Getting students ready for a recital takes time! Learning the music is part of it, but practicing performing once the music is ready is just as important. Here are a few video clips which showcase different aspects of preparing a performance. Download IMG_0747 Download IMG_0746 Download IMG_0750
Here are a few video clips of high school students preparing music for our California state exam, Certificate of Merit. These students are participating in the Advanced Level of Certificate of Merit. There are ten levels in this program and it is helpful to me as a teacher to enter my students in this event because I hold myself responsible for teaching a certain amount of material and information each year. The Certificate of Merit program is basically a broad curriculum which prepares students in all areas of music: performance, technic, sight reading, ear training and theory. For more information on this program, see www.mtac.org and click on Certificate of Merit. Download Chopin Etude Download Dello Joio
It is fun, exciting, a little annoying and always silly when siblings sit side by side at the piano! These two brothers, ages 6 and 7, keep me laughing as they learn to play together. Download Duet Download IMG_0739
(The above photo is a theory page from Pre-Reading Valentine's Party.)
Enjoy the following video clips of students working on Valentine's solos. They are preparing for our Valentine's Party; a short recital, followed by treats and making Valentine's. In private lessons this week, we are practicing their recital pieces, and practicing how to perform. Download 004 Download IMG_0714 Download 012
~Lori
Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate with my students! Pre-Reading Valentine's Party is brand new and contains creative student solos for young beginning students who have not yet learned to read music on the staff. Also included are simple theory pages as well as a teacher accompaniment for each piece.
Happy Valentine's contains solos written for Primer Level, Level 1, and Level 2 students. It is filled with melodic, unique pieces which students love to play. My students are enjoying learning these pieces as we prepare to perform them at an upcoming Valentine's Party.
~Lori
Enjoy these short video clips as students continue to learn Christmas carols! Download IMG_0491
These three students love working on pop music arrangements. We are currently working on Adele's "Someone Like You." I teach this type of music basically by ear...we watch the youtube videos and then get a chart from any on-line site which has lyrics typed out with chord symbols above. Then we figure out what to play and sing together, trying to keep it pretty close to the way the artist has recorded it. Here is a video clip of our work so far on this piece! Download IMG_0493 ~Lori
This seven-year old second grader is learning to play pieces from Piano Literature, Vol. 1, edited by Jane Bastien. He has been a dedicated student, practicing daily, and is in his third year of lessons. I typically introduce classical pieces by master composers when a student can read well in Level 2 of the Bastien Piano Basics, which is about what I consider to be "late elementary" music. If a student has learned about phrasing, counting, and balance between the hands in method books, then teaching the early classical pieces becomes a lot easier. Enjoy this video clip of Minuet in G, by Bach.Download Bach
~Lori
...a few more video clips of beginning students having their first lessons of the year using their new Christmas books.
Christmas is coming! I am beginning to teach carols to my students now and will be sharing their progress this week. The rhythms are challenging, the music is familiar, and students who celebrate Christmas want to learn them! For about the first 4-5 years of lessons, I spend time teaching Christmas songs to students. I teach them at private lessons, and group lessons...solos, duets, multiple part arrangements! I encourage and practice counting the pieces with students at lessons, then progress to singing as they become proficient in playing the pieces. This video clip shows three students learning to play "Holly Jolly Christmas" from Bastien Play-Along Christmas, Book 1. Download Christmas
~Lori
This solo collection contains pieces at primer level, level 1 and level 2. It is a great book for sight reading at different levels and is a fun addition to any method at Thanksgiving time! Here is a video clip of a student playing Tom Turkey, a level 1 piece. Download IMG_0378
Mom and I had a great day with the pedagogy class from Point Loma Nazarene University! Students visited our studios for a half day clinic. Jane began the day with a lecture on teaching beginning and intermediate students. We then moved over to my studio, a few blocks away, where I had invited several of my own students for lessons which the Point Loma students observed. The day ended with dinner, discussion and browsing of materials in my studio. We wish all the best for these new piano teachers and we hope we have adequately conveyed our passion for teaching piano! It is a terrific job!
