The musical year is almost over.....time to look back and see what has been accomplished. My students really look forward to receiving their Musical Report Cards. This has been a tradition in my studio for many years.
A musical report card is a great way to give students a summary of what they have accomplished over the past year. It's also good for the parents to see the progress that their child has made.
Here are some ideas for using Musical Report Cards in your studio:
Try to make the report card as positive as possible. Encourage, encourage, encourage!! Every student can usually receive an excellent grade in at least one area i.e. attendance, cooperation etc.
I find it best to grade as excellent, above average etc. rather than give actual marks or A's, B's etc.
I have a place on the report card to check if the student is what I call a "Perfect Practicer". (I will talk more about this program in a future blog post).
I always write a few comments at the bottom of the report card. I usually include one or two areas that the student could improve on next year.
I list all recitals, exams, master classes, auditions etc that the student has been part of throughout the year. That way, the report card becomes a summary of their musical accomplishments for the entire year. Parents especially appreciate this.
The report card also gives the teacher an opportunity to summarize and review the entire year with the student at their last lesson. You could review their goals for the past year to see if they have met them. It's also a great time to start planning goals for next year.
I have included the original file for the Musical Report Card. You can use my design or personalize it for your own studio. You can easily add your studio logo or header at the top of the report card.
A Fond Farewell
June is also the time when we say goodbye to some of our students. I would like to recognize the accomplishments of two of my students.
The first student has been with me since 2007. She was a transfer student at the Grade 5 level. She completed her RCM Grade 9 piano with me last year with First Class Honours. This year, she has also completed her Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Harmony and her Basic History with Joe Ringhofer (Phoenix Conservatory). I'm very pleased that she has been accepted into the music program as a piano major at a well-known University in Ontario. I wish her all the best in her future.
Here is a video of her performing a beautiful piece entitled Monarchs from the Isla Vista Suite by Canadian Composer Martha Duncan. A big thanks to Martha for permission to post this performance. This piece is on the Grade 9 RCM list.
The other student that I would like to recognize started with me as a beginner when he was 10 years old. He also completed his Grade 9 piano last year (First Class Honours with Distinction). He is pursuing a career in Music Ministry and has been accepted into the music program at a well-known Bible College in the US.
I have included a video of him performing his amazing recital song—Prelude in c#- by Rachmaninoff.
Both of these students are amazing musicians and I will miss them.
Maintaining a piece for performance is a lot like mountain climbing.....I tell my students this all the time.
It's also very much like trying to tame a wild horse!!
This is the time of year when students are busy preparing for exams or recitals. They work very hard to learn and memorize a piece and get it up to tempo. However, sometimes students struggle with keeping that piece at performance level. The faster the speed of the piece, the harder this is. And so we talk about mountain climbing and wild horses.....
Having the piece ready to go is like finally making it to the top of the mountain. But what happens then? If you are not very careful, that piece will start to slide down the other side of the mountain! Jelly Fingers will set in!! You need to get out the musical ropes and pull that piece back up to the top of the mountain.
What are the ropes, you ask? Why, the metronome, of course!
So what does all of this have to do with wild horses? If a student practices a piece over and over again at a fast pace, that piece can turn into what I call a 'wild horse'. We talk about that horse galloping across the field, totally out of control! What we need are reins so that we can get that horse under control.
And what do the reins represent? You guessed it.....the metronome!
You need to control the music....you can't let the music control you!!
The metronome should be your best friend. I encourage my students to name their metronome.....I call mine George V!! I've gone through a few metronomes in my time!
George V is a much more sophisticated model than his predecessors. I LOVE this version (Korg KDM-2). I especially love the middle button on top. I can tap along with a student and know exactly what speed they are playing. I can also tap the exact speed that I would like for a piece and it will tell me instantly what that speed is. And unlike a traditional metronome, it goes up to 256 (which I actually used this week with a student!)
This past January, I had 3 students do Royal Conservatory of Music exams.....two Grade 7's and one Grade 8. All of them did quite well.....one received First Class Honours and the other two First Class Honours with Distinction. I also had two Grade 10 students audition for University and College programs. This June, I have students doing exams for Grade 1, two Grade 4's and Grade 5. For each student, the challenge is the same....how to maintain the faster pieces.
