Terrific Thursday Link #7/Gearing up for the Fall

Teachers everywhere are beginning to gear up for the fall, preparing lesson plans, purchasing supplies and running through repertoire.

I always wonder how much students practice over the summer. Hopefully they remember their way around the keyboard.

I did run into two students at a wedding reception (their parents own the restaurant used for the reception). One told me that she's got a "ton" of songs learned and memorized. Her sister sheepishly admitted that she hadn't practiced much but promised to.

To help students around the world, I scouted a few sites that will help jog the memory and fingers:

• Emusictheory.com: This site has oodles of helpful tidbits for teachers and students. Students, I recommend that you run through the Note Names, Paced Note Names, Piano Keys, Rhythm Performance and Interval "games". The computer keeps score and times you!
• Musictheory.net: This is one of my faves which has been mentioned before. Check out the "Trainers" section. For those who are rusty in a particular area, skim through "Lessons".
• SphinxKids: This looks really fun! The Music Match game was a little tricky. I should have started with the easy version (or at least read the info first!). Lots of music games.

Students, you should also start going through the songs your teacher assigned you (if you haven't already).

Happy playing/practicing!

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