Using Progressives for Music - Pre-Experiment Video

To give everyone a frame of reference as I start my "Using Progressives for Music" experiment, here are some videos taken of me practicing with my single vision lenses. Sight-reading example:

Drilling a student's piece:

Practicing ensemble music on piano:

Practicing conducting:

I'll repeat these experiments (and more) with the progressives.

Summer Music Project Ideas

Wow...May and June turned out to be extremely hectic. Our poor World Music Exploration came to a dead halt with the regular stream of recitals, exams and music festivals.

Let's see if I can start making up for it.  If you are looking for fun ways to keep your music playing skills up during the summer, check out some of these ideas that my students and I have come up with:

1. National Anthems: one of my beginner students is a history buff. He came up with the idea of learning various national anthems throughout the summer. I helped him out with the first three. I look forward to hearing what else he tackles during the summer break.

2. Video Games: Two students (siblings) are HUGE video game buffs. They both picked three video game themes to work on, which we started during the last two weeks of lessons. For the younger one, it's a huge step up in playing level. I am banking on the fact that these are some of his fave themes to motivate him to overcome some of his note-reading/coordination challenges.

look inside

Super Mario for Piano 34 Super Mario Themes Arranged for Easy Piano. Composed by Asuka Ohta, Hirokazu Tanaka, Kenta Nagata, Koji Kondo, Mahito Yokota, Shiho Fujii, and Soyo Oka. This edition: Easy Piano. NAMM Best in Show; Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Video Game. Book. 76 pages. Alfred Music #00-38633. Published by Alfred Music (AP.38633).

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Super Mario for Piano 34 Super Mario Themes Arranged for Solo Piano. Composed by Asuka Ohta, Hirokazu Tanaka, Kenta Nagata, Koji Kondo, Mahito Yokota, Shiho Fujii, and Soyo Oka. This edition: Piano Solos (Intermediate / Advanced). NAMM Best in Show; Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Video Game. Book. 80 pages. Alfred Music #00-38600. Published by Alfred Music (AP.38600).

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New Super Mario Bros. Wii Simplified Piano Solos. Composed by Kenta Nagata, Koji Kondo, Ryo Nagamatsu, and Shiho Fujii. This edition: Easy Piano. NAMM Best in Show; Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Video Game. Book. 40 pages. Alfred Music #00-39429. Published by Alfred Music (AP.39429).

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The Legend of Zelda for Easy Piano Easy Piano Solos. Composed by Akito Nakatsuka, Asuka Ohta, Hajime Wakai, Kenta Nagata, Koji Kondo, Kozue Ishikawa, Manaka Tominaga, and Toru Minegishi. This edition: Easy Piano. NAMM Best in Show; Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Video Game. Book. 76 pages. Alfred Music #00-38634. Published by Alfred Music (AP.38634).

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The Legend of Zelda Series for Piano Piano Solos. Composed by Akito Nakatsuka, Asuka Ohta, Hajime Wakai, Kenta Nagata, Koji Kondo, Kozue Ishikawa, Manaka Tominaga, and Toru Minegishi. This edition: Piano Solos (Intermediate / Advanced). NAMM Best in Show; Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Video Game. Book. 84 pages. Alfred Music #00-38601. Published by Alfred Music (AP.38601).

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The Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses Piano Solos. Composed by Asuka Ohta, Hajime Wakai, Kenta Nagata, Koji Kondo, and Toru Minegishi. This edition: Piano Solos. Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Video Game. Book. 80 pages. Alfred Music #00-44550. Published by Alfred Music (AP.44550).

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Chord Play 1 The Art of Arranging at the Piano. Composed by Forrest Kinney. This edition: 1st edition. Chord Play. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #CP01. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.CP01).

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Chord Play 2 The Art of Arranging at the Piano. Composed by Forrest Kinney. This edition: 1st edition. Chord Play. Book. 64 pages. The Frederick Harris Music Company #CP02. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.CP02).

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Chord Play 3 The Art of Arranging at the Piano. Composed by Forrest Kinney. This edition: 1st edition. Chord Play. Book. 64 pages. The Frederick Harris Music Company #CP03. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.CP03).

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Chord Play 4 The Art of Arranging at the Piano. Composed by Forrest Kinney. This edition: 1st edition. Chord Play. Book. 64 pages. The Frederick Harris Music Company #CP04. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.CP04).

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Chord Play 5 The Art of Arranging at the Piano. Composed by Forrest Kinney. This edition: 1st edition. Chord Play. Book. 64 pages. The Frederick Harris Music Company #CP05. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.CP05).

These are just a few ideas. If you have any suggestions, please add them to the comments below.

Speedlinking December 19, 2011 Edition

One of these days I will get to musing on something regarding this teaching year. Today isn't one of them.

In the meantime, please check out these fantastic posts by my colleagues:

Contrapuntal Music for Young Students

Another Useful Accompanist Career Guide

More Thoughts on Slow Practicing

(c) 2011 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Yes There IS a Point to Practicing Scales

An informative post about the usefulness of scales (and arpeggios) when faced with learning a piece for a gig with very little time. Thanks to my colleague LaDona Ahenda (and her son Mark) for sharing this on her blog.