Meet the newest member of my studio: Mikey, by Blue Microphones. Mikey is quickly working his way into my heart as a where-have-you-been-all-of-my-life kind of tool.

Mikey is not my only recording friend. I have loved my Zoom H4 for the last few years. The Zoom is a handy companion. I loved being able to record accompaniments for my students, record them performing to burn CDs for presents for their parents, and record myself playing their repertoire pieces at different tempos to practice. But the interface leaves much to be desired, and the process from the first step of making the recording to handing a CD to a student or emailing them an MP3 file just took a few more steps than I would have liked.

Then Mikey entered my life as a thoughtful Christmas present from my husband. What do I like about him (Mikey, not my husband…)?

He’s plug and play. You plug him into an iPod (check this site for compatible iPods), and use Voice Memo or another recording application such as Evernote or Blue FiRe, check the gain (there are three to choose from. I’ve been happy with the lowest for recording at the piano), and push the record button on the iPod. Whammo. Done. If your students bring their iPods, they have a recording ready to use at home. If your student doesn’t have a compatible iPod, you can easily download the track to iTunes to burn to a CD or put in Dropbox or email.

How am I using Mikey? So far, my main use of Mikey so far has been to record festival pieces at different practice tempos. I don’t always encourage students to play with recordings rather than metronome, but some of them respond better to a performance than to the tick tick tick of the metronome. I have also recorded an accompaniment for an informal audition and recorded a student composition to burn a CD for a festival entry. I envision using him to record concerto accompaniments at different tempos and playing backgrounds for students to improvise with at home. My soprano friend records warmups onto her students’ iPods. I also may consider asking parents to think about buying a Mikey for their own homes, allowing students to record their own compositions or even portions of their practice sessions for me to check or for their own benefit.

Does Mikey take the place of the Zoom? No. The Zoom’s recording quality is higher end and will definitely be my recorder of choice for recitals and most CDs. But my husband bought Mikey for just under $40, and I see that the Zoom’s newer cousin (the H4n) is running around $300. For a low-ish price, great ease of use, and a decent sound quality, I highly recommend having Mikey come to play at your studio.

Like the old saying: “The teacher teaches what he most needs to learn.”

Most of us who teach have a naturally giving personality.

In fact, a career coach I regularly work with, Barbara Deutsch, told me the first time she met with me over ten years ago that my competitive edge in any industry is…giving.

But like any good quality we may have, we always have to be vigilant to make sure we stay in balance.

I’m not great at this sometimes, okay, often…and I’m guessing many of you have your own struggles with it as well.

What are you doing to fill your own tank creatively? Personally?

As teachers, we have to be energized, rested, and refreshed if we are going to offer the very best to our clients, and there are as many ways of doing this as there are teachers….

I will give you a concrete example of how this works.

I was on a long jag of teaching…many days in a row without creating a day off for myself. Sometimes I will look at my teaching calendar and think, “This schedule is ridiculous!”

Then the voice/feeling/knowing in my gut that sounds a lot like Atticus Finch will calmly say, “You created this schedule.” Atticus will then follow up with, “And remember the time when you felt lucky to have just one client in a day?”

Yes, yes….reality check with a little gratitude always goes a long way.

But back to the concrete example…on the teaching jag, tired, and clearly not as present for my clients as I would like to be.

One especially insightful client of mine, Brenda, ends her lesson time by giving me an assignment.

She says, “This week I want you to take one day off and just go somewhere like the Getty Museum and have a day for yourself.”

As soon as she said it, I knew it was the right thing.

Arial View of The Getty

I cleared my calendar for one day and took myself to the museum, got the audio tour, and just went slowly through, looking at the beautiful things that caught my eye.

Number one, the Getty couldn’t be in a cooler location, in the hills overlooking Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and the Pacific Ocean.

The art itself was obviously inspiring and just does something for your soul, bringing you back to the knowledge that as a creative person, you get to be a little part of, a contributor to, this big sea of art and creative expression.

There was a Leonardo da Vinci sketch exhibition on at the time, so that itself was incredible. One small piece of his overwhelming body of work.

