Musical Eras

Our group lesson for the month of November was about the Musical Eras and their characteristics. We talked about Baroque and the rigid rhythmic qualities and the ornamentations. Then comes Classical, which loosens up a little and includes more fluctuations in dynamics. Romantic is flowing and emotional. Impressionism, which overlaps Romantic and Modern, creates pictures with music. And Modern jazzes it all up!
Last month, Makenna won a Beat the Teacher candy bar. This month, they all won a Beat the Teacher candy bar. You are all going to have to work harder for next month! I'm going to practice a lot this next month!
I sent home a piece of music with each them which is just one part of a four part piano piece. We will put them all together at December's group lesson.

September Groups

September's Group Lessons were productive, as well as fun. The more advanced group reviewed the order of the sharps and learned the order of the flats. (Ask them what Funny Clowns Go Dancing And Everyone Boogies is significant for!)They were very quick at identifying the sharp key signatures in the Circle of Fifths.
The younger group had fun playing Snakes, War, and a new game I invented, Stepping Up.
We are starting a new challenge, "Beat the Teacher." It is simply this: practice more minutes/hours than the teacher in a month and you will earn a candy bar. I will have a chart recording my practice times during the week, so at lessons each student will be able to see how they measure up. There is space on their practice record each week to record how long they have practiced. Please remind them to record their practice times, as well.
Good luck, Kids!!!

Fall Schedule

Summer flew by and it is already time to change back to our Fall schedule. We will start lessons the week of the 6th. If you sign up for Monday lessons, we will do the make-up for that first lesson on the fourth Monday, the 27th, since we have Group Lesson that week. So, the first day for Tuesday lessons is Sept 7, Wednesday lessons is Sept 8th, and Monday lessons is Sept 13th. An X by the time indicates that time is taken. You can call me or e-mail me indicating the time you want, or you can leave a comment here.
Monday: 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30
Tuesday: 4X, 4:30X, 5, 5:30
Wednesday: 4 X, 4:30 X, 5, 5:30
Thursday: 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30

P.S. The Incentive for $5 off for each new student you refer is still on! See previous blog entry entitled "Tuition Incentive."

July's Composer Camp

We had fun learning about what composers do, and about Beethoven in particular. It was interesting to think about how he had to adapt his techniques of writing, perfecting, performing, and conducting his music after he lost his hearing. The students then had the opportunity to try their hand at composing, with some very fun results! Matthew, Alex, Kaisha, and Sienna have the makings of some awesome composers!

Tuition Incentive

Introducing an incentive to go from now, July through September. For each family that you refer who signs up for piano lessons, you can get a $5 discount for one month of lessons. So, if you were to refer three families who all signed up for piano lessons, the following month lessons for one student would cost you only $35. Feel free to show them the Blue Skies blog and let them know that they can come and visit with me and get a feel for my program and how it fits with their student/s. Remind them to be sure and tell me who referred them. I will record it when they pay for their first month of lessons. Thanks!

July's Activities

July came in with a bang, with fireworks and fun! In keeping with the mood, I am having our Piano Camp on July 14th and 15th, Wednesday and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 11-ish a.m. for students 6 to 10. For students 11 and up we will have camp the same days from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
You have several options. 1) Regular lessons and camp at no extra cost. It will still be $50 per student for the month. 2) Regular lessons with no camp. 3) Just camp with no regular lessons, at $50 per student. 4) Regular lessons with just one day of camp, no extra cost. If you choose this option, please let me know which day your student will attend.
I look forward to seeing your children there!

New Links

Summer is well under way for most of you, although the weather seems to be running a little behind. I have posted some links on the left side of my blog that will take your students to online music game sites. The first one posted is my favorite, Music Tech Teacher. It has tons of quick quizzes and worksheets and games that don't take long to finish but will help the student review theory, rhythm, and history.
The rest are an assortment. GamesGames and ababasoft.com you might want to look at more closely yourselves, Mom and Dad, to make sure they are okay for your child. Some of the games look pretty fun--I liked Jungle Jiggy. It's silly and pointless, but fun--but some of the games may be a little sketchy for your family. I tried to go through all the game sites and pick only the best ones. There were a few that I definitely wouldn't recommend! These all seemed fairly safe.
I do apologize for the ads, though. I couldn't seem to avoid those. They aren't inappropriate ads, as far as I could tell, just annoying.
Feel free to leave me a comment on which sites you like best. And if you know of any other good music game sites, let me know. I would be happy to add a link.

Summer Schedule

I try to make the summer schedule fairly flexible. This year I will have a summer camp July 14 and 15, 90 minutes each day. We will also have regular lessons June, July, and August. This will provide some flexibility. You can opt to just have regular lessons all summer, or combine regular lessons with the summer camp so that if you have to take time off, your child will still receive the alloted hours of lesson time, or you can take one month off of your choice, replacing it with the summer camp. The summer cost is still $50 per month per student. The cost will not be more if your student comes to the summer camp, and continues lessons throughout the summer. Like I mentioned, this will just make it easier for you to take a week off here and there for summer activities. We will not have group lessons during the summer months. Thank you.

Schedule

Starting in June I will be teaching on Mondays and Tuesdays, mornings and afternoons. The following are the times. To sign up, just leave a comment. It will be on a first come, first serve basis. Please include two times, the first being the one you most prefer. Thanks!
Mondays: 9:30(X), 10, 10:30, 11, 11:30, 1(X), 1:30, 2
Tuesdays: 9:30(X), 10:30(X), 11(X), 11:30(X), 1, 1:30, 2

Announcements

Announcing our new Communications Center, blueskiesmusicstudio.blogspot.com. In this technology age, I think this will be a more efficient way to pass on general information. I would like to include achievements, also, and tips for helping your children practice. I will include my e-mail address on the site so you can contact me directly, as well. It would be helpful to me if you parents would also provide me with your e-mail addresses so that I can contact you privately, as well. I am looking forward to developing this fun way to pass on information and highlight the hard work your children are doing. I truly enjoy working with your children. They are great kids. Thank you for allowing me that privilege.