A Little December Newsletter for You!

Welcome to December! Just 10 more days until our Christmas recital is upon us and 17 more days until Christmas Break is here! So here is our news for December:

We are slowly racking up our pennies for practice minutes! A big shout-out to all the students whoa re participating and a reminder that all you can start at any time and all you have to do is write down the weekly practice minutes on the practice log on the wall by the practice tree!

If you are looking for a fun way to motivate a little more practice out of your student, you can revive the little “Elf on the Book” or “Practice Elf idea we used last year from Teach Piano Today. Forgot what we did? Just check out this link: https://mmmusicstudio.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/fun-with-the-practice-elves/
If you have lost your Elf or this is your first year of lessons and would like an Elf, let me know…I have extra’s in studio. Then simply follow the instructions in the link above….I tried to give lots of suggestions! My kids enjoyed this activity last year!

CHRISTMAS RECITAL AND RECEPTION
As I said, it is just 10 days to our Christmas Recital! Our 14th annual Christmas Recital will take place on December 12, 2014 in the main auditorium of the First Church of the Nazarene located at 14320 94 street at 6:30pm. Friends and family are ALL invited! We look forward to an exciting program of beautiful Christmas piano solos, ensemble numbers and another traditional grand finale sung by all of our students.
Because it Christmas and we have had a very busy fall filled with a whirlwind of activity, I’d like us to try to have a short social or reception in the foyer after the recital once again to have a chance to reconnect. If you would like to stay and visit, please bring a plate of fingers food to share and we will have a “potluck” reception. Suggestions are cookies and squares, cheese and crackers, fruit or anything that makes a minimal mess and is a “finger food”. NO chips and dip, please, it’s delicious but too messy. Contributions of juice would be greatly appreciated too, we usually have some thirsty students after all the excitement. I will provide napkins and cups. Please label any foods that have nuts or eggs! Thank you!

CHRISTMAS MASTERCLASSES, DECEMBER 15-18
Our last week of lessons for 2014 will be December 15-18. These will once again be all studio master classes in lieu of our regular lessons. I have a fun filled time of music activities planned for that week, including a Christmas-themed Video of the Month! Please choose from the following times and RSVP by email with your top 2 choices for that week (when you reply, put your student’s name and time in the subject and it will be easier for me to find. Outlook tends to group replies with the same subject and it can be easy to miss a reply this way):

Monday, December 15, 6-7pm
Tuesday, December 16, 6-7pm
Wednesday, December 17, 5-6pm
Thursday, December 18, 4-5pm

Please RSVP with your 1st and 2nd time choices.

Christmas break will run from December 19-January 4 with regular lessons resuming on January 5, 2015

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November News

Welcome to November! I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. It was a busy week in our studio: some students played some Halloween music and we enjoyed some “spooky” stories in our MYC classes as we anticpated the end of October festivities.

It’s amazing how quickly the last two months have gone by! The next 6 weeks are going to be just as busy and exciting. Here is just a reminder of a few dates you need to remember! So, get out your calendars and mark these down!

NOVEMBER 10-15 NO LESSONS; Studio closed for Fall Break
If you were really organized and printed out the calendar that I emailed out to you last month or marked down those dates on your calendar, you may already know this….but I thought it little reminder couldn’t hurt! 😉 We will have lessons as usual this week, but the following week of November 10-15 there will be NO lessons as we take a little mid-semester break to co-ordinate with Elk Island and Edmonton Public school breaks. Enjoy the break from lessons and be ready to work full steam toward our Christmas Concert! I’ll be using that Fall Break to put the final touches on ensemble choices and repertoire selections. Work with the older students has already begun and I am very excited about the selections we’ve got so far!

CHRISTMAS CONCERT (RECITAL), December 12, 6:30pm
That time of year approaches once again. In less than 6 weeks, we will celebrate the accomplishments of our students with our annual Christmas recital. Actually, I hesitate to call it a recital as it is so much more: piano solos, rhythm ensembles, vocal ensembles, witty MC’s and perhaps just a little bit of audience participation are just a sampling of what you can expect! Our Christmas Concert will take place on Friday, December 12th at 6:30pm in the main auditorium of First Church of the Nazarene, 14320 94 street, directly across from Dickensfield Care Center. This concert will be approximately 75 minutes in length and will be followed by a potluck reception/celebration.

