This is a great link for developing great posture at the piano: www.wellbalancedpianist.com/bpseatingguide.htm
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If there is anything remotely Olympics related, I love it. The Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition is a once-every-four-years event (the Olympic Games for pianists) and you can enjoy the performances for free at 8:30AM, 1:00PM, and 5:00PM each day through June 25, 2016. Just click here to watch. PBS had a great documentary last year about The Cliburn Professional Competition which you can read about here. I hope this program re-airs soon.
WIN A GREAT PRIZE! HAVE FUN! LEARN LOTS!
The artificial mini fish LED aquarium with 3 (fake) "swimming" fish will be the PRIZE for our next practice incentive. Even the young at heart will enjoy this incentive. You just need to put water in the fish tank and add 2-3 drops of dish washing detergent in the tank. I wish *I* could play and win this fish tank! Here's how it will work:
Click here to read the details about the upcoming challenge: Parent Info Sheet Your child will bring home a different practice challenge sheet every week, starting April 5th. Be sure to ask about it! I love SuperScore Music! You can find this FREE app here for iPad people. More scores will be added to the library, so keep checking the app for new music. There are plenty of free pieces to get you started so you can try it out. Here's why I love SuperScore:
Recital season is upon us and many of you have new pieces to learn. Each time you get a new piece of music, you're like a detective, reading the title and looking through the music to see if the dynamics, articulation, notes, and flow of the music match the title. Maybe you've looked up a YouTube video or two and had a listen. Beginners have started to practice hands separately while those who have been playing for a year or two are getting after it hands together.
Many times, composers save their best, and most challenging, parts for the end. Practicing from the end and working your way back to the beginning in sections is a smart way to start a new piece. Practicing in such a way prevents the "Christmas Light Bulb" syndrome: playing from the beginning over and over just because you know it well and it's easy. When you come to an "oops" note, just like a light bulb that's burned out in a strand of Christmas lights, you go back to the beginning and re-play the beginning until you get to the burned out bulb again...and then repeat. There's a better way! Great practice strategies are here for everyone! Thanks, Amy, for this great article and for reinforcing excellent ways to practice: http://amycomparettomusic.com/starting-to-learn-a-new-piece/ NinGenius is on sale again! During computer lab, your child may spend 3-6 minutes with this app. Each 45- to 90-second game challenges your child to become faster at naming notes and keys. The Student Edition of the app is on sale for a limited time for $0.99 (regularly $4.99). We will be using NinGenius in an upcoming studio challenge, so this would be a great time to purchase the app.
When a student plays this game in their piano lesson (with the Studio Edition) they select their name and the level they want to play. A note is shown along with the letters of the musical alphabet: ABCDEFG. If they choose the correct letter, the ninja dude kicks the board. If they are wrong, he runs into the board and falls down. The students are graded on both accuracy and the speed of their answering. At the end of their turn, which lasts 45-90 seconds, depending on the level, they are presented with their score and a ninja belt color - white, yellow, tan, green...all the way up to black. It takes each student about 3 minutes total to play one time. Each time a student logs back into the game during their lesson, they see if they are still on top of the score board for their level. The students get to know each other in the studio through these games, the Award Board in the hallway, and at recitals, so it's fun to see the interaction from lesson to lesson. Plus, students get to choose the level they want to play, so they can work at their own pace. http://www.ningenius.net/ Learning classical music as a child has had a huge influence on who I am as an adult. When my husband-to-be and I were dating, he was the athletic one and I was the musical one. It worked out perfectly because I went to all of his games and he came to all of my concerts. When we were in the car or a store and a classical piece of music came on, I would quiz him who the composer was. Twenty-five years later, he now knows that when he hears strings, he's probably hearing Vivaldi. When the music has a long crashing ending on the same chord, again and again, it's probably Beethoven. We're talking about your famous composers and pieces that are well known and loved, but even lesser known works that are just fun to guess who the composer might be.
While learning to play the piano and clarinet, and sing in choir, classical music was fun. It made sense. The melodies and chords were usually predictable, but sometimes they surprised me with what I learned was a deceptive cadence. Fitting name, no? The rhythms could be counted on, literally, because if all notes were counted in the same manner, but they were just organized into different patterns, I could figure out any piece of music on my own. For an only child, it gave me a great sense of independence and, eventually, responsibility as first chair clarinetist in band throughout high school and college. With piano, those same elements led me to enjoy a variety of solo music and accompanying choirs and other musicians. Now as a piano teacher, I try to instill that same love of classical music with my own students, hoping that when they hear a piece of music in a restaurant, they will recognize the composer and have fond memories back to their childhood piano lessons. http://www.interlude.hk/front/learning-classical-music-child-helps-shape-adulthood/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/musical-paint/id643923851?mt=8 Who likes a free app that's creative and fun? I do! Musical Paint is one of two composing apps (regularly $2.99) that I've had on my iPad for 6 months. I've been waiting for an opportunity in someone's computer lab time to explore the wonders of this app. More advanced students could benefit from the orchestral sounds and create some interesting artwork based on melodies and chords. Younger students, and even little ones at home not in piano lessons, would benefit from experimenting with what each color does and what each sound makes. This app has the potential to help students focus on specific musical elements when you ask them to create something with all high sounds, or all low sounds, or all staccato sounds, or all legato sounds, and then with just three colors and a combination of those things. This helps them to concentrate and listen to what they are creating which, in turn, will assist them in their own piano playing.
Why do adults take piano lessons? What benefits do they receive? Their answers may interest you as an adult student yourself or as the parent of a child taking lessons. http://www.pianopedagogy.org/in-their-own-words-benefits-of-piano-study-for-adult-students/
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AboutMy name is Tammy Prenot and I am a classically-trained pianist and piano teacher. I hold a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and I am a member of the Music Teacher's National Association and the National Association for Music Education. Archives
August 2018
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