Check Out this Year's Welcome Package & Practice Challenges

After approximately 10 years, I retired Maestro’s Top Dogs. Here is what I came up with:

20 & 40 Piece Challenge

This challenge encourages us to explore different types of music and at a variety of levels. This forms your “Set List” of go-to pieces that are ready to perform for family, friends, and the community.

How it works:

• Pieces need to be at least 16 bars long (8 bars for beginning students).

• Pieces can be

• Challenging (a little bit above your playing playing level)

• At your current playing level

• Easier, fun to learn pieces

• Try out pieces of differing musical styles.

• Pieces can be assigned ones or pieces that you choose and start on your own.

• A piece will be added to your 20 & 40 Piece Challenge List when it’s performable. That means that you can play through the piece at a steady tempo, with mostly correct notes, fingering and rhythm - with some musical expression.

Rewards:

• 20 pieces: 4 Cake Pops baked by Ms. Rhona-Mae

• 40 pieces: $10 gift card (choice of Amazon, Starbucks, Xbox, Roblox, Nintendo, App Store or Google Play) OR 8 Cake Pops baked by Ms. Rhona-Mae

• 20 Piece Challenge & 40 Piece Challenge Badges for your Badge Card

• Your name on the Challenge Board

Technique Wizards Challenge

These year-round challenges are geared towards leveling up your technical skills to build the chops needed to tackle your pieces more easily. Earn badges when you complete all scales, chords or arpeggios in a level, played at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering.

Scale Zen Master Challenge

How it works:

• To clear a scale, it must be performed at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering. Once cleared, you may mark  the corresponding key on your Technique Wizard Progress Card.

• You may perform your challenge scales at your lesson or send a video of you performing to your teacher.

• No skipping levels allowed. However, Intermediate & Advanced students may start the challenge at Scale Apprentice.

Chord Zen Master Challenge

How it works:

• To clear a chord, it must be performed at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering. Once cleared, you may colour it or mark the corresponding key on your Technique Wizard Progress Card.

• You can choose how far you would like to progress in the challenge. Obviously, the further you get, the more rewards you get.

• You may perform your challenge chords at your lesson or send a video of you performing to your teacher.

Arpeggios Zen Maste Challenge

How it works:

• To clear an arpeggio, it must be performed at a steady tempo, with correct notes and fingering.  Once cleared, you may colour it or mark the corresponding key on your Technique Wizard Progress Card.

• You can choose how far you would like to progress in the challenge. Obviously, the further you get, the more rewards you get.

• You may perform your challenge arpeggios at your lesson or send a video of you performing to your teacher.

 60 Second Mini Challenge

This mini-challenge will run for 4 weeks.

How it works:

• We’re looking for perfect scores, using Note Rush or Poco A Poco’s Read Music app. Alternatively, you may use any other note-naming app.

• You may work on the challenges during your lesson or send a screenshot of your score to your teacher if you complete the challenges at home.

Additional Challenges to Come

Some of the other challenges include a sight-reading one, a transposition one, a practice goals one, and an ear-training challenge. These are still in the planning phases.

Visit Nicola Cantan’s blog to get the badges, posters, and more teaching ideas.

All the materials pertaining to this year’s challenges will be made available on the Studio’s Ko-Fi page at a later date.

Getting the Hang of Hashtags

(Originally published in the Spring 2023 APTA News & Views)

One of these days, I should update my document that contains most commonly used hashtags. Then, I can quickly copy and paste them into my weekly posts for my studio’s, as well as my martial arts club’s social media. Alas, that day is not today.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, “hashtags” are a tool that can improve your studio’s SEO (search engine optimization). Think of them as search terms by topics for social media. They generally look like this: “#_____”.

According to Twitter, the hashtag was created in 2007 by a web marketing specialist named Chris Messina.

Where to Use Hashtags

Hashtags can be used on most, if not all social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. There are countless other platforms that it’s hard to keep up with them all. Here are a few examples of where I use hashtags:

Instagram

Why Use Hashtags

The reasons for using hashtags on your social media posts are similar to general marketing strategies, which can be easily broken down into making it easier for: people to find you, sharing information and engaging with others.

Hashtags can help you:

• promote your business brand, projects, etc.

• increase your business exposure

• add context to your social media posts

• expand your reach

• engage with your followers/network

• show support for social issues, local businesses, events, etc.

How to Use Hashtags

As you can see in this old Tweet (as well as my earlier examples), there is a general format to follow:

LinkedIn

You make your post and then add hashtags at the end. Alternatively, you may add hashtags on keywords within your post. Don’t add spaces between words. Make everything a single word after the pound sign. Single words or short phrases that are commonly used work best. 

The big caveat is to be mindful of your hashtags. They need to be relevant to what you are sharing. My dojo mates and I often grumble when we see posts completely unrelated to the martial arts we study because the poster decided to use #iaido. We click on it, hoping to learn a new training tip, only to see that it’s completely irrelevant. Trust me, it happens in all sorts of posts.

Keep in mind that “less is more” on some social media platforms. For instance, Facebook posts generally see better engagement with one to two hashtags versus the 11 - 30 that we commonly see in Instagram posts. LinkedIn recommends users to limit themselves to seven hashtags, while TikTok has no hashtag limit. Three to five hashtags seems to be the sweet spot on YouTube. 

If you use a social media management platform such as Hootsuite or Buffer which allows you to crosspost to several platforms at once, I recommend you stick to the three to five hashtag sweetspot, or customize each post before hitting “Save.”

Finally, make sure your posts are set to “Public” so that your posts will show up in searches.