Here are some effective ideas that I have used with my students:
Preparing to maintain a piece starts on the very first day the piece is introduced. I work with the student to divide the piece into logical sections, according to phrases and form. (I will talk more about this in a future blog post). I label these sections with capital letters and circle the letters. If there are more than 26 sections, we use double letters. I also have the students figure out the basic key signature of each section, making special note of sections that modulate to a different key. If the piece is in a certain form, then we label these sections as well. i.e. Exposition, Development & Recapitulation.
Draw a box around any tricky areas that needs extra practice and label these as Box #1, Box #2 etc. These should be practiced separately until they are fluent.
Learn the piece in small sections, using the metronome as soon as possible. Consistent metronome practice helps to keep the piece in control. Learn it correctly the first time....it's so much easier than having to fix things later. Of course the rhythm and notes are important. However, also pay special attention to all the details such as fingering, articulation, phrases, rests and dynamics. Learn one section at a time. You can add more sections once you have mastered the first one.
Once the piece has been learned correctly, then you can memorize it in small sections, preferably hands separately. Be able to start playing at any section. This gives you safety nets all the way through the piece. You can also compare sections to see which ones are the same and which ones are different.
My students love to play the musical card game. I have a set of file cards with letters which correspond to the sections in their piece. I shuffle the cards and hold them up, one at a time. They love playing the mixed up version of their piece!! For an extra challenge, ask for the left hand only!!
Always have a maintenance speed and work at the slow speed several times before attempting allowing yourself to it up to speed. Four times slow and once fast works well! Exaggerate the arm motions at the slow speed.Be very careful not to over practice at the fast speed.
Remember....Slow practice is really fast practice in slow motion!
Putting a song on a shelf is a good strategy for maintaining a song. I actually draw a little shelf on the student's lesson page in The Student Music Organizer. I put it right underneath the lesson practice chart. Putting a piece on a shelf means that we leave the piece and don't play it for a while. This can also be called plateau learning. Then, when we revisit the piece, we can take it to the next level!
Table practice is a good way to maintain finger strength and articulation. Play the piece away from the piano on a flat surface. It helps to play with a little 'bite' in the ends of the fingers, using correct arm motion.
Another valuable technique is to "mind play" your piece. Find a quiet place away from the piano. Read the score as you would a book, while you 'listen' to the music and imagine yourself playing the notes. Observe and make note of all articulation and dynamics. This can also be done in sections. It is also a great way to reinforce memory.
One of my students is working on a piece called Intrada by Graupner. It is her Baroque piece (List A) and she is doing it for a Grade 5 exam later on this month. Click to see how I divided it into sections and prepared it for her to learn. It is now memorized hands separately in sections. She played it for me at her lesson last week and it was quite good...just about ready to go. But she doesn't play her exam for a few weeks. So we go into maintenance mode and we talk about mountain climbing and wild horses!!
Here are a few of the pieces that my students have maintained or are continuing to maintain for exams, auditions and recitals this year.
Prelude & Fugue in E+ (Bach) Grade 10
Prelude in c#- (Rachmaninoff)
Sonata in C+ K330 1st movement (Mozart) Grade 9
Etude in c- Op.29 #7 (Bertini) Grade 7
Suite #8 in G+ HWV 441 IV: Aria (Handel) Grade 7
Sonatina in C+ Op. 55 #31st Movement (Kuhlau) Grade 7
Sonatina in C+ Op. 36 #3 1st Movement (Clementi) Grade 7
Suite #1 in D+ VIII: Gigue (Krebs) Grade 7
Wound Up (Norton) Grade 7
Intrada in C+ (Graupner) Grade 5
March of the Terrible Trolls (Niamath) Grade 1
Remember
You need to control the music....you can't let the music control you!!
and
Slow practice is really fast practice in slow motion!
Intervals are like Ice Cream, they all have different flavours! I have said this many times to my students over the years.
Ear Training is an essential part of a music exam. And intervals (above and below a given note) are usually an important part of the entire ear training mark. But naming those intervals can be a daunting task for some students. I have found that, even if students have a good ear, they can have difficulty with this portion of the exam. The problem is that when a student is nervous or feeling stressed, they can leave their musical ears in the waiting room!
