May 31, 2018

Congratulations Pianists on a wonderful season!

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I'm so proud of the hard work the students put into discovering, learning, and performing piano this season. Look for an email about continuing lessons. As for now, I'm off to teach at my summer camp, so lessons are on summer break!

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Keep up the good work :)

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May 17, 2018

Our lesson today was filled with letters C-D-E and our varied rhythmic foods: Watermelon, Apple Sauce, Graham Cracker, and Taffy. The children remembered the rhythms and motions to these food groups, and used them to create their own songs on letters C-D-E.

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They read a new piece using only half-notes called "The Lost Teddy Bear" and we played a hide-and-seek game with Beethoven Bear as they played the piece!

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We ended the lessons with more rhythms and getting used to playing a new order of letters: E-D-C. On the piano, these keys go right-to-left, but on paper, we still read them left-to-right. The children did a great job of learning how to read these regardless of the multiple directions!

May 15, 2018

Lesson 5 was a pop-quiz review lesson! I surprised the students with a class quiz, and each child was able to answer 2-3 general music questions for a nice starburst reward. We covered note reading, letter names at the piano, finger numbers, and rhythm. This quiz was very helpful in solidifying their knowledge and I could tell a few things finally 'clicked' for a lot of students!

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The second half of class was dedicated to showing the students how to practice. The main things we focused on was how to take small parts of a piece and work on them individually before trying to play through the whole piece. We talked about how to identify notes and finger numbers, as well as a practice technique tapping their fingers on a table or desk. They can practice away from the piano as well as at the piano! At the end of the lesson the children all picked a piece from pages 24-31 that will be their own project for the next two weeks. They should treat this piece as a challenge and as a work that they need to perfect. Good luck on the practicing!

May 15, 2018

Our preschool class was such a success on Tuesday! I am so proud of how the children can read and play these short pieces, using multiple fingers and both hands. I had them play last week's piece and read a new piece during the lesson. They hardly needed any guidance to perform the pieces smoothly and correctly!

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The big new focus of piano now is learning the letter names of the keys. We went over the music alphabet, which only has letters A-G. Then, after some matching games and some dancing songs, the children learned how to find the letter "D". It is a two-step process to find this letter. First, they must find a group of 2-black-keys. Then they play the white key in the middle of these two black keys! This is letter "D". In two weeks, they should know letters C-D-E on the piano. I think they can do it!

May 08, 2018

Lesson 5 was a playing-lesson for sure. The majority of the time the students were sharing spaces at the piano and discovering a new way to read music: corresponding the direction of the notes to the direction of the keys played on the piano. This is explained on p. 22 of their new books! When the notes move up on the page, the keys move right on the piano. If the notes go down, their fingers should move left. This is a great way to read music even if they haven't completely memorized the name of the notes yet.

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I am impressed with how far they have come along with music reading. Even if they haven't memorized the letters, they can read the direction of the music. For practice work this week, the students are to prepare p.22-23, Roman Trumpets. They should be able to play through the whole piece at least 5 times during a practice session, as well as work in small chunks to iron out any difficulties.  If they have questions about the music, they should circle the part and write their question in pencil. And, of course, they should bring their books back next week for the lesson! Please do not hesitate to go through earlier pages of the book as review and extra learning help.

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Happy practicing!

May 08, 2018

The young pianists continued their journey into playing pieces with colors on the piano. We began by going through Old MacDonald again and the students were enthusiastic about playing and acting out like all of the farm animals! 

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The new song the children learned uses two hands to play. We went over all the steps in learning this piece: identifying the colors, clapping the rhythm, and singing the new song while raising different hands in the air, depending on which hand plays what part in the piece. I spent some time with each student individually while the others colored and composed quarter notes. Each child was able to play through the new piece, using two hands, about 3 times. By the third time they didn't need my help at all! I'm so proud of how they are able to pay attention to reading the details of the music and using all their fingers and hands to play the notes.

May 03, 2018

It was a blast to see everyone again! The children were super excited and happy at every point during the lesson. It was filled with positive energy which was wonderful.

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After learning a new hello song, we did some review games with a focus on letters C-D-E, as well as reading quarter note rhythms. Today's big focus was introducing the half-note, and therefore rhythms that use short and long notes! They understand the rhythms well, but it is a challenge for the children to play half-notes on the piano. They tend to not want to hold their fingers down on the piano for the entire 2 beats. We worked on this a lot and had a ton of fun doing so!

May 01, 2018

The students began this week's lesson by performing their practice piece from home. It is clear a lot of the students are doing some great at-home practicing!

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From there, it was our goal to memorize Left Hand F, Middle C, and High G in notation. We learned how to identify them and how to use them as guides and markers for reading all the other notes on the musical staff! The children practiced drawing Treble Clef, Bass Clef, and C-G-and-F notes on the staff. From there we figured out how to read other notes using these guide notes. This is a HUGE step in playing the piano. The more comfortable the students are at reading music--especially recognizing our three guide notes--the better they will do in the remaining classes.

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Their practice-work for this week is Scenic Train Ride (page 21). They should write all the letter names next to the notes for this one! You can use page 20 to check their work. Please remember to have them bring Scenic Train Ride BACK next lesson, as I would like to see how they did with the letter names! The children will be performing these pieces for each other during next class.

