Baby Music

With the recent birth of our son, I've been looking into baby music a lot. I played the piano during my pregnancy, so I'm sure he was exposed to music somewhat, but now that he's here I'm wondering what music to introduce him to. I play baby music to him various times during the day from Pandora.and I ordered Baby Einstein music from Amazon that I think will be good for the little guy.  Does anyone have any suggestions on baby music that they used on their own kids?  Also, how old were they when you started teaching them or started them in a program?  Any advice about it is appreciated! 

Scatterbrained Scarecrow by Wendy Stevens

If you are looking for piano music for the fall you might want to look at Scatterbrained Scarecrow by Wendy Stevens. A link to view the piece is posted on her blog, so you can even view it before you buy! If you want a chance at winning this piece, she is also doing a give away that will end this Friday! So go ahead and visit her blog and see if this is something you would like to add to your studio library.

The Voice Within You

"If you hear a voice within you say 'You cannot paint' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." 

- Vincent van Gogh

Practice What You Preach?

Recently I have been thinking about all my students and my requirements for them.  I set high expectations, because I believe that if you expect little you receive little in return.  I also believe it is good to give my students a challenge, remembering of course their abilities and what they can handle.  A couple of months ago the thought came to my mind, am I practicing what I preach?  I require them to practice 6 days a week, but do I practice 6 days a week?  Do I make time to play the piano or learn something new and better my skills?  Because I want to be a good example for my students, I decided to make a goal to practice not only 6 days a week, but every single day.  Even if it is only a minute or two.

Now I know sometimes being a teacher I get so busy preparing lessons, teaching, or doing other things that I don't practice myself.  (Does that sound familiar?)  But if life were so busy for my students that they couldn't practice, would that be okay?  Absolutely not!  So I decided to reevaluate my priorities and live more by example.

I am happy to say that I haven't missed a day of practice in almost 2 months.  It isn't easy because like I said before, life does get busy.  The older we get it seems life just gets full of things to do, and I always seem to have a list of things I want to accomplish.  But if I make it my priority to set the example and always push myself to better my skills, then I do have time everyday.  I might not have hours, and some days go better than others, but making the goal and putting in the time has made me a better musician.  And that is what we want to encourage in our students, right?  So I challenge you to ask yourself, "Do I practice what I preach?"

MuseScore: Free Notation Program How To Videos

After Finale started charging for finale notepad I decided to look into other free programs that I could use.  MuseScore is a FREE music notation program, which I think is very helpful if you don't have the budget right away to spend on the full Finale notation program.  Other blogs such as ComposeCreate.com, Color In My Piano, and Music Matters Blog have discussed MuseScore to some extent, but I haven't seen anyone post about the videos available to learn how to use MuseScore.  Although MuseScore has their own handbook, I sometimes want to be shown how to do something.  So if you want a quick and easy way to learn how to use a notation program and you are interested in giving MuseScore a try, here are some videos of 10 Easy Steps to learn how to use MuseScore. You'll be making your scores in no time!  And the best part is that it doesn't stop there.  You can find even more tips on how to use MuseScore at www.musescoretips.com.

• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 1 Score Setup
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 2 the MuseScore Screen
• MuseScore in 10Easy Steps: Part 3 Note Entry Basics
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 4 Note Entry With a MIDI Keyboard and Playback
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 5 Lyrics, Copying & Dynamics
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 6 Adding instruments, articulation and bars
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 7 Repeats, 1st and 2nd time endings
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 8 Codas
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 9 Drum Parts
• MuseScore in 10 Easy Steps: Part 10A Layout and Formatting

Some things that I really like about MuseScore are:

• I can save my scores online at www.musescore.com and access them at any computer that has MuseScore downloaded.  No carrying around paper or a flash drive to view or continue working on my scores!
• I can share my scores online, so that they are available to everyone that has the program.  
• I can view other's scores that they have shared online which gives me more free sheet music I can download and print!
• I can do more on MuseScore than I could on Finale Notepad
• It is absolutely FREE and easy to use, especially if you watch the tutorial videos.

I hope this was a little helpful.  If you go to www.musescore.org you can download MuseScore and get started.  The tutorial videos are also on the download page as well.

Music Cubes and Music Tones for iPad and Computer!

I found these wonderful apps on my iPad called Music Cubes and Music Tones.  Music Cubes is a fun music game to practice memory and tone recognition by following and memorizing patterns of pitch.  Music Tones is a way to practice identifying notes on the Treble and Bass Clefs.  On both apps there are two ways to do this, the first being to train and the second to play.  In Music Cubes training the player practices recognizing and memorizing the pitch patterns.  During play the player continues recognizing and memorizing patterns and the score is kept on the top left hand corner.  In Music Tones training the player identifies different notes on the staff and if the player doesn't know the note right at first then the note lights up to the color of the letter name below.  During play the player is timed for 1 minute and the notes do not light up.  The best score is kept on the top left hand corner.