I would like to share with you some of the teaching strategies that I have used successfully in my own studio.
First: Play the notes of the various intervals together on the keyboard for your students. You can discuss the different flavours of each interval. Have them come up with ideas to describe the sounds as well.
2nds: (Steps). The -2nd sounds very close and very harsh (fighting notes). This is a semitone (the smallest distance on the piano). The +2nd sounds very close but not too harsh. It's also helpful to know that it is a whole tone or whole step on the piano.
3rds: (Skips) The -3rd sounds sad and not too big. A -3rd contains the first 2 notes of a minor triad. The +3rd sounds happy but not too big. It contains the first 2 notes of a major triad. With either one, if you continue humming to the 5th, you will have a root position triad. It sometimes helps to relate the -3rd below to a doorbell (ding dong!)
4th: The Perfect 4th sounds different - it is not part of the root position triad. However, it is a pleasant sound and it is not too big. It also has kind of an open sound, but not as open as the P5th.
The Tritone (aug 4th or dim 5th) is one of the most tension-filled intervals, but it is not as big as a +7th.
5th: The Perfect 5th sounds open, but not too big. It contains the outer notes of a triad.
6ths: The -6th sounds kind of sad but it is bigger than a -3rd. The +6th sounds happy but it is also bigger than a 3rd.
7ths: The -7th is not so harsh but it is large AND it contains the outer notes of a Dominant 7th chord. The +7th is a very harsh interval AND it is large. I tell my students that this interval should hit you across the face!!! Be careful not to confuse this interval with the tritone.
8th: The Perfect 8th is an octave, meaning that the notes sound similar and very big like a rainbow! It also sounds open and can easily be confused with the P5th.
Here are some other simple and effective ideas to help students with naming intervals:
First and foremost, make sure that they know which intervals they have to know for their grade so they don't guess one they don't even have to know. Have them memorize this list. Review it every time you do intervals in the lesson and have them say it out loud as you play the notes together on the keyboard. One of my students is doing a Grade 5 exam in June. Here is her list: ABOVE +/- 3rds, +/- 6ths, P 4th, 5th and 8th. BELOW: -3 (this is a single....NO +3rd), P5th and P8th (no P4th). When reviewing their list, have them listen carefully as the notes are played together. Have them describe the flavour as you play each one. Review this list every time you do intervals and before you begin testing the student.
Identify the 'singles' so that they don't guess the wrong one. For example, don't guess a +3rd below if you only have a -3rd!
If they can, always have the students hum the notes softly immediately as they are being played. Their voice will help then to identify the sound as smaller or larger. They are hearing the interval inside their head and physically feeling the distance with their voice. Work with them so that they can tone match the notes. This doesn't work for every student, but it is helpful if they can do it.
If a student is a good "hummer", then have them also try to hum the notes in between. But be careful. This is harder than it sounds. Some students can add or take away notes when doing this. Only use this strategy if they can consistently hum the notes in between correctly. I also find that generally, the boys have a harder time humming the notes. They sometimes feel self-conscious, especially if their voice is changing.
Naming an interval below a given note seems to be more difficult than above. This is especially true for the 3rds. If students can't hear an interval below the given note, have them try humming it softly the other way (forwards). Sometimes that is all they need to identify it. Again, this only works if they are a good hummer.
It is very helpful to have students associate songs with the intervals. This is especially useful when the student is under pressure or if they can't hum the notes. It's also a good back-up plan even if they can hum! However, the songs become absolutely essential for students who do not have a strong ear and cannot hum.
I use the Small Interval Cards found on The Student Music Organizer Website. This reference card is so handy. There is a good variety of songs for all of the intervals above and below. They can pick the song that they know the best. Highlight the intervals on the card that they have to know for their exam. The Above intervals are on one side of the card and the Below intervals are on the other side. Turning the card over as they name the intervals is good because they really have to listen to know if the interval is above or below the given note. Having them flip the card is part of the training. If they aren't familiar with any of the songs on the card for a particular interval, then have them learn the first couple of bars of that song. They can also try to come up with a song of their own and write them on the card.
