Terrific Thursday Link #4

Sorry, I just noticed that there was no fun link last week. Life is really chaotic around here. I'd give you the list but that would take too long. And frankly, one spinning head is enough in this world. Let's just say that I, like my colleagues are eagerly awaiting the end of June (23 sleeps).

Here, check out this link - Music Tech Teacher - Piano Key Words Quiz. Yes, it's another note naming site and yes, it's deliberate. Teachers get cranky when students are still struggling with note names after a year (or more) of lessons. They also get cranky when students refuse to fix rhythm and notes in songs they've had all year and when they refuse to read directions or insist on pounding the bejeebers out of the keys. But let's save that rant for another day, shall we? (c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Fun Music Ideas

Around this time, it's a big push to keep students focussed and motivated to practice. Several of my students are exploring other genres to keep their interest or to simply give them a break from their main pieces. Here are just a few, which may serve as ideas for other musicians:

look inside

Very Best Of John Williams By John Williams. By John Williams. Edited by Carol Cuellar. Arranged by Dan Coates. Artist/Personality; Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Piano arrangement mixed folio (Easy piano). Easy Piano. Movies. Songbook (softcover). With chord names. 104 pages. Alfred Music #0656B. Published by Alfred Music (HL.321939).

look inside

Lord of the Rings for Easy Piano Music from the Motion Pictures Arranged for Easy Piano. Composed by Howard Shore. Edited by Jeannette DeLisa and Zoby Perez. Arranged by Dan Coates. Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Piano arrangement mixed folio (Easy piano). Movies. Songbook. With black & white photos and chord names. 56 pages. Alfred Music #00-AFM0408. Published by Alfred Music (AP.AFM0408).

look inside

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Music from the Motion Pictures Arranged for Solo Piano. Composed by Howard Shore. This edition: Piano/Vocal. Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Movie. Book. 104 pages. Alfred Music #00-32034. Published by Alfred Music (AP.32034).

look inside

Microlatin 20 Pieces Based on Latin Rhythms for the Beginner Pianist. Composed by Christopher Norton. BH Piano. Educational, Latin. Softcover with CD. 36 pages. Boosey & Hawkes #M060119651. Published by Boosey & Hawkes (HL.48019809).

look inside

Harry Potter -- Sheet Music from the Complete Film Series Easy Piano. Composed by John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Alexandre Desplat (1961-), and Nicholas Hooper. Arranged by Dan Coates. This edition: Easy Piano. Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Movie. Book. 140 pages. Alfred Music #00-39075. Published by Alfred Music (AP.39075).

look inside

Corpse Bride - Main Titles By La Sposa Cadavere (Corpse Bride). Arranged by GC. Individual Part. 5 pages. Published by Giuseppe Cataldi (H0.622575-SC001203006).

look inside

The Best in Movie Sheet Music Composed by Dan Coates. Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Movie. Book. 88 pages. Alfred Music #00-AF9760A. Published by Alfred Music (AP.AF9760A).

look inside

The Disney Collection Composed by Various. Easy Piano Songbook. Children, Disney, Movies. Softcover. 304 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.119716).

Visit your local music store or explore my affiliate links for some gems:

Sheet Music on Amazon

Happy exploring!

(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Friday Fun Link #23

Whoops! I nearly forgot to post today's Friday Fun Link. What can I say? I got carried away with errands and housecleaning (a true sign that I'm getting older). Although I did take a detour to McNally Robinson today and heard an accordionist play at the cafe. She played wonderfully. We had a good chat afterwards. Did you know that there are over 100 accordion schools in Europe? Today's fun link comes from the Dallas Symphony's DSO Kids website. There are several games on the site. Enjoy!

PS: On another note, I'm another step closer to solving the Site Feed issue. It was a two-fold problem, 1 - typing up blog entries in Word, copying and pasting into a blog is a no-no. I deleted between 4 and 48 extraneous codes per blog entry because Word added code that was incompatible; and 2 - Blogger uses Atom 0.3 and apparently 1.0 is the standard; which means more code needs to be adjusted. It's a slow ongoing process, at least until Blogger upgrades to 1.0. Stay tuned!

Off to practice now. I'm playing at a wedding tomorrow and need to pad the beginning of Canon in D to make sure that the bride's entrance is timed perfectly with the climax of the song.

(c) 2006, Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Wacky Wednesday Fun Links #1 & 2

I missed last week’s fun link so here’s one link for last week, plus one for this week, since I don’t plan on posting one on Good Friday.

September 3, 2020 update: The two games originally posted are gone. However, there are more listed on the original site, Music Tech Teacher.

Ear Training and Sight Reading Help

My weakest areas as a piano student were the aural and sight reading tests. One year when I was in high school, I “forgot” my Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests book for two months’ worth of lessons. Elizabeth Mahaffy, my teacher at the time, got so fed up that one day, she sent me home to get the book.

My students don’t get away with that since I’ve kept all my Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. I bring them out for the forgetful students or sometimes, I have them pick out a song by ear and add the chords.

There are a multitude of online resources for students who need extra work in this area. Here are a few of them:

• http://www.musicstudy.com/

• http://www.musictheory.net/

• http://www.practicespot.com/

• http://pianoeducation.org/pnokids.html

If you would like to purchase the Four Star book series, check out my affiliate links below:

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Preparatory A Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S0A. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S0A).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Preparatory B Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S0B. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S0B).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 1 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S01. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S01).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 2 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S02. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S02).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 3 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S03. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S03).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 4 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S04. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S04).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 5 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S05. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S05).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 6 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S06. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S06).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 7 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S07. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S07).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 8 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S08. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S08).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 9 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S09. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S09).

look inside

Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests Level 10 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Composed by Boris Berlin and Andrew Markow. Edited by Laura Beauchamp-Williamson. This edition: 2015 edition. Sight Reading. Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests. Book. The Frederick Harris Music Company #4S010. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company (FH.4S010).

Happy practicing!

© 2006, Musespeak™, Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.