And there is just something about the Getty that is magnificent. I have a theory that it is the Italian travertine….just makes you feel all bella vita.

Getty Courtyard

In short, I left the museum rejuvenated and happy that I took some time to invest in myself.

I also picked up some great inspiration for images and ideas that helped in my teaching.

So whether it’s a museum, a massage, a football game, or time with family and friends, take the time to invest in you.

Your clients will thank you for it.

It’s also important to consider your personal professional development. Did you expand your musical knowledge last year? How many teaching or music-related books, blogs, articles or forums did you read? How many seminars, master classes and conferences did you attend? How many performances did you give? How many concerts did you attend? How many colleagues have you bounced ideas off?

One you have an accurate idea of what works and what doesn’t work in your teaching studio, start to think about things you would like to expand on or develop this year. The next step is crucial – don’t just think about your goals, take action. If you would like to go to two conferences this year, google them, note down the registration dates and block out the times in your calendar. If you aim to be more prepared for your lessons, block out time in your schedule each week to make this happen. If you want to read more music books check out your local library or order them online. Don’t just look them up and then fail to act. Finally, I schedule a reminder every week or fortnight to read over my assessment of last year and my goals for this year. This is the key to keeping on track for me. If you have any further tips or goals please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Image: aopsan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posing proudly after a No-Worries Workshop

1. Lesson Time: Adults are able to schedule lessons during those hours when most K-12 school students cannot attend.

2. Income: Because adults can come during “off hours” weekly income is expanded.

3. Friendship: Every time a new student enters the door a new relationship is established and inevitably a friend as well.

4. Variety: Each adult student arrives with a unique and distinct musical background and agenda. While some desire to master Mozart, others want to learn note names, while others wish to play current pop hits. Because of time limitations, I have not initiated a Recreational Music Making (RMM) class but this could be a possible option for your studio. This program, that emphasizes recreational and not traditional lessons for adults, continues to grow in popularity. For more information check out the Recreational Music Making Handbook.

Don and Stuart--self-titled "The Octogenarian Duo"

5. Appreciation: While I thoroughly enjoy seeing kiddos eager to play their first song (and watching them discover how fast they can play their new piece!), adults seem to enjoy and appreciate every aspect of their progress. Each step of the piano path seems to be equally important as, or even more important than, a perfected performance.

6. Light-Bulb Moments: In many cases, soon after lessons begin there are the “Ah-Ha” moments. Example: some students have known that 1 sharp at the beginning of a piece means that the F needs to be sharped throughout. However, it is so exhilarating when the need for the F# in the key of G is discovered and understood. Many theory secrets are unlocked after being bound by years of “blind obedience” to the score.

7. Staying Hip: One of my “younger” adult students keeps me up to date with the latest YouTube pianists and digital print music. He can play by ear but wants to read the latest hits as well. Since he has no prior reading skills, we both continue to carve a way to master pitch, rhythm and chord symbol recognition from the grand staff in an unconventional, non-method-book manner.

8. Flexibility: Job obligations or vacation plans often get in the way of weekly piano lessons for most of my adult students. Although the income may not be as reliable, I don’t mind a weekly schedule that varies. Because lessons may not occur weekly, Music Teachers Helper is crucial to keeping things organized. Lesson Reminder emails prompt students of an upcoming lesson (that they may have forgotten about) and e-mailed Daily Summary reports remind me of the lesson as well. Students truly appreciate the lessons notes I write and these serve as a basis for the following lesson. The notes are especially helpful if there is a long gap between lessons.

9. Workshops and Wine: I have learned adult students prefer not to perform among young pianists so I offer informal “No-Worries Workshops”. Students are invited to perform and share some details of the composer, the composition or the challenges encountered while mastering a piece. I always learn something new from the information they share. This past December we all enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine after the December workshop to celebrate the season. That just doesn’t happen at my bi-annual K-12 church recitals

10. Wisdom: One of my students boasts 88 years with the daily schedule of an 18 year old, another is a renowned eye surgeon, one a general contractor, another, a bio-chemist engineer, another a psychiatric practitioner, one is a World War II vet and…Although most are “retired” they prefer to call this stage a new chapter in their lives. All of them generously share their wisdom and perspective with me on a regular basis. Many times, I feel I OWE THEM for what I learn from their life experiences  and professions.