~Lori and Jane
I held a Halloween party for my younger students who came in costume, played a piece, and then made crafts and ate treats following the recital! It was a fun night for all! ~Lori
The amount of music to assign each week varies for each student. Most of my beginning to early intermediate students practice about 30 minutes a day, so I try to determine about what I think each student is capable of accomplishing in that amount of time. Some students read really well and get bored with just one or two pieces, so for those students (as shown in the assignment book above) I assign quite a few pieces from several books. If I have students who like to play their "favorite" piece over and over, I may assign less reading material. In general, I try to have one challenge piece that we are working on for a recital or festival, a few easy reading pieces and some technique practice, such as scales and chords assigned for each week.
Here are a few video clips! Download 029 Download 025
I count aloud with my students as the play during their lessons and I encourage them to count aloud with me and also at home while practicing. It takes practice and getting used to, but students who can do this well learn to play the piano with a good sense of rhythm. Once students can play in rhythm well, I also encourage them to sing while playing. Here are two video clips of younger students counting aloud while playing. Download Mr Download IMG_0258
There are basic facts and techniques which are presented and practiced at every piano lesson along the way...from the very beginning lessons through the advanced. Here are a few video clips which showcase some of these things:
~Lori
Click on the following link to see the beginnings of learning to name the bass clef line notes on flashcards. This student started lessons in Sept. of 2010 and is now working out of Piano Party Books C, by Jane, Lisa and Lori Bastien, while learning to read music, a few notes at a time. Download Lw first songs
Pictured below is her assignment book and flashcards for the week! Each of my beginning students owns a set of Bastien Flashcards to practice at home.
This next link is a video clip of this beginning student playing a piece from Halloween Party, by Jane, Lisa and Lori Bastien. Halloween Party is a pre-reading solos book. I like to continue students in pre-reading pieces even while they are learning to read music. Download Ewflashcards
~Lori
Friday lessons... and a terrific first week overall!
Here is a video clip of starting a concerto with a 5th grade student! Download 032
Here is a video clip of a first attempt at "Triple Dip" by Robert Vandall. Download 036
Video clips from various lessons...Download 020 (2)
Download 017 Download 021 (2)Download 016
It always takes me time to go through the disarray of summer's end and get my studio cleaned up for a fresh start for fall! But once I get started, I have fun with it. I love to make creative bulletin board displays. Pictured here is the board in my studio. I made it a few years back at one of the piano camp sessions. Students helped paint the wood border of the board.
I also have a bulletin board in my waiting room. Students draw pictures while they are waiting for their lessons and I put them up on the board in this room each week. What you are seeing on the board now is just background paper, recycled from the printing presses of the Neil A. Kjos Music Company. Soon I will have lots of kids' artwork to display!
Finally, I have a great desk in my studio! It is in the corner of my studio, and it is where I write, talk on the phone and spend a fair amount of time sitting each day... and I have a bulletin board here as well!!
~Lori
Summer is over and I am excited to get back to my routine teaching schedule! I really enjoy seeing my students again after not having seen them regularly over the summer. The first few weeks of lessons entail new music for all as well as lots of review! Here is a video clip of a 9-year-old student reviewing key signatures on flashcards. Download 020 ~Lori
This session of campers met from 9 - 3 from a Monday - Thursday. I was fortunate to have four counselors helping me, and students had a rotating schedule each day, which was something like this:
The last video clip of students preparing for Guild! Download Solid_Rock,_Jane_Bastien
Download The_Saints_Come_Marching_in
Enjoy this video clip of a 5-year-old student's first Guild piece!
~Lori
Download Spanish Gypsies, William Gillock
A few more video clips of students preparing for Guild!
