Cedar Grove Piano Studio
September 2013 Newsletter
New Students:
I’m very pleased to welcome back all
of my students from last year! It’s great to have you back again. I have a few new students this year. A big welcome to Donna Leroux, Sharon Murray,
Hayden Mader, Kyle Gaucher, Johnny Everett, Chris Everett, Sonja Frei, and
Lauren Lafleche. As