Bastien Piano

To think, it's been a year...

One year ago I taught my first online piano lesson. I felt like a 2nd grader attempting for the first time to bowl in a lane with no bumpers.  "I normally get a strike! Why is my ball in the alley? What is going on?" I was used to hearing students playing on my in-tune piano, in a quiet space without interruptions. I quickly adapted to hearing students on out-of-tune pianos, in a house full of chaos, through the computer which distorted or muted every note they played! 

We've come along way! Thank goodness, the sound quality of online platforms to hear music has improved immensely! Looking back over this year, there have been many positives:

• For the most part, my students have attended every lesson.
• They have practiced more than usual, due to so many other activities being canceled.
• They have become more independent readers of music since I cannot play in real time with them, they have to figure out a lot on their own. 
• Scheduling has been a breeze with students home more and I've been able to teach starting earlier in the afternoon.
• I have taken on students in cities other than my own, an opportunity I never knew existed. 
• Teaching music theory has, in some ways, been easier, using my i-pad and sharing my screen at lessons to teach concepts.
• Teaching group lessons is easier in some ways as everyone has a piano and there are no scheduling issues.

The list goes on.

But I really, really, (really!) miss seeing my students in person. I got my first vaccine last week and am eagerly awaiting the second one. Words literally cannot express how eager I am to open my studio again ! ❤️💕😊

 

Fall Semester Starting Soon!

Studio preparations for fall...getting ready for both in person lessons and virtual lessons.

 

Piano Studio for in person lessons.

Virtual Studio.

 

 

 

 

Studio Update

Un-imagined, unexpected and full of adaptation describes our current lives.  What I have come to understand, though, is that music is still thriving! I am so grateful to all of my students and their parents for their patience and perseverance during this time. Many students have inspired me by practicing more than usual. We got through the spring with virtual lessons and performances:  our studio participated in a live virtual format for Federation and National Piano Guild, both of which were surprisingly free of technical difficulties. We managed to keep our high school group performance class going on-line all through the spring and everyone in the studio participated in at least one virtual small group recital. 

I took some time off in June and am now beginning to resume lessons again. Many students will likely continue to work with me on-line, some will resume coming to my studio for in-person lessons, and some will use a combination of  both of these formats. I have come to see much value in virtual lessons and I think distance learning will remain with us well after the pandemic has ended. I am continuing to enjoy learning and experimenting with new ways to improve audio and video quality.

That being said, I have to admit that when my first student arrived back for an in-person lesson, I was so overjoyed I would have gladly paid him for the lesson instead of the other way around! I have never been so happy to see a live human in my studio! I took for granted that connecting and communicating with students in person was an incredible privilege which I have missed so much. 

 "Sometimes you just have to shut the world out, close your eyes...and turn the music up." Not sure who said that, but boy do those words resonate with me now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MTNA Virtual Conference 2020

Please join Lisa and me and a few of our students as we showcase some of our favorite new intermediate pieces from the Bastien New Tradition Series. Thank you to MTNA for putting together this virtual conference which is free for all piano teachers! Enjoy!

 

Bastien New Traditions Practice App Really Helps with On-line Teaching!

I have loved using the free practice app that comes along with each book in the Bastien New Traditions series for on-line teaching! It is providing students with a musical model to follow at home when practicing and during lessons! I am asking students to have it available during lessons. A great exercise for teaching a new piece has been to have students listen to the piece on the practice app while watching their music and counting aloud. Students are hearing a great recording of the piece in real time while I'm with them so we can address questions and get started together on new music.

Also, Kjos.com is offering the e-books for Bastien New Traditions for an incredible price of $1.99 each right now! 

 

Snow Upon Snow, By Lisa Bastien

It's not quite winter but it feels like it, even in southern California! Snow Upon Snow is a beautiful new piece written by Lisa which evokes the peaceful feeling of a first snow! I love this intermediate piece because of the sophisticated melody line which makes it a perfect piece for a student of any age! This video shows one of my high school students performing in rehearsal and recital. Happy Winter!

 

 

Teaching Students to Play in Rhythm...Always a Challenge!

I like to teach my high school students as much as I can about how to work with beginning piano students. I really enjoy hearing about their first teaching experiences and what kinds of challenges arise. In the following video, I give a new teacher some tips for helping students to learn to play in rhythm.

