the recital venue one week before, to rehearse, I gave them a last ditch challenge. 

   " You may be given music to play at the last minute in the years ahead and this will require you to dig deep and go for it. If you back out because you are not perfect you'll miss opportunities to grow. We will stumble a bit next week but I have your back and I think the result will be positive."

  It was positive, not perfect, and it inspired my younger students to listen to original versions of their pieces.

  Another memory of this recital that was special was the grandchildren who played. Two sons had children playing and it makes my heart soar to see them progress and develop as musicians. Grace is the child who does video piano lessons with me every week. She was super excited to come to town to participate with her cousins.

1000 Minutes

  Some of my students have successfully practiced and logged 1000 minutes in the last three months. It seemed easy to me but the difficulty arose in writing down the minutes on their assignment sheet.

    I use a form graciously shared by Susan Paradis and to get credit for these minutes they must log them in the Practice Record.
  Congratulations Clara and Olivia for being the first to reach that goal.