Happy Birthday By Ear: The Ultimate Teaching Resource

Can you think of any moments when, as a young piano student, you were
put on the spot or caught off guard being asked to play something for people and feeling the heat rise to your face because you weren’t able to do so “because you didn’t have any “music”?

I myself have had many experiences in this situation – sadly, even into my early adult years. Often, the request was a simple one – “Happy Birthday” – and yet to me, it was crippling and made me feel ashamed.

These people know me as THE pianist in their life. That’s what I’m known for! Why can’t I just sit down and play this simple tune without music?

Without a doubt, life experiences make up who we are today.

As a teacher, I’m now determined to help my students feel
ENABLED and CONFIDENT that, as pianists, they can sit down and play something anywhere and at any time – starting with the tune “Happy Birthday.”

Today I am excited to release the ultimate teaching resource for playing “Happy Birthday” by ear and am confident this is the only download you will ever need!

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Friday Finds #208: Best of February

As I continue to consider what this slightly new Friday Finds format looks like (with more themed content each week), I realized I also didn’t want to lose the charm of the fun list of random finds that this post series has always thrived on.

Thus, I’m going to shoot for the last Friday of each month being a compilation of the best finds from the past month – just like I used to do.

Enjoy!

 

1

Congratulations to my good friend Joy Morin on celebrating 12 years of blogging!

I can’t imagine what the piano teacher world would be like without you – you’ve inspired so much of our world!

(P.S. She’s doing a great discount and giveaway this month so be sure and jump over there right away!)

 

2

If you’re a Google Chrome user, did you know you can organize your tabs into groups? Who knew?!

 

3

In February, Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA) released a big new Business Resources section on their website

 

4

What to Do When Parent’s Don’t Want to Be Online for Music Lessons
( The Unfinished Lesson)

There may be more to it than we think! Here are four great tips from Rosemarie Penner.

 

5

6 Brilliant Websites for Original Piano Sheet Music (Pianosaurus Rex)

 

6

Notated versions of the RCM Level 9 and 10 Chord Progressions – for free. (The Collaborative Piano Blog)

 

7

“The shelves at Trader Joe’s do what?!” That’s what I said when I read this post: The Mind-Blowing Trader Joe’s Trick We Just Learned on TikTok (The Kitchn)

 

8

Speaking of Trader Joe’s, here’s my Trader Joe’s shopping list. (Piano Pantry)

 

9

21 Podcasts for Piano Teachers in 2021 (Joy Morin | Color in My Piano)

 

10

Using Social Media Effectively to Market Your Studio (Teach Music Online Podcast)

Some great tips with guest Sara Campbell. The top tip I told away was from their conversation on the difference between Marketing and Advertising!

 

11

I can’t wait for season 2 of Nadiya Bakes on Netflix! Her personality is so fun and inviting. They haven’t announced a release date, but until then, enjoy season 1. Her happy face will be sure to brighten your day.

 

12

The rest of February’s Friday Finds:

#207 Winter

#206 For all the Office Product Junkies

#205 A Superbowl-Inspired Friday

 

 

My Trader Joe’s Shopping List

Recently, a friend posted on Facebook that she was going to Trader Joe’s for the first time in a long time, and did anyone have items they LOVED she should add to the list?

After commenting using a quick cut and paste of my Trader Joe’s shopping list I keep in Evernote, it hit me: I need to share this list with you guys since we talk about food occasionally here on the Piano Pantry blog!


Healthy Snacks for Long Teaching Days

Back-to-Teaching: Six Easy Recipes for the Week Ahead

Healthy Go-To Recipes from All Over the Web


In this post, I’ll give you a brief explanation of why Trader Joe’s is popular, share a couple of sources where I frequently get ideas for fun things to try from there, and finally, my own shopping list!

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Friday Finds #207: It’s all Winter!

Many of us in the US have been hit these past couple of weeks with some serious weather. I can’t remember the last time we here in Indiana have seen this many days in a row of 20-degree weather and consistent snow with no melting and slush.

I have to say that I’m loving it! Working from home, of course, certainly makes it easier to enjoy and not dread. 🙂 I’ve always been of the opinion that if it’s going to be winter, I would rather experience the season with all it has to offer.

Stay warm and safe – especially all of you that have had to go through all the power outages!

-XOXO

 

1

Winter’s Serenade Intermediate-level sheet music by Dennis Alexander

 

2

The winter-scenes over on Kiel James Patrick’s Instagram account have been incredibly enjoyable to follow!