 

Ocean Currents, by Lisa Bastien

 

This new piece has become a favorite with students and at recitals! It is an early intermediate level, in 5/8 time.

Making the Most of Back to Back Lesson Time

One of my basic goals as a teacher is making sure that students have an opportunity to work together. Scheduling time for students to collaborate can be challenging! In this video, I share the easiest way I know of to provide time for students to work together!

~Lori

 

Teaching Piano and Remembering Mom

💜Teaching piano was always a lifeline for Mom.  I remember moving back to my hometown of La Jolla, California at the age of 23. It was around the time that my grandmother on Mom's side had just passed away. Mom was grieving the loss of her own mother when she began to realize that my father's mind was deteriorating from an early-onset dementia. It was an incredibly painful time and I observed my mom distracting from this pain by taking on more students, spending more time in her piano studio. Every day she had some time away from the pain and difficult transitions these losses brought to her own life. 

I have found myself doing the same. This past year has been a tough one. The loss of Mom has left a hole in my heart but one of the greatest comforts during this time has been teaching piano. A real connection to Mom's work has been brought to life by working with many of her former students. Each week, during lessons with her former students, I remember her passion, her spirit and her dedication to giving her all to every single student.  Persistence and truly caring about the lives and musical progress each student achieved were what drove her as a teacher. 

What a gift it is to have a job which surrounds me with music and children. I have found a renewed energy in this lifelong endeavor of sharing music. I spend more and more time in my studio these days. I am so grateful for the comfort I find in this quiet space,  surrounded by the enthusiasm and curiosity of my students.

Missing Mom

Jane Smisor Bastien:  January 15, 1936 - March 27, 2018

 

This picture of Mom was taken in 2012 in her beautiful garden. She loved everything:  music, bright colors, flowers, art! Her enthusiasm for life was incredible and this energy, the beauty she could find in every ordinary thing is what I miss most. She lived a joyful life, throughout good and bad times, and she managed to find peace and optimism in each day. May she rest in peace and always be remembered for a life truly well lived.                                                                                              ~Lori

Interviewing New Students for Fall 2017

I look forward to beginning a new year of teaching in September! Now is a great time to meet with prospective students who are looking for a piano teacher. I always start new students in the fall and in particularly, I am always looking for new beginners! The most rewarding part of teaching piano for me is getting to work with students over a long period of time.

MTAC Convention in Santa Clara

Mom, Lisa and I will be in Santa Clara this weekend, spending time in the Kjos booth! Come see us there! We also have a showcase on Bastien New Traditions on Saturday at 1:00, and then I will be presenting a session about how I teach my private piano students how to teach piano on Sunday at 5:15. Looking forward to this convention!

Lori and Jane in Dallas for TMTA!

Mom and I are so excited to be heading to Dallas this weekend! We will be in the Kjos booth on Friday all day and then have our showcase on Bastien New Traditions on Friday at 5:00. Can't wait and looking forward to being back in Texas again!

Fundraiser for the YMCA

For our last performance of the year, students sold tickets to family and friends and all proceeds went to the children's programs at our local YMCA. We raised $180 and students enjoyed performing in this relaxed setting. I plan to do at least one community outreach program or fundraising event each year in my studio! Thanks to all the students, parents, and their friends for supporting this event! 

Fall 2016!

 

The first month of the new school year has passed and students are making great progress! We have a new Bastien piano course which just came out in August and I am really enjoying using it with my students! I have started an Instagram page for my studio and you can follow me @loribastien! I will be highlighting interesting moments from my day to day teaching there.

I took most of the summer off from private teaching. I only taught my piano camp and a handful of private lessons. It was very exciting to me that two of my high school students were able to teach my younger students over the summer! They did a great job! I focused on piano pedagogy last spring for their group lesson time, going through the rough drafts of Bastien New Traditions All in One Piano Course. They became the first two teachers other than my sister and my mom to use this new course!The experience of introducing piano teaching to these girls has been so rewarding to me.  I realize it has given them a more well-rounded, practical experience to go along with their years of practicing, performing and study of music theory.

