While you can get 15% off your entire purchase in the Piano Pantry shop through the end of March (use the code: BIRTHDAY15 at checkout), I also wanted to use this week’s Friday Finds for a special giveaway. Why this week?
Well, the very first post went live on March 20, 2021 – that’s almost 5 years exactly to the day tomorrow.
This felt letter board would be a fun way to wish Happy Birthday to your students!
Currently, I started using mine to display a “word of the week”. (Follow me on Instagram here.)
(It wasn’t my original idea – but thank you to the teacher I saw doing it on Instagram. Unfortunately, I can’t remember who!)
3
Would you love for all of your students to be able to play “Happy Birthday” anywhere and at any time? Me too! The newest item in the Piano Pantry shop is the “Happy Birthday By Ear” teaching resource. It’s also on sale as part of the month-long birthday celebration.
4
Perhaps one of the most popular people who has done something with the tune “Happy Birthday” in recent years is the late Forrest Kinney. If you’ve never heard of his 88 birthday variations series, check out more here:
Spring is only a week away – can you smell it in the air? It was only a few weeks ago I was confessing to you that I was enjoying Winter, but now that Spring is peeking through, it’s feeling really good, don’t you think?
I love its various textures and beautiful melody. Like many of the pieces by Naoko, I would counter that this piece is slightly more challenging than early intermediate.
2
A few favorite spring recipes using things like asparagus, peas, and radishes. I’m a pretty lucky girl in that I have a neighbor only a mile and a half away that sells fresh asparagus!
If you know me at all, you’re not going to be surprised to see this one! 🙂
Last week I started building a “Spring” playlist on Spotify. My husband gets a complete kick out of the fact that I build playlists like this – he’s more of a random Spotify Radio listener.
4
Although custom playlists are not my husband’s thing, I’m certainly not the only person who loves creating playlists. Phew!
Yes, creating seasonal playlists was one of her pieces of advice, but I have to say I couldn’t believe how many points she made that was exactly what I was talking about in the recent post: Experiencing the Seasons in our Studios and Life. (I promise I did not listen to that podcast before I wrote the post – Ha!)
P.S. Last weekend I finally took down my Christmas tree in my studio! Anyone else? LOL
Don’t forget! In celebration of Piano Pantry’s 5-year birthday, you can get 15% off your entire order in the Piano Pantry shop which includes the entire Music Lab series and the new Happy Birthday-By Ear resource through March 31, 2021.
With several online events happening over the course of the next month, I thought this might be a good time to highlight those along with a few useful resources on participating in professional development.
Nicola’s Turboboostevent will be from March 29th – April 2.
This 5-day event is designed to help give a refresh before gearing into the final weeks of the school term. While it’s 5 days, 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Early next week, our friends in Australia will be celebrating Australia Day which, like the 4th of July in America, is their official “national day” observing the founding of their nation.
Today, I thought it would be fun to feature all the amazing teachers and resources we have available to us from some friends “Down Under” along with a few other finds from afar.
I can’t help myself but also reminisce a little about the three years my husband and I lived in Melbourne back when we were young tykes. 🙂
The one Australia Day I remember is from 2009 when we picnicked by the Yarra River with ex-pat friends from Germany.
1
Elissa Milne is one of those teachers that when she writes an article (ElissaMilne.com)- I don’t miss it. Composer of the Little Peppers and Pepperbox Jazz books as well as much more, she is a conveyor of fun, unique, and introspective sound and thought. Elissa is also one of the administrators of The Art of Piano Pedagogy group on Facebook.
Some of my favorite articles from her over the years include:
One of my favorite discoveries from our days living in Oz was the Electric Water Kettle! I honestly don’t think I even knew something like this existed at the time as they are not a staple kitchen appliance in most American homes (especially those that don’t drink tea). They are SO handy though!
Samantha Coates has been a rising rockstar in piano-teacher-world over the last few years. Her brainchild, BlitzBooks, is repertoire that works to combine the worlds of rote teaching and notation-reading by creating pieces that are written in multi-levels.