 

3

A Winter playlist on Spotify. (Amy Chaplin)

Music that will set the scene for the beautiful side of winter including scenic white views, crisp cold, and comforting warm fuzzies.

 

4

Look at this downtime for fresh produce as an opportunity to take advantage of all the beautiful fruits and vegetables that you can get in your freezer section!

 

5

Trader Joe’s is one of my favorite places to buy frozen products. Check out this podcast episode highlighting their freezer section.

 

6

The Perfect Winter Piano Piece (Wendy Stevens)

 

7

Shades of Sound Listening & Coloring Book: Winter (Playful Piano)

Winter-time inspired grand-piano coloring page (Leila Viss).

 

8

A short story: The Fir-Tree by Hans Christian Anderson (Becoming Minimalist)

 

9

Cold church blues: practicing organ in the winter. (Rebekah Maxner)

 

 

Recent and Upcoming Guest Speaker Appearances

Hey, just a couple of quick announcements!

 

Career Development and Entrepreneurship

Last week I was a guest speaker for one of Butler University’s Career Development and Entrepreneurship graduate classes.

Some of the things we talked about included:

  1. The story of opening my new business and how it changed and developed over the years.
  2. Acquiring and retaining students
  3. Marketing and studio policies
  4. Rates, billing, and payment options
  5. Lesson material organization

If you are looking for someone to talk about this topic with your college class or local or state association, you can contact me here.

Feel free to also check out my speaking page that shows a list of sessions I’ve done in recent years.

 

Turboboost

If you haven’t heard yet, Nicola Cantan from Vibrant Music Studio is hosting an online event called “Teacher Turboboost” from March 29th – April 2.

I’m happy to be a guest speaker along with several other awesome ladies.

It’s a 5-day event designed to help give a refresh before gearing into the final weeks of the school term. Each day will have a very focused and yet broad topic such as: connect, open, explore, grown, balance.

What you will find unique about this event is that it will only be 3 hours a day (10 am-1 pm EST) and the guest speaker sessions are 15-minutes so they will be easy to absorb.

My session will be on the final day. It’s called:

Reset and Refresh: Tiding Tips for Studio Teachers

Enjoy a workspace that is always fresh and orderly by implementing a simple, consistent, and sustainable tidying routine. Four specific time points, a small checklist, and an incremental (but minimal) time commitment will be your steps for a well-kept studio.

 


Read more details and SIGN UP for the event here!*

Use the code PANTRY to get a $10 discount ($59 instead of $69)

*Disclosure: I will also get a very small affiliate percentage back but it doesn’t cost you any extra.


 

 

Friday Finds #206: For all the office-product junkies

 

1

My Top 6 “But It Again” Products on Amazon (Piano Pantry)

Amazon is a great place to buy consumable office supplies!

 

2

My New Favorite Tool in the Studio: Dry Erase Crayons! (Jennifer Foxx)

 

3

My 6 Favorite Office Suppy Items as  Piano Teacher (Joy Morin)

Can office supplies really bring you joy? They sure can! Here are some joyful products that bring joy to our teacher friend, Joy! Ha! LOL.

 

4

Chicken Fajita Stuffed Poblano Peppers (Simply Recipes)

 

5

Favorite Tools of the Trade (Melody Payne)

Scroll CLEAR down to the “Office Supplies” section

 

6

A Piano Teacher’s Shopping List: Organize and Inspire with these 13 Items (Teach Piano Today)

13 things Andrea Dow uses over and over, year after year.

 

7

Piano Teacher “Must-Have’s”: A Minimalist’s List (Piano Pantry)

If I were a brand new teacher or if I had to start all over again in a very small space, what are the items that would be “must-haves”?

 

 



Did you miss a previous week of Friday Finds? Here are quick links:

#205 Superbowl Inspired Friday
#204 Valentine Goodies
#203 Goodies from Down Under
#202 Planning for a New Semester
#201 Getting Taxes Organized

 

Friday Finds #205: A Super Bowl Inspired Friday

I’m going to be completely upfront with you – sports are not my thing – not even a little.

In high school, I enjoyed going to basketball and football games because I was a band kid and had school spirit.

The Colts have my fan-hood simply because I’m a Hoosier and have good friends that had season tickets for a while and took us once a year for several years.