So...Happy Fall! Off to the start of another great year! Still so grateful to have the job of a piano teacher with my daily goal of sharing the joys that music can bring! 

 

 

Studio Projects

 I "inherited" this little antique stool from my mom's next door neighbors when they were cleaning out and getting ready to sell their family home. Three of my students (siblings)  scrubbed it clean and painted it for me while waiting for each other's lessons one afternoon and now it adds life and beauty to my piano studio. I love it!

Using a relaxed wrist motion

This 5-year-old kindergartner has had two lessons so far! She is an ideal student with an older sister who takes lessons, and parents who are dedicated to helping her learn. It is amazing how much can be taught correctly from the very beginning of lessons, and in this case, she has learned about hand-shape and wrist motion in these past two weeks. We are using Piano Party  Book A, Theory and Ear Training Party, Book A, and Performance Party Book A, (Bastien), which are designed for students ages 4 and up. Here is a video of some of the work we did in our second lesson.  Download 5 year old second lesson

Fall 2015, back to teaching!

I am so excited to start my fall schedule! I also cannot wait for some fall weather here in very sunny La Jolla, where today it is hot and humid. But I still love teaching in my garage studio, where I have been teaching for the past 20 years. Most months of the year are so pleasant with the garage door wide open and a view of the front yard and a nice breeze coming through... just not today.

The summer flew by with Piano Camp in June and private lessons off and on for July and August. I like to keep a hand in teaching over the summer, keep in touch with my students, and get some new music started. I see students who are in town, who want to come and who have some time to practice. It is a great time to focus on sight reading, practice with students, and look ahead toward preparing for the coming school year.

So, cleaning my studio, ordering music, having my pianos tuned! Back to school time, back to piano!

Teaching students to teach

This class has always been interesting to teach. It is 7-9 kids, depending on the day, and ages range from 9-12. The older two girls have gradually eased into doing some student teaching at this point. They set a great example for the younger students, and are learning how to teach. In these videos, one of the older girls is working with the group on key signatures while the other one takes students individually to sight read duets together. I like the way they work with the kids so patiently and also how the older student on the keyboard is counting aloud with the younger student. Anyway, it is a very nice way to introduce teaching to students who are ready, because they have no fear and they enjoy being in a leadership position.  Download Student teachers  

Guild coming soon! Students getting ready!

My students will be participating in their last event of the semester, which is the National Piano Guild. They will be playing anywhere from 2-10 pieces, depending on their musicianship level. I love this event! Students play a compilation of pieces from throughout the year and it is a great, fun, positive way to end the year. Here are some videos from student lessons as they prepare for this event. Students may play solos or duets for their auditions.  Download First duet rehearsal   Download Duet after a few weeks   Download Duet Sidewalk Cafe   Download Entertainer   Download Sailors Song

 

 

Theory Games

Playing theory games during group lessons make learning theory fun! My favorite games are the card games by TCW which are distributed through Kjos Music. In this video you will see my students playing the game called, Scale Scramble. This is a game which can be played with many different ages and levels of students, because I can choose which scales we will be using in the game. Check out the Kjos website for more information on the many theory games available in the Kjos catalogue:  http://kjos.com/sub_section.php?division=5&series=233  

Students really love these! Download Scale scramble cards

High School Students

I really enjoy teaching high school students, especially the ones who have been with me for a long time. Those students who have a good foundation, in their reading, technic, and theory, are usually able to keep up and progress throughout their high school years, in spite of the ever-demanding homework loads and big efforts needed to get into college! 

The student in this video loves to play the piano, loves music, in general. She told me yesterday that she began practicing this Bach invention over the weekend, practicing a few hours when she had time. She doesn't always practice regularly at this point, but when she practices, she accomplishes a lot, due to all the work she has put into playing the piano over the years. Now, she has the skills to learn on her own, and often, we practice together at lessons, if she has not had the time to practice much at home. I always enjoy our lessons! Here are two videos, one of the beginning stages of her Bach Invention in A minor, and one of the Mozart, K. 545 Rondo.  Download Bach invention   Download Mozart k.545

Student Videos...technology which is helping my students!