The best part about this is, it isn't just for the iPad, you can use this on your computer as well!  For the computer all you have to do is go to www.foriero.com and click on which music game you want to play.  If you want to you can download the iMelody lite program onto your computer which allows students to play along with the melodies provided on the iMelody lite program.  If you have a MIDI keyboard you can hook that up to it too!  I am hoping to get a MIDI keyboard someday as I think it would be very helpful for this and other programs.  But if you don't have a MIDI keyboard you can still use iMelody lite.  There is a keyboard on the screen and it is as easy as point and click.  If you are wondering about price, both the apps and the programs for the computer are free!  So have lots of fun with it!

Spinners!

After reading Wendy Chan's post on the spinner for the iPad, I was inspired to make these spinners!  I realized after reading her post that not all teachers have an iPad or can afford to make such an investment, and I also realized that I sometimes might need more then one spinner (i.e. group lessons).  I do enjoy the sinner app and would suggest it if you do have an iPad, but if you don't or need more then one spinner, then feel free to download these.  All you need to do is print, laminate (if desired), cut out design, then use a 3/16 hole punch to cut out the holes in the arrows.  In the middle of the spin board you can use an x-acto knife (or the tip of any knife) to cut a small hole in the center.  After that put a small brass fastener through the holes and you are done!

Musical Alphabet Spinner
Spinner-Notes-Beginner
Spinner-Dynamics-Beginner

Some ideas I have for using these are.....
Quizzing a beginner on the musical alphabet.  Spin the spinner and then have them play the note on the piano or draw it on a staff if they are starting to learn how to read notes.

Quizzing a beginner on dynamics and note values.  Have them spin the spinner then write what they think the symbols mean or how long the notes last.  This can be used in a group setting as well!

I also plan to play some fun games together with some game boards I'm making! If anyone has any fun suggestions, feel free to share!

Egg Shakers

I know it isn't Easter, but I thought I would share these egg shakers I made.  I use them all year round!  I have used these for rhythm activities a lot and it is so much fun for my students!  I have them pick one or two, and we sit together on the floor and sing a song shaking the egg shakers.  The shakers keep the pulse.  After they have gotten the pulse down, then we make it a little trickier by keeping the pulse by passing them to each other.  This is only one way that you could use these!  There are many things you can do with them!

How to Make Egg Shakers

First you need to have plastic eggs that open up.  If you have any left over from Easter you can use those.  Fill the eggs with popcorn kernels, rice, or beans (I find that rice works best).  If you have a hot glue gun, now is the time to pull it out! After it is warm put a small line of hot glue around one open end and then close shut.  (This way they won't open if a student drops one!)  After that enjoy making lots of rhythm fun together!

Abacus for Practicing

How to make your own Abacus:
This is something I made for myself and have also used for students.  Some students already have an Abacus at home and can use that, but others don't know what an Abacus is and can have fun making their own.  You can make them with ribbon, glue, beads, paper and some kind of board or foam block (I used a foam block from old packaging).  If you want to get creative you can use a piece of cardboard, tape, some string, and fruit loops, cheerios, life savors or some other kind of cereal or candy!  Kids have fun making their own, especially if you use candy items.

How to use the Abacus for Practicing:
The way I would teach a beginner how to use an Abacus for practicing is to assign them 5 or 6 short  pieces of music.  Then tell them that they need to keep track of what pieces they are playing every day. I start with one row and tell them when they play one of their assigned pieces they get to move a bead over to the other side. If you have 6 rows (as you see in the photo) then you can tell them to play each piece 5 times.  This instills good practice habits from the beginning.

For students that are a little farther a long I give them more of a challenge.  You can assign certain sections of a piece and tell them that they can't move the bead over until the section is played correctly.  For example if their rhythm in that section isn't quite right I tell them that they need to practice the rhythm correctly (which we cover in the lesson) then go home and practice it just like that 5 times each day they practice.  Every time they play it correctly they get to move a bead over to the other side.

For students that really like a challenge I challenge them to play it correctly 5 times in a row.  If they mess up, they have to move a bead back over to the starter side (I like the start side to be the left side).  This may be a bit frustrating for some, so I don't tell all my students to do that, but it can be a good way to make sure a piece, or a section of a piece, is learned the right way.  It makes my students more aware of what they are doing when they are practicing as well, to ensure a more focused practice session.  If there is any other way you can think of to use an Abacus, you may post in the comments bellow!

Happy 4th of July!

 I am so grateful for all those who have fought for our country.  With two of my cousins being in Afghanistan right now it makes me even more grateful for all those that have sacrificed for us so that we can enjoy the freedoms we do.  Thank you to all you troops out there!  And Happy 4th of July everyone!

Good Ol' Uncle Sam

This is a patriotic poster that I keep up in my studio all year round.  I received one from one of my former piano teachers when I was just starting to take piano lessons and have kept it for years!  I remember looking at it when I was starting and feeling a little tinge of guilt if I hadn't practiced .  After all with Uncle Sam staring at you like that, you can't help it! I tell my students that a little bit every day is better then cramming it all in one day and this poster helps remind them that they should be practicing every day.  Is there anything you kept over the years that your piano teacher gave you?

4th of July Practice Chart

Lessons have ended for the summer.  Right in time for some holiday celebrations!  To encourage my students to keep practicing over the summer break I made this 4th of July Practice Chart and gave them some star stickers so that they could mark every day they practiced.  The chart has 50 stars on it and for every day they practice they get to put a star sticker over one of the stars on the chart!