Sarah (on the right and 88 years young) celebrating her performance with friends

Teaching adult students may be a great fit for you IF:

• your policies allow for flexibility in scheduling (my adult student policies are far different from those for K-12 students)
• you enjoy meeting new people and engaging in stimulating conversation
• you are willing to teach those who may suffer from arthritis, hearing loss, poor eyesight…
• you are willing to customize lessons to match students’ desires and goals
• you are interested in the concept of and the benefits of Recreational Music Making for adults
• you enjoy keeping great minds stimulated and on track in the later years.

Would love to hear from others who enjoy teaching adults!

Willard A. Palmer Favorite Solos

Dr. Palmer was a world renowned musician, scholar and music teacher. With 789 published works, his name is familiar to students and teachers alike, most notably associated with Alfred’s Basic Piano Library. This new series contains a nice collection of his original piano solos for students of all ages. There is a variety of styles, sounds and moods, and the music is laid out beautifully, suitable for the youngest students as well as the older beginners. There are no childish pictures to put off the older beginners, and the music engraving is large enough that the younger students may be able to follow easily.

Book 1 Early Elementary/Elementary

The first volume contains 8 solos. They are very accessible for your beginners, yet the music sounds surprisingly sophisticated. I am especially impressed by the following features:

1. Very clear, precise pedal markings – some are understandably optional in this volume.
2. Hand crossing – beginner students love to show this off!
3. Using different registers of the piano keyboard – changing the register is the easiest way to create variation, and this is used a lot in repeats, to create echos, at endings of phrases, or for dramatic effects.
4. Performance instructions are mostly in English – this is very appropriate for beginners. As the music becomes more difficult, more and more Italian terms are introduced.
5. Optional duet part – The first five pieces have optional duet part; they sound great both ways.
6. Melody is sometimes in the left hand, sometimes shared by both hands – great to see this concept introduced in the first volume.
7. Major/minor twist in melody – musical interest and complexity is achieved without making the music overly difficult.

Book 2 Late Elementary/Early Intermediate

This volume contains 9 solos. They introduce many important concepts and terms found in classical music, most appropriate for your developing students:

1. Titles such as Bagatelle, Ballade, Caprice, Theme and Variations
2. Alberti bass accompaniment figure
3. Key change
4. Tempo change

Book 3 Early Intermediate/intermediate

This volume contains 8 solos. All of the features in Book 1 and 2 continue to be explored. There is now almost an exclusive use of Italian terms, and we see titles such as Baroque Bourree, Prelude in D Minor, and Serenade in G. New concepts introduced include use of optional third staff, chromatic scale, whole tone scale, and ornaments. More modern sounds and styles such as syncopation, swing rhythm, and ragtime are also represented.

Alfred also publishes the Favorite Solos series for other composers: Dennis Alexander, David Carr Glover, Martha Mier, and Catherine Rollin. These best-loved piano solos of each composer have been compiled into graded collections for students to enjoy playing and teachers to enjoy teaching! I will have to check them all out in detail.

Signature Series

If you are looking for just that one more piece to compliment your student’s audition program, or would like to try a new contemporary (living) composer, then the Alfred Signature Series is for you! This is modern sheet music at its best. Each piece is printed on one large sheet: page-turn and budget friendly! Numerous composers are featured. If you want to be safe, go with familiar names such as Melody Bober, Dennis Alexander, Martha Mier, Robert Vandall, Catherine Rollin, or Wynn-Anne Rossi, or be pleasantly surprised by Betty Sutton, Ted Cooper, Mike Springer, Mary K. Sallee, or W.T. Skye Garcia. Better yet, on the Alfred website you can view a sample page before purchasing, to make sure you like the particular composer’s style. Oh, and the artwork on the sheet music cover is carefully selected to reflect the level of each solo – “cutesy” for the elementary pieces, and more “artsy” for the more advanced!