~Lori
Caruso, my 6-year old Havanese, had his house moved to the piano studio this year! We remodeled our kitchen and family room, leaving him with no comfortable spot to rest during the day while I was teaching. I found that with all the constructin going on in the main part of our house, he was most comfortable being with me in the studio and he has kept this habit, taking all his naps now while I teach, right next to the piano!
A few more video clips of students preparing for Guild... Download Bowing practice! Download My Best Friend, by Jane Bastien
(Friday lessons! These two cute girls are going out to the theatre after piano!)
Here are a few more video clips of students preparing for Guild Auditions. Download The Calico Cat, Jane Bastien Download Little Dog Running Down the Street, Jane Bastien
A few more videos to browse...Download Sea Mist, James Bastien Download Ivan Sings, Khachaturian
I have been having fun hearing my students get their pieces ready for their Guild Auditions which will be in just about a week. I am going to be posting short video clips over the week of students playing pieces that I like to teach. You can hear that they are enjoying their music, they still have some practicing to do, and this will be a busy week for all of us! (...and just to add a little color to this post the picture above is showcasing some of my favorite buttons!)
The National Guild of Piano Teachers is an organization that piano teachers can join. In late spring/early summer each year, auditions are held in almost all cities in the U.S. It is a favorite event for all of my students...all ages can play. The website for this organization is www.pianoguild.org.
Here is the first video clip...enjoy!Download Ring Around The Rosy, from Pre- Reading Solos, Jane Bastien
~Lori
I learned to sew in the fall of 2009. My mother-in-law taught me a few basic things which opened up a whole new hobby for me. I had never had any interest in sewing, in fact, my grandmother, my mom and my sister all loved sewing and while growing up, even with all the opportunity to learn, I never did! My mother-in-law is also a fantastic seamstress and had sewn many things for us over the years, including, Halloween costumes for my children, pillows, curtains, and bedding for our dog! She bought us a sewing machine a few years ago so that she could sew when she was visiting us, and after a few years of seeing the sewing machine sitting around, I asked her if she could teach me to sew. I will admit that I have become somewhat obsessed with sewing. I have moved my sewing machine from room to room, trying to find the easiest place to work and keep my projects set up and the machine has now ended up in my piano studio! My students have all been interested in what I am sewing, and so, recently, I accidentally began making an apron for every girl student who wanted one in my studio! One of my students was looking through my fabrics, buttons, lace, trim...and came upon a small, unfinished apron. She said she loved it and I said I would finish it for her because I had started it a long time ago and it was too small for all of us in my home. So, that is how the story goes and pictured in this post are a few of the finished aprons!
An exciting two-day session was held in my studio for the pedagogy class from University of Redlands. We enjoyed spending time together as students observed my private and group lessons, and we took a close look at many Bastien piano books, with emphasis on teaching beginners. I wish this class of students great success as they begin their journeys into the world of teaching piano!
~Lori
A class of 8-year-olds play duets for the first time! We practiced the two parts separately a few times and then had success when playing both parts together. Here is a clip of the kids practicing together. Download 086 They are playing a piece called "Bulldog Blues" by Jane Smisor Bastien from the book Duet Favorites, Level 1.
And one more here: Download 122
~Lori
I am getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day with my piano students! I am having a recital and cookie and craft party in a few weeks. Here are some of my favorite Bastien Valentine's pieces:
Here are a few video clips of these boys' lessons. The 5-year old is working on playing in rhythm. The 6-year old is in the very beginning stages of learning to shape a melody line.Download Studentpics2010fall 044 Download Studentpics2010fall 047
~Lori
It has been so exciting to see how quickly these students have progressed since September. I started Christmas carols or Hannukah songs with kids the week before Thanksgiving and then we had last week off. This week's lessons so far have been adorable! Here are a few clips. Download 161 Download 162Download 165
~Lori
A big thank you to all of the teachers from Japan who visited our piano studios last week! Mom and I had a lot of fun spending time with these teachers and our students enjoyed playing for them! We hope they are all settled back into their own teaching in Japan and that they had a great time here in La Jolla.
~Jane and Lori