Make sure that they have the songs memorized for their required intervals. Review these songs every time you work on ear training. You don't want them to know the song and then guess the interval incorrectly!
I put a pocket in the back of The Student Music Organizer for their Interval Card so that they know where it is!
There is also a Large Teacher's Version of this card available. It's a great resource to keep by the piano in the studio.
Have fun teaching intervals and remember to savour the different flavours of each one!!
I have told my students many times that lots of people can play the notes but it's much harder to play the music BEHIND the notes. And that's the question that I always ask them.....can you find the MUSIC hiding in the notes?
To explain, I want to tell the story of one of my students....I'll call her Kate. She is 10 years old and in Grade 2 piano. Last month, we were working on a piece called The Keepsake Mill from A Child's Garden of Verses by Chee-Hwa Tan. She was getting the notes, the counting, the fingering....all of the basic elements were there. But the music was missing! So I asked her the same question.....How can you find the music hiding in the notes?
I played it for her 2 ways. First, I played it with the correct notes and timing, but no feeling. Then I played it musically. "I can hear the difference", she said, "But I don't think I can do that!"
"Yes, you can", I said, "but first I have to share some musical secrets with you". I started asking her a few questions and each time, she would try it again:
Do you know what a phrase is? It's a musical sentence. Can you identify and play the phrases alone in the right hand? Can you think of words for the phrases? Can you sing the words as you play?
Can you breathe after each sentence? Use your arms. Feel as if you are taking a breath with your arms.
The left hand is in broken chords.....can you see that? Play the accompaniment alone. Now can you play the left hand in solid chords? Can you name the chords? Can you hear the different colours or harmonies?
Can you play the melody alone in the right hand, phrase by phrase?
Project the melody. I want beautiful, round, fat notes on top. Send those notes across the room. Ping the notes so that they travel out the window and across the road.
Stroke those notes gently like you would stroke a little cat.
Kate's idea was to gently roll a basketball over the notes....now she was thinking!
Now....what is balance? Basically it means that you play the right hand phrases louder than the left hand accompaniment. The right hand is the star and the left hand is the orchestra.
First try to shadow play....play the right hand projected melody and only pretend to play the accompaniment? Touch the notes in the left hand but don't depress the keys.
Now try playing the accompaniment in the left hand as written along with the projected melody on top.
Can you shape the melody (like a rainbow over the water) while projecting the melody over the accompaniment? (I know, I ask for a lot!)
I would play it for her so she could hear the music. Then she would try again. It took several tries and then she said excitedly....."I hear it!! I can hear the difference! I've found the MUSIC!" "That's after just a few minutes of trying". I said. "Imagine how much better it will be after you practice it that way that all week".
She came back for her next lesson and she was very proud of herself. The piece had improved dramatically!
"Now, let's take it a step farther." I said. "Here are some more ideas for finding the music hiding in the notes":
What is a Keepsake Mill? Can we find a picture of the keepsake mill?
What was the purpose of a mill? What was the purpose of the water wheel? (having a computer or iPad nearby is very handy because you can instantly look up what you need).
What did the composer do in the music to paint a picture of the Keepsake Mill?
Can you see the wheel turning round and round and round? It never stops....it's almost hypnotic. Can you hear it? Can you see the dark water swirling in the pond below? Can you hear it? Can you feel the spray of the water on your face? Can you smell the water and the wood?
Now.....have that picture in your mind when you play this piece....make the music come alive....paint the picture with your notes and send it out to your listener.....send it to me and let me see it too!! Play it with balance and phrasing and shaping and FEELING!
There was such a difference. The song was totally different. "I LOVE this song", she said!
Music to my ears!! Kate was no longer just playing the notes. She had unlocked the magic and had found the music hiding in the notes!
Over the borders, a sin without pardon, Breaking the branches and crawling below, Out through the breach in the wall of the garden, Down by the banks of the river we go.
Here is a mill with the humming of thunder, Here is the weir with the wonder of foam, Here is the sluice with the race running under – Marvelous places, though handy to home!
Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller, Stiller the note of the birds on the hill; Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller, Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.
