Caught Practicing and April News!

Well Hello, All!

We had a great first week of online lessons last week with a huge turnout for our Piano Jams and almost 100% attendance from our studio student body in regular lessons!  Navigating Zoom has been a learning experience for us all but it’s coming together!  I cannot being to thank you all for your flexibility AND for the words of encouragement and enthusiasm that have poured in over the last week!  You all are SO AWESOME and keep me inspired!

So just a few things to keep you updated.  I will try to keep it brief as I know there has been no shortage of emails coming into your inboxes this week!

LESSON TIMES AND ZOOM LINKS:

We will continue with the format that we established last week: lessons on Zoom! I will email you your secure Zoom link again this week. I have been creating folders for you in Google Drive to share with you that will contain homework/lesson notes and more music for you and will begin sharing those!

CAUGHT PRACTICING (Practice Incentive):

I am extending the Caught Practicing Practice Incentive until April 10th!  That gives you TWO MORE WEEKS to catch your student practicing the piano and send in a picture to me.  I’ll make a special posting that can be shared in our newsletter AND their name will be entered into a draw for a gift card!  So far we have Levi, Keira, Adams and Nathan in the draw so their odds are pretty good right now! 😉

SPRING RECITAL:

Our Spring Recital is currently being re-worked.  I am looking at a couple of possibilities one being postponing and the other being an online recital.  I will keep you posted, so keep choosing and practicing that recital piece!

SPEAKING OF PRACTICING:While you begin to create a new schedule for your family, I thought it would be helpful to share some tips for incorporating home practice into your new routines.

1. Set aside time each day that will always be “piano practice time”. Post a schedule on your fridge and stick to it as best you can. Your children will appreciate a predictable routine right now. Practice is more likely to happen if it takes place at the same time each day. I recommend practicing in the morning as your children will be fresh and free from other distractions that will inevitably happen over the course of a day.
2. Try to be present during your children’s practice, even if you are just listening. Depending on age, your children may need basic assistance (organizing materials, reading my lesson notes, troubleshooting) or they may simply appreciate your physical presence in the room. Sit and have your morning cup of coffee as your children make music. You’ll likely look forward to this “break from reality” too!
3. Keep your piano area free from distractions. For piano to become a happy reprieve, turn off the TV, remove younger siblings or pets and make the practice space welcoming. Be sure to declutter and organize materials so they are easily at hand. Your children may enjoy taking on the project of creating a “piano practice nest” (making their piano area cozy and welcoming).
4. Be encouraging and positive about your children’s attempts at the piano. Don’t worry about fixing mistakes you may hear (that’s my job!) and instead be a cheerleader to your children’s learning efforts. Mistakes can be easily fixed. Right now, the focus should be on being enthusiastic about the learning process.
5. Provide “reasons” for your children to practice. I know that family members who are not in physical contact with you right now would LOVE to have recorded performances or live FaceTime performances of your children’s music-making. Prepping for any sort of performance can be very motivating to children.
6. Play piano games with your children! We all are finding ourselves with extra moments in our days now when we would normally be driving around to extracurricular activities. Take advantage of this newly-acquired time and have some fun while building important musical skills. I have digital piano games I can send you to print off and “craft” if you are interested!

In a time when your children’s schedules and routines have been turned upside down, there is one thing that can remain: music! Music has always given people hope, and people have always turned to music in difficult times.

With all of the changes that have happened so rapidly in our children’s lives, the piano can be very helpful in maintaining a sense of normalcy in the weeks and months ahead. During these times of physical distancing, your children will find themselves with more free time. Playing the piano can help fill the void that the loss of other activities has created while also providing a sense of purpose, control, and accomplishment.

I will continue to strive to provide fun, motivating material that they will be excited to practice and I look forward to helping the piano be a constant in their lives during this time.

As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!

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Exciting News! We are now ONLINE

Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, all piano lessons and music classes have been taken ONLINE so that students can continue to enjoy music and continue their musical progression from the safety and comfort of their homes!

Happy New Year 2020!

Happy New Year! What will 2020 bring? What goals will you set? I am working on a few personal and professional goals and highly anticipate seeing what this year has in store. In the meantime, I’m excited to share a few things coming up in our studio!

• Lessons and classes will resume Monday, January 6th! We will return to our regular schedule.
• January and February will once again have a composing focus as we all work on creating our own music. In preparation for this, I’ve enrolled in this 10 day chord challenge that starts on Jan 5! It’s run by a colleague of mine who is a prolific composer and songwriter! It’s geared towards both piano teachers and intermediate level piano students and I think it would be an excellent way for us to start the new year! A great way to build upon those lifelong piano skills! The course is only $7 to enrol! I hope all my students who are a grade 4 level and up enrol and go through the challenge with me! https://elissamilne.simplero.com/page/133889
• UKULELE is returning! We had so much fun during our Holiday Ukulele classes that I’ve decided to continue a once a month class for those who would like to continue adding new chords and songs to their repertoire. For those of you who wished they could be a part of that holiday class and would like to take part in the once a month class, I will be offering a one day “Crash Course in Ukulele Playing” on Saturday, January 18th at 10:30am. We will cover 3-4 chords, strumming basics, learn a couple songs and get up to speed enough to join the monthly ukulele circle! Cost will be $25. Must be between the ages of 8 – 108. 😉 Book now.
• CALENDAR: this year our calendar has a couple anomalies! We have a leap year with an extra day in February AND we have local school districts split between two different Spring Break schedules! Because of this our studio will be doing a two week Spring Break from March 23 – April 5! This will allow everyone to be able to plan their break without worry of missing lessons.  Also the calendar page on the website has been updated showing which weeks are Spring Break, which weeks are master classes and when the projected last week of lessons will be in June!
• And finally, booking for the Spring Recital is in the works…will likely be the weekend of May 9.

Christmas Recital & Masterclasses

December was a busy but beautiful month! We spent hours of practice time preparing for the recital. I personally spent an extra amount of time in daily practice as I was challenged by family members to do an advent calendar of piano music!  For each day of practice we all did, we added a link to a paper chain. You can see our Christmas Practice chain really filled out!

Our recital went off with only one technical hitch and the audience enjoyed dozens of beautiful piano solos, several festive ensembles and a ukulele led carol sing!

We wrapped up 2019 with Christmas Master Classes the week after recital! It was a fun way to celebrate and bond!

We played a few rounds of Holiday Who Am I.

Then we reviewed note naming (key naming for the preschool class) with a Snowball Fight Game. Teams raced their way up the mountain to see which team would be the first to declare “snowball fight”!

We did a little improvising utilizing the “snowflake technique” a repeating pattern found in The Piano Guys video “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”.

And we did a little solo playing.

We wrapped up our class with popcorn and one more favourite Piano Guys video:

November News 2019

A quick glance at what you’ll find happening in our studio in November:

• November 4-8 Regular lessons and classes
• November 11-15 FALL BREAK; NO LESSONS OR CLASSES (the exception to this will be Wednesday students who I started a week late and Thursday evening students who lessons I had to cancel last month.)
• November 18 & 20 HOLIDAY UKULELE classes begin!  Monday class is FULL but Wednesday class still has some limited spaces!

November Piano News! 2017 Edition

November is still a few days away but next week is going to be a busy week, so I wanted to post this newsletter before the weekend as there are a couple things coming up in early November to watch for!  It is chock-full of information and I apologize for the length but November is FULL of some great musical opportunities as well as some very important dates with our studio schedule!

 

OCTOBER 31st  NO LESSONS

After some feedback from studio families, I have decided to cancel lessons on Halloween. Whether you celebrate it or not, it was decided that no one wants to be out driving that evening unless absolutely necessary.

CHRISTOPHER NORTON CONCERT, November 1st, 7:30pm

There has been a poster by the door and calendar and I have mentioned this by email before but it is now less than a week away!!

Christopher Norton – a very famous jazz composer  from England – is coming on November 1 and I have had the privilege of helping to organize his visit! He is leading teacher workshops in the morning and some of my older students are able to participate in workshops as well as a masterclass with him that afternoon.

And….just as exciting: on that same November 1 in the evening he is doing a CONCERT for ANYONE who would like to attend!  The cost is BY DONATION.  So whatever you think you can afford, that is the admission!  I feel this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Many of the students have played his compositions in the Royal Conservatory grades….or will very soon and to hear this caliber of musician at a very minimal cost is unheard of.

