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A Patriotic Group Class Lesson Plan

6/30/2016

I talked a bit about my experience with group classes and how I incorporate them into my studio here and here.

I thought it might be helpful to share a lesson plan from one of my most recent group classes this summer. We did an American-themed group class, in honor of Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Here were our activities:

Ice Breaker: Patriotic Name That Tune: Each student received a slip of paper with one line from a patriotic tune to sight-read for the class. Songs included “Star-Spangled Banner,” “Yankee Doodle,” “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” I was happy to find that students guessed every song correctly!
Listening/Composer Activity: Scott Joplin: We learned about ragtime, the life of Scott Joplin, and listened to excerpts from his most famous rags, “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer.” Students were really surprised to learn the “Maple Leaf Rag” was the first piece of sheet music to sell more than one million copies. I asked them to guess how much Scott Joplin was paid for the sale of each copy. (Answer: 1 penny!)
Performance Practice: Each student came prepared to play three songs for the class. We reviewed recital etiquette, and students shared a little background information about each piece they played with the group.
Ensemble Playing: We worked on a duet version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” with students rotating so that each person had a chance to play both the primo and secondo parts.

Students really enjoyed this American-themed class. In past years, I have done other patriotic group classes with activities including watching a video of a performance of the “1812 Overture” (with real cannons!), learning about John Philip Sousa, and playing a trio arrangement of “Yankee Doodle.”

What do you think? Do you have any group classes planned for your students this summer?

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Setting Goals, Part One: Practicing

6/27/2016

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I am a very goal-oriented person. I love making lists, and I usually have several of them scattered in various locations around my house. I enjoy the feeling of crossing off a completed task.

Recently, inspired by reading the book “The Practice Revolution” by Philip Johnston, I have started to use this idea of goal-setting more in my piano practice. Now, I have always considered myself to be a good practicer. (I even wrote about how I teach my students to practice here!) I try to make sure I am truly practicing a piece and working on trouble spots, as opposed to absent-mindedly playing a piece over and over again. I have a large “toolbox” of practice techniques that I can apply to whatever problem might arise.

However, my new approach is to make every practice session have a purpose. Before I play a note, I decide what I want to accomplish that day. Do I want to play a section note-perfect, with no mistakes? Do I want to focus on playing up to tempo? Do I want to do a run-through performance, to see if this piece is truly recital-ready? Knowing exactly what I hope to accomplish at my practice session helps me to decide which of my “practice tools” will be best for the task at hand.

I have started to use this goal setting approach with my students as well. As we write down their assignments, I ask—“What is our goal for this piece this week?” For a new piece, the goal might be to play the entire piece hands together at a slow steady speed. Other goals might include listening for large contrasts in dynamics, or adding the pedal, or focusing on story-telling elements of a piece. The goal we set for the week should influence each practice session, and help students choose the right tools from their practice toolbox.

Do you set practice goals for yourself or your students? Please chime in!

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Group Class Ice Breakers

6/19/2016

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In my last post here I talked about the “formula” I use for the monthly group classes I do with my students. I always start my group classes with an ice breaker activity. Since my students sign up for classes whenever they like, I have different students attending each class and an ice breaker game gives them all a chance to get to know one another a bit. These games are short, require no set up time, and can be customized for different ages and skill levels. Here are my three favorite ice breakers:

Name that tune

Each student is given a slip of paper with one line from a famous song. They take their paper up to the piano and sight-read it, and see if the group can “name that tune.” This activity is easy to customize for different levels of students. You can also customize the song selections and play holiday name that tune, patriotic name that tune, Halloween name that tune, etc.

Music charades

Each student draws a slip of paper with a common musical term written on it. (Some examples might include: middle C, treble clef, quarter note, etc.) Without playing the piano, students have to act out the word and see if the group can guess what it is. This is a fun game and can get quite silly depending on what terms you pick!

Mamma mia! (Italian term review)

Each student draws a slip of paper with an Italian term written on it. At the piano, students play a scale (or other short pattern) using this Italian term and see if the group can guess what it is. For example, they might play the scale fast for “allegro,” or gradually slow down as they play the scale for “ritardando.” Bonus points if the students can say the term with the proper Italian pronunciation (“Mamma mia!”)

What do you think? What kind of games do you use with your students?

