Building Community in the Studio

(Originally published in the Fall 2020 APTA News & Views for the Alberta Piano Teachers’ Association. Updated & modified for the Studio Blog.)

Growing up, I didn’t like how we kept to ourselves at recitals and how there was little interaction between students. I yearned for music buddies and community, which I didn’t have until I attended university.

When I started to teach privately, establishing a friendly studio community was one of my priorities. Since most of us publish studio newsletters to connect with families, my focus here is on the activities I have instigated to build connections and foster a sense of community through the years. Colleagues, feel free to adapt these into your studio.

Group Classes & Special Projects

My students have collaborated on various projects, both in and out of group classes. They have done everything from composing, piano combos, pop bands, folk dancing, recording, editing, and field trips. Our three biggest projects were Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir 4: Fly to Paradise, David Wesley’s O Canada Choir, and a student band that earned an Honorable Mention in a Long & McQuade music contest.

Musespeak Studio · Musespeak Studio - Long and McQuade Entry 2013

It hasn’t been easy offering group classes. Some students are just too busy to come at a different time. Others really dislike the idea of group classes. For those who participate, the group projects and classes remain one of the most memorable parts of their music studies.

Sadly, with the pandemic, I fear the days of group classes are over. However, I will endeavour to find ways for my students to collaborate.

Casual Performance Opportunities

I established piano parties to give students performance experience in a social setting, seeing as most of their performances are for family and friends. I generally schedule two to three parties a year. Each student performs one or more pieces. I do as well, usually sharing something fairly new. If there’s a birthday, someone plays Happy Birthday. At one party, a student played O Canada, so we all stood up and sang the anthem.

Before and after performances, we play board games. Everyone brings snacks to share.

Cat Tower is a piano party favourite! Credit: R-M Arca.

One year, a student who suffers from severe performance anxiety had an attack. She went upstairs while another student went to comfort her and give her a pep talk. She came back down and performed, crying throughout her performance. Everyone listened to her calmly and supported her afterwards. I couldn’t have been more proud of my students for how they handled the situation.

With the pandemic, our last three piano parties were held online via Zoom or StreamYard. At the first online party, I ditched the performances in favour of giving my students a chance to socialize and discuss how they were coping. At our most recent one, we played a couple of online games after everyone performed.

To give students performance experience in a community setting, I book recitals at a local nursing home, two times a year. That was one tradition from my student days that I wanted to continue.

At our 2019 annual recital for our neighbourhood nursing home. Credit S. Yin.

The pandemic hasn’t stopped this. We have held two live stream recitals for the nursing home residents since the beginning of the pandemic. You can find out about our live streaming adventures here.

Crossover Periods & Mentoring

The studio is quite lively during the changeover period between lessons. Parents chat in the waiting area, while the students switching off exchange greetings, share news and listen to the Music Clip of the Day.

Alas, those days are over. Hopefully not permanently.

I recently set up a Piano Buddies program. Five students expressed an interest in being Piano Buddies. They’ll work together to do some ear training and rhythm practice and perform for each other. Earlier this week, I coached one of my students in how to set up a Christmas Break gaming day online. It is my hope this will evolve with minimal input from me.

Recitals as a Social Event

The Snack & Chat has been a popular feature at year-end recitals. Each family brings a plate of goodies to share. Students and parents chat with each other, students praise each other for a good performance and sometimes, someone breaks out a board game. Some years, it takes a while to clear out the area.

With our last two live stream recitals, my students did manage to keep that sense of community. They took full advantage of the backstage chat window during the recital, cheering each other on. Family and friends utilized the live chat on YouTube. Thanks to StreamYard’s user interface, I inserted some of the comments directly into the live stream and responded to comments and questions in real time.

It wasn’t the same as being in a church and having the Snack & Chat afterwards, but at least there was that real-time interaction with family and friends both near and far. After our December recital, some of us squeezed in a few rounds of Among Us.

Building Community via Social Media

Most students enjoy being the “Instagram Star of the Day,” where I feature a photo, video or screencap of fun or great moments during lessons. Most of my teenage students are on Instagram, so they have formed a network all on their own, following each other and keeping in touch via Direct Messaging. Past students keep in touch through Facebook or Instagram.

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The fact that my students continue to keep in touch with each other as well as myself, years after lessons, makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. My efforts to have a friendly studio community have borne fruit.

This may seem like a lot. Start with a few activities. Create opportunities for students and their families to connect and support each other in multiple ways. That is how community is fostered.

DISCLAIMER: This post contains a referral link to StreamYard.

Online Music Games, Virtual Tours & Concerts

This week, my students and I are exploring various online music games and going on virtual tours. I figure we can all use a lighter load this week and some fun projects to “work” on over the Christmas Break. Here is a quick list of what we have been exploring:

Online Music Games

Orchestra from the Magic Flute: Students listen to a short clip, featuring an instrument in the orchestra. They have to correctly identify the instrument for it to take to the stage.