DECEMBER DATES
Along with the Christmas Concert, the month of December will see another set of Master Class sessions during the week of December 15-19, followed by a two week Christmas break from December 20-January 4 with regular lessons resuming January 5th.

Have a wonderful first weekend of November! Can you believe the sunshine and NO snow?!

Our Rockin’ Spring Recital 2014

May 9th was our 13th annual Spring Recital and our we incorporated our Rockin’ the Practice theme right in there with a recital filled with Piano Rock Stars! It came a wee bit early this year. Normally, we wouldn’t have our recital until the first Friday of June. However, the church we always use was planning on beginning large-scale renovations on the main auditorium at that time and I was going to be away the week before that so…We had our recital a month earlier.

This was a busy time for many of us. Several students had multiple things going on that weekend…we did, too! In fact, a couple students had to race from recital to dance competition. Yet even with all that, only 2 students missed the recital and that was due to illness NOT scheduling conflict. Thank you for your dedication!

Now, you may not want to hear this, but I have just loved the earlier recital! I actually would like to try and do an earlier recital every year! Seriously! You see, normally at this time of year we are all drilling recital pieces and feeling the stress as we juggle sports and dance and exams and race towards the end of the year and I grow more grey hairs as students get sick and miss lesson or miss due to sports games….but not this year! These past two weeks of lessons have been so relaxed and so fun AND we are even learning new pieces! It’s like a completely different studio and I am LOVING it! So just to warn you….this early Spring recital?! It could become a “thing”! 😉

I tried once again to get some video clips and photographs, but had several technical difficulties with my silly little iPhone. I’ll share a few clips and pictures here with you BUT if you have any you could email or share on the Facebook page I would just love it! I’d really like to get back to working on a studio scrapbook this summer and would welcome your pictures!

Here are some of our soloists (I am SO sorry I didn’t get everyone!)

A few of our ensembles and our great MC’s:

A huge congratulations to our Moonbeams 3 class as they graduate from group piano classes!

It takes 3-5 years of dedication to earn that medal, but it is SO worth it!

And let’s not forget the parents who not only drove them to class, but worked, played and sang right along with us! You’re awesome!

Congratulations and best wishes as you continue to prepare for your Royal Conservatory exams next month!

Week 30, Registration and Recital!

Happy Monday, Everyone! Today we begin Week 30 of our 34 weeks of lessons. For those of you re-registering for the fall, just a quick reminder that this week marks the deadline. Please have your registration forms and fees in by THURSDAY, MAY 1st, if you are intending to return next year. 🙂 If I do not receive your re-registration by this date, I will assume you are not returning next year and begin to contact those on the waiting list regarding availability for next year.

Also, a quick reminder that our Spring Recital is less than two weeks away! Friday, May 9th, 2014 at 6:30pm in the main auditorium of First Church of the Nazarene, 14320 94 street. Just 12 more practice days to squeeze in before it’s here! 😉

Fun with Rhythm – Cups Tutorial Part 1

We’ve been having a bit of fun with rhythm in our lessons and classes the last couple of weeks and part of this fun has included learning the Cups rhythm from You’re Gonna Miss Me. It’s not just the students who are enjoying it, we have parents joining in ,too, and that is so great! However, some parents wondered if I could make a tutorial similar to how I’ve broken in down in class. Yesterday, I sat down and put together a basic and short tutorial on just the rhythm. Later this week, I will try and put together another video with the rhythm and vocal so that, once you are very comfortable with the rhythm, you can start working on the vocal part or work on being able to keep the rhythm going continuously. We’re hoping to make this a part of our upcoming Spring Recital on May 9, 2014.

Enjoy working along with this little video. I did it simply in one take, so it does have a few “bloopers”. 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bja72G0oBqc

Stay tuned for Video 2 😉

March News and 2014/15 Registration

March certainly did come in like a lion with icy, cold temperatures and a wind chill that made me want to hide in my house! What a relief to be looking at double digit temperatures on the plus side of 0 for the upcoming days!

It’s hard to believe we are already almost halfway through March. Actually, this is Week 24 of our lesson year which means we only have 10 more lessons to go before summer break is here! And as one year closes, I am always thinking about the one upcoming. So here is a quick look ahead for the next several weeks.

SPRING BREAK
There will be no lessons during Spring Break, March 31-April 6. Lessons will resume on April 7th and I’ll have a brand new practice incentive cooked up for you by then! 😉 I think we will have a bit of fun with it as it brings our focus towards the upcoming Spring Recital. Let’s just say it’s going to “rock”!

