Mood:  lucky

Ok, I'll have to admit... I was a bit (just a teeny bit!) skeptical about using MMP with 10 year old boys. I can now lay all those fears aside.

I've got one class with 2 ten-year old boys (one is my son). They had their first 'real' lesson today. (Didn't have books for them last week, so we played games). WOW!!

By the end of the lesson today, not only had they played 'Popcorn' really well, but they were both able to play the student duet. They each took a turn playing the student duet while the other played the melody. I'm quite impressed.

And the other thing that struck me as wonderful: so many times in the past, my beginners played SO slow. Everything was at a snail's pace. I can see, now, that slow pace was due to the fact that they were trying to process way too much information.

Today, these two boys played Popcorn with such a lovely tempo, and with confidence! Can't wait to see what happens next week. As they both have the Pattern CD to listen to at home, they're getting a really good head start at more complex rhythm patterns.

Posted by creativekeys at 1:54 PM

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Mood:  special

Finally, after 3 weeks of waiting, the MMP books arrived. I was SO glad that I wouldn't have to teach without books anymore. I was especially excited to finally see the Keyboard Games A & B book.

Marilyn (Lowe, creator of MMP) has done a fantastic job with these two new books. She's added a lot more of (what I call) traditional kids songs (Old MacDonald, Row Row Your Boat... that type of stuff) where kids play an ostinato rhythm pattern, and the teacher plays the melody.

 I had my kindergarten class this afternoon. All of the kids did a great job. Last week, they had a bit of a hard time listening and paying attention, but they were much better today.

Something really surprised me, though, today. One of the students was having a slightly harder time paying attention and doing what was asked of him. I didn't think he had learned anything I had taught that day, until near the end of class, when it came time to play "The Woodpecker". He played it perfectly! Even though it appeared that he wasn't paying attention, I guess he really was.

Posted by creativekeys at 10:42 AM

Updated: Friday, 22 September 2006 10:48 AM

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Mood:  sharp

Last night, I interviewed two new families that are interested in studying at my studio. Both of the kids have never had lessons before.

I thought I'd try something new this time. The whole interview process has never been something I've given much thought to, and I wanted to change that.

Enter the Music Matters Blog http://www.musicmattersblog.com On there, Natalie (the site's creator) has some great resources, including an Interview/Evaluation Form for new students (both beginners and transfers).

These forms made my job easier, they made me look more professional, and they really helped give me a good idea of what the student (and parents) were like.

Both students signed up for lessons!

Posted by creativekeys at 9:37 AM

Updated: Friday, 22 September 2006 10:49 AM

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Mood:  lyrical

Yesterday, I taught mostly private (Traditional) students. Two of the kids whom I taught are both 6 years old. One is using Celebrate Piano, and is almost done the book. The other little guy has just started lessons with me, and we're using HLSPL.

Both of these kids are struggling with the technical aspects of playing. So, I borrowed the 'Body Awareness' ideas from the MMP Lesson Plans book.  At each of the kids' lesson, I had them stand up in the middle of the room, and go through some body awareness.

 It struck me as odd, that in 16 years of teaching piano, this is the first time I've ever done activities like this, away from the bench. It makes perfect sense to do this, so why didn't I do it before?

As piano teachers, I think sometimes we get caught up in the "must teach child to read notes" frenzy, and forget about technique. Perhaps the thinking is, "Oh, I'll teach technique when they start learning scales for their exams".

I think that's too late. I'm beginning to see that, before the student ever plays their first song, they should receive instruction on the physical gestures needed to play.

Some resources I'm finding helpful in this area:

• F&F Piano Adventures Technique and Artistry Books
• HLSPL Technique Books
• Those wonderful little videos of Nancy Faber teaching on the Faber website!
• And, of course, the Music Moves for Piano material.

 Think about this: how can you expect a child to play with "your wrists up, please" if they're not sure how to move their wrists!

Try this today with a student: Have them stand in the middle of the room. Ask them to raise their arms from their shoulders, keeping their arms-elbows-forearms-wrists as one unit, all straight from shoulders to finger tips. Make sure their arms are really straight. Then, have them raise their hands up from their wrists (so you can see their palms), and then put their hands down from the wrists (so fingertips are pointing to the floor) Repeat a couple of times.

Posted by creativekeys at 4:54 AM

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Mood:  a-ok

I just finished teaching my 6 year old class that's using the Preparatory MMP book. By the end of the class, each student was able to play "The Woodpecker" along with the teacher duet. Their rhythm was impecable! Not one single hiccup in their playing.

 The other day, I downloaded a creativity worksheet from http://www.wendyspianostudio.com Basically, the sheet provided starting points for creative exploration at the piano. (You need to register - it's free- to view the page.)

 The starting point I gave the students today was "Sam went running down the beach until he jumped in the ocean." The first little girl made quick sounds in the middle of the piano, which, she explained, was the sound of Sam chasing a seagull. The other little boy made big loud sounds all over the place, which he said was the sound of Sam splashing in the big waves.

It was so cool to see these kids creating, using their imaginations, and discovering music as a tool for self-expression!!

Posted by creativekeys at 1:31 PM

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Mood:  happy

Well, back to work! I'm so excited to be teaching 5 groups of Music Moves for Piano -  grand total of 16 kids in the program. Had a little bit of a glitch this week (books didn't arrive on time), but no worries. Hopefully the books will arrive by next week.

This week, the kids will be working on the following skills:

• chanting 2- and 4- macrobeat duple meter patterns
• body awareness and how to play a key
• keyboard geography: finding groups of 2 and 3 black keys
• creating at the keys.
• rhythmic continuity

Their creative activity this week is to choose an animal, and experiment at the keys to make that type of animal sound. I'm already surprised at the student response.... the students have made fast sounds for cheetahs and soft sounds for a cat drinking milk, all without prompting from me.

I

Posted by creativekeys at 7:10 PM

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