Channel Scramble: Test your ear to identify which channel has been assigned to a particular instrument.

Kandinsky: Create a painting and hear what it sounds like.

Rhythm: Can you click on the pattern of dots in time without missing a beat?

Spectogram: Check out spectograms created when instruments play a short clip. Create your own.

Name that Note: Personally, I like Note Rush more but for a Zoom lesson, this works.

MusicTheory.net Exercises: Good for note reading, ear training and theory tutorials

Virtual Tours

Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the Musical Instrument Museum boasts an extensive collection of instruments from every country in the world:

Check out Studio Bell’s Speak Up! online exhibition, featuring many talented Indigenous Canadian musicians.

Pianist, composer and history nerd Thomas Little takes us on a tour of the National Music Museum in Vermilion, South Dakota:

The final virtual tour offered during the 2020 Tiqets Culture Festival (showcasing virtual tours of museums around the world) was a virtual tour of the ABBA Museum. Catch the replay here:

Check out this virtual tour of The Beatles Museum in Liverpool:

Finally, the Morgan Library & Museum (NY) takes us on a virtual tour of Beethoven’s workshop:

Virtual Concerts

This fall, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra has been offering free live stream concerts on Fridays. Register in advance to watch live or the replay.

The Metropolitan Opera offers nightly streams of past performances. These are available for free and each production is available for a limited time.

The Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall offers free digital concerts. Register for access.

Do you have a favourite online music game, virtual tour or concert that isn’t on this list? Drop it down in the comments.

Adventures in Live Streaming & Streaming

My foray into live streaming and streaming began on Palm Sunday weekend, my designated weekend to play at church. All in-person church services were cancelled at the point due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Holy Week is huge for Catholics, so I am sure I wasn’t alone in feeling gutted and a little lost that this most vital celebration of our faith and Jesus’ sacrifice was relegated to worshipping alone in isolation, together yet apart, rather than celebrating together as a faith community at church. So, I kept practicing because I needed to do something that felt normal for that time of year. A small part of me practiced in the off-chance that we’d get the green light to have music at our Easter Sunday Mass that was live streamed (we did and it was glorious).

Jumping into Live Streaming

I think it was around 9:00 PM that Saturday night when I concluded that if I was feeling depressed about the music ministry not being able to contribute to Holy Week services, the rest of the choir probably felt the same. Perhaps they would like to sing along with me while I practiced?

That led to a quick search on live streaming options. I must admit, I didn’t know much about live streaming or streaming, other than the fact that sometimes my gamer friends and favourite YouTubers did live streams (live broadcasts online). Sometimes, they upload prepared content (streaming).

OBS popped up at the top of my search. Impressive, but the learning curve seemed too high for my mental state that weekend. Having made the decision, I just wanted to start streaming right away. I considered Facebook Live and Instagram Live briefly. A small part of my mind was already thinking ahead to multi-streaming - broadcasting to multiple places, like Facebook and YouTube simultaneously. So, Facebook Live and Instagram Live were ruled out immediately.

That’s when I found StreamYard. It’s a web-based livestreaming service, which allows you to stream to YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitch, Facebook, Periscope and Custom RMTP. Upon a quick skim, StreamYard seemed to have the lowest learning curve so I plunged in. A few quick sound tests and within 10 minutes, I was live streaming a practice session - and people listened and interacted throughout.

Music Ministry Hour

I was soon joined by my friends and fellow liturgical musicians Lisa Kiernan (St. Gabriel the Archangel) and Kay Alexander (St. Mark’s). Our impromptu live streams morphed into a weekly worship sing-a-long throughout the Easter season. Sometimes, we were joined by my brother Jay (St. Francis de Sales) and the Wourms family from St. Gabriel’s. We all studied the Scripture readings for the upcoming week and selected songs that we would typically do if we celebrated Mass. We multi-streamed - live - to Facebook and YouTube (A.K.A. “simulcasting”).

Sound check in StreamYard’s virtual Broadcast Studio.

Each week, we learned a little bit more about audio levels, equipment, and mic positioning. One weekend, I played around with custom overlays in Figma and banners in StreamYard, so things looked pretty darn slick by the last session:

Designing video thumbnails and overlays in Figma has been a lot of fun.

Live Streaming Recitals

After Spring Break, my students and I discussed options for the June 2020 recital: to live stream or pre-record. I was already experimenting with live streaming. My students, being the tech savvy folks they are, knew just as well as I that editing videos usually takes longer than you think it will. Perhaps that’s why even they were curious about live streaming a recital.

We needed to do a test. I contacted our local nursing home to see if they’d like us to perform for the residents in a virtual recital. Six students signed up to be guinea pigs. Here’s a clip of my live stream preparations for the recital:

The residents watched the live stream or the replay. We also invited family and friends to watch the recital as an unlisted YouTube live broadcast. It went well. Afterwards, my students said that it felt similar to a normal recital. The excitement level was the same. Everyone liked the idea that we could chat backstage, while parents were pleased with the sound quality and overall experience.