SPRING RECITAL
Our Spring Recital is scheduled for Friday, May 9th, at 6:30pm in the main auditorium of First Church of the Nazarene. First Church is planning some big renovations, so there is a small possibility that they could begin around this time. We may have to be flexible in the when and where of our recital, but I will keep you posted! In the meantime, we will plan on this and mark our calendars! 😉 UPDATE: the church renovations have been officially scheduled for late May through end of June so our May 9th recital is a GO!

2014/15 SCHEDULE AND REGISTRATION
I am currently working on the schedule for next year and hope to have it up by Spring Break so that we can begin re-registration and new registration for the fall when we return from Spring Break. Next year my daughter enters grade 10 and over the last couple of week’s she had an interview and acceptance at Strathcona Christian Academy in Sherwood Park. She is very excited, but it does mean that I will likely be driving her both to and from school as there is no bus from Edmonton to transport her there. This will certainly impact what I can or cannot add to my schedule for next year and will limit the number of new classes or private lessons that I can add into the schedule for next year.

APRIL MASTER CLASS
There will be another master class in April, during the week immediately following Easter Monday. More information will come out after Spring Break.

YEAR END
I will be away during the last week of May. I actually have a conference in Las Vegas! We will still get all 34 weeks in the schedule, though, and are set to finish up by or slightly before June 12.

Christmas Recital 2013 ~ Video and Picture Highlights

We did it! We survived yet another recital! Our 13th Annual Christmas Recital on the 13th of December in 2013 was a rousing success! Despite the fact that I had a typo on the program (even after all the checking and double-checking) and I forgot about two MC’s, we had a wonderful celebration of music! I am so proud of my students and their hard work over the past several weeks! I was able to announce at the recital that, in response to my Pennies for Practice challenge, my students practiced over 10,000 minutes in the last 3 weeks! Isn’t that amazing?! And because of that, more than $100 was raised for Food for the Hungry!! We will spend a little time during our master classes next week deciding what gifts to send to which countries!

But for now a few pictures and video clips of the recital for those of you who missed it….and for those of you who might like to see a bit of it again.

Matt and I had a lot of fun starting our evening program off with a duet we had prepared:

The evening was filled with ensembles and MC duties conducted by our students, including these clips:

We had some lovely solos, here are just a few short clips. I wish I could’ve gotten each and every student but some were just too quick for my camera:

And, of course, everyone looks forward to hearing Matt play:

Even though it was a piano recital, we had a couple rhythm and vocal ensembles. Rhythm instruments and our voices are a part of each and every group lesson as well as private lessons as we work on rhythm, sight reading and ear training. So this just seemed a fitting way to express our Christmas wish!

I enjoyed sweet baby cuddles from our youngest audience member, Izzy (Isabelle) Ferchau, who was there to cheer on her big sisters, Annaliese and Katie. I tried to sneak her home with me, hoping she would just blend in with my outfit, but her parents were too smart for that. 😉

And, yes, I played a piece as well. Here is a recreation of it done in my studio at home as I completely forgot to ask someone to record me.

At the end of the recital, each student received a little treat bag to enjoy as well as a candle. We had talked about how music brings light and warmth to our lives and each student was asked to light their candle (with parental permission AND supervision, of course) each and every time they played the piano throughout their Christmas holiday to remind them of the light and warmth they share. If they wish, they can bring their candle to their first lesson in January to show me how far they burned their candle and just how much they practiced! 😉

And I could not have done it without the help from all of you! Thank you, Stephanie and Jason, for help with microphones and set up, thank you all who brought such delicious food to share, thank you MC’s for introducing ensembles and telling jokes, thank you students for your generosity and courage as you shared your music with us, and thank you to my little assistant, Dexter, who helped fold programs and stuff treat bags!! Merry Christmas to all!

Elf on the Shelf, Meet the Piano Practice Elf!

What an absolutely terrific week we have had! The days and weeks are flying by and I cannot believe this is the last week of November already! Not to mention we have just under three weeks left to our annual Christmas recital…or about 20 days left to practice!