Years may go by, and the wheel in the river Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day, Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever Long after all of the boys are away.
Home for the Indies and home from the ocean, Heroes and soldiers we all will come home; Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion, Turning and churning that river to foam.
You with the bean that I gave when we quarreled, I with your marble of Saturday last, Honoured and old and all gaily appareled, Here we shall meet and remember the past.
Last spring, I had an interesting experience with one of my students....I'll call him Lee. He came to his lesson one afternoon and he seemed very upset. He said "My teacher at school wants me to play The Cup Song for our class". I didn't think much of it. "Ask your teacher for the music. You can bring it next week and I'll help you learn it", I said and went on with his regular lesson.
The next week, Lee came for his lesson as usual. However, when he walked in the door, I knew something was wrong. "My teacher wants me to play The Cup Song", he said again. This time, he looked visibly upset. "OK" I said, "Did she give you the music?" I asked. He looked horrified!!! "That's the problem" he said, almost in tears. "She doesn't have any music. She told me to just figure it out!". More tears!
ABOUT FACE!! I quickly abandoned what I had planned to do for that lesson.
"OK" I said. "Where can we find this Cup Song?". I had never heard of it before! "It's from a movie." he said. "It's on Youtube. We sing it at school. My teacher said to say Pepsi instead of whiskey!". I had no idea what he was talking about but I was very interested to find out!!
"Well, let's look on YouTube and we'll see what we can do!"
I searched YouTube on the iPad and quickly found the song. I played it over several times and we listened to it together. Thankfully, it was in C+!! (Yes, I thought. I don't have to transpose it!!)
I explained to him that you don't always have to have music to play a piece. What a revelation!! He looked shocked and surprised at the same time! "Wow, that's cool", he exclaimed!
We turned to the manuscript paper at the back of The Student Music Organizer and I started teaching him how to figure out a melody by ear. Then we had an impromptu lesson on how to transcribe it! I showed him how to figure out the time signature. The melody was simple enough but the rhythm was quite tricky. By the end of the lesson, we had written out the melody for the song and he had something to practice for his teacher! It had been a great lesson and Lee went home smiling!
I called his mother in the middle of the week to see how he was doing with the song! "It's all we've heard", said his Mom!! "He plays it over and over and over!".
At his next lesson, I said to him, "We figured out the melody last week and you can play that. Now let's see if we can add some chords". Again, he was intrigued. I proceeded to teach him the basic chords in C+ (I, IV, V and vi). Then I showed him how these chords can be added to the melody. I told him to listen carefully so that he could figure out which chord would work for which notes. We worked through the song and added the chord symbols over the appropriate notes. It was another great lesson and Lee went home, ready to try the next step.
When he returned the following week, he could play the whole song. He was thrilled. Best of all, his school teacher was thrilled!! He ended up playing "The Cup Song" while his whole class sang and did the rhythm with cups. Then the class performed it at the Spring Concert for the entire school! The most important thing was that Lee felt great about what he had done. He had fun playing music with his friends. He was the hero of the class. Mission accomplished!
Here are some fun ideas on teaching basic ear training in a lesson:
Start with a familiar tune. Have the student figure out this tune by ear. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star works well.
The student could transcribe the melody on manuscript or just learn it by ear.
Then teach some basic chords (I, IV, V and VI).
Have the student figure out which chords go with the melody and where they change.
After that has been mastered, you could have them try some variations with the accompaniment.
Try some other 2 and 3-chord melodies i.e. Amazing Grace, Happy Birthday or Silent Night.
Have fun exploring with your students.
"The Cup Song"is also a great song for teaching rhythm. I found out that quite a few of my students knew this song AND they knew how to do the cup rhythm. I had another bright idea!!! Let's do this song for our final recital in June. The students worked well together and they came up with their own arrangement. The biggest challenge was keeping it in sync. They really had to learn to listen to each other and adjust. The above video was our final rehearsal before the recital .They did it perfectly for the concert AND Lee played it from memory! It was the highlight of the recital!!
The moral of this story: Always be ready to change a lesson plan to meet the needs of your students!
My next post will be: Can You Find the Music Hiding in the Notes?
