Our Christmas Recital

We had a wonderful recital on December 14th. It was a privilege to play at the Continuing Care wing of the Mountain View Hospital in Payson. Although the patients listened from their rooms, visiting with them afterward, singing carols with them, and giving them handmade Christmas ornaments was a reminder of the Spirit of Christmas.

All the students performed well. They have grown and progressed and it is fun to see them develop musically. I enjoy working with each one of your children. They each have a unique approach to the piano and developing their musical talents.

Please have a delightful Christmas and joyful New Years' holiday and I will see you all in January.

10 Performances

The November group lesson consisted of the students playing their recital pieces for each other. We played a game where they would roll a letter die that also had stars on it. When it would land on a letter, they would have to think of a music word that started with that letter. For example, the letter F might be Forte. The letter C might be crescendo. If the die landed on the star, the student played his/her recital piece for the group. This really helped the kids see how close they were to prepared for playing on the recital.

They were then given the opportunity to make a Performance record and instructed that by December 14th, the recital date, they need to play their recital piece--memorized--for 10 different people on 10 different pianos, for 10 total performances. In other words, they can't play for a room full of 10 people and count it as 10. They can, however, play it for each of those 10 people, but at different times and on different pianos. If they have to play on the same piano a couple of times, that's okay. The most important part of this is playing their piece 10 different times for 10 different people.

It really is easier than it sounds. When they visit their friend down the street to hang out, if their friend has a piano, they can say, "Hey! Let me play a song for you!" and then they can play it. That would count.

Speaking of the Recital... It will be held December 14 at 4:30 p.m. The kids need to arrive at 4. It will be held at Payson Mountain View Hospital. We will be playing for the Extended Care patients. I will be emailing more information next week. If any of your families want to perform other numbers for the patients, that would be welcome. Please just let me know. Also, Please bring a treat to share.

I am looking forward to this fun Christmas Recital/Service Project/Party, and I know the students are, too.

We'll Be Bach!

Johann Sebastian Bach composed many pieces for the keyboard. He played clavichord, harpsichord, and organ. (Be sure to ask your children the difference between a clavichord and a harpsichord.) Bach composed during the Baroque period so many of his pieces contain ornaments. These are described on page 12 of the September Piano Explorer magazine. You can listen to examples of Bach's music on the Piano Explorer website at peforkids.com. (There is a link to this from my website, under Resources.) The students watched a demonstration of a clavichord being played, heard a young lady about their age play the harpsichord, and got into the spirit of Halloween listening to Bach's Toccata for organ.

To mix things up a bit, we then pulled out the conga drums and held a drum circle. Each student had a drum . We started out playing written rhythms all together, and then branched out to improvising and jamming. The kids came up with rhythms to fit within the steady beat of the lead drum, and discovered sounds and rhythms that coordinated with each other. It was great fun! And very noisy! Definitely my kind of noise. :D (Thanks to Mrs. Erickson from Payson Jr. High for letting us borrow the drums.)

The magazines the children brought home are a gift from me. They will be receiving a copy every month until next September. (Merry Christmas early.) Look through them to find word searches, practice tips, compositions by children around their age, jokes, etc.

September Group Lesson

2nds, 3rds, 4ths, and 5ths
What kind of Interval is this?
We stepped and stacked
And counted back,
Skipped lines and spaces
What funny faces!!

An interval is the distance between notes. Two notes next to each other is a 2nd, skip one note and you get a 3rd. There is an odd-even pattern that gives a clue. Ask your student what that might be. (See if he remembers!)
Sound-wise, a 2nd is just moving up the scale, a 3rd up sounds like an arpeggio or cadence. A 4th sounds like "Here Comes the Bride." (The boys weren't too thrilled with that one!) A 5th is "Twinkle, Twinkle" from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. A 6th starts My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. A 7th just sounds weird, and an 8th--or octave-- sounds like the same note (only higher or lower).

And so it starts...

Welcome to the new school year and the new Blue Skies music year. It appears that everyone had a fun, busy summer, including me. I am looking forward to life settling back into a routine, as well as life can.

In trying to be better organized this year, I have made up a Group Lesson schedule for the year, which can be seen here. I plan on sticking as closely to this schedule as possible. Please notice that our group lesson/recital in December is actually a visit to the Extended Care facility at Payson Hospital. The piano students will be playing a recital piece, as well as a Christmas song. We will sing Christmas Carols with the patients, so bring your best singing voices. If any other family members or siblings of my students want to perform something, maybe play an instrument or sing, that would be welcome, as well!

I have added another element to my blog. On the top left-hand side I have put a section called "Tips for Parents." In this section, I will write about what to expect from your child's practice sessions, as well as ideas for getting them to practice consistently.

In the studio, I will have a star dish that I will be filling with crazy marbles each month as they practice. If it gets filled up by the end of the month, they will all get a treat at group lesson. Since consistent and effective practice is essential for the progress of the student, I will be focusing quite a bit on this subject this year.

Be sure to check out the music games in the sidebar, as well.

I look forward to working with your children. They are great kids and really brighten my days. Thank you for letting me work with them.

Two Important Dates to Note

April is flying by and May will soon be upon us. The Recital will be held May 7th at 2 p.m. at Peteetneet, upstairs in the Music Room.
We will have a Group Lesson at 5:30 on Wednesday April 27th. The students should have their recital pieces memorized by this date as they will be playing them for the other students and we will be going over Recital Etiquette and Protocol.
Dress for the students for the recital is Nice Dress. The girls can wear pants if they prefer, but they should be dressy pants. The boys don't have to wear a tie, but they should wear dress pants and a nice shirt. No Jeans.
Important Dates: April 27 at 5:30 at my house--Group Lesson
May 7 at 2 p.m. at Peteetneet--Recital

February Group Lesson

We had our February group lesson. That is a bit of a misnomer, since we had it in March! We did a Steps & Skips activity which demonstrated the similarities of steps and skips in the musical alphabet, on the keyboard, and on the staff. It was a neck-and-neck race between Matthew and Brykelle to get to the top of the staff.
Then we mapped out rhythms with rhythm blocks and talked about measures, bar lines, and really fat notes. (You'll have to ask the kids about that one!)
We learned about Johann Sebastian Bach and his 20 children. We listened to his music and and did a word search using words from his life.
**Our next group lesson will be held Tuesday, March 29 at 5:30 p.m.
***Parents, please watch this month for notes in reference to the students practicing their recital pieces which will be assigned in the next couple of weeks. The recital will be held the first week of May. I will let you know an exact date and time by the beginning of April.