Songbird Piano Lessons

  Hello! I'm back!    I had a sad experience on Thursday . When I came into Wal-Mart, the seasonal display right at the front door was no longer carrying bubbles, pool floaties, and s'mores kits.    It now has back-to-school supplies.    *groans* It's not even August yet!     People complain about how the Christmas stuff starts coming out even before the  Halloween  décor is down. I don't mind that. I love seeing the Christmas stuff come out, love watching the light of hopeful, child-like anticipation chase away the darkness of night. Even if it's all secularized and very little of it actually has to do with  Baby Jesus or salvation.    But I do mind the back-to-school supplies coming out in July.     And now, I'm going to make matters worse in the world by reminding people that piano lessons are coming up, too, in a little over a month. (Actually, is that so bad? Because I've already got a cool Se...

 Recently I was accompanying an advanced level violinist, one I had heard play multiple times and knew to be highly skilled. She was working on a Mozart sonata, and as we worked, I discovered that she did not know what sonata form was. She didn't know when she was playing in the exposition, the development, or the recapitulation.     It didn't affect her playing.     Which got me thinking: Why does it matter? Why should students know whether they're playing a sonata form, a rondo, or a theme and variations? Isn't it enough that they just make music, play with expression, and give glory to God and pleasure to their audience (and themselves)?     I had to backtrack and think of my younger self.     Once upon a time, I played sonatas without actually knowing what a sonata was. I knew they generally had three movements. But for the most part, sonatas and rondos were simply boring names that Classical composers gave their piece...

 Today's post won't be long.     But recently I was watching  a video by Brylan Riggs . If you're a  Christian , and you're serious about pleasing the Lord, I really encourage you to check out Brylan's videos. I'll admit, this is the only one I've actually sat down and watched start to finish, but it was good, and from the looks of other video titles by him and what I've heard from others, I think he has some really good things to say about discernment in music, the "Christian" music industry and its pitfalls, and other cultural questions.     Musical discernment aside -- which, as you probably know, I think is very important in more ways than one -- his video made me think... about myself.    Am I truly making music to God's glory?    Or am I looking for the spotlight for myself?    I hope the answer is #1.     But conceit is a sneaky monster, and I like to be applauded. I feel great when someone ...

 Twice a year (three times for the students who do Festival), I tell my students, "Remember: If you mess up during a performance, it's not a big deal. Everyone messes up. What matters is what you do with it. What matters is that you keep going."    I know about messing up at a performance.    There was the time I  ran into another student at a recital  -- on stage. There was another time where I hadn't actually even started playing, and I  cried my way through my piece . (Incidentally, although I felt so rotten about that recital, according to other eyewitnesses, I actually played really well. Maybe all the turbulent emotions inside made me play more expressively? 😆) In short, I made all the typical mistakes students make at recitals, and then some not-so-typical blunders.     But the biggest one in my memory is the day I had a memory slip... during an exam.     It was my Grade 8 exam. I don't remember much about how...

 Whew! It's summer break over here at Songbird Piano Studios. I know, it's a month still before school lets out. But I like to take summer break early. After all, who wants to be indoors when the gorgeous weather will go by so fast here in Alberta?    The month of May included one more round of group lessons, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed! And then there was  Provincials.  For those who don't know, the top students in the local festivals get recommended for Alberta Provincial Music Festival. None of my students received that honour this year (maybe in the future!), but over the course of the week, I accompanied for four Parkland vocalists who did receive that honour. It was quite the experience!     But, of course, the climax of the month and the school year was our recital! It was a joint recital again, this time between myself, one other piano teacher, and my own voice teacher.     Yes, you read that right. I started taking vo...

 So....    I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room.    If you're going to sign your child up for piano lessons, they'll need a piano.    Pianos come in many shapes and sizes. And they are expensive.     Let's talk about going piano shopping.     The whole reason I'm writing this post is because I'm realizing that several of my students are under-equipped. Also, an instrument that worked just fine for them in their first year is not quite cutting it in their second year. Of course, a parent starting out doesn't want to spend $9,000.00 on a brand new upright. You don't have to. But there's very little point in getting an instrument that you'll just have to replace next year.  In A Nutshell     First, you want to make sure you get something that has 88 keys. Less than that is very much short-term planning. Second, you want something that has weighted keys. This means that, when your child plays i...

 Last Word of the Week till next September!!! 😺🎆🎇🎉 Cantabile In a singing style