October practice ideas

October!!! How did it get here so fast?!? Well, by now you have had a chance to get moving on your new repertoire and have probably remained quite motivated with your pieces. How can you and your parent keep it going? Here are some fun ideas of how to practice together:
1. Students play one hand while the parent claps the rhythm of the other hand, if the music has both clefs. Then switch.
2. Progress to playing duets. Student plays one hand while parent plays the other line. Then switch places.
3. If the parent is unsure of the music, have the student teach the parent!! How fun! Kids love it!!
4. Sing all the words if they are available and make up other silly words. Create words if they are not in the score.
5. Play the piece correctly as written, then "mess" with it by changing notes, octaves and dynamics. Encourage laughter!! How silly can we get?

There...now you have 5 different ways to practice for 5 days of rehearsing!!

Welcome back to piano lessons everyone! If you are new to piano lessons, we are going to have a great year! Now that you have completed a week of school and have got your other activities started, it is time to set up a regular routine when it comes to piano rehearsal. You would never go into a hockey game having never touched a puck or without knowing how to put on your equipment...it is the same with piano. Treat it like a sport which requires a warm-up (technique) and practice (working on your pieces). The fun thing about piano however, is that it is also an art and a neurological exercise. So much of yourself improves with music!! Keep coming back to this blog for practice suggestions, composer information, great tips and the encouragement to keep enjoying what you are doing with your music education!!

Playing between the notes!!

Music is not just about playing correct notes---anyone can do that! Music is musical and therefore requires an attentive ear. Of course , the notes are necessary, but playing the right notes at the right times will not communicate the intentions of the composer. Music is not about black lines and dots...it is about form, imagination, soul, colour and character. Every piece of music has something to say and it is the musician's job (no matter how young or old) to convey a meaningful message.
      So how can a young performer do this? Investigate the score through a variety of lenses which involve the historical influences on the piece and its composer, theoretical and structural relationships within the piece, and the piece's place in the larger musical picture. If a young student just focuses on notes, reading and putting those black marks onto the correct location of a piano keyboard,  no artistic choices will be made. Encourage your young and older student/child to be creative. They can hear and create character and style at the keyboard. And the cool thing is that they do it without inhibition. Start early in their development. If you are reading a story about dinosaurs or elephants or butterflies--go to the keyboard with them and create those sounds.
      As the child develops their musical language they will instinctively be able to play creatively between the notes to create magic at the keyboard!!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!! As 2012 begins take the time to address your piano practice routine. Ask yourself the following questions:
1. What time of day works best for my practice without having interruptions?
2. Do I understand what I need to do for the week?
3. Am I practicing mistakes over and over or am I making an effort to correct and move on?
4. Am I listening to how musical I am playing or am I only concentrating on notes and rhythms?
5. How can I make my practice time more beneficial? Talk to me at your lesson about that!
6. Have I forgotten about doing Tonic Tutor assignments?
7. Have I started my composing project? Deadline for entries is March 1, 2012

See you in the studio---we might even play with my new iPad!!
Kathy

Music and Verbal intelligence

Here is a great link to an article regarding Musical Training and the enhancement of children's verbal intelligence after only one month of musical training. This is a recent Canadian study conducted at York University.
http://www.miller-mccune.com/education/music-training-enhances-childrens-verbal-intelligence

7 Steps to Improve your practicing quickly

1. Plan your time: one of the most important ways to see consistent satisfying progress is well-planned practice sessions. Since learning piano is both a physical and mental process, regularity is crucial. Compare piano practicing to a physical workout. You would not see very good results if you spend one day a month in the gym.

2. Prepare you mental and physical state: to get the most of our your practicing, it is important to have a focused awareness of sound, touch and movement. At the start of each practice session, take a few deep breaths and find a balanced posture with relaxed shoulders and heavy arms.

3. Analyze and mark up: When beginning a new piece, sit down away from the piano and analyze the piece. Pencil in all important details like fingering, patterns, translations of foreign words and work out difficult rhythms and harmonic progressions.

4. Repeat correctly: repeat everything you practice four times correctly. Make no mistakes during your first practice. Practice slowly with a good mental focus. Always shape every phrase and bring out all the musical details right away and even with slow practice.

5. Practice the difficulties: When working through your pieces, mark difficult sections in pencil and spend most of your practice time on these parts.

6. Practice performing under pressure: Once a week or so, and most importantly of all a few days before a lesson or performance, make a video or audio recording of yourself performing your pieces at home. This is a great way to practice under pressure.

7. Be your own teacher: When you have made the recording leave it for a day or so and then listen to it again with untainted ears. Listen for the overall musical performance. Are you getting your musical ideas across? What can be improved? Listen for wrong notes and rhythms, missed dynamics and articulation etc... and mark them with a pencil on your score.

(these steps were adapted from pianostreet.com)

Happy practicing!!!

Fall piano has begun!!

All of my students have completed their first week of piano. Now is the time for families to get organized and determine when would be a good time to practice each day. I expect at a minimum 4-5 practices per week so that each student can return to lessons prepared to move ahead.  Practices do not need to be lengthy if everyone is concentrating and if we all accomplish what was asked us on on the lesson plan notes.
     Tonic tutor computer assignments were well done this week. This is an amazing site that will greatly assist each student in understanding their music and is a wonderful resource for reinforcing musical ideas discussed and tried during lessons. Keep plugging away at these assignments---you will not regret it!!
      Remember that you have been given a wonderful gift--the gift of music that will last your entire life. Cherish and nuture this gift. "Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it." --Thomas Fuller.