As is obvious from my last post, I am way excited about Autumn! The other day I got giddy when I noticed pumpkin decorations outside of a grocery store. I can’t wait for the leaves on our 5 or 6 huge trees to change colors. I’m even sort of excited to rake said leaves. At this time of year I always have Vivaldi’s “Autumn” (3rd movement) running through my head with the lyrics we sing at our preschool Early Explorers class.
Who else is excited for Autumn?? Who would like to try out the Amazing Autumn preschool lesson plan for free? I’d love to give away THREE free copies of the Amazing Autumn Early Explorers lesson plan! Are you interested? Just leave a comment below to be entered into a drawing for a free copy. For an extra entry, subscribe to my blog and leave an extra comment letting me know you did. For an additional extra entry, share a link to this post via Facebook, Pinterest, or another social media site of your choice, and leave an additional comment letting me know you did. I will draw the three winners on Monday, September 1.
And for all those of you who want to try out this amazing lesson plan and don’t want to wait and try your chances at winning (I never win these things!! haha), I am offering the Amazing Autumn lesson plan at 25% off until the first day of Autumn, which according to Google is September 23.
You may purchase it at the discounted rate only in this post – if you purchase it in the Teaching Studio Store it will not be the discounted rate. Got it?
Special Discount – Amazing Autumn Early Explorers Lesson Plan
This past week has been so wonderful – it has been pretty rainy here, and the temperatures have cooled down a bit. My family and I are just giddy with this weather! We have not experienced a true Autumn for four years now (in San Antonio the leaves don’t change colors, they don’t fall down until after the new year, and it doesn’t really get cool outside.) With temperatures in the low 60’s or high 50’s, us Texans are breaking out our sweats, drinking hot chocolate and leaving the windows open to enjoy the cool breeze. We are in heaven!
Autumn is my favorite time of year! I love it so much. In honor of this beautiful season that is upon us, I decided to do a little research and find some great classical piano pieces about Autumn. I found some really great pieces. These would make a great Autumn recital program, or is a wonderful list of beautiful pieces to play or listen to to get in the mood for chilly days. I hope you enjoy!
4 Sketches, Op.15 (Amy Beach) I. In Autumn
6 Études de concert, Op.35 (Cécile Chaminade) II. Automne. Lento (D♭ major)
In Autumn, H.162 (Frank Bridge)
10 Woodland Sketches, Op.51 (Edward MacDowell) IV. In Autumn
8 Characteristic Pieces, Op.36 (Moritz Moszkowski) En Automne
I love this one and just keep listening to it over and over! You can just hear the Autumn leaves falling and swirling through the air. Beautiful!
Feuilles mortes: Lent et mélancolique (Dead Leaves) (Claude Debussy)
3 Tone-Pictures, Op. 5 No. 3: The Night Winds (Charles Griffes)
I love Charles Griffes. I thought this was a nice one for Autumn.
Yellowed Leaves, Op.31 (Seven Bagatelles) (Nikolay Myaskovsky) sheet music
Now I believe the title “Yellowed Leaves” may be referring to yellowed pages, but I still love this set of pieces. I have never heard of Myaskovsky before and this was a fun little find!
Ten Pieces from Cinderella, Op. 97 (Sergei Prokofiev), Autumn Fairy
I love these short fairy pieces! Each one is so beautiful and perfectly evokes the mood of each season.
(Autumn Fairy begins at 5:19 in the video)
Fluttering Leaves, Op. 147 No. 3 (Carl Kolling)
This is a piece I played in junior high school, and is a great little piece for intermediate students. The quick runs sound just like fluttering leaves. It actually is kind of a joke in my family: whenever I would practice this song, after each fast run on the last note of the phrase my family would bang cupboards or slam things in time with the music. One day my grandma was visiting and when my family slammed things in time with the music, my grandma got such a kick out of it that she was crying with laughter. Isn’t it wonderful when piano practice becomes a fun family memory?