The concert will be at 7:30pm, and although I realize it may be late for some of my younger students, being that it is by donation basis, just pay for what you think you will attend.  If you think your child will only last half an hour, it would still be a half an hour of an amazing connection for them, both with pieces they may know, a composer they may have played pieces by, and even a composer that is STILL ALIVE!  And if they haven’t played pieces by him yet, they will eventually and those pieces will make such a connection with them when they can relate it to the concert

The details:

When:  Wednesday, November 1 at 7:30

Where:  St Thomas Anglican Church, 4A Raven Drive Sherwood Park

Cost:  By Donation

This is an exciting opportunity that I hope you can all enjoy!

WEDNESDAY STUDENTS:  Reminder! There will be no lessons for you on this day as I will be co-hosting this event all day!

NOVEMBER BREAK  NOVEMBER 9-15, No lessons

Over the last few years both Edmonton Public, Elk Island and some Sturgeon school boards have introduced a fall break in November.  I have tried over the last few years to honor this break as I think it’s a nice way for students to have a bit of a break in their routine before we gear up for our annual Christmas recital.  I am working right now to ensure that all students have their Christmas recital piece to be working on over the break, so be checking their lesson assignments over the next couple of weeks.  The breaks do very a bit between the school boards and last year I went with the EIPS schedule as both my children were in the district and we had some “Stay-cation” plans.  This year I will be going with the Edmonton Public dates which are:  Thursday November 9-Wednesday November 15.  So, unless you are told otherwise (Tuesday and Wednesday students!)  there will be no lessons during that break.  A reminder will be sent out to you again in the week coming up to those dates!

Our very own annual CHRISTMAS RECITAL

This is not an November Event….but just had to get another reminder in:  Mark those calendars for our Christmas Recital:

Cookies and Carols, Friday December 15th, 6:30pm  at Bethel Community Church 14204 25 Street, Edmonton…roughly 12 blocks north of our studio!

OTHER UPCOMING CONCERT OPPORTUNITIES AND LISTENING OPPORTUNITIES

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra kicks off their Symphony For Kids series on November 18th!  I will have the privilege once again of being involved in the pre-concert activity planning once again this year and though I am not yet sure if I will be at the November 18th concert, I will most certainly be at the December Candy Cane Family Concerts as well as the SFK concerts in the New Year.  These concerts are a wonderful way and introducing beautiful music to your children!

Also:  Arden Theatre in St Albert will be present Elf The Musical JR on November 28th! Another fun and musical event.

For those of you who cannot make it to these events as well as those of you who would like more beautiful music to share with your children/family.  I will be occasionally sharing a listening calendar with you.  By email today you will receive a listening calendar for November and December that you can print off. It was made by my colleague, Doreen Hall. Each day in November and December I will be posting that youtube video on the studio Facebook page…..but if you do not have Facebook, you can also find the videos at: pianoparents.net

I you would like tickets to Symphony for Kids, Candy Cane Family Christmas or Elf the Musical Jr:

https://www1.ticketmaster.ca/event/110052A3F8F2820A?dma_id=506

https://www.winspearcentre.com/tickets/subscriptions/2017-2018-eso-season/symphony-for-kids/

September Piano News and Important Dates ~ 2017 Edition

Hello Everyone!

Well the weather as well as the dates seem to be telling us that fall is here!  We had a whirlwind of first lessons last week but we are settling in well this week and it’s been so exciting and encouraging to see that practice that has already begun and the piano pieces that are already starting to take shape!

In this newsletter I want to share a little bit about some important dates coming up as well as a resource or two you might find helpful as we head into this year and some other info!

POLICIES SHEET

I’ll start with saying that I did try to send home a policies sheets with each student but in case I missed you, I have just emailed a copy (or you can pick one up off of the music stand by the practice tree).  For those of you that have been taking lessons here a year or more, there’s really no change to the policies but I did add a little bit of helpful information to you as well as some suggested practice guidelines so it’s worth the read through.  I also added a place to sign and am asking that signed copies be turned in so I know you are familiar with everything on the sheet.  You will have the document attached to the email as your copy. 😊

CHRISTMAS RECITAL (New location!!)

I’ll put this next on the list as many of you have been asking about this already as you plan vacations, get-togethers and juggle other holiday events.  I had a tentative date on the website calendar and that has all been updated now.  The date remains the same but the LOCATION HAS CHANGED!  We have a new location for our recital this year just up the road from my studio.  This will be a big change for some of you who have been with me for a while but I think it will provide a nice central location for those coming from either east or west.  The recital will take place at Bethel Community Church, 14204 25 street on Friday, December 15th at 6:30pm.  Our theme is Cookies and Carols and we will enjoy a time of sharing refreshments after our program.  More details will come as we get closer to the date, but for now you can mark your calendars with the date, time and location!