I think our students have been doing a pretty outstanding job of practicing this year so far and I am so proud of the enthusiasm they shared over the Pennies for Practice idea that was presented last week! HOWEVER, I thought it might be nice to add a little something silly and fun, too! And so, we are going to incorporate the “Elf on the Shelf” idea at our studio and introduce a little Christmas magic into our daily piano practice. For those of you unfamiliar with the “Elf on the Shelf” idea, here it is in a nutshell: “The Elf on the Shelf is a special scout elf sent from the North Pole to help Santa Claus manage his naughty and nice lists. When a family adopts an elf and gives it a name, the elf receives its Christmas magic and can fly to the North Pole each night to tell Santa Claus about all of the day’s adventures. Each morning, the elf returns to its family and perches in a different place to watch the fun. Children love to wake up and race around the house looking for their elf each morning.” For more info:http://www.elfontheshelf.com/content/about-us

So here’s how we are going to take this idea and work it in to our piano practice, I have printed off and laminated little elves to send home with each student this week–one per student. PARENTS, here is what you need to do: Each night after your child has gone to bed, the Piano Practice Elf will need your help choosing a new page in their piano book on which to hide. The next day, your child will need to hunt for the elf in their book and then begin their practice with the piece or concept where the Elf was hiding. You can be as creative as you want and have the elf leave little messages of encouragement, special instructions (play this piece over the phone for Nana) or tell a silly piano or Christmas joke OR as simple as you want. PARENTS: This is an absolutely OPTIONAL practice idea, but in order for it to work and to be a success, it will require your help and participation. All I hope for is that this will simply be a way of incorporating some extra Christmas fun into our practicing and be a way for our students to look forward to each day of practice! I will be sending the elves home with the students this week. Feel free to name your elf together and incorporate him/her into your practice immediately OR coordinate his/her appearance with your own elf on the shelf OR wait until December 1st to begin….it really is up to you!! Remember, once you have decided on a name together, his magic begins!! 😉 If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to email me! I would LOVE to hear what you name your Elf and about any of his antics, crazy or otherwise….you can even post pictures of his activities to our studio facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/mmmusicstudio

Masterclasses, Practice Incentives and Secret Midnight Practice Sessions! (aka more October news!)

It has only been a week since I sent out a newsletter and already I have more to share! First, and foremost, is about our first session of studio-wide masterclasses coming up next week! But I will also be sharing some ideas of how to turn practicing into the most fun you could imagine and become the coolest parent EVER while doing it!

MASTERCLASSES
I hear there is a wonderful long weekend coming our way called, “Thanksgiving”. Among the things to be thankful for are: NO REGULAR LESSONS! Just kidding, I truly hope you aren’t thankful for that just yet! But we ARE going to be cancelling our regular lesson schedule next week and will be having our first studio-wide masterclass session of the year. This is for ALL the piano students from Sunbeams 1 to the most advanced private students AND it is UN-PARENTED, so all you MYC parents who attend so faithfully with your children will be able to go grab a Starbucks or Tim’s and kick back and relax for an hour! I will have several 60 minute slots to choose from for next week in lieu of your regular lesson. Feel free to sign up for the spot that fits your schedule the best. We will be mixing ages and levels for this masterclass of improvising fun. We will be playing rhythm games, ear training, improvising and each student–no matter what level–should prepare one piece to play for their fellow students. Please choose and RSVP by email for one of the following times: (there is a 12 student limit per time)

Tuesday, October 15
4:30-5:30pm
6:00-7:00pm

Wednesday, October 16
5:00-6:00pm

Thursday, October 17
4:30-5:30pm

PUMPING UP THE PRACTICE
Our studio focus for September was simply to establish a regular routine of practice…and by the stickers going up on the Practice Perks tree, I would have to say this has been pretty successful. October’s focus will be on creativity (which we will work on through improvising in our masterclasses next week) and taking that practice now to the next level. So, in addition to our practice tree, I will be sending out a Pumpkin Practice Incentive handout! The sheet should be fairly self-explanatory. This is OPTIONAL and IN ADDITION TO the practice perks tree. But it is a chance for an extra prize so…..

FILLING THAT PRACTICE TANK
Okay, so now a little something you’ve been waiting for: how to become the coolest piano parent EVER! Am I right? If you follow the studio facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/mmmusicstudio you may have already seen this post that I shared, but for those of you who do not have facebook, I really have to tell you about this! Once again one of my favorite piano teachers from Beautiful British Columbia, Andrea Dow, has put together a few AMAZING ideas to re-fuel your child’s practice tank! They are a little crazy and a lot of fun and I plan on doing most, if not all, of them with my own two children this year! I think you will find here some pretty cool ways to show your children how much you value piano, understand the commitment it takes and just how proud you are of them!