Special Note:
I have just discovered a cool book which helps to teach rhythms while taking advantage of the cup "craze". It is called "Rhythm Cup Explorations" and it is published by Wendy Stevens. Her Website is called Composecreate.com. It's a reproducible resource, so you only have to buy it once for your studio!
It made me think of a story that I remember my mother reading to me when I was very young. I'm sure that everyone is familiar with the beloved children's book entitles "The Little Engine that Could" by Watty Piper (Published in 1954 by Platt & Monk. Illustrated by George & Doris Hauman). An early published version called, "The Story of the Engine that Thought it Could", appeared in the New York Tribune on April 8th, 1906, as part of a sermon by the Rev. Charles S. Wing.
Part of an early version goes as follows:
A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill.
"I think I can," puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train. As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."
As it neared the top of the grade, which had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, "I—think—I—can, I—think—I—can." It reached the top by drawing on bravery and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself by saying, "I thought I could, I thought I could."
And then I began to think about how I could relate this story to the Power of Positive Thinking in everyday teaching.
Here are some positive ideas that have made a difference for me in my own studio:
Always greet a student pleasantly at each lesson. It's important to be ready for them and to give them your undivided attention.
Listen to them and make them feel that they are important. Everyone gets discouraged from time to time. Help them through that. Encourage, encourage, encourage! I always remember an old saying that my grandmother used to say to me: "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"!! It's important to be positive at each and every lesson.
Have a studio motto and post it where parents and students can see it! Your motto should reflect your teaching philosophy. My studio motto is "Great Music Comes from the Heart".
New music helps! Talk to the parents, buy a new book with music that is at their level that they enjoy. Find out what moves them musically and let them play that as well as their other pieces.
Work to each students strengths. If a student has a great sense of rhythm and absolutely loves jazzy pieces, then let them play jazz! When I am picking a new piece for a student, I make sure that they feel as if they are part of the process. I usually give them a choice of 2 or 3 pieces that I think they will like. I'm always looking for that sparkle in their eyes when they hear something that they like. I want them to come back the next week and say "I LOVED that song"!!
If a piece is not working for a student after a few weeks, find something different that teaches the same concepts. They don't have to always play a minuet to learn balance, phrasing and tonal control. That's not to say that they shouldn't learn minuets!! However, lots of other pieces can also teach the same things. i.e. In Dreams (from Lord of the Rings) or Colors of the Wind (from Pocahontas).
Many popular pieces have very tricky syncopated rhythms.These pieces are great at helping students with their counting. Students love to play the jazz pieces of Christopher Norton. A lot of these pieces have backtracks that you can download from his website. They love playing with a band behind them! It is also a great way to teach them how to play with the beat!
Have them learn something different that no one else in the studio has played. That always makes them feel special. (see previous blog post entitled: "Spicing up your Studio with New Repertoire")
Have your students try to figure out a simple melody from a familiar pieces by ear (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star works well). Teach them some basic chords (I, IV and V) and then show them how to turn these chords into a simple accompaniments that they can work out on their own.
Teach them a 'new' scale like the Pentatonic or Whole Tone Scale. Then have them try composing a song of their own using one of these scales. You could also have them draw a picture or write a story for their piece. You could use the extra manuscript pages and extra notes pages in the back of The Student Music Organizer for this. They could then perform that piece at a recital or master class.
I always encourage my students to memorize their piece for a performance. They will play it much better if it is memorized. However, I do allow them to take their music up with them until they feel ready to play without the score. They need to feel comfortable playing without the music and that takes time for some students. I want them to have a positive experience and sometimes all they need is to have the music in front of them as a security blanket. Lots of times they don't even look at it! When they are ready, then they can try to perform from memory.
Each student handles the stress of performing in a different way. When I was young, I had the privilege of studying with an amazing teacher. Her name was Patricia Bloomfield Holt. She was a well-known Canadian composer and a respected Royal Conservatory of Music teacher and examiner for many years. However, at the time, I didn't know any of that. I knew her simply as Mrs. Holt. She was very strict, but I also knew that she cared about me and that she wanted the best for me. Most importantly, she didn't give up on me. And because of that, she changed the course of my life. I will always remember her saying that I was NEVER to say the word 'nervous" (she called it the 'N' word). Instead, we had to say that we were 'excited'. I remember lots of times being VERY excited!! But somehow, that change of mindset made it easier for me to perform.