Popular Hashtags You Can Use

Here is a list of some commonly used music-related hashtags to jumpstart your hashtagging adventures:

#musiceducation #music #musiclessons #musicteacher #musician #musicianlife #musicschool #musiced #musiceducationmatters #musiceducator #musicteachersofinstagram #musicteachersofig #musicians #musictheory #musicclass #musicislife #classicalmusic #musicteachers #elementarymusic #musicbusiness #onlinemusiclessons #musicforkids #musicteacherlife #musiclessonsforadults #RCM #royalconservatoryofmusic #conservatorycanada

Hashtags can be instrument specific, for example: #ukulele, #violin, #guitar, #singinglessons, #fluteteacherlife, #pianoreels. You can also be location specific with your hashtags, for example: #yycpianolessons, #yqldrumlessons and #yegviolinlessons. 

Finally, here are a few fun hashtags to expand the types of posts you can share: #MotivationMonday #MusicMonday #TuesdayTunes #TuesdayTip #WayBackWednesday #WisdomWednesday #ThrowbackThursday (or #TBT) #ThankfulThursday #FlashbackFriday #FridayFun #SmallBusinessSaturday #SimpleSaturday #SundayFunday #SpotlightSunday #keepgoing #keepupthegoodwork #AchievementUnlocked #levelup #practicemakesconsistent #practicepractice #funtimesatpiano

Do a quick search on these hashtags in the social media platform of your choice for more inspiration and ideas. Happy hashtagging!

For More Information:

How to Use Hashtags Correctly

How to Use Hashtags

Daily Hashtags

Best Hashtags

Adventures with Kombucha Brewing

After years of talking about it, I finally got into the kombucha brewing game in the Fall of 2022. To make my initial foray as simple as possible, I picked up a complete kombucha brewing starter kit from Heyday Fermentables when I saw their booth at the Millarville Farmers’ Market.

My first few batches turned out all right. The fruit flies were really attracted to the smells of fermentation, so I quickly invested in fly traps. Thankfully, the cloth cover didn’t let anything through that shouldn’t be in the jar.

Early days: Trying to keep the fruit flies away.

About a month later, I ordered another starter kit from Heyday Fermentables.

By Christmas, I was starting to get the feel of how my SCOBY operates differently depending upon the season.

By spring, I ordered a third kombucha jar from Craft a Brew, thanks to my happy, multplying SCOBY, as well as family and friends drinking more:

There haven’t been too many missteps, thankfully. Here are some of my biggest lessons (so far):

• Even though the instructions say 5 - 10 days each for the fermentation cycle and carbonation cycle, that varies depending upon the time of the year. Best to start checking at Day 3 for each cycle.

• Having a dedicated cabinet for brewing keeps all the pesky bugs away.

• Thoroughly wash the cloth cover regularly to keep the pesky bugs away.

• Berry sugar is just as delicious as cane sugar.

• If your batch isn’t fizzy enough, you can make adjustments during the carbonation round.

• Value Village is a great place to find bottles for home brewing.

The Kombucha Cupboard

As far as kombucha flavours go, these have become family favourites:

• Blueberry-Ginger

• Zingy Raspberry

• Cranberry-Ginger

• Ginger

• Apple-Ginger

• Strawberry-Mint

• Strawberry-Basil

• Blueberry-Vanilla

• Lemon-Ginger

On the other side of the spectrum, these kombucha flavours are in the “Let’s Not Do That Again” List:

• Carrot-Ginger (was meh)

• Beetroot-Ginger

• Kombucha made with sencha tea with matcha

Here are some of the sites I visit to get new recipes and learn more about brewing:

• The Wild Gut

• Top 30 Kombucha Flavours (the Zingy Raspberry is the bomb)

• Fit Happy Free (best Blueberry-Ginger recipe)

• Crave the Good (best Cranberry kombucha recipes)

• Beets & Bones (try the Strawberry Mint recipe)

• The Roasted Root (try the Strawberry Basil recipe)

• Everything Kombucha (general tips)

• Kombucha Kamp (general tips)

Do you brew your own kombucha? If so, share some of your favourite recipes below.

Showing off my Everki Atlas Backpack

I began my search for the ultimate laptop backpack in 2020 that could double up as a minimalist travel bag. At the time, my shortlist contained the Tortuga Setout Divide, the Nomatic Travel Pack, and the Everki Atlas. When it was time to choose, there could only be one.

Only the Everki Atlas could hold my 17” laptop, so it was a no brainer.

However, after three years of use, I can safely say that I am so glad that I wound up with it. The Atlas’ sturdy construction has withstood the test of time. The pouches and zippers were well thought out. And at $169.99 USD, it’s a pretty good deal.

Check out my video review here:

Adventures in Indoor Gardening

Last summer, I used some gift cards I received from students and family to purchase two Aerogarden units. I figured that was my best chance of success for a herb garden, seeing as my previous attempts failed miserably.

The nice thing about the Aerogarden is that it’s a complete unit. Grow lights, water reservoir, and a screen that tells you when to feed and water your plants. I ordered the herb garden starter kits. I have to say, hydroponic gardens are the way to go!

After enjoying fresh herbs all summer, I splurged and added another unit in the fall, dedicated to lettuce:

Mere weeks after, I purchased two Lyko Hydroponic garden units with 12 grow pod slots each:

Fast forward to today. I haven’t had to buy lettuce since September. The fresh herbs have been put to great use in salads, salad dressing and homemade Shake n Bake.

Last month, I ordered some grow bags. I plan to level up my gardening by growing some root vegetables. I am definitely open to receiving tips and suggestions.

You can follow my indoor gardening adventures on The Musical Muse Channel on YouTube. I have something a little different for today’s update: