Making the Most of Music Practicing

"My head's exploding!" said one of my students as she walked into her lesson today. September is so exciting and hectic for students and their families. Back to school and back to their extracurricular activities. Homework and limited playtime. With any activity, establishing a regular routine is critical to ensure steady progress, growth and a sense of accomplishment. Set up a regular practice time in your child (or your own) schedule. Goal oriented practicing works well for many students, more than punching the clock, although general guidelines for practice times do exist. Do remember to warm-up, cool down and reflect upon what worked well in your session, what still needs work, what you enjoyed (or didn't) and what you need to ask the teacher at the next lesson.

Here a pretty good article on how to set up a good practice routine at home A Guide to Great Home Music Practice.

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

Music Fun & Games for the Summer

Just two more sleeps before the end of the school year. I, like my students, can't wait. However, I do have seven summer students for July, which works out to eight more teaching evenings. With the exception of one student who is preparing for a theory exam, the rest get to enjoy a more leisurely musical exploration next month. I promised them that we will do plenty of pop songs, improvising and composing (with some finger warm-ups thrown in).

All students will have summer assignments, which consist of playing pop, movie, country, praise & worship and jazz songs, composing and improvising to their hearts content. I paid dearly for not touching the piano in the summer when I was their age. I gradually caught on that this was not a good thing (starting from scratch each year is a painful experience for everyone involved). Now, I stress the importance of keeping their skills up, but also encourage them to have as much fun as they want at their instrument. And yes, we teachers expect the students to have a more relaxed practice routine. Relaxed, but still consistent.

The exam students do have to start on their technical requirements and exam repertoire. If they work hard at it over the summer, then they don't have to work as hard during the school year.

Here are two music games for the students to goof off with over the summer:

• Music Online Games

• Funbrain.com

Enjoy!

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

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:

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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).

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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.

Improvising at the Piano

Two blog entries in one night? I may be sniffly and sneezy with the cold/flu, but my brain is still coming up with stuff to write... Another interesting project I’ve had my students work on for the past couple of weeks is to play around with the following chord progression:

|: DA | Bminf#min | GD| GA:|D ||

They get about halfway through before exclaiming, “Hey! I know this! Isn’t this Pachelbel’s Canon?”

I’ve asked some my students to play through the chord progression as solid chords, then as broken chords. Then, I give them free rein to experiment with it (otherwise known as improvising). They’ve now all heard about the wedding I played at in which the bride wasn’t at the altar by the time I reached the last page of the Canon. I wound up improvising on the repetitive chord pattern until she reached the front of the church.

Some students have taken to this project like Maestro has taken to stickers

(my dog is obsessed with stickers), while some require encouragement on every single note. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them wind up improvising on this at a party or family reunion. After all, it’s a recognizable tune, the chords repeat (translation: easy to memorize) and everyone who hears them improvise will be impressed that they’re simply winging it.

All right. I'm out of blog ideas for the night. Time for me to practice chiburi. Iaido, is like piano, full of technical details that need to be just so to flow smoothly.

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

On Meetings & Creative Practicing Ideas

We had our Annual General Meeting for Calgary ARMTA yesterday morning. It’s official: I am the Second Vice President for the 2006/07 Executive. Barring any unforeseen life changing circumstance, I will become the President in two years. But for now, it simply means that I get to add a few more projects onto my plate, such as the Honours Recital, which showcases students who performed superbly on their music exams and implementing some of the new membership benefits and programs we plan to offer. After I complete my advertising drive for our branch’s newsletter, my next order of business will be to find and train my successor. I’ll still be involved with maintaining our branch’s website.

Kudos to Barbara Robertson, our Past President, who did her best to keep the rest of us on track (somedays that was a challenge!). Beth Olver, this year’s President, brings a lot of board member experience and progressive ideas. I’m looking forward to the upcoming year.

We also had a guest speaker prior to the AGM. Calgary piano teacher/clinician/pianist Colleen Athparia presented a talk on creative ways to practice – to keep things fresh. Some ideas were new, while others were a good reminder of what has worked in the past and should be tried again.

In the spirit of “keeping things fresh”, I deliberately changed the order to today’s lessons. I’ve fallen into the habit of starting with technical exercises, followed by repertoire, then theory and aural/sight reading/rhythm exercises. Some students started with theory and ear training today, while others were asked to play arpeggios instead of scales first. One student took great delight in playing Oh Canada backwards. Another got a kick out of crossing her hands and then playing Aloha Oe, while another thought it strange that I asked her to play the f# melodic minor scale as slowly as she possibly could (I wanted her to listen to the sound decay of each note). All in all, it made for an interesting afternoon and evening. I wonder how I can shake up the rest of the week?

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