Pictured here is one of my students practicing in his home. One of the things which has helped my students progress more quickly is that I ask them to send me short videos of pieces or technic items they are working on during the week. Most students' parents take a quick video using their phone and text it to me, or share it via icloud or youtube. I view the short video and write comments and often will ask for students to re-send the items a few days later after changes have been made. 

This process is incredibly helpful for many reasons: 1) this is a way to involve both students and parents and in order to have a video to send, students  must actually practice at home! 2) I find it interesting to see the set up of the pianos of the students; are the pianos in tune, are the students sitting properly?  3) if students follow through and send short videos of their practice to me regularly, it is a huge gain for both of us because it is as though they get extra short mini lessons throughout the week. 4) it is a time saver which can stop students from practicing something incorrectly for a whole week.

 

Teaching Piano...fully engaged

I took President's day weekend to visit with my daughter who is a freshman in college. I miss her a lot and am little by little getting used to the transition of having her away. I was a little sad to leave her and came home to the usual laundry, school lunches for my son, unpacking and cleaning the house. I was feeling overwhelmed, tired, on east coast time, and not quite ready when my first student arrived. I hadn't been out to the studio or checked on the state of the waiting room, which doubles as a den for our family, or refilled the student cookie jar! But anyway, 1:00 on Wednesday rolled around and I went out to greet my first student who was so cheerful and ready to play for me that I simply sat down and listened and felt my mood lift and peace of mind settle in. When I finished teaching that day, I thought about the students,  what they had accomplished and learned over the week. A 9th grader who hadn't practiced much lately proudly came in and said she had learned the remaining scales for her Certificate of Merit technique level. (not an easy feat since the scales were f#  and d# harmonic and melodic minor.) We were finally able to play through the technic chart well with her friend who has a lesson right after her. A 6-year old Kindergartner who had reached a tough point a few weeks ago was suddenly more focused and began to really understand how to "read" music in the pre-reading format and was excited to be able to play Yankee Doodle!  

Teaching piano is the one part of my day that I can always count on to keep me fully engaged. It takes me out of my own head and allows me to just be for a while... no interruptions, no cell phones, email, or planning ahead. It keeps me right in the moment.  My mom has always said that this job has gotten her through every good and difficult part of her life. More and more, I realize what she means. Seeing my students can lift my mood in a single moment, and the pleasure of seeing their smiling faces, and listening to the music they make is a truly special part of my life.

New! Bastien Flashcards App available through app store!

An updated version of Bastien Flashcards has just been released and is giving my students a lot of great practice on note learning! I really love this new version because it has several levels available to practice recognizing individual notes. Students can practice as few as 6 notes at a time in the first level, and can work up to practicing ledger lines, and notes with accidentals all over the piano. Students can practice note recognition in three formats: 1) pressing the correct the letter name of the note, 2) Pressing the correct key on the tablet keyboard for the note, or 3) pressing the correct key on the actual piano. The app recognizes the pitch and students gain practice from recognizing notes on their own piano.

See the following videos to take a look at some of the features of this app! Download Video1of app  Download Video2of app    Download Video3ofapp

 

Guest Post by Lisa Bastien

My sister, Lisa Bastien, maintains a private teaching studio in New York City. Enjoy her post!

Preparing for Certificate of Merit, 2015

The Music Teacher's Association of California's Certificate of Merit program will be held in San Diego in late March this year. I like this event because it encompasses all aspects of musicality: performance, sight reading, ear training, theory and technic. Most of my students will be participating and are preparing as we speak! 

I enter students who are at least 7 years old through high school age. We do a lot of the preparation for this event during my group lessons, which are held weekly. Having this extra group lesson time with students allows me to work on theory, sight reading, performance, and ear training in groups, and leaves the private lesson time for me to teach repertoire and technic. Pictured above is an unusual group lesson where I have two different levels of students. This works for me because all of these kids are able to work together or independently diligently. There are two older girls, who I give a short theory lesson to each week and then they work together to practice on the lesson they have been given. I spend more time with the younger kids, who are also learning and practicing theory together. While students are working on assignments, I take them out individually to practice sight reading or to hear them perform.  Download Sightreading

I also teach technic in small groups. Here are two kids practcing together on their technic work. Download Chord practice together   Download Practicing chords together  Download Scale practice together

Sonata Contest 2014

December 13, 2014 the MTAC Sonata Contest was held at San Diego State University. My mom started this event in 1976! It has evolved over the years from 60 students in 1976 to 360-400 students in the recent years when she and I have run it together. It is a big event to organize but thanks to my husband, Eric, our computer person, MTAC members, former students, former parents of students and a few other very helpful volunteers, we are able to run this event in one long day each year which begins at 7:30 am. Each student entrant is heard individually and then approximately 25% of the students are chosen as finalists. Finals run from 10 am through the late afternoon.