How do you select audition music for your students? Do you have a favorite series? Do share in the comments below!

In the beginning of my teaching, I stayed away from teaching Jazz because I did not have any training in this genre. Last year, I became very curious about Jazz and started practicing on my own. Just a standard here and there, as well as some Jazz method book learning. I also began listening to a lot of old Jazz greats like Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, and Billie Holiday. It seemed scary, but I decided to try testing out the old Yogi Tea wisdom, and I started assigning Jazz pieces to my students and teaching them how to improvise. I may not be a master of Jazz, but I am certainly much better that I was last year, and my students have proven that I am doing a good job.

It doesn’t stop at genres either. This year I felt I needed to work on my own focus, discipline, and attention to detail, as well as tame the inner critic in my head. I started emphasizing these traits in my students and we have all greatly improved. Have you tried this approach? Do you find you are getting better right along side your students?

Overall, I have banned the words “good” and “bad” because neither tell you what to continue working with and what to try to fix. I also try to always use only positive directives. We’ll identify both what behavior we want to replace and then what we want to happen instead. Focus is then on what we WANT to happen, rather than what we don’t want.

These are questions I have routinely asked my students, but thanks to a conversation I had on Google+ with Wendy Stevens,composer/pianist/teacher, in response to her blog post, “Never Ask This,” I’ve changed my approach even more.  My husband had once asked me why I asked “Does that make sense?” so often, but it didn’t hit me how easily students cop out of answering that question until Wendy wrote her post.

Since Wendy’s post, I’ve been MUCH more aware of how I phrase things and how I ask students to respond.  Much of the time I try to say, “When I say XX, what does that mean to you?”  I also ask students how they would like me to write down something in the lesson notes; I take notes on my computer during lessons to copy & paste into lesson reconciliation on MTH at the end of each lesson.  Each student also has their own file, so I can easily call up what we’ve done since their first lesson.

What kinds of questions do YOU ask your students to try to make them think and personalize your teaching?

This list of recommended performances is included in my first newsletter of the year. I write a brief blurb about each concert, making reference to the style or genre and the performer, so that parents can decide if the performance is appropriate for their child. In the weeks leading up to a concert that I think is particularly of interest, I will often send out a reminder group email. This is very easy to do via the Music Teachers Helper email function. Using this function, I can also glance through my list of students and ‘tick the box’ of the students who I believe would most benefit from a particular performance. I also like to include YouTube links of the performer or repertoire in these emails.

As a follow up to these performances, I always discuss them with my students in the next lesson. If any students are interested, they are welcome to contribute a short review of the performance in my next newsletter. This helps students to think critically about the music they have heard and aids in developing a musical vocabulary to express their ideas.

If you have any further ideas on developing a concert attendance culture in your studio, please leave a comment below.

Image: nuchylee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1824

Years ago, as a fairly new teacher, I decided that my students would benefit from more parent-teacher communication. I was sure each parent wondered if his or her child was making the kind of progress of which he was capable. Was Rebecca practicing technique effectively? Was Thomas doing his theory consistently? How much time should Annie really be spending reviewing repertoire vs. learning new music?

I decided that report cards were the answer! I made a Piano Lesson Report Card with all the various topics I wanted to cover and a place for a personal note, had them copied, and decided I’d introduce my brilliant idea at our next recital.

In the days before the recital, I thoughtfully prepared each report card, adding words of praise and encouragement to the necessary “Rob could spend more time counting out loud” comments. At intermission at the recital, I explained my thinking and handed out the report cards along with the awards each student had received.

As the recital continued, I noticed that one student looked close to tears and her mother looked close to rage. My student performed, then she and her mother left, well before the end of the recital. That night I received an angry phone call from the mother, berating me for my insensitive report card and letting me know how terrible it was that I had shamed her daughter by giving her a C in theory, and in public, no less. She let me know she had expected more of me. She had expected me to be a light in her daughter’s world, and instead, I had made music become another way to be judged and found wanting.