We decided to move forward with a live stream recital in June. My students took full advantage of the backstage chat window during the recital, cheering each other on. Family and friends utilized the live chat on YouTube. Thanks to StreamYard’s user interface, I inserted some of the comments directly into the live stream and responded to comments and questions in real time.

I don’t think anyone noticed that I accidentally left the broadcast. Thankfully, with StreamYard doing all the heavy lifting, the show went on. I quickly slipped back in before the next performer needed to take the stage.

It wasn’t the same as being in a church and having the Snack & Chat afterwards, but at least there was that real-time interaction with family and friends both near and far.

Live Streaming 101 Webinars

In May, both the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association and Alberta Piano Teachers’ Association asked me to do a webinar on Live Streaming and Streaming Recitals and other studio events. From the sounds of it, it was well received and convinced a handful of teachers to give live streaming or streaming a shot.

The webinar and reference materials are currently only available to APTA and ARMTA members. I am in the process of re-jigging the material into an online course that will be available for purchase on the Studio website next month.

Live Streaming & Streaming - The Adventure Continues

Throughout the spring and summer, I played around with streaming and live streaming. The bulk of my content creation so far has been teacher demos of student repertoire and RCM and Conservatory Canada technical requirements, which are available on the Studio’s YouTube Channel. I record in StreamYard to toggle between multiple camera angles while recording and use Davinci Resolve to edit the videos.

What “So…um…” looks like.

In the fall, my impromptu Practice Clips & Tips Instagram and Facebook series levelled up to the Practice Time with Ms. Rhona weekly series on YouTube:

I picked up a new toy to improve my audio quality. I’m still playing around with both the mixer board and the microphones to find the ideal setup. It’s a work in progress:

Check out my studio tech setup here.

I also decided to commit more time to creste content for my two other channels. There’s The Musical Muse - my musician/freelance writer channel, where I upload performances, unboxing videos and reviews, as well as Budo No Tabi - my budo & Japanese culture related channel, uploading sword care tutorials, unboxing, and fun videos of my exploration of Japanese culture. I have a few more content ideas but that’ll be a surprise.

This is not easy by any stretch of the means. The biggest challenges for me right now are balancing my workload, prioritizing tasks better, and managing my time and energy. It has been a fun adventure, learning how to use Davinci Resolve and exploring different setups, content ideas, and so on.

My students and I held the first piano party of the year in StreamYard and Steam. We used the “Record Only” option in StreamYard for the performances. We kept the Broadcast Room open while we played Skribbl.io and Among Us. Naturally, we muted our mics and turned off our cameras while playing Among Us so as to not give away who was a Crewmate and who was an Impostor.

Afterwards, I shared the video with studio family and friends as an unlisted video. However, I can share these highlights with you:

Next month, we will be performing our annual Christmas recital for the nursing home residents online. It will be live streamed privately to the residents as well as to studio family and friends. My returning students are pros at setting up their mics and cameras now, so I don’t think the sound check period prior to the recital will need to be as long as it was in June. I think Sound Check began one or 1.5 hours before we went live. The newbies will just need a little bit of coaching, but thankfully, most of them attended the piano party, so they got a little taste of what’s to come.

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Fellow teachers, with stricter gathering restrictions in place once again, what are you doing this year for recitals?

DISCLAIMER: This post contains a referral link to StreamYard. If you get a Basic or Pro subscription, you will get a discount and I’ll get a little referral bonus.

Budgeting Workbook | Unboxing, Flip Through & First Impressions

As we start to prepare for 2021, I embarked on a quest for the perfect cashflow planner. Yup. A paper planner., because I suck at keeping track of things if it’s solely digital.

I bought the Budgeting Workbook from Amazon for $9.01 CAD. It is a best-selling item for its category on Amazon and has received positive reviews. The one that said that the planner made budgeting “fun” intrigued me.

Budgeting Workbook Specs

• Monthly & Weekly Budget Planner pages for one year

• Expense Tracker Bill Organizer for one year

• Note pages

Check out my vlog, which features a detailed flip through:

I did have one runner up: the Ardium Semi Year Cash Book, available for approximately $15,95 USD.

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How do you keep of your budgeting and expenses? Any tips or recommendations? Share them in the Comments.

DISCLAIMER: This description contains Amazon links. If you click on a product link and make a purchase the Studio will receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting our channel and blog.

Free Christmas Sheet Music for Piano (2020 edition)

Source: Dreamstime.com by Ellione.

With Christmas fast approaching, it’s time for piano students everywhere to start working on Christmas music. Here are five websites that have a good selection of Christmas sheet music for students:

Free Christmas Sheet Music for Piano

Free Christmas Piano Sheet Music (Beginner & Easy)

Christmas Sheet Music for Piano

Christmas Music Songs

Free Christmas Music

Do you have any a favourite websites with free Christmas music? Please add them to the Comments section.

Stay tuned for my list of recommended Christmas Books and sheet music available for purchase.