This event marks the last teaching day for me for 2014 and I will resume lessons in January. Wishing everyone happy holidays and a Happy New Year!

Motivation: Sight Reading

Sight reading seems best learned by practicing it at the lesson. I teach students to count a measure before beginning and then to try reading through a piece, and to keep going even when mistakes are made. This point is most easily taken when playing along with another person, who either plays the same thing as the student, or who plays an accompaniment to his part. 

Christmas carols are usually a big hit among students, especially the young ones! They will motivate my students for the best reason: they want to play these pieces. The first few years, I encourage counting aloud for a few weeks before trying to sing. With very young students, a great thing is, they may not know these tunes yet. They don't mind counting aloud to learn the pieces. Singing the pieces is easily learned after students have counted for a few weeks.

Many Christmas books have accompaniments to go along with the student parts. I like to encourage older siblings or older students to learn to accompany the younger students. The first thing I teach about accompanying is to learn the LH part first. Adding the RH is usually much easier once the LH bass notes have been practiced. Here is a new brother and sister team learning to play together at lessons. 

Download Practicing carols 

 

 

Motivation: Reading Music

Teaching students to read music can be a simple task. There are so many great resources to help students learn to read music that we only need to get students excited about using these and they will begin to learn. I introduce students to reading music after they can successfully play pre-reading pieces while keeping their eyes on the music and counting aloud. Then I go into note reading gradually, a few notes at a time, using flashcards to introduce notes individually. The process is a combination of playing music on the staff, and studying the new notes in note spellers, theory books and other activity books to reinforce the concepts. Here is a list of books and other resources I find helpful for teaching note reading:

• Bastien Theory Boosters
• Bastien Wipe off Books
• Bastien Music Flashcards
• Bastien A Celebration of Notes
• Bastien Coloring Note Designs
• Bastien Dot to Dot Notes
• Bastien Sticking with the Basics

The key to using these books is to do a lot of the work at the lesson. Take time to let a student color a page or do a whole page in a workbook during a lesson, in the waiting room, or during a sibling's lesson. When a student asks to finish it at home, sometimes I say yes, sometimes, no. What seems like fun in a lesson can feel like a task at home, so sometimes I have students leave the workbooks with me and they continue to be excited about working on them during lessons. If siblings have lessons back to back, students can do workbook pages while in the waiting room or at the back of my studio during their brothers or sisters' lessons. 

Completing an entire theory book is worth $50 of music money in my studio. If a student is the type who is highly motivated by this goal, I may choose to let him take the book home.

 

Motivation: curiosity

Curiosity, about the pedals, about how a piano makes sound, about music books around my studio...talking with my students and answering their questions is a simple yet very broad way to foster their love of music. Listening to students' questions and sharing my own thoughts and opinions has a profound impact on them. I know when I look back on my lessons with teachers I remember a lot about their personalities and interactions with me and how their love of a subject helped to develop my own respect and joy on the subject they were teaching. 

A great example of a teaching moment I observed was watching my son's first tennis lesson at age 5. The student before him was cleaning the balls off the court at the end of his lesson with a tennis ball vacuum, and my son began following him around the court trying to figure out how this contraption worked. The first 20 minutes of his first tennis lesson were spent lying down on his stomach with his coach pushing the vaccum back and forth so that my son could figure this out! Students have so much to learn... sometimes it's not about teaching them to hit the ball, or play a scale, sometimes it's just about getting their interest.

 

Motivation...About Rhythm, cont.