“Your child has a piano practice tank. It’s usually about 3/4 full; fun pieces, enjoyable lesson activities and a love for music keep your kiddies motoring. But occasionally that Piano Practice Tank dips below half… and the indicator light comes on telling you that a fill-up is in order. But how do you fill this Piano Practice Tank? How do you avoid finding your child stranded on the side of the piano bench with an empty tank and 4 flats?
Kids who are involved in sports get a lot of “proud parent moments” to boost them as Mom shrieks encouragement from the sidelines and Dad is ready with a enthusiastic pat on the back… piano kids don’t get this as much. But let’s change this!
You’ve invested in piano lessons. You believe in the benefits of music education. You love to see your child enjoying music. Ramp up your involvement each time you notice that Piano Practice Tank running close to empty and watch his or her tank swell immediately! Try these 15 ideas…

1. Surprise with Piano Pancakes – On a Saturday morning, surprise your child with Piano Pancakes topped with chocolate chip “quarter notes”. For each pancake on the plate have your child perform a piece for your family while you all watch in your PJ’s.

2. Balloon Surprise – Fill your kitchen cupboard with balloons that will spill out as soon as it’s opened. On each balloon, write something you love about your child’s piano playing (i.e. “I love hearing your music when I’m making dinner” or “You play your piece with so much expression”.). Ask your child to help you with dinner and wait for the cupboard to open. Read each balloon message aloud together.

3. Monday Morning Mirror Message – Use a white board marker to leave a surprise message on the bathroom mirror for your child on a Monday morning before he or she wakes up. Write “It makes me so HAPPY to hear you play the piano!” or something to that effect.

4. Sneak a Practice – Leave your child a note on his or her pillow on a weekend night that says “Tonight you get to stay up late! When everyone else is sleeping you and I are going to sneak downstairs so I can listen to you play the piano.” Serve warm milk and cookies in the piano room and light it by candle light only. This will be a memory not soon forgotten.

5. Take it to the Highway – Kids who are involved in sports get a lot of glory. Piano kids.. not so much. Make your child smile by writing a message on the back window of your car that says “My Kid Rocks on the Piano! Honk if you love music!”. Roll the windows down and let your child wave to the honking fans.

6. Build Excitement – Before recitals or performances, build excitement with a countdown. Use a blackboard or white board (or a piece of paper on the fridge) that says “___ More Days Until Max’s Piano Performance!” Showing you value involvement in performances ensures participation well into the teen years.

7. Surprise Sheet Music Shopping – Pick your child up from school and head out on a surprise trip to your local music store, offering the chance to choose any music book or piece of sheet music. The key is in looking with your child… spend enjoyable time browsing the books and finding just the right thing to take home.

8. Exclaim with Pleasure – You don’t always need to be fancy. Sometimes a genuine, enthusiastic and unexpected “Holy smokes that was AMAZING!” mid-way through his or her practice is all it takes!

9. Buddy Practice! – Piano practice can be lonely, but if there’s a buddy on the bench it can be a lot of fun. Even if you don’t have an ounce of musical knowledge you and your child can easily complete the activities found in this book which are designed to make piano practice fun, motivating and unique.

10. Make Piano Practice Time “Tech Free” – Whenever your child sits down to practice, turn off the TV, the cell phones, the computer, the Nintendo… everything. Allow your home to be filled solely with the music they are creating and allow yourself to be fully present.

11. Start a Warm Fuzzies Bag – Hang a pillowcase from the top of your piano. Each time your child practices during the week, handwrite a note about something you noticed was done well, a favourite song he or she played, how it improved your day to hear music etc. At the end of the week your child can open the bag and read your notes.

12. It’s UnBEARable – Find some Teddy Bear stickers and, using post-it notes, attach a bear sticker to 10 post-its. Write “It’s UnBEARable without your piano music! Play for us!” and hide them around your house in unexpected places. Your child will delight in finding these in the oddest places.

13. Host a Piano Picnic – Invite the entire family to a Piano Picnic Dinner. Spread out a blanket on the floor beside the piano. Serve cheese and grapes, yummy crackers, and tea and cookies. Have your child provide the dinnertime music in between bites. Drink your tea with your pinkies raised and speak in a very dignified manner (“Ohhhh… that piece was simply splendid my dahling… simply splended I say.”).