THANKSGIVING MASTER CLASSES

We will have our first all studio master class the week following Thanksgiving, October 10-13.  Many of you are old hats at master class week, but some of you are new and I’ve had a chance to tell you a bit about it and look forward to sharing it with our new students.  Just to re-iterate, during master class week, there are NO regular classes or lessons.  Instead we have all-studio master classes for all ages and levels.  It’s a chance for the students to build community, learn about composers, and have a small scale performance opportunity making recital time much more comfortable.  It’s also unparented and give the MYC parents a week off of helping in class.  More information including the exact master class times including a link to a sign up sheet will come out by the end of the month.  If you’re new and would like to see what a master class looks like in my studio of enthusiastic musicians, check out this link and scroll on down.  I’ve not been organized enough to post them all but there are several there to take a little peek at:  https://mmmusicstudio.com/category/master-classes-2/page/2/

 

HELPFUL RESOURCES

The best thing we can possibly do for our students is to support their practicing in any and every way we can!  Practice is the key to making progress and progress is the key to feel successful and joyful about piano.  I’ve shared both on my website and facebook page some ideas for creating a “practice nest”.  If you missed it, you can find it here:

Creating a Practice Nest

Another great resource is this book by Tracey Selle:  http://amzn.to/2yqsLwe   It’s called 101 Piano Practice Tips and is full of refreshing ideas whether you are new or you’ve been at this a while.

Another recommended (and easy as well as entertaining) read, especially for those with teens or pre-teens, is Coffee With Ray:  http://amzn.to/2jLkcsL

That should give you enough for now!  You can always the newsletters on this website where you can even subscribe to email updates every time something is added to the website.  You can find the studio Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mmmusicstudio

Enjoy a warm and cozy rest of the week!  Looking forward to a fantastic year!

 

 

 

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Back to School, Back to Lessons!

Happy Back to School for those of you who sent your kids off today (this is week two for us!).  We are less than a week away from our own Back to Lessons! Just a couple things to let you know this week!

Invoices/receipts were sent out last week on the 29th.  If you did not receive one by email, please check your junk mail.  I am using a new accounting system this year that automates and customizes invoices and receipts and your email may have not recognized the address origin (mailer@waveapps.com).  It will show Michelle Miller Music Studio as the sender.

Schedule and Calendar is up on this, the main website:  mmmusicstudio.com     You can bookmark this address OR I usually include it in my email signature to make it easy to find.   I am currently working on booking the Christmas recital so just know that is TENTATIVELY scheduled right now and will be confirmed hopefully very soon!  You will also find newsletters, announcements and practice tips posted there as well, so if you can’t find it by email, check out the site and it is usually posted there too!

I am off to get a little more last minute organization and re-decorating done in the studio now!  Looking forward to a wonderful new year of music making with all of you!!  See you next week!

July Piano Newsletter 2017

School’s out and sun’s out!  Some of you have already hit the road for summer holidays, some of you have been enjoying some exciting day camps and some of you may have just been enjoying some lazy days of summer (my son falls into this latter category!).  A special few of you actually spent some of this week with me doing a summer lesson and what fun we had!!  This year I decided to offer summer lessons in the form of a three lesson package OR a la carte, this week was our first installment and it was a beach theme.  We enjoyed it all, from beach themed games and music to a tasty beach themed treat!

For those of you who weren’t able to sign up for this week I’ll be sharing one of the games we played in case you’d like to print and use it at home over the summer to keep some concepts reviewed. It’s not too late to join the fun over the summer!  Our next summer lesson will be the week of July 18th and the theme for that week will be CAMPING!  There will be one more during the week of August 2nd and that theme will be ROADTRIP.  Email if you are interested in some piano lesson fun for your student and a little help and review/practice motivation over the summer.

No matter where you are or what you are doing, I hope music is a part of it!  Over the past several weeks on our Facebook page I have been sharing some resources and tips to help keep up that practicing over the summer.  Practicing the piano is a little bit like climbing a ladder, every time you practice you go up a rung, but when you don’t practice you end up going down a rung and long extended periods of practice can mean going down several rungs before lessons resume in the fall. Even the use of some great music apps can help the slip and slide!