Middle and high school students are a little harder to motivate when it comes to counting! Especially when it comes to counting aloud. Again, I have very little trouble getting my students to count who started with me as beginners and have always counted. Sometimes their counting just gets a little quieter, but with encouragement from me, they will do it!  Download Counting bach   Download Practicing starting

Harder always are students who transfer to me who have not counted before! To motivate those students is a big challenge and takes a lot of patience. I can't give one specific solution to the question, "how do you get a student to count who refuses to count?" so I can only say this: I don't give up. I try week after week to make my point clear that counting and really playing in rhythm is one of the most important aspects of music. This takes time! Sometimes years! But eventually, through exposure to other musicians, through playing duets and in ensembles, through receiving judges' comments which might say,"please play in the correct rhythm!", over time...most students begin to understand. 

Motivation: the general desire or willingness of someone to do something...

Motivating students, Part one: Rhythm

Motivation comes from within. So is it part of a teacher's job to help  students find their motivation? I say yes. It is the most important part of my job and I think about it every day. How can I reach my students and inspire them in their musical endeavors? Such a big question is best broken down into little parts. 

I will start by sharing a life situation which influenced me greatly. The first time I was pregnant, I told my doctor I had miserable nausea when taking  prenatal vitamins. His response: "Many women experience this. Do the best you can." (I heard: "He doesn't care so these vitamins are not important.")The next visit, his nurse asked me how I was doing and I mentioned the issue again and told her I really wasn't taking the vitamins. She replied, "It would be great if you could take them! Maybe try splitting the vitamin pill in half and see if taking one half in the morning, one half in the evening, with food, is any easier on your stomach. Let me know how it goes. Let's find a way to get these vitamins in you!" (I heard: "She seems to care if I take these so I will try what she suggested." )

Counting aloud and placing great importance on playing in rhythm is the hardest concept for me to get across to students. Students, especially if they have not been introduced to counting at an early time in their introduction to music, resist placing any kind of focus on rhythm.  "I don't like counting aloud." "Counting aloud makes it impossible for me to play well." "The metronome gets in my way and distracts me from what I'm doing."

The easiest time to teach a student to count aloud is at the very beginning. When I am given the opportunity to teach a beginner, I have very few hinderences in teaching a student to count. These video clips show a young beginner who has no problems or feelings about counting. I tell him to count aloud, so he does!  Download Clapping and counting    Download Playing and counting

...more to follow!

One Minute Club

This past week I have been quizzing all of my students on recognizing notes and key signatures using Bastien Music Flashcards.I have been timing my students to see how quickly they know these sets of cards:

• 24 line and space notes
• 38 line, space and ledger line notes
• 15 Major key signatures
• 15 Major and minor key signatures

When they are able to name each of the above sets of flashcards in under one minute, they sign up on a chart and they earn "music money" to save up to spend in my music store. Here is a video clip of a 6-year-old naming the lines and spaces.  Download 6year old flashcards

It has been a great goal for students new to these concepts and also a great review for students who have learned notes and key signatures in past years. 

Making the best use of lesson time

Most of the private lessons I teach are 30 minutes each. I like to structure lessons into three parts: teaching something new, hearing the things which were assigned, and practicing with students. I have a few short video clips demonstrating these ideas here.

1. Teaching something new: for a young student, I have her write in the counts at the lesson. Then we go over the new item. Download Starting a piece  Download More practice on new piece

2. Hearing assigned material: I hear pieces which were assigned from the previous lesson and help to improve those.  Download Next item

3. I like to practice with students: some technical item, which could be scales, chords, etc., or could be passages from pieces.  Download 5finger patterns

Doing these things helps me to stay organized and make the best use of time during a private lesson.

Teaching Piano...the best job!

I love how it feels to return to a regular teaching schedule in the fall. I have taught one full week now and am reminded of the things I like best about this job.

• I am engaged! It is impossible not to find interest, humor, and satisfaction in working with children and  music. 
• I enjoy the human interest: I love getting to know the students and their families and watching them all grow over the years.
• I am proud to teach a subject which adds such value to others' lives. Teaching students to practice, concentrate and accomplish something challenging is incredibly satisfying.

I look so forward to the excitement and accomplishment that this new school year will bring!

 

Jane Bastien, still the most passionate piano teacher!

Any time I see old friends or acquaintances of my mom they ask me if she is still teaching. YES! She teaches more now than she ever has and she continues to inspire her students, their parents, and all of us around her. She teaches children of all ages and adores them all. Here she is teaching a 5-year old how to read music.