Other Piano Pieces About Autumn:
An Autumn Ride (Rawlings, Charles Arthur) sheet music
Autumn Sketches, Op.103 (Smith, Wilson) sheet music
Autumn Song, Op.88 (Sudds, William F.) sheet music
Autumn, Op.15 (Sherwood, William H.) sheet music
Autumn Leaflet (Geibel, Adam) sheet music
Trembling Leaves, Op.17 (Wehli, James M.) sheet music
When the Autumn Leaves are Falling, Op.495 (Grobe, Charles) sheet music
Autumn Leaves, Op.40 (Gimbel Junior, Charles) sheet music
Autumn (Saroni, Herrman S.) sheet music
One thing I love about this day and age and the technology we have is how we as piano teachers can share so many ideas with each other to improve one another’s teaching. I love the things that I create for my own teaching, but I am also so grateful for others’ fantastic ideas, and I am so grateful that we can each benefit from each others’ ideas and strengths in the piano-teaching field.
Last year I had a guest post from Kristin Jensen, an amazing and creative piano teacher who has a fantastic website all about teaching ear training and improvisation to young piano students. I would encourage you to go back and take a look at all the new resources she has available. She has so many neat improv activities on her blog with step-by-step instructions (often with videos) on how to simply teach a child to improv on the piano. Many of her activities are simple enough for parents and children to do together, which I love! I also love her collection of theory worksheets and games – we could all use more of those to amp up our teaching!
Some other ideas I am loving lately from around the web:
These Animal Alphabet Clothespin Matching Cards from Susan Paradis – what a fun idea! I love piano resources that cater to the younger children, and this is a clever one.
Since I made my Giant Floor Keyboard three years ago, I have gotten so much use out of it! It is absolutely my favorite studio resource, and has been a staple in my preschool music classes in particular, but I have also used it in piano lessons and group classes. My children love playing with it as well! The vinyl has survived lots of love and use very well and I am still so pleased with it.
The Giant Floor Staff has been wonderful as well! There are so many things you can use it for, and it’s just neat to have a large, off-the-bench area to practice theory concepts on. I usually use beanbags (several have ironed-on letter names; see above picture) or foam circles (see picture on left) with my Giant Floor Keyboard and my Giant Floor Staff, but I have been thinking that there is so much more these can be used for with the proper resources. So I created the Giant Floor Keyboard and Staff Manipulatives Pack. This is available in The Teaching Studio Store as two separate digital downloads (one for the keyboard and one for the staff), or as a bundle at a discounted rate.
Included in each pack are several sets of circular “flashcards” that fit perfectly on the keyboard and staff (if you bought the graphics from me and made them into a 3-foot by 8-foot banner), or if you make your own big keyboard or staff, they fit the following dimensions: key width on the keyboard 5-1/8 inches, space height on the staff 6-5/8 inches.
Each pack includes 12 or 13 sets of these circular flashcards, including: full-color letter names, part-color letter names, black and white letter names, black and white and part-color finger numbers, all letter names (including notes with sharps and flats), notes on the staff (to use with the keyboard to help learn where you play each note on the staff), notes on the keyboard (to use with the staff to learn letter names on the staff and how it relates to the keyboard), sharps and flats (key signature and scale practice), line and space cards to teach about the staff, and some plain black or white cards to use in any way you please.
These are perfect for teaching, reinforcing and practicing theory concepts ( notes on the staff, lines and spaces, scales, arpeggios, triads, key signatures, and much more!) in a fun, visual way. Activity suggestions are given for each set of printable circles, including ideas for groups or individuals, young beginners or more advanced students. Just print as many as you’d like, cut them out, laminate, and you’re ready to play!
Giant Floor Keyboard Manipulatives Pack
Giant Floor Staff Manipulatives Pack
Both Manipulative Packs
Includes 12 sets of printable circles, including letter names, finger numbers, sharps and flats, notes on the staff, and more. Activity suggestions are given for each set of printable circles. Just print as many as you’d like, cut them out, laminate, and you’re ready to play!Digital download. 49 pages.
Includes 13 sets of printable circles, including letter names, finger numbers, sharps and flats, notes on the keyboard, lines and spaces, and more. Activity suggestions are given for each set of printable circles. Just print as many as you’d like, cut them out, laminate, and you’re ready to play!Digital download. 77 pages.
