Piano Lessons start next week!

 It's been a while since I wrote an update post. All my thoughts this summer have been piano parent or piano student tips. 

   Or they've been thoughts like this: "Oh, no! It's Friday! What on earth do I write?"

   Or I've been away and simply didn't bother writing at all. Which happened quite a few Fridays this summer.

   If you care to know how my summer's been, the answer is busy. Not always with music-related things. Volunteering at Ross Haven Bible Camp, camping with my family, garden and greenhouse work (I love growing things almost as much as I love teaching piano!), and a trip for a friend's wedding in the States have kept me on my toes. But, I still had my musical moments. Let me share them with you.

   Volunteering at camp included playing piano for chapel. That's something I always enjoy! It poses its own unique challenges, though. Like the fact that *coughs* I tend to play too fast. Way too fast. The campers are looking to me to set the pace. Meanwhile, the guitar players are trying desperately to signal me to slow down! (OK, maybe it wasn't that bad. Hopefully it wasn't that bad. I tried to play at a singable speed and listen to the song leader and guitarists. But, you know.... 😁) Also, I had my sight reading skills exercised and stretched, but I was also reminded of the importance of practicing. It really does go a lot smoother when you're not sight-reading in front of five or six dozen children. :) 

   As I mentioned in a post about musical forms, I spent some happy afternoons accompanying a couple young violinists. That was a great experience. Accompanying for violin is a lot different than accompanying for voice! On the upside, you don't have to worry about lyrics that are not in accordance with your faith and personal convictions. (If you're looking for an accompanist in the near future, click here for rates.)

   Of course, I still practiced piano whenever I could at home, mostly working on my hymn arranging skills, music for church on Sunday if I was playing, and practicing my sight-reading through Schumann's Album for the Young. Now I'm coming to the place where I need to pick some new music to start learning. I think I'll work on Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude." It's one of the few that has more vivacity and turbulence. I told a friend that, if composers were authors, Chopin would be a romance novel author, and Brahms would be writing action-packed epics. Since I never cared for romance novels, and love a good (sometimes even an overdone) dose of action, guess which composer I like better?! On the flip side, I could learn something by Mozart, too. Or finish the Beethoven sonata that I started last year, before a student decided she liked that sonata, and I wound up arranging a simplified version for her. Or there's Debussy. So much music to choose from. 

   I'm excited to get back into teaching. This month is Viking Month! I'm eager to turn out games involving broadswords and music terms, maps and note-reading, shields and rhythms. I'm eager to assign new music and welcome both new and familiar faces. It will be so good to be back into schedule! 

   That's been my life! What about you?

   Looking for a piano teacher? Click here! I look forward to hearing from you! 



Location: Onoway, AB T0E 1V0, Canada

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