Download Mom teaching

Summer Reads

Only a few weeks left of summer. I have read a lot of great books this summer but here are my favorites:

Shotgun Love songs, by Nikolas Butler

The Price of Inheritance, by Karin Tanabe

Fun, easy, page turning novels that kept me up late at night!

Summer Hobbies

I love shopping in thrift stores and at estate sales to find items to sell in my student store. These items were found at a thrift shop in La Mesa, CA. My students like to buy "old" things that are unique. Here I found greeting cards, miniatures, a little basket, a music coloring book, popsicle sticks and some beads. I do a lot of shopping and scavenging in the summer and I collect a stash of good prizes for the school year. I am on the mailing list for the website, estatesales.net, which lists all upcoming sales in the United States. Most sales offer half price on everything on Sundays. Great prices, unusual items, and often surprising to see what might be found.

Summer Time as a Piano Teacher...

I have often heard it said that one of the best perks for any teacher are the months of June, July and August. I am beginning to agree. I have had open ended summers for all of my life and some have been better than others. I struggled in my first years as a full time piano teacher, trying to find a way to keep a  somewhat continuous income, but still enjoy some time off. Now after 25 years of teaching, I have found some productive ways to bring in income, and to thoroughly enjoy my time off. 

In my own studio, I keep a school-year schedule running from September - May 30. I usually teach about 27 weeks during that time, taking basic school holidays off. When June 1 comes around, I begin with interviewing new students for the fall and confirming times with students who will be returning in the fall. That process goes on and off throughout the summer.

As far as teaching piano over the summer, I currently teach one week of piano camp. There have been some summers when I taught as many as 4 week-long sessions. This is a great way to keep the income flowing throughout the summer, and it adds a lot of variety to the regular type of private lesson teaching that goes on during the school year.

I also offer private lessons when I am in town to my current students. Any new students I am planning to take begin in September. Private lessons can be hard to schedule with any consistency over the summer. I prefer to teach on certain days of the week in blocks of time so that I can make the most of my free time with other summer projects.  

 

 

 

 

Piano Camp 2014

 

What a great week of Piano Camp ~ Our 11th year!  I look so forward each summer to teaching this 4-day camp which meets on a Monday - Thursday from 9-3 each day. With focus on sight reading, ensemble, theory, music history,  and art, we still have time left over in the week for cooking, sewing, games and a pool and popsicle party. Here is how it is done!

Set up in a Montessori fashion where each student has his own schedule, we rotate between 4 activities in the morning.

1. Private Practice with a Teacher:

Students practice with me or with my student teacher for 30 minutes each day. Here are some video clips of private practicing. We sight read or get started on new pieces. Download Practicing at camp  Download Tyler practicing

2. Semi-private or Group Session at the Pianos

Students practice together for 30 minutes, either with a partner or a group, depending on how many students attending are at the same level. Here is an example:

Download Annalise and alexa  

3. Music History

Taught by myself or a student teacher, we go through the four periods of music and listen and learn about the music of each period: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary. 

4. Art

Each student has a 30 minute session for art projects to work on daily. All art is free choice and involves painting, drawing, beading, lanyards, bracelet making,  collage... Students may also work on art in their free time.

The rest of the day, beginning at 12:15 includes lunch, ( students bring their lunch)  quiet reading time, cooking, sewing and free time. The day ends at 3:00 with cookies and milk!

Quiet reading after lunch for 30 minutes: student bring their own books or borrow from my library.

 

Cooking: students have the opportunity to cook one time during the week. We bake cookies for the group to eat at the end of the day!

 Sewing: each student has an opportunity to have two or more sewing lessons with me, where we learn to sew and then make a small project of the student's choice, usually a pillow, bag or placemat.

Free time: playing outside together, fun times!

Can't wait till next summer!

Teaching Chord Voicing

The important technic of voicing a chord can be taught to students at a very young age. I usually break it up into a few stages, which the following video clips will show.

1.  Play the top note of the chord in the RH by itself. Get this note in the ear of the student. The following 3 video clips show a 6-year old who is learning this for the first time. 