Sometimes our students need a little extra motivation to get their practicing done each week. We as teachers also hope to train well-rounded musicians who not only can play some fun repertoire, but have a good knowledge of music theory, great technique and also some foundational keyboard skills to use in creating and composing their own music. I have created a fun incentive program to help motivate students to practice consistently in each of these categories. I created this program with my 6-year-old son in mind, as he loves building with Legos!
This incentive program focuses on four elements of piano lessons to help students become well-rounded musicians. Builders (Muscle Builders, technique exercises, etc.), Pieces (repertoire), Creativity (improvisation, composition, etc.), and Theory.
Students earn blocks for daily practice of assigned “projects” in each category! They keep track by coloring in blocks on their practice chart (included), then are awarded for their practicing. Students can keep track of their progress with the printable building blocks by “building” something with them in their student binder.
Download includes Weekly Project Assignment Sheets (with practice chart), Building Blocks of Piano chart to hang in studio, Practicing Progress Charts to keep track of each student’s progress, printable building block pieces and building sheet for student binder, and Master Practicer certificate.
This is the part I am really excited about! You can opt to award each colored practicing block with an actual Lego or other brand piece. Students fill up a jar throughout the semester, and at the end of the semester they get to keep the Lego pieces they earned!
Just so you can get an idea of how long it would take to fill up a jar, pictured here is a 22-oz jar filled with a variety of blocks. This size jar would be filled up with daily practice (meaning all 7 days) in each of the four categories within six weeks. It would take longer for only 5 or 6 practice days per week, and for occasionally missing days or not practicing in each of the categories.
Here are a couple of samples – first the Weekly Project Assignment Sheet, where you can assign an activity in each of the four areas. Students color in the blocks for practicing done. At the end of the semester, students who have earned a set number of blocks (you decide!) get this Master Practicer certificate! You may even decide to award those students with a studio party, including watching The LEGO Movie
or another fun activity of your choice!
The Building Blocks of Piano incentive program may be purchased here, or in The Teaching Studio Store.
I’m gonna be totally honest here. I am not very good at practicing. Hold on though, let me rephrase that. I am a great practicer, I know how to practice well, I love practicing, actually, and love to learn new pieces. The part I am not good at is finding the time in my busy mommy schedule to actually sit down and do it. So it doesn’t happen very often. Please tell me I am not alone??
This is how practicing looks like at my house. Adorable – yes. Buuuut – not so conducive to learning new pieces. (Who can name that piece?)
I’ve covered this topic before, but just humor me, alright? Typing it out again helps to remind me that I can still make time for practice, and I can use the little time I do have more wisely to still be the pianist I want to be. Thanks! And hopefully some of you will find some kind of motivation in this post as well, and we can practice better together!
Gone are the days of quiet, uninterrupted hours of practicing. I think maybe I should have appreciated those more when I had them. Oh well, moving on. I absolutely adore being a mom. My three kids are wonderful and are so important to me. But I still want to play the piano. It’s important! It’s important to me that my kids hear me play, and hear me practice. My husband plays too, and we love to play together and hear each other play.
I also have the words of my former teacher, Bonnie Winterton, in my head a lot. She is a great example to me of lifelong learning and piano practice. She always told me that I should always be working on: 1) a Bach prelude and fugue, and 2) a Beethoven sonata. I would love to do this. I need to be more disciplined at getting this done. But see, here’s my problem:
Practicing these days consists of me sitting down at the piano to play, and after about 2 minutes somebody comes and climbs onto my lap to play with me. So I continue with one hand, perhaps up an octave since some of the keys I need are taken by little fingers. Then there is the inevitable screaming and sibling rivalry going on in the other room. Or somebody needs my attention. You get the picture.
I think there is a way, though! Obviously, when you are a busy parent or busy teaching a whole lot you are not going to have as much time to practice as you used to. But there are a few important principles and techniques that help me, and if used consistently (even in 20-minute or 10-minute sessions) I do think that improvement will be made.
1. Practice in small sections
Like, really small. I like to sit down and say to myself, “Self, just learn these 2 measures.” Progress is progress, even in small amounts. Take it hands alone in these small sections, then put them together. You can make amazing progress (on this small little section) even in just a few minutes. Rather than try and play through a huge chunk of the piece, then get interrupted and feel like you didn’t make any progress at all, you can use good practice techniques on this small section and have it all learned and even memorized.
2. Write down your fingerings
This is always the first thing I do as I learn my little section. I find the fingering I like the best and write it in. You are never going to remember your fingerings from one short practice session to another, with lots of parental duties and life in-between. Write it in! I also love to do certain things to help make it easier to learn, such as circling all of the notes played by my thumb. This helps amazingly on fast arpeggiated passages.
Circling the notes played by the thumb is a nice visual cue to prepare to cross under!
3. Apply memorization techniques as you go
Be really focused, analyze and memorize major chord progressions. Find small patterns to remember, such as the movement of the bass note, or the movement of your right hand thumb. Just find some pattern to memorize and use as a landmark. Memorize different “starting places” as you learn each little section, so you can start the piece anywhere.
Whatever chords will help you to learn a piece, write them in!
A sticky little section that somehow got easier when I memorized the movement of my right hand thumb. Write in or circle whatever will help you!
4. See the overall picture
It’s easy to stay focused on tiny little sections when that is all you have time to work on. So don’t forget to get the big picture: listen to recordings by different pianists. Hear the overall dynamic phrases and structure, find the climax and the overall direction of the piece. Get out some colored pencils and mark/analyze the overall structure and form of the piece. Find and mark all of the thematic sections and recaps. In a fugue mark each reiteration of the theme. Decide what story you are trying to tell, or what scene you want to picture as you play, or what mood you want to evoke through the piece. If the overall piece makes more sense to you, you will learn it better, and learn it right the first time.
5. Record yourself
Don’t forget to record yourself at the end of a quick session to see how that little section really is sounding! You are your toughest critic. Listen with an objective ear and decide what needs to be fixed next time.
You can do it. Even with a baby on your lap and a toddler sitting next to you, you can work on a little section with one hand. This is the ultimate test in piano practicing focus! If you can do this you can do anything! You are a super hero. Seriously though, throughout your day, during nap times or after the kids are in bed, or even with them sitting next to you, you can continue to develop your talents. And what a blessing that example will be to them when they start taking lessons and developing talents themselves.
And while I am mostly talking to myself, YOU can do it too! My goal is to get at least some quality practice time in each day, even if it is short. What’s your practicing goal?
With the school year and the piano lesson year about to begin in many places, I thought it would be fitting to share some new printable forms to help start the year off right! This packet is available for free to new Teaching Studio subscribers! Subscribers get periodic emails with all the latest tips, ideas, and awesome resources that I share on The Teaching Studio. So come on over and subscribe to my newsletter!
The free packet includes some new versions of the popular Piano Lesson Contract, with the added student responsibility of arriving at lessons with fingernails trimmed. Thanks to the reader who suggested that addition!
Also included are two fun student information sheets…
Pages to use for studio newsletters, weekly assignments, notes to parents, or anything else you can imagine…
A basic year-long practice chart printable…
Some fun practicing reminders to hang in your studio…
Tuition payment reminders to place on your studio door the first week of the month…
Today I would love your input! I am doing a little research on music experiences in childhood. I know that I had a very musical childhood – we always had instruments to play, we listened to music all the time (including lots of classical), my mom sang to us every night, etc. But I’d love to know a little bit about YOUR experiences with music in your home as a child. Please take a few minutes and fill out this brief survey. Thank you!
Who else is excited for Autumn?? Who would like to try out the Amazing Autumn preschool lesson plan for free? I’d love to give away THREE free copies of the Amazing Autumn Early Explorers lesson plan! Are you interested? Just leave a comment below to be entered into a drawing for a free copy. For an extra entry, subscribe to my blog and leave an extra comment letting me know you did. For an additional extra entry, share a link to this post via Facebook, Pinterest, or another social media site of your choice, and leave an additional comment letting me know you did. I will draw the three winners on Monday, September 1.