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Thank you!!

May 01, 2018

In Lesson 4 the children played so many songs on the three black keys! They started with a performance of last week's song and we reviewed playing with three fingers as well as reading quarter notes and rests. Then the children learned Old MacDonald--but instead of saying Ee-i-ee-i-o, the children sang and eventually played "Red-Red, Green-Green, Blue (shh! shh! shh!)

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Old MacDonald is played on a group of three black keys. From left to right, I have put star stickers Blue-Green-Red on the black keys grouped in threes. Feel free to mark your own pianos at home so your children can show you how they play on each key! We ended the lesson with them composing their own blue-green-red song. They learned how to draw quarter-notes and played their compositions for the class. Next week it's on to playing with two hands!

January 30, 2018

Lesson three was filled with Quarter Notes and Rests. The children learned to play when they see quarter notes, and not play (shh!!) when they see a rest. I gave them cards that had different amounts of quarter notes/rests. It's fascinating to see the children realize they have to be careful and detailed in their counting and reading, making sure not to skip over a beat or to play when they see a rest! All of the children adapted and learned nicely and we could move on to our new piece!

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The piece the children played is color-coded and I put colored star-stickers on the piano. Next week I will post some pictures of the music and how I set up the piano for any child that wants to show off at home!

January 30, 2018

Lesson 3 was our official Rhythm Lesson! The goal of the class was to learn Quarter Notes, Half Notes, and Whole Notes (Each receiving 1 beat, 2 beats, and 4 beats respectively). 

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In the first half of the class the children learned from each other as they performed their practice work from last week.They were good listeners and applauded each performance!

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The second half of the class was devoted to rhythm. We learned and played rhythm patterns at the piano, and then the students were challenged to play new rhythms on the spot. We then looked at page 18 and 19 and the students picked either Fife and Drum or My Invention to learn for next week. If you have a book, feel free to learn both pieces!

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I encourage at home practice to be done with a Metronome. There are plenty of free Metronome Apps, and they are simple time-clickers that help instill a sense of steady beat. It's one thing to understand rhythms... it's another thing to perform these rhythms on the piano without skipping a beat! Quarter Note=80 beats is a good starting tempo.

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Happy Practicing!

January 23, 2018

Lesson 2 was a great success! Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse taught the children all about Loud and Soft notes--or Forte and Piano as we say in music class. See if your child remembers that Forte is LOUD and Piano is (soft).

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We observed the piano today and noticed the black keys are grouped in twos and threes. After playing some hiding games, the children learned their first song: Fingers Marching! In this song the child marches their two fingers back and forth on a group of two-black keys. Anytime your child can practice marching two fingers steadily, back and forth on two separate notes please help them do so! This is the beginnings of gaining finger independence and can be difficult at first. 

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We closed the lesson by playing a "finger number" game, where the children identified each finger (Thumb=1, Pointer=2...) and started to become aware the they can use each finger to make music. They learn so much!

January 23, 2018

I am happy to report that the students did a wonderful job in performing their first piece! I can tell there is a lot of practice going on. The biggest technical problem I noticed was their hand positions. Today we saw how having curved fingers and lightly bouncing your arm up and down is a much easier and more efficient way to play on the keys. Your children should always have good posture and curved fingers when practicing at home!

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We had the big "Letter Names" quiz today. And I tried to stump them but they were too smart! The students were very capable in finding the notes, or at least knowing how to find them after a little bit of thinking. Anytime you want to give a letter-name quiz to your child, please do so! For example, have them find an "E" in their left hand, and then an "A" in their right.

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Today in class I introduced musical notation. The children learned music notes live either on lines or spaces. We had a TON of fun skipping up and down the piano room and saying the alphabet forwards and backwards as we learned how music is notated! I gave them "The Piano Tuner" and "Melody on C and G" for their practice work this week. I threw a lot of information at them today, so in order for them not to get behind, please sit down and go through these pages with your child. If they are confused on how to play something, the top of the page describes everything they will need to know! This class is about having fun when everyone is together as a group, and learning enough to discover and improve at home. We can't wait for next week's lessons!

January 16, 2018

Preschool lessons are off to a great start! The children were enthralled to meet Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse as they learned how to properly sit at the piano and what their hands should look like. They were reminded that we ONLY play piano with our fingers!

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Lesson 1's main topic was high sounds and low sounds. The children discovered Beethoven Bear's fascination with low sounds, and Mozart Mouse's preference for high. Please encourage them to make up their own low-note and high-note songs at home!  The end of the lesson the children learned Forte and Piano, the words for Loud and Soft.

January 16, 2018

Piano lessons were a huge success with these children! They were able to explore the piano during this lesson--how to make loud and soft sounds, what their hands should look like, and what happens to the sound when we travel to the left and to the right.

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I am definitely attempting to challenge these students in learning a lot in a lesson, and then reviewing and practicing this knowledge at home. The students learned the musical alphabet, and I challenged them to learn all of the letter names at the piano by next week! 

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Then, to encourage them to play with all five fingers at one, their practice-work is to play "Exploring Seconds". They may need to review how this is done, but everything is explained on the page for them! It is my hope they start to learn how to teach themselves with this lesson book. If your child is doing great at Exploring Seconds, then move on to the next piece, Exploring Thirds!