Download 5 alone

2. Play the top note of a chord using 3 in the RH, and play the other two notes with the LH.

Download 3 RH

3. Play the top note of a chord using 5 in the RH, and play the other two notes with the LH.

Download 5 RH

4. Eventually, add LH and practice chord progressions regularly. The first video shows a 9-year old who has practiced all of these steps for a few years, followed by an 8 year old, who has also been practicing chord progressions for a few years. 

Download MR chord practice   Download J chords

 

Duet Work

These two girls have had lessons together since age 5 and love playing duets together. They are working on a fun piece, "The All American Hometown Band" by Noona. This is a great piece that my students always remember playing and often it is a cute encore piece for a Senior Recital. Here is how it is sounding:  Download Duet    Download Duet2

Play it Again Ed

Ed is our tennis coach. I say "our" because he was a coach to my sister and me when we were growing up and he has coached my two kids since they were in kindergarten. He is one of my favorite teachers to observe and I have learned so much from watching him teach and interact with his students. Most of the time I observe him while sitting in my car, through the wind screen of the tennis court where he teaches daily. He has had a long coaching career and similarly to the way a musician earns a living, he has worn many hats. He has run tennis camps for students of all ages, for over 40 years. He was the head coach of the USD Men's Tennis Team for many years. He currently teaches students of all ages at Robb Field, which is a large public recreation center in Ocean Beach, California. His website is: ectennis.com. 

Ed also plays the accordian and is passionate about music. I wanted to share an article that he wrote comparing his experiences in learning to play accordian and his experiences in coaching tennis. I particularly like his take on "talent" and what "having talent" or not "having talent" has meant to him as a student and teacher.  Download Play_it_again

 

High School Seniors

It is very satisfying to work with a student over a long period of time, one of the opportunities that I love about being a piano teacher. Both of these boys started lessons with me around age 7 and this last year of high school has been fun, working on pieces that they chose to learn. I will miss them next year! 

Working on Claire de Lune:  Download Clair de lune

 Working on a Chopin Waltz: Download Chopin waltz

Attention Grabbers by Diane Hidy

I have been using this book with one of my students and I really like it! I discovered it through the Federation list when my student chose the piece Secret Agent and his mom ordered the book. Since then he has learned several of the other pieces in the book. The pieces are really catchy! They sound harder than they are to learn and play and many syncopated rhythms and nice phrasing are used. Here are a few excerpts of some of the pieces. Download Brainstorm   Download Rooftop Garden   Download Steampunk

Jane's Masterclass for Orange Coast Cities Branch

Jane was asked to do a masterclass for young students for the Orange Coast Cities Branch of MTAC on a Sunday afternoon. It was a well-attended event by the teachers and families of the branch and Jane worked with four young students that day. She demonstrated her patience and expertise by showing the students important technics and helping teachers understand how important it is to teach beginners the basics. Counting aloud and phrasing were discussed as well as balancing the hands to hear melody more clearly and shaping a line. 

I was inspired to see the interest of the teachers and the warmth created in the whole event. We all appreciated the fabulous reception with the homemade goodies! The location was fabulous in a community center in Laguna Hills which had a nice piano and stage and plenty of seating. 

Valentine's Party

 
Our annual Valentine's party is always a fun studio event. We have a recital followed by treats and crafts and all family members are invited. This year, I tried to include even the oldest kids in the crafts by having the younger students teach the older ones how to do the rainbow loom and origami. It was a success!

Making Progress in the Week

If a week seems like a long time to see how a student is progressing, try having the student videotape small portions of his practice. I have been having students create accounts at www.vimeo.com where they can upload short clips and send me a link which is password protected. I receive a link to these short videos a few times during the week. I usually check my email at night, so it takes me a few minutes to look at the video clips and email back a very short response. But we are accomplishing a lot more within a week doing this. The student is receiving my feedback a few times a week, rather than just once. 

A typical example of what I might ask a student to record would be this: please videotape the 2nd page of Knight Ruppert, counting aloud with the metronome at 80 by Tuesday. My requests can be very specific, and I can encourage the student more frequently throughout the week.

A bonus: videotaping short clips from home also lets me see how the student sits, what his piano sound like, and if he can find his metronome! It is working especially well with middle and high school students, to keep them practicing and responsible for themselves throughout the week.