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Adding Group Classes to the Private Studio

6/9/2016

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My first job out of college was teaching at a large piano academy. In addition to private lessons, the academy also offered group classes in a digital piano lab. Having never taught groups before, it was very interesting to me to see the benefits that group classes had for students. Social interaction with classmates, more time for theory work, weekly opportunities for ensemble playing—these were just a few of the perks that the group classes offered.

Now that I run my own home studio, I unfortunately don’t have the student base (or space) to add a digital piano lab to my music room. However, I offer monthly group classes for my students in order for them to experience some of the benefits of learning in a group environment.

Obviously, with only one piano my current group classes are much different from the ones I once taught in the digital piano lab. After many years, I have found a formula of activities that I think works well in my limited space, and can be adapted for students of all ages and skill levels:

Ice breaker activity: The first thing I do in each class is to plan some sort of ice breaker activity, be it a game, a listening activity, or a group discussion. This gives the kids a chance to get to know each other a bit and interact with each other. It is also eye-opening as a teacher to see my students’ personalities in a group setting, as opposed to what I see each week in our private lessons.
Theory or History Lesson: Next, we usually do something instructive, like review a theory concept that the students are learning (counting eighth notes, for example) or listening and learning about a famous piece of music. I ask lots of questions, giving the students a chance to engage one other and relate what we are learning about to what they are doing in their private lessons.
Performance practice: I ask students to be prepared to play 3 pieces of music of their choice. These can be polished pieces, pieces in any stage of learning, or even original compositions. Anything the student would like to share is allowed. We also review recital etiquette (listening politely, bowing, applauding).
Ensemble playing: Finally, we end the class by working on an ensemble piece. Depending on the number of students, we might do duets, trios, quartets, or even pieces with percussion parts. All of these pieces are at sight-reading level, and students rotate so that everyone gets a chance to play each part.

As I plan my group classes each month, I put my ideas and materials in a binder so that I can re-use them for later classes. Once I know which students have signed up for that month’s class, I look through the binder and pick out games and ensemble pieces that are age and level appropriate.

In future blog posts I hope to share some specific activities I have done with my students at our group classes. What do you think? Do you offer group classes for your private students?

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Teaching Composition: A First Improvisation for Beginners

6/6/2016

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I have always loved composing my own music. As a little girl, I remember spending hours at the piano noodling around, making up my own pieces, and writing notes on the staff. It was so much more fun to me than playing what was in my lesson book!

So as a teacher, it surprised me to find out that some of my students were scared to compose. The fear of playing something that “sounded bad” was so paralyzing that getting some of my students to create their own music at the piano was like pulling teeth. This was totally foreign to me, and made me begin to brainstorm ways to get my students over this fear and to have fun being creative at the piano.

Over time, I found that starting students out early with the idea of creating music away from the written score really helped them to get over their fear of composition. We focus first on simply creating sounds, as opposed to “composing” an actual piece. Once students are comfortable creating sounds, we can slowly work up to putting ideas together and writing them down.

With that in mind, I usually start my students out by doing a story-based improvisation. In this activity, I tell students that I am the narrator, and I am going to tell a story for which they will provide the sound effects. There is no right or wrong in this story, and the sounds can be as silly as they like! Here is a typical story I use:

Once upon a time there was a little bird who lived high up in a tree. (student plays)
One day, the little bird saw a worm wiggling down on the ground. (student plays)
The bird swooped down and caught the worm! (student plays)
The bird took the worm up to the top of the tree. (student plays)

At this point I will ask the student to decide what happens next. Does the bird eat the worm? Does the worm get away? How will our story end? What sound can they create to depict this ending?

As students create their sounds, I offer praise and suggestions to help them along. Once we finish their story, one of their practice assignments for the week is to create their own story at home and to play it for me at their next lesson. This gives me a chance to see how comfortable a student is being creative without getting any prompts from me, and gives me an idea of how much (or how little) guidance the student might need with our next creative assignment.

What do you think? How do you first introduce the idea of composition/improvisation to your students?

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A Patriotic Group Class Lesson Plan

Setting Goals, Part One: Practicing

Group Class Ice Breakers

Adding Group Classes to the Private Studio

Teaching Composition: A First Improvisation for Beginners

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A Patriotic Group Class Lesson Plan

Setting Goals, Part One: Practicing

Group Class Ice Breakers﻿

Adding Group Classes to the Private Studio

Teaching Composition: A First Improvisation for Beginners

Author

Archives

Categories

Group Class Ice Breakers