For those of you who haven’t yet liked the Facebook page or are not on Facebook, here are some of the resources that have been shared over the past few weeks:

1. A fun beach themed printable game from Teach Piano Today (instructions at the bottom of the post: beachdaycardpacks BeachDayGameBoard
2. Some great apps to keep up the note naming skills:  Note Rush, Ningenius, Flashnote Derby  (name AND play the key—these can be used with your acoustic OR digital piano at home OR if you are on the road traveling you can use the little attached keyboard setting!)
3. Creating an awesome practice nest that will help keep up that practice motivation over the summer: https://mmmusicstudio.com/2017/06/26/creating-a-practice-nest/

I can’t possibly share them all so if you like to keep up to date, like the Facebook page!  Enjoy and have a wonderful summer!!

 

Beach Day game instructions:

Single Player: Place your game marker on the “Start” circle and draw a card. Complete the task on the card.  If you complete it correctly, move forward the number of spaces shown on the card. If incorrect, move back two spaces and re-draw a new card. If you draw a “beach gear” card, keep it and put it to the side of the board.  If you land on an “Oops” circle then you lose one piece of your beach gear and the card is returned to the pile.  If you land on the “Shopping Spree” circle, you get to take back one piece of your lost beach gear. If you reach the finish with at least 3 pieces of beach gear you win and head to the beach! If you do not have 3, stay on the last space and continue to flip over and complete cards until you collect the 3 needed pieces of beach gear.  (single player ideas from teach piano today.)

Multi-player (Mrs. Miller’s version): Place game markers on the start circle and roll a dice to see who goes first.  Draw a card and complete the task on the card.  If completed correctly, move forward the number of spaces on the card.  If incorrect, turn goes to next player. If you draw a beach gear card, keep it and draw another card.  If you land on an oops return to the beginning! If you land on a shopping spring you can “shop” from another player.  If you make it to the end with the most beach gear, you win!

 

May Piano News 2017

Can I just say again one more time what a wonderful job was done by all the students at our recital!  Your children are just amazing and I appreciate all the work you parents put in to helping that all come together!  A huge thank you to Nada Malica for providing those awesome red cowboys hats and bandanas and to all of you who brought the delicious and creative refreshments!!  They were pretty special!

Well, we are on the downhill slide towards the end of the year with just a very few weeks of lessons left!  This is the time of year where sports enter the picture and can create a bit of a schedule juggle for some which is why a few years ago I moved the recital from beginning of June to end of April/early May!

The studio will break for the summer on June 9th, but I will give you just a few important dates to mark on your calendars right now as I have a couple of days away and many of  the students have requested one more master class before the end of the year!  This will also add in a little bit of flexibility to those of you dealing with sports schedules, so here it is:

NO LESSONS FOR TUES, WED and MON coming up!!

Tuesday, May 16th, Wednesday May 17th and Monday, May 22nd, there will be NO lessons…for a variety of reasons but one very important one is that I have some dental work that has to happen on the afternoon of Tuesday May 16th.  Monday, May 22 is the holiday Monday.  We will still finish the year with all 34 lessons no matter which day of the week your lessons fell on (Thursday students had to miss a lesson back in March when I was away at a convention).

MASTERCLASSES MAY 29-JUNE1

Our final masterclass of the year will be the week of May 29-June 1st.  This will not be our last class of the year, we will have one more regular class/lesson of the year the following week to wrap up and give students their summer assignments. Some years we have wrapped with a master class at the very end of the year, but this year due to some sports activity scheduling and my involvement in both the Children’s Festival AND my daughter’s grad that week just seemed like a good fit.  This master class will be for all ages and level (including Sunshine 1 kids) and I’ll send out a sign up sheet very shortly.

LAST WEEK OF LESSONS and Summer Lessons

The last week of lessons will be June 5-8 and then we will break for the summer.  Regular lessons and classes will resume on September 11th.  Summer lessons in a package of 3 will be available to those private students who are wanting to work towards a particular exam or complete a certain level that they may be partly through before lessons resume in September.  These three lessons will be able to be booked over the summer months around traveling and holiday schedules….more details to come in the next couple of weeks.

Well that should be enough information for now.  I am now opening up registration for new MYC students for the fall, so if you know of any preschoolers or students ages 5-7 years of age interested in beginning lessons, they are now free to email or call and even visit a class!