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:

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Year End Excitement 2018

It’s June! The last few months have flown by and we are wrapping up yet another wonderful year of Music making  with something very fun this week…but first, a bit of a recap:

May was a busy month preparing for our spring recital and we fine tuned our pieces in both private lessons and a  boot camp style master class rehearsal week. We had relay races that drilled bits of our pieces and then full run through both with and without distractions,

Then we celebrated with our first ever coffee shop style recital, a super fun experience!

 

This will be our final week of lessons until September and we are going out with a bang! In lieu of regular lessons this week we will have master classes with a very special theme inspired by my son’s birthday party: an escape room.

Bring the musical knowledge you’ve gained this year, your piano books and a sundae topping to share. I’ll provide the challenges and the ice cream to celebrate with at the end!

 

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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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!

 

February Piano News

Here we are almost one full week into February!  We made it through January and I have been quite impressed with both the practicing and the composing that has been going on!  Each and every student whether in the MYC program or private lessons has been creating their very own composition and it’s been delightful to see their enthusiasm as well as their astounding creativity.  We are going to wrap up our compositions over the next two weeks.

There’s not always a lot of news at this time of year but there are a couple of important upcoming dates to go over including another all studio master class session.

SUNRISE PRESCHOOL CLASS

First and foremost is an upcoming Sunrise class for preschoolers.  I will be starting a Sunrise music class for ages 2-4 this month on February 15th.  This class will run on Wednesdays from 11-11:45am until May.  If you know of anyone in that age group who would be interested, feel free to share.  I’ve created an event on the Facebook page that can be easily shared. There is still time to register! Sunrise kids will play a special part in our Spring Recital. 🙂

FAMILY DAY MASTER CLASS SESSION

We will be having another masterclass session immediately following the Family Day holiday weekend.  February 21-24 there will be NO regular lesson schedule, instead we will be having all studio master classes.  I’ll be sending out a sign up sheet similar the one I sent out in December shortly, this way you are able to see that you signed up….and also change times if needed all on your own.  The theme of this master class session will be “Creative Keys”  and focus on creativity through improvising and other fun AND it will be a chance for all the students to show each other their very creative compositions as those will be their solo pieces.  Keep your eye out for that sign up sheet!

SPRING RECITAL

I am still working on officially booking our Spring recital, but there is a very good chance is will be May 5th.  I will let you know as soon as it is official!  It will be in the same place as Christmas!

SPRING BREAK

It is still several weeks away, but there will be no lessons during March 24-April 2 for Spring Break.  The studio will be closed and I will be away.

Well, that is all for now!  Have a great day….and stay warm!!

Piano News November 2016 Edition

 

What a chilly November morning!!  I feel like a bit of a broken record when I say that October went by in a flash!  I expect the next several weeks will too!  Here are a few things to keep you updated:

DRESS UP WEEK

The boys of my Moonbeams 3 piano class requested that this week be “Dress Up Week” .  If you are not already sick of dressing up from a weekend of fun and yesterday (they assured me that they would definitely NOT be sick of dressing up!) then feel free to come to lessons in costume this week for a little bit of extra fun (Oct 31-Nov 4).

PRACTICING

The students have been using the “What’s in my Musical Mind” posters to share with each other what they’ve been learning each week and how many days they’ve been practicing.  It’s a little bit of accountability and motivation rolled up in to one.  We will continue this both this week and next week before we roll out our new practice incentive after the Remembrance Day/Fall break.  Speaking of practicing, I came across this great article and just shared it on the Facebook page:

https://www.pianoinaflash.com/blog/child-doesnt-want-practice/

FALL BREAK

My children and several of my piano students have most or all of the week following Remembrance Day off, so there will be NO LESSONS November 11-18….instead, students will be encouraged to spend that extra time on the Christmas pieces they will be assigned both this week and next week in lesson….and I will be using that time to really start organizing and preparing for our big annual Christmas recital…which will be?? That’s right!

DECEMBER 16, 6:30pm ANNUAL CHRISTMAS RECITAL

Mark your calendars for our annual Christmas Recital on December 16th at 6:30pm in the main auditorium of First Church of the Nazarene, 14320 94 street.  Our theme is:  Christmas in Our Jammies….feel free to dress accordingly!  There will be photo ops AND photo props! We will begin preparations this week.  Expect fun ensembles, lovely piano solos and yummy treats!

February Newsletter

Hello, Everyone!

Well, here we are!  We made it through January! And a number of us ended it off with a night at the Opera on Thursday night!  What an experience that was!  If you missed it, Edmonton Opera has just announced next season’s line up and among it is Rossini’s La Cenerentala (Cinderella!!) and Puccini’s Turandot (a story of the kind -hearted Calaf who risks his life to melt the icy heart of Princess Turandot).  Hopefully one of them will have an evening education dress rehearsal again!
http://www.edmontonopera.com/season/2016-17

As we head into February, just a few things to bring to your attention:

1. CAUGHT PRACTICING!  We have 7 students up on our caught practicing wall so far!  Keep emailing those awesome pictures!