14. Check In – When you’re on your way home, call your child from your car (using hands-free of course!) and make a special and heart-felt request for some driving music as you make your way home.

15. Post-Office Piano Package – Create a small package of treats and a note about how proud you are of your child’s piano accomplishments. Mail it to your child and allow it to be discovered it in the mail box.

Full Tanks = Happy Piano Kids

Do these take a little bit of effort? Yes. Does it take a whole lot of effort on the part of your child to master an instrument like the piano? Absolutely! By demonstrating just how much you care about their involvement in piano you lay a very strong foundation for years of musical enjoyment. Beyond that, you also help to strengthen self-esteem and self-image. So pick a “tank filler” and give it a try!” (by Andrea Dow)

ONE LAST THING–THE CALENDAR
If you’ve been following the calendar I emailed out, you already knew that the masterclasses were coming! Just one quick update to the calendar for this fall. The Christmas Recital has been officially confirmed for December 13, 2013 at 6:30pm. So MARK THOSE CALENDARS or highlight it on your print out and hang it on your fridge! Forgot to print off a calendar? No problem! Find it on the blog: http://www.mmmusicstudio.wordpress.com/check-the-schedule/

Recital Prep, Exam Prep and some tapping practice!

This week I spent a lot of time encouraging my students to put some extra time into preparing AND memorizing their recital and exam pieces.  And I have been thinking about the many ways I as a student prepared for recitals and exams.  We did a bootcamp at Christmas and I encouraged them to try some of those techniques but I also started thinking about when I was in university and at the mercy of an open practice room to get in my hours of practice each day.  Sometimes it was difficult to get in much extra time, so my teacher talked to me about how I could add some extra efficient and effective practice time in while in the comfort of my own dorm room….by TAPPING my pieces on my desk.   We have tried it occasionally in classes/lessons….Sometimes I play or put on a CD of a piece they are working on and they sit and tap it out on the floor and sometimes we just tap it out without music.   The great thing is it can be done at home as well and, ironically, trying this WITHOUT listening to the music can be even better for ear training and memorization.  If you are looking for some creative ways to get a little extra practice in this week (ie in the car on the way to soccer practice).  Try this:

The student plays their piece – but on a flat surface… not on the piano. They tap their way through their piece, playing exactly as they would on the keys, but with no sound involved (don’t put on a CD recording of their piece).  They still play hands together, with phrasing, with dynamics, in the same hand positions as they would on the keys, but it is all done on a table top. (If it’s tricky at first they can try one hand at a time.)  It will work though and here a few reasons why compiled from my colleague in BC, Andrea Dow, with a little of my own thoughts added in.

1)  While there is no sound involved, the student will still “hear” their piece.  The human brain is a wonderful thing – and the student will be developing their ear in leaps and bounds.  As they are learning to hear their piece without the ability to actually hear it, their memorization of the piece will be much stronger and much faster as they force themselves to commit it to their aural memory.  It’s wonderful to watch my kids Tap Practice and then stop abruptly and say “Ooops.. I made a mistake!”.  

How did they know they made a mistake when there are no keys and no sound?  They know because their ears are connected to their finger movements; and a slight miss-tap with their fingers translates to an off sound in their mind.  Your brain is completely engaged during Tap Practice without the distraction of sound… and so learning happens at a faster rate.

2)  The only thing they hear is tapping… and so their fluidity improves as they learn to create an even tempo and a sense of underlying beat.  Hearing just the rhythm of their piece with no notes attached brings these two aspects to the forefront.  When they return to the piano their muscle memory will preserve the evenness they found away from the piano.  Phrasing and dynamics are still accomplished through the varying degrees of pressure exerted on the flat surface.  Kids who struggle with phrasing find Tap Practice really beneficial as it helps them to “plan out” how hard each of their fingers will push within each phrase, and changes in dynamics become much more well-defined.

3)  Kids think Tap Practice is fun!  This is one more way of making piano practice a bit more fun.  Not only is it completely portable, meaning that your students can Tap Practice literally anywhere (my own kids have tried on the back of a book in the car, on our kitchen island, on the table of a restaurant…be creative) but it’s also enjoyable; my kids love the notion of playing the piano in their mind.

Above all remember:
Practice leads to progress and progress leads to enjoyment!! If students practice, then they will progress. If they progress they will feel a sense of accomplishment and success and this is what will really make them enjoy piano! Ultimately, it all comes back to practice. It’s kind of like Field of Dreams….