To give you a quick description of how it works: a student would begin with level 1. Once they master that, they continue learning the same piece but level 2 (of that piece) adds a few more seemingly “harder” things in. Once they master level two, they take it a little further in level 3.
4
When we lived there, one of my husband’s customers was gracious enough to invite us to their farm for a weekend.
We got to see the countryside, a working farm including a sheep-shearing shed, and he got to go crawfishing.
His wife made Anzac Biscuits (cookies) just especially for us. Here’s her recipe:
1 c. rolled oats
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. brown sugar (lightly packed)
¾ c. coconut
½ c. butter
2 T. golden syrup (light Caro or maple syrup)
1 t. baking soda
3 T. boiling water
Preheat oven to 300. Blend oats, flour, sugar & coconut. Melt butter and syrup over low heat and remove. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water then add to the melted butter mixture. Stir this into the oats mixture. Drop rounded spoons of dough onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Bake 15-17 min. Cool for 5 min.
5
When you think of Australia, I would suffice to say Tim Topham is likely one of the first people to pop into your mind.
Tim’s website, TopMusic.co, is home to all kinds of resources for teachers including his TopMusicPro membership site. He also recently launched TopMusicMarketplace.com
Description from Prime: “Anzac Girls is a moving series based on the unique, and rarely told true stories of Australian and New Zealand nurses serving at Gallipoli and the Western Front.”
Description from his website: “Combined with backing tracks and additional teaching resources, my original piano method, books, and digital sheet music will motivate students at every age and level – and keep them coming back for more.”
8
Some Australians might laugh at me, but my favorite Australian TV show was McLeod’s Daughters.
Description from Amazon Prime: “When Jack McLeod passes away, his two daughters inherit Drovers Run, a vast cattle ranch in the Australian outback. Ultimately, Tess and Claire decide to run the ranch together, with their housekeeper, Meg, her teenage daughter, Jodi, and a local girl, Becky.”
The beginning of a new semester always seems to bring with it a little extra work. This is the time many teachers sit down and consider what’s coming up in the weeks and months ahead for each individual student.
There may be students who are preparing for a competition or non-competitive festival, students preparing a senior recital, or students getting started playing in their church’s worship band or accompanying congregational singing.
I tell myself ahead of time to not worry about getting much else done that first week of the semester as most of my time outside of lessons will be dedicated to student planning.
Here are some resources to help you with your planning plus a few other end-of-week goodies.
I’ve been trying to think of ways to keep this series fresh in the new year. As one who has definitely been feeling information overload these past 9 months more than ever, I want to make sure that what you’re getting here is useful and succinct without feeling like too much.
Here’s what I’m going to experiment with:
Things will continue as normal, but I’m going to try and focus each weekly post a little more.
Rather than 8-12 random items, I’m going to try and have the majority of them focused on one topic and sprinkle in a few randoms – such as recommended products and recipes as usual.
While this is the main idea I’m shooting for, let’s be real – it probably won’t be cut and dry that way every time. It’s just a new way for me to think about what I’m sharing with you.
We’re going to kick off the year with a little fun… TAXES.
OK, maybe not so fun, but we have to think about it sooner or later so we might as well just get it over with. 🙂
In this list are some of the products I use on a daily basis throughout the year to keep myself organized so when tax time does hit, I’m not scrambling.
I’ve been totally getting into Instagram Stories (finally!) and would love to see you there! Follow me on Instagram.
*Disclaimer: Any statements in this post should not be considered legal or tax advice. Please consult with a tax professional about your specific situation.
The item I’ll be giving away is Kevin Olson’s brilliant book Impressions on Color.
This felt letter board would be a fun way to wish Happy Birthday to your students!
Sports-Themed Japanese Erasers (Amazon)
When we lived there, one of my husband’s customers was gracious enough to invite us to their farm for a weekend.
