Category: Professional Development

My 5 Favorite Zoom Features for Online Teaching

3/29/2020

With so many teachers transitioning to online teaching for the first time, you’ve probably heard about the video-conferencing app Zoom.

Maybe you have already tried it for your lessons, or maybe you’ve read about it and wonder what all the fuss is about?

I’ve just started getting my feet wet with Zoom, and I really like it so far! So, if you are considering Zoom for your lessons, or if you are currently using it and looking for more creative ways to make it work for you, read on to learn about my top five favorite Zoom features!

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My Favorite Free Online Resources for Students

3/23/2020

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A cute cat picture just for fun...Maggie says hello!

Well, this last month has been a doozy, hasn't it?

If you are like me, you may be working overtime to adjust to an entirely new way of teaching and to find resources to help you and your students during this difficult time of transition.

Let's work together! Today I am sharing links to some of my favorite free resources from around the web that I hope will help you and your students.

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The Repertoire Pyramid

12/13/2019

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Today I am sharing this article that I wrote for the blog at Tonara.com.

If you aren't familiar with Tonara, it is a unique app with a variety of features that enable teachers to manage their studio and motivate their students to practice. Visit Tonara's website HERE to learn more!

Assigning and pacing the repertoire we use with our students is one of the most challenging tasks we face as music teachers. The music we assign not only shapes the development of our students’ technical skills--it can also play a huge role in maintaining our students’ motivation to practice.

Some of the difficulties we might encounter in assigning student repertoire include:

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Turning Student Repertoire Requests into Learning Opportunities

10/8/2019

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Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

Parent: “I’d really like little Johnny [age 8, in his first year of lessons] to learn the Moonlight Sonata. Is that possible?”
Beginning student: “Can I please, please, please learn this song?” [proceeds to play the first two notes of Fur Elise over and over…]
Student in second year of lessons: “I’ve been playing piano for a LONG time now. When can I learn some Elton John (Scott Joplin/Chopin/Rachmaninoff, etc.)?”

As much as we want to encourage our students’ enthusiasm for music, it can be difficult not to cringe when we get one of these unexpected, and often unrealistic, repertoire requests. It can be tough to envision incorporating the “Moonlight Sonata” into lessons when a student is still struggling to count half notes and whole notes.

However, what if there were a way to use these requests to teach and reinforce the basic skills we are already working on in our lessons? With a little creativity, it can be possible! The next time you get an unexpected repertoire request, consider these options:

Does a simplified version of this piece exist?
I realize there is some controversy over the idea of using simplified music, in particular simplified classical music, in lessons. However, the sad truth is that for those of us who work with primarily “recreational” students, the majority of the students we teach will never reach the proficiency level required to play many of these beloved classical pieces in their original form. If learning a simplified arrangement of a classical piece can motivate your students and bring them the joy of playing a favorite classical piece at the piano, isn’t it an idea worth considering?

There are so many great options for simplified arrangements these days that often a Google search will give you several choices at a variety of levels. But here are a few of my favorite places to look for student-friendly arrangements of both classical and popular music:

Piano Pronto: Jennifer Eklund has done a wonderful job arranging hundreds of beloved classical themes so that they maintain their original flavor while still being accessible to student pianists. Her method books contain many arrangements, and many more are available as digital downloads on the Piano Pronto site. Her companion site, FM Sheet Music, contains over 1,000 arrangements of pop and movie music for student pianists as well.
Sheet Music Plus: Just type in the title and choose the level you are looking for. You can find both hard copy collections from a variety of educational music publishers as well as digital downloads of music from independent arrangers in a variety of genres (including my own arrangements of pop, video game, and anime music for students, found HERE).
Musicnotes: You can find everything from “beginner note” (pre-reading) arrangements to lead sheets to “easy piano” arrangements--and beyond--on this website. Note that the music here is available only in digital, print-on-demand format.

Can the piece be taught by ear or by rote?
Perhaps a simplified version of the requested piece doesn’t exist--or maybe even the simplified version is still too difficult for your student. Can a portion of the piece be taught by rote or by ear? Very often students are happy just to learn an 8 or 16 measure section of their requested piece, with the understanding that as they progress they can learn even more.

In earlier blog posts, I’ve discussed how I teach familiar favorites such as Pachelbel’s “Canon” and “Carol of the Bells” by rote, as well as how I teach pop music by ear.

Can the student learn the bass line and play along with you as a duet?
If your student can play A and E, they can play along with the bass notes to the first section of “Fur Elise.” The bass line for the opening of the “Moonlight Sonata” contains only five notes (and can be transposed to an easier key if necessary). The bass line to many pop songs can be played by knowing just four notes--the roots of the I, IV, V, and vi chords.

Have students play these short bass lines along with you as you play the remainder of the piece, as a duet. Duets are a great way to work on:

Cueing and ensemble--can you start and end together?
Counting--hold those bass notes!
Dynamics and tempo--see if your student can follow the dynamic changes and tempo changes you make as you play (for example, add in a crescendo, diminuendo, or ritardando to challenge your student’s listening skills).