This needlepoint hangs on the wall of my studio. It was a gift from a student.
My goal has always been to have my students learn to love music. Not all students will do exams or festivals. But all students can develop a love of music. When they have finished their formal lessons, I want them to be able to play this thing called the piano. I want them to have an appreciation for classical music, for pop and jazz and all kinds of music I want them to have something that they can enjoy and carry with them for the rest of their lives.
We, as music teachers, have the best job! We can introduce our students to the wonderful and amazing world of music. We can instill in our students a love of music that will last a lifetime. We can give them the gift of music. But to do this, it is important that we also have a positive attitude with our students. We need to patiently find ways to 'reach' them. Each student is different, with their own musical tastes and interests. We need to believe in them and teach each student at their own pace. We also need to give them opportunities to feel successful. As we approach each student in this way, we can help them to feel like that little engine....."I thought I could, I thought I could." or, even better: I knew I could, I knew I could!
Master classes are a great way to help students to feel more comfortable performing in a relaxed and informal setting.
My students have been very busy over the last few weeks preparing for our next master class this coming Monday. See below for the chart that I will be using for this master class. There is also a free download of the Excel file that I use for organizing my master classes.
Typically, a master class is a group class where students come together to play for each other and their teacher. It's a wonderful way to foster a sense of community among students in a studio. Students are able to associate with others who share their love of music. Many times I've had a student come for a lesson after a master class asking to play a piece that they have heard some one else play! It also gives younger students a chance to feel comfortable performing in front of others before playing in a larger recital.
A master class is also a great way for a teacher to assess the performance readiness of a piece. It gives students a chance to 'test' their memory. This is especially helpful if they are preparing for exams, festival classes or auditions. I usually have 3 regular master classes a year—one in the fall, one in the winter and one in the spring. This is over and above the two more formal recitals we hold during the year.
Here are some ideas for a successful master class:
Don't make the class too long. My master classes are usually around 90 minutes. This gives about an hour for performances and teacher comments with some time left at the end of the class for the students to socialize. It's a good idea to mix up the longer songs and the shorter songs... don't save all the longs pieces for last!
It's always important to have refreshments at the end. The parents can take turns bringing snacks for the students.
One piece per student is probably enough. Try not to have too many long songs, especially if there are younger students in the class. I try to have the students perform a variety of music, including some popular selections.
Students can work on 'The 12 Points of Performance'. These points are found on the back of our Sight Reading Cards and at the front of The Student Music Organizer. Students can practice what to do from the time they stand up to perform until they sit back down. These points really help students maintain focus throughout a performance.
I don't make memorization mandatory, but I do encourage it. Then they can choose to try it from memory or not. Many times, they do not even look at the score! This way, they don't have to play from memory until they are feeling ready to do so.
Make sure you start and end on time. Parents especially appreciate this!
Parents are generally not invited to attend. A master class should be more informal than a recital. That way the students feel as if this is their special time with the teacher.
Make the class fun by having a theme night. The photo above shows one of my fall master classes. We had Musical Costume Party! Students could dress in black and white to match the piano keys or they could dress in a costume to match their piece!
In the winter, you could have a musical pyjama party. The younger students really like to bring their stuffed animals as an audience!
I like to have a class on 'Music Monday' (held on the first Monday in May). This is an official event in Canada, where it started 10 years ago. There are now similar events in the US, Australia, Britain and Hungary. Students are encouraged to "fill the skies with music". This year, Music Monday is scheduled for May 5th. You can even register your master class as an official event on the Music Monday website. My students love to feel as if they are a part of this amazing event!
Extra Master Classes can be scheduled during the year for students doing exams. That way, they have an opportunity to play their pieces as a concert group. I also have them play some of their technique... we have a Scale-a-thon. I call a student's name and a scale or chord and they have to run up to the piano and play it! The reward for playing well is an M&M. By the end of the game, they have a bag full!
Master classes can be a fun and effective way to help students share the joy of music.