Beyond that, I only pretend on Super Bowl Sunday because it’s one of my few opportunities to make game-day food. 🙂

Whether you’re having a small handful of friends over to view the game or watching with just your family, take the opportunity for a finger-food kind of day – they can be the best kind!

Since my 9-year-old nephew loves the Kansas City Chiefs, I’ll be rooting for them.

Have a great weekend!

 

1

Football Fever sheet music from Wendy Stevens

 

 

Touchdown! sheet music from Piano Pronto

 

 

2

For all you dill-pickle lovers:

Classic Pickle Ham & Cheese Rollups (Northern Yum)

These have been a favorite since high school. One of my best friends’ moms would always make them for us when we came over.

Dill Pickle Dip (anaffairfromtheheart.com)

The roll-ups above in a dip form! Be sure and really chop up the beef and pickles really well – maybe even pulse in the food processor so it’s in smaller bits.

 

3

Freakonomics Podcast: An Eggheads Guide to the Superbowl (for people like me).

 

4

Game-Winning Guac’ (Marcela Valladolid)

This has been my favorite guac for ages. Simple and classic.

 

5

Trader Joe’s Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips are my absolute favorite!

P.S. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to subscribe to my favorite grocery store’s YouTube channel

 

6

Football Note Match-Up Worksheet (Discoveries Piano Studio)

 

7

Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms (Ina Garten)

Mushrooms – say no more.

 

8

Sports-Themed Japanese Erasers (Amazon)

 

 

9

Football Grand Staff Game and Football Key Game from Piano with a Twist on Teachers Pay Teachers.

 

10

Ham & Cheese Tailgate Sliders (Once Upon a Chef)

Buffalo Chef Mix (Your Cup of Cake)

 

 

Advanced Arrangements of Sacred Music

This post is part of a series called Your Questions Answered that highlights questions from readers just like you. If you have a question you would like to submit, you can do so here.

 


Hi.

I have searched the internet for decades, always looking for sacred piano arrangements that are very very advanced level. I play all of Rudy Atwood’s and Harold DeCou’s piano arrangement solos, and have wanted new material.

The problem is that no matter what piano book or piano sheet music I look at on the internet, all of them are too easy, and bore me, since they are not a challenge to me at all. I am looking for titles of piano arrangement books of sacred music, whether classical or jazz style.

Do you know the names of some advanced enough music books, or the names of some Christian piano arrangers who still have this kind of music in print to where I could order it?

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Friday Finds #204: Valentine’s Goodies

Preparing you for the sweet holiday ahead.

 

1

I’m not much of an iced cookie baker, but if I were, I would definitely make these cute piano valentine cookies for my students!

 

2

A Valentine’s Playlist on Spotify full of all kinds of good love songs for you to enjoy for the next few weeks.

 

 

3

I just purchased some fun little Valentine Fortune Tellers from Lauren Lewandowski to give to my students the week of Valentine’s along with their Valentine card/treat. (She has two sets: Set 1 & Set 2).

 

4

My students don’t get Valentine treats from me every year but in the years they have, I’ve used printable Valentines from Wendy Stevens, Joy Morin, and Sara Campbell, and Lauren Lewandowski.

 

 

5

Pictured above next to student valentines, is the free candy jar contest printable available here on Piano Pantry.

 

6

Do you have students who like to color? Get them listening to classical music with Playful Piano’s Shades of Sound: Listening & Coloring Book for Valentine’s Day.

 

7

Alert: personal Valentine’s memory

My husband made this photo for me when we were first married (some 18 years ago!) when he was big into photography. He’s still a bit of a pyro but always with safety first. 🙂

 

8

Although I love to cook, Valentine’s Day is a holiday I declare a break and a night out at a delicious restaurant. If I WERE to cook for that night though, here are some things I might put on my menu (notice the heavyweight on desserts! Ha!):

Chicken with Herbed Goat Cheese (Ina Garten)

Butter-Roasted Radishes (Add a Pinch)

Apple Gorgonzola Salad with Italian Vinaigrette (Kelsies Kitchen)

Balsamic Strawberries with Ricotta Cream (Ellie Krieger)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (Ree Drummond)

Frozen Berries with Hot White Chocolate (Ina Garten)

Mixed Berry Pavlova (Ina Garten)

 


Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

~Amy

 

Winners of Waay app Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway for the two new courses in the Waay music theory app – there was 72 entries total!

Using Rafflepress’s random winner generator, the following five people are our winners. Congratulations to each of you!

Check your inbox for details on redemption.