Can you perform the piece for the student or listen to a recording of it together?
What if the requested piece can’t possibly be simplified in a way that makes it accessible for the student to play? There are still opportunities for learning! Consider these ideas:

If it is a piano piece, can you play it for your student? This is a great way to inspire and demonstrate what your student can achieve over time through hard work and practice.
Can you find a recording of the piece and use it to work on listening skills? You can:
- Identify concepts such as high/low, loud/soft, fast/slow.
- Identify any orchestral or percussion instruments in the recording.
- Clap the rhythm and march to the beat.
- Identify the form of the piece. Do any of the sections repeat?
- Discuss how the music makes you feel. Is it happy, sad, angry? How do you think the composer created that emotion in the music?
- Learn about the history of the piece. When was it written? Who was the composer? What other pieces did this composer write?

What do you think? Do you welcome student repertoire requests? Any tips you would like to share for turning these requests into learning experiences? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments!

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Choosing the Right Piece of Music for Every Student

9/20/2019

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One of the best things about being a twenty-first century piano teacher is the abundance of musical choices. Never in the history of music have we had more sheet music or a wider variety of styles and genres at our fingertips. We can browse online from a seemingly endless selection of music for our students and even print on-demand!

However, one of the most difficult things about being a modern piano teacher is--you guessed it--the abundance of choices! It can be tough to balance our desire to find new, exciting repertoire for our students to play with the desire to use high quality materials that will make our students feel successful and sound fabulous. With so much music to choose from, how can we tell if a particular piece is well-written and a good fit for our students?

Today, I’d like to share my own suggestions for how to assess a piece and decide if it is right for your student. Every student has different tastes and abilities--so hopefully these ideas will help you to find the right piece for every student in your studio!

First, know your levels. Choosing a piece at the right level for your student is the first step in making sure that your selection will set your student up for success. You will see a variety of terminology used by different publishing companies to describe the various levels of piano music. However, here is a general guideline that shows the most commonly-used name for each level, along with its corresponding method book levels and the designation publishers use for popular music at that level (in quotation marks):

Elementary (Beginner) - primer, level 1 - “five-finger”
Late Elementary (Late Beginner) - level 2-3 - “big note”
Early Intermediate - level 3-4 - “easy piano”
Intermediate - level 4-5 - "easy piano"
Late Intermediate - level 5-6 - "piano solo" or "piano-vocal-guitar"
Advanced - out of method books - “piano solo” or "piano-vocal-guitar"

Most publishing companies try to make a teacher's job easier by clearly listing the level of a piece of music on the front cover. However, if the level of a piece isn't clearly marked, here are a couple of resources that can help you determine it:

The Pianists Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature by Jane Magrath
This is an excellent resource that covers thousands of the most-taught piano pieces from the beginning to early advanced levels. Although you won't find the most recently composed pieces listed here, it is a must-have for leveling and choosing repertoire written around 1990 and earlier.

Sheet Music Plus Level Guidelines
Sheet Music Plus is a large, online music retailer. They have created a chart that lists characteristics of pieces at each level with examples from the standard piano literature. It will give you a good overview of what musical elements you can expect to find in pieces at each level. You can also click on a level to browse all the music they have available at that level--which is very helpful!

Next, I like to ask myself three important questions to judge whether a piece is well-written and appropriate for the student I have in mind.

1. Is the piece fun to play? A piece that feels good under the hands and matches your student's current technical abilities will be fun to play! You might ask:

Does this piece fit the hands well, with no awkward maneuvering or excessively tricky fingering?
Does this piece take into account the hand size, finger dexterity, and technical abilities of your student?
Does this piece use a tempo that is attainable for your student?
Does this piece use rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic patterns that your student will recognize?

2. Is it fun to listen to this piece? Students (and parents) enjoy music that sounds good, no matter what level your student is currently at. You might ask:

Is it catchy? Would your student be excited to play this piece?
Is it unique? Does it contain elements that would make it interesting to a non-musical listener (i.e., a parent) in a performance setting?
Does it tell a story, communicate an emotion, or paint a picture for the listener?

3. Does this piece teach the student something? Although we want our students to enjoy the music they are playing, we also want the pieces we choose to contribute to our students' overall musical growth. You might ask:

What will the student learn by playing this piece? Does this piece reinforce your student’s current piano skills?
Does this piece stretch your student in some small way, either artistically or technically? (My rule of thumb is that a piece can have one or two new ideas--beyond that and there is potential for a student to be overwhelmed.)
Does this piece serve as a stepping stone to other works you hope your student will study in the future?

What do you think? How do you assess a new piece and determine if it is a good fit for your students? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

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My 5 Favorite Zoom Features for Online Teaching

My Favorite Free Online Resources for Students

The Repertoire Pyramid

Turning Student Repertoire Requests into Learning Opportunities

Choosing the Right Piece of Music for Every Student

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