Last week, I held several classes for our city’s Parks and Recreation department, including a class for 5-6-year-olds, 7-8-year-olds, and 9-10-year-olds. (The photos below are of the latter).
Holding these classes is just one way I try to continually market my business and keep my name in the community. If you missed my first post that included detailed information on the Tot Music Time for 3-4-year-olds, read it here.
I take various materials for these classes, including Piano Fun for the Young, Celebrate Piano, and Faber’s My First Piano Adventures. Since it’s just one class, the students don’t receive any books; I mostly do improvisation activities, exploration of the piano, keyboard topography, and playing along to song tracks with a steady beat.
We start by playing the Piano Safari animal improvisation game. This game works great for a large range of ages.
In the summer of 2013, two years into my studio, I started offering classes through our city’s Parks and Recreation Department to help grow and market my studio. Several people had mentioned it to me when I first opened, but I pushed the idea aside – silly me. I don’t remember what made me finally try it, but I haven’t regretted it.
I’m going to share with you first a little about the logistics of holding these classes and then will share my lesson plan, materials, and photos from one of the classes, Tot Music Time.
Next week, I will post information and photos from the other classes.
The Low-Down
Our city’s Parks Department offers programming throughout the summer. Anyone can offer a class. All you have to do is send in the class title, description, date, time, and if there will be any charge. They do all the advertising and registrations and simply send me a class list a few days prior. I send them the offerings in January so they are ready for the printing of publicity.
I run the classes either the week of Memorial Day (if I know schools will be out early) or the very first week of June to allow for student sign-ups for any summer classes I might hold. I hold two classes a day: 11:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. (I have them fill up the 11:00 first in case there aren’t enough sign-ups for the second class; then I don’t have to come in as early!)
Each class has a set minimum and maximum. This is based on the “move-around” space in my studio, the number of keyboards I have, and lastly, the amount that I need to stay sane (I don’t do large groups well!) 🙂
I’m excited to announce that I will be hosting a free webinar with Tim Topham this coming weekend!
(Don’t be confused by the date on the image, as that’s Australia time. It’s Saturday evening, June 4, here in the US. See below to find out when it is for your time zone.)
I’ve been listening to his podcast since the start, and we met for the first time at MTNA 2016. This webinar is the session I gave in San Antonio, hence the “Wild West” theme! 🙂
what Tim has to say
I’m very pleased to give you front-row access to my free webinar next weekend with Amy Chaplin called “The Wild West of Studio Marketing“.
It’s a live 1-hour online training on Sunday 5 June at 8am AEST.
What time is that for me?
What’s it about?
If you’ve ever wondered about the best way to market you studio, create buzz and build student numbers, you’re going to love hearing about what Amy has achieved in 4 years of starting a studio from scratch.
Most importantly, not only does she have a great story and fantastic marketing ideas, she’s researched, analysed and graphed the outcomes of more than ten different specific marketing strategies, so that you can save time and money learning which ones work the best.
I was completely blown away by Amy’s presentation at the MTNA conference this year.
Not only is she a fantastic, genuine and knowledgeable speaker, she has the research and analytics to back up what she says.
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to 10 items or less!
A “Superpower Piano Recital” decked out with life-size Batman and Spiderman figures taped to the inside of the piano lids?! Super fun and super awesome! In case you were wondering like me, teacher Marie Lee told me that due to lack of superhero music, most students just chose pieces from their repertoire from the year (Supersonics Piano, Piano Pronto solos, classics, and pop hits).
This past weekend I held my fifth spring recital. Each year I try to do something a little different. This year the first half featured student solos, and the second half was collaborative pieces.
In this post, I’ll share a few video clips of student performances and a list of some of the resources I used for collaborative music.
There were several duets, one-piano six-hands, and two-piano eight-hand pieces. Besides a couple of duets here and there, this is the first time I’ve had all my students collaborate.
Learning to play with someone is a skill in itself, and I can say that, without a doubt, all my students felt challenged and yet completely rewarded in the end. Parents and students alike can’t stop saying how much they enjoyed the collaborations. I can already tell my studio families will be expecting a lot more of this from now on, and I’m excited as well!
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to keep it under 10 items!
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A professional recorder player was featured on Cross-Eyed Pianist. I love it! In college, I took a January term recorder class. It was fun and totally popular with even non-music students! Up until then, I did not realize there were different sizes of recorders beyond the ones we played in grade school. Who knew it could be so beautiful?!
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Are you a Pinterest user? They’ve made a few recent changes.
Speaking of copyrighting, artists protecting their work, and media piracy online, here’s a shocking story. I’m sure you’ve heard about the new Harriet Tubman image going onto the new $20 bill. An old college friend of mine is a talented artist/graphic designer and self-employed small business owner. In June of last year he wrote about a debaclehe was going through with his Harriet Tubman image being pirated by an organization called Women on 20’s who was working a global campaign attempting to get a woman on the U.S. $20 bill(!) They are currently working on a settlement with this organization but now that this image has been chosen for the $20 bill, doesn’t this make this an even bigger issue?
Please take a minute to help bring awareness to this situation and share the postwherever you can. Let’s help get credit where credit is due!
A local teacher friend and colleague recently hosted a fun and unique recital using Catherine Rollin’s Museum Masterpieces series.
In this post, you’ll hear directly from her about how she executed this recital. I’ll follow up her recap with seven hidden lessons we can learn from her description and plan.
If you’re unfamiliar with the series, here is a YouTube playlist that features the whole series! You can also download free samples from the Alfred site.
(To see photos from my friend’s Museum Masterpiece Recital, click here.)
From MaryLee
I am featuring the four books of Catherine Rollin – Museum Masterpieces. I heard about them when she conducted a workshop at Taylor University last September. I knew then, and there I was going to do this for the Spring recital. The kids all chose their pieces from the insert of the paintings she included in each book. I asked them what painting caught their attention and then I played the piece. They have been loving it! Some asked to play two, so a few are doing that.
I am having my nephew, who is an artist here in Ft. Wayne, talk a little about each painting. He will have some of his works on display and my students are submitting some artwork, which we will also display. I have four boys that are serving hors d’oeuvres as we check this all out at the close of the recital. It should be a lot of fun.
I was just looking up on Pinterest for my instructions on a “shaving cream” painting. I think I can pull this one off and display it Sunday without knowing it is awful. I am not talented in drawing, painting, etc.!!
Each painting will be projected on the screen at the front while the student plays. And my “waiters” will be dressed in suits and bow ties, offering hors d’ (am tired of spelling that word) on silver trays. A former student who had just finished her first year at IU asked if she could come and take photos of the recital, as she has gotten interested in photography. Then the pictures will be posted for others to see.
At the workshop, Catherine talked about her parents taking her, as a child, to many museums to see original paintings. So that had an impact on her. And the pieces are wonderful, as you might imagine, and they are not all in the key of C or G and are very expressive.
I like making recitals as interesting and as possible fun, as I hated recitals growing up!
Hidden Lessons
Not only have we gotten a great idea from Marylee, but there are a lot of “hidden” lessons we can learn from her description and plan.
Even though there’s a focus book, the series has several levels which allow all students to participate.
Students were encouraged to choose their pieces, giving them ownership.
Having all students perform from the same series and assigning roles beyond performing inspires a sense of teamwork – belonging to something bigger than themselves.
A professional in the artistic field is featured; there is an application beyond just the music.
Technology/visual stimuli are incorporated.
Direct teacher participation.
After-recital activities foster a sense of community within the studio (gives parents time to talk about how great the recital was!)
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to keep it under 10 items!
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Find out how you can use Noteflight’s online notation software in your studio.
You may or may not be familiar with the Ted Talk by psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success? Grit. It’s worth the 6:12 of your life to watch. Encourage your students and families to view it as well by including it in your newsletter, Facebook page, or assign during computer lab time. The producers at Freakonomics Radio talked this week with Ms. Duckworth on how grit isn’t something you’re born with but how it can be learned. Find out How to Get More Grit in Your Life, and those of your students, I might add!
Each Friday on this blog, I will share some of my favorite finds from the past week. I absorb a lot of content in Feedly so I’m looking forward to helping you as busy teachers see what’s worth checking out! You will find anything from teaching articles, podcasts, music news, recipes, favorite pieces, and more. I promise to try to keep it under 10 items!
In this information age, we can only absorb and implement so many improvements in our teaching at once so I love when I come across unique posts that aren’t about materials or better pedagogical techniques but are still pertinent to piano teachers and my first two finds are just that!
Sara Campbell over at Sara’s Music Studio shared her 2016 Piano Recital Fun Mix playlist on Spotify. I’m excited to use this playlist as pre-recital and intermission music for my upcoming recital!
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Apparently it’s “Get-to-know-Tim-Topham” week in the piano world! Hugh Sung did an interview with Tim as a part of his special podcast series on Musical Entrepreneurs, and Leila and Tim did a Google Hangout (watch on YouTube) which included a follow-up blog post. In Hugh’s podcast especially, you will get a sneak peak into how his past experiences have played into his current pedagogical philosophy and career aspirations.