2. FEBRUARY MASTER CLASS:  The week following Family Day (February 16-18), there will once again be no regular lessons due to the holiday Monday.  Instead we will once again have special themed Master Classes.  February’s theme will be a Piano Pajama Party…because what could be better than wear your pajamas during the cold winter season! 😉  It will also lead perfectly into our brand new practice challenge that will be kicked off that week and run until Spring Break (How?  You’ll see!).  I will be sending out a Master Class sign up sheet separately in the next day or so!  As a heads up the Tuesday class will be 6pm, the Wednesday class at 5 and the Thursday class is TBD but likely 4:30 or 5.

3. SPRING BREAK:  February is a short month and I am sure Spring Break will be here before we know it.  The calendar on my website has been updated for you to check out but, in the meantime, I am letting you know that we will be having a 2 week Spring Break this year from March 21-April 3.  I have been invited on my daughter’s grade 11 class trip to Mandeville, Jamaica as a chaperone and have also been asked to run a music camp and piano clinic at the orphanage and church respectively while we are there.  In addition, we will be building some much needed extra room onto their buildings, teaching swimming lessons and doing soccer camps with the kids!  I’m looking forward to an exciting, rewarding and thoroughly exhausting time with the 14 teenagers and three other chaperones!  We will leave March 20th and return April 2.  Regular lessons will resume on April 4th.

4. RCM EXAMS:  For those of you doing theory or piano exams this May and June, the deadline to register is March 1st. I will be sending you more information including which centre to register for very soon!

5. SPRING RECITAL: Is officially MAY 6th!  Mark your calendars!!!

December News

 

Wow, it’s so hard to believe that it’s December 3rd already!  And the biggest news of this newsletter is, of course, that our Christmas Recital is now only 8 days away!!  Unbelievable!  Next Friday, December 11, at 6:30pm our 15th annual Christmas recital will begin!  Plan to arrive at the church (14320 94 street, First Church of the Nazarene) about 10-15 minutes early so that we may start promptly at 6:30.  My goal is to finish by 7:45pm.  Also, we will enjoy a bit of social time afterward with a “potluck” reception, so please bring a plate of goodies or 4 litres of juice to share.  I will provide napkins, cups and plates!
We will end of recital portion with a song sung by all students and the lyrics and a video to sing along with were sent out again this week by email.  All students will be asked to come to the stage at the end for a photo op and to sing.  I am hoping to have the lyrics on the screen for those that may not have it memorized and for the audience to join in if they can.  Feel free also to copy and paste these lyrics and print off a sheet to bring if needed.  Our recital is meant to be a beautiful showcasing of Christmas and seasonal music and we work hard to do our best, but keep in mind this is meant more to be just a simple sharing of the gift of music.  Encourage lots of practice, but also emphasize the fun and enjoyment rather than stress and pressure.

We will have one more regular lesson next week to make our final preparations for recital.  We will go over bowing and recital etiquette, be sure to have students practice this at home when they practice their recital piece all next week.

The week following the recital, December 14-17, will be our last lesson before the Christmas break and it will be a special Christmas Master Class/Piano Party, there will be no regularly scheduled lessons that week instead you will have the opportunity to sign up for any one of the specially scheduled master classes, just as you did at Thanksgiving.  This last week before Christmas is historically a busy one with many school concerts so hopefully these master classes will give you a bit of flexibility during a busy time as you can choose whichever day works for you, they are also un-parented so you will have the opportunity for a last minute errand to the grocery store or Londonderry mall during that hour OR a quiet cup of  coffee at the local Tim Horton’s or Starbucks.  Please RSVP by email with your child’s name and the day/time you choose for the master class in the subject line.

Monday, December 14, 6-7pm
Tuesday, December 15, 4-5pm
Wednesday, December 16, 5-6pm

Our Christmas Break will be from December 17-January 3 and the studio will be closed.  Lessons will resume in the New Year on January 4!

COMING SOON!!! Fancy Fingers — A Spring Piano Recital

Spread the word!  Friends and family welcome!

Hello March ~ Let (the) Spring (Fever) Begin

I don’t know about you but I can NOT wait until Spring!  Sadly, I realize I will have to…and likely several more weeks…yes, that’s probably being optimistic.

While we all wait longingly for Spring (or deal with our offspring experiencing sever Spring Fever), here is a short and sweet March Newsletter for you.  You’ll notice the word Spring is mentioned a few times:

1. We have completed the first week of our 4 week Pirate-y Practice Challenge.  Way to go!  This week’s goal is 5 days of practice!

2. We will be having a two week Spring Break/Easter Break  from March 27-April 11 to accommodate the varying Spring Break schedule that comes with many different students enrolled in many different school boards.  This is the first year I’ve tried a two week Spring Break, but we will give it a try and see how it goes!  I have been noticed a lot of tired students dragging into the studio this week.  I am hoping this extended break will provide some rest and refreshment. But don’t forget to get a little bit of piano practice in.

3. The Spring recital is booked for Friday, May 8th, 2015 at 6:30pm.  We will be getting FANCY!   At least that will be our theme.  We are going to try and go all out with our fanciest piano pieces, ensembles and wardrobes!   Mark your calendar for our Fancy and Formal Spring Recital!  We will likely have our recital pieces picked by Spring Break, so take a little time over the holiday to get a head start!