I was horrified. My intentions had been noble, even if not well thought through. The public nature of the judgment was too much for a girl who had been going through a hard time anyway, and I hadn’t even considered that my report card (with its very generous C…she never ever did her theory assignments) could create so much turmoil. I sent a letter of apology to both the mother and the daughter, but the damage had been done and I never taught that student another lesson.

That was not an example of win-win.

This year, almost 20 years later, I still wonder how best to accomplish my goal: to have each of the members of the Student-Teacher-Parent triangle feel that their needs are being met, their expectations and goals recognized, and that each of us are members of a team. Emails and phone calls are helpful, of course. My written lesson assignment sheets are necessary to make my weekly expectations evident. But I want to move it to another level. I’m looking for ways to make lessons a win-win-win for each of the sides of the triangle.

So share with me:

How do you help improve communication and goal-setting with parents and students? Parent-teacher conferences? Lesson notes through MTH? Even (gasp) report cards? And how do you share your less-than-stellar reports with parents or students in a respectful, encouraging way? Tell all!

Based on a Novel Idea by Wendy Stevens.

In her recent website newsletter, Wendy Stevens described a holiday project she designed. She asked her piano students to learn the theme of the “Jingle Bell” chorus and create a variation. Each arranger was filmed debuting his/her arrangement and made into a lovely video.

Fortunately, Wendy shares her marvelous teaching ideas and inspirations on her unique website www.composecreate.com. Subscribing to her free newsletter provides me with numerous ideas and resources. I must give full credit to her for the subject of this blog and am so thankful to find her as a continual resource of inspiration.

The Plot

When preparing for the upcoming holiday recital, lesson time can be zapped by ironing out wrinkles in performance pieces or drilling the performance etiquette routine. Little time is left for covering new concepts or new pieces. This calls for an assignment that captures the students’ attention, challenges their creativity and that can be accomplished in a short amount of time.

 The Production

The following steps were taken to prepare students:

1) A lead sheet featuring the melody and chord symbols was reviewed. Early level students were provided with a simple LH version.

2)  For inspiration, students were asked to listen to Mozart’s Twelve Variations on “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” and follow along with the score. Next they watched the youtube video of Wendy’s students. (As I offer 30-minute lessons with a 30-minute lab time, this was assigned during the lab time and did not take away from lesson time.)

3) A checklist of composition devices was given to charge up the creative juices. About 5 minutes of lesson time was taken to prod students’ idea bank. We looked over a list of various moods that sparked the imagination engines. Most were inspired to borrow ideas from their current pieces which boosted their confidence as they were not starting with a blank slate. Additional ideas included varying the melody with neighbor tones, repeated notes, rhythmic changes and using standard LH patterns they encounter on a regular basis. Students were encouraged to keep it simple. However, they know I am a huge fan of intros and outros (codas), so most added them to please the teacher

4) Pianists (arrangers) were asked to return to the next lesson with a completed variation.

Action!

The following week was like Christmas as each student “unwrapped” his/her variation for me. Some were perfected and camera-ready, some even had more than one variation, while others needed last-minute tweaking to work out rhythm or harmony issues.

Recording each student usually took more than one “take” but they did seem relieved to know that only their hands would be filmed. They were all reminded to use their best hand position but  some were quite surprised with what they saw while watching their own video. (Note to self: pull out this camera more often–a picture can say so much more than words!)

Cut!

After accumulating the clips, they all headed to the editing table (iMovie). Every student who participated was included in the final cut, however there were so many that a ‘sequel’ was needed.

The Editor’s cut features the top twelve variations (yes, it was hard to choose!). It was just added to my Music Teachers Helper website, a great way to showcase the latest studio activities.

This is the first of MANY similar projects. It offered an opportunity to cover theory topics like the theme and variation form, primary chords, secondary chords, modality, composition techniques…the list goes on. The students enjoyed the creativity and seeing their names and hands “up in lights”–watch out Hollywood!