Word of the Week
Rubato A flexible tempo
Posts
September Update: Dinosaur Month!
T-rexes, raptors, Silvisaurus, and Brachiosaurus all roamed... The studio for the entire duration of September. ;) Sometimes in highly unusual locations! Welcome to Dinosaur Month and my not-so-prehistoric studio! This month we had a lot of fun, using these plastic reptiles as teaching aids. During the first week, dinosaurs stuffed in plastic Easter eggs helped kids review concepts that they learned last year and provided new students with an icebreaker matching game. Online students had a print-out page version of this. A spinner with dinosaur-themed rhythms worked equally well for in-person and online students. In-person students used the spinner; online students used a dice! While a dinosaur-track worksheet helped online students ID their white keys, in-person students used the actual dinosaurs to practice note reading and naming. And finally, while I don't have a picture of it, all my students ...
My Story: Handbell Concerts and Missing Gloves
I couldn't think of any piano-related stories to share with you today. So you get to hear a little more on some of the handbell mishaps that I briefly referenced in the post Bells are Ringing. Namely, mishaps involving gloves. Of course, if a mishap happened during practice, it was no big deal. When the director would look up to see what had happened, the person could just shrug and say, "Sorry, I grabbed the wrong bell." But naturally, most of our mishaps didn't happen during practice. They happened during concerts. We wore gloves to protect the bells from getting tarnished by our skin's natural oils. This was all fine and good, as long as you remembered where you put your gloves right before the dessert intermission. During practice, we just left our gloves at our spot. During concerts, there were two choirs playing, so you couldn't just do that as easily. There were several mad scrambles as ringers tried to find both their gloves foll...
Are you back into the swing yet?
Today's post is for your budding musicians! We're one week back into lessons. Students, have you gotten back into your piano routine yet? If not, I want to share some things with you today that will help you in your practice routine. Ready? Let's go! <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/female-hands-playing-old-piano-closeup_31621867.htm#query=kids%20piano&position=18&from_view=keyword">Image by pvproductions</a> on Freepik Try to practice at the same time every day. The earlier you do it, the less likely you are to forget it. If you're really ambitious, and your family doesn't mind, you can try practicing before you head off to school. (Make sure your playing isn't waking the rest of your family up!) For most of you, that might not work so well, so set a time that works for you and stick to it -- every day as much as possible! While you practice, watch your hand position! You all know what good hand position should loo...