Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed the Circular Piano during the halftime show at the Super Bowl. Totally-radically-cool-dude.
Dear, Forrest, while I already knew that we don’t play piano with our fingers, you still somehow make the concept fresh and new with your words – always well written.
Decorating the piano is a fun visual and tactile activity that I do with every new student.
Free download of rhythm variations on the 4-chord pattern. This will be a great reference for my students who are playing worship chord charts. I always walk them through a process that slowly expands the rhythm patterns they use but have never written anything out concrete. I imagine it would look like something similar to what Heather’s done.
Brilliant recital idea. Engaging students directly in their own experience and learning process is so important but can be hard. This is a perfect way to do so.
Unstructured Practice: Giving Students Time to Doodle. Agree 100%.
Whaaaat?! Sweet!
I often struggle with finding off-bench music lab activities for my youngest students (ages 5-7). Since I have one student doing lab and one in a lesson simultaneously, they have to, for the most part, be able to function on their own. If a student doesn’t read well yet, that makes it even harder.
In comes MLT and the idea of acculturation – being absorbed in and hearing music in a variety of styles, meters, timbres, instruments, and modes. Viola! One lab I rotate now is purely listening (15-20 minutes). It’s simple – they listen to music while drawing freely in their personal art book and they love it!
What Great Music! Classical Selections to Hear and to See is wonderful for this. Not only is the music of high caliber, but there are beautiful images to accompany each piece.
If you’re interested in reading a little more on how I use “art books” with students check out this post.
Sort by Price. 167 words by Seth that will kick your “commodity” marketing mindset in the pants.
Last week Drew and I took a three-day getaway to Pennsylvania. We had our eyes set on Hershey and the Yuengling factory tour in Pottsville – yes, I spelled it right, it’s really “Pottsville.” (For those of you who may be wondering what Yuengling is, it’s a beer made in Pennsylvania and my husband’s favorite). He was thrilled when he found out it’s coming to Indiana in February!
This photo is in front of the factory.
This one is right on the other side of the street and is their newly remodeled museum/store/tasting building. I just had to show you because I thought the front of the building was beautiful!
While on our trip I was able to catch up on some leisure reading including this crazy but true Mystery in Six Parts.
With eighteen hours in the car, we also listened to this podcast on 99% Invisible about the NBC Chimes. I figured since the NBC chime-theme is what many use to identify a Major 6th, you may find it interesting.
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Congratulations to Kristen Rendall, winner of December’s Piano Safari giveaway!
Here are a few fun stats as we wrap up our last episode of Friday Finds for the year.
Since Piano Pantry’s kick-off in March of 2016, I’ve shared 293 finds, and received 53 comments on 36 Friday Finds posts for 2016.
Can I tell you something? I LOVE it when you comment – even if it’s a short one! As a blogger, you can see the stats, but the numbers are just that – numbers. It’s getting a chance to read the words and thoughts of you, my readers and getting to interact with you that makes it so much more fun, so keep it up in 2017!
You would think after sharing 293 things I would be completely out, but quite the contrary. Absorbing content is something I love doing and I promise to only ever share finds that I feel are completely worth your time to check out.
Here’s what’s on my mind as we take a turn into the new year:
The Plucky Pianista has a new website melodypayne.com and it’s purty. I would totally use my name for my website too if it weren’t already taken by a James Beard award-winning chef!
The type of post few piano teachers and/or bloggers write. Thank you Rosemarie.
These Colgate Wisp’s are great to keep in your purse, or in the console or glove-box of the car for a quick mouth refresher!
My discovery is a little late for this year but I’m now looking forward to next Christmas as I’ll have both Anne Crosby Gaudet’s Chord Town Christmas and Irina Gorin’s new Christmas Collection that goes along with Tales of a Musical Journey.
As I was rifling through some old files of my graduate years, I came across this photo I had completely forgotten. Austrian pianist and recording artist Paul Badura-Skoda is by my side after he performed a concert in 2009 at the local arts center (called Arts Place) in my hometown here in Indiana. I also had the privilege of being the designated transport for him, to and from the Indianapolis airport.
(I’ll admit I had never heard of him previously as I’m not completely in the know-how of famous classical pianists. Still, I think it was pretty cool I had that opportunity.)
The fact that I had completely forgotten about this makes me realize how beautiful photos are at capturing moments of our lives.
Can I tell you quickly how I got to this place? (Feel free to jump down to this week’s finds below but if you have a few minutes, I promise it’s a good and short story)!
Brought to you by “Amy’s lunch on Tuesday.”
My intrigue with the limited edition Pumpkin Spice Triscuit was rewarded when I found they were quite tasty! They have just the right amount of seasoning, and while they held their own all alone, they would be awesome with a cranberry cheese ball or some sharp cheddar. Well, everything goes with sharp cheddar in my opinion!
This recommendation is of my accord. Triscuits is not paying me to proclaim their goodness.
Creative practice trackers. The piano key layout is a nice touch too.
Bubble wrap to teach voicing – brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, Christopher Fisher!
While I believe in letting students “take a break” over the holidays if they want, encouraging holiday practice by having students get autographs from those for whom they performed is a fun idea. Even if they don’t “practice,” keeping them playing is the most important thing, and our students can never get enough performance opportunities.
The PE-2 Pedal Extender from DPH Music Arts is put to a lot of work in my studio. I would buy it over and over again.
They are having a Thanksgiving Promotion -20% off until 11/27/2016. Order online at dphmusicarts.com/store to get the discount.
I first became aware of The Alexander Technique in my undergraduate days. Most of what I remember is laying on the floor in the practice room. While I appreciated it and understood its importance, as time went on, it got left behind in my day-to-day life. Thanks, to Joy Morin for reminding us of why it’s useful and valuable for piano teachers.
I’ve been checking out the podcast The Entrepreneurial Musician with Andrew Hitz. While I don’t foresee listening on a regular basis, he did have a few past podcasts I enjoyed and thought you might as well including one with motivational speaker and entrepreneur Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, one with David Cutler of the Savvy Musician, and for all you entrepreneurs and bloggers 1,000 True Fans
Do you need to travel a long distance to get home for the holidays? Enter this giveaway on Real Girls Kitchen to be one of 10 people who win a trip home.
I’m sure all of you are mourning with me the tragic loss of Jon Schmidt’s daughter. (He’s a member of the Piano Guys). Heartbreaking…
An Ode to Joy piano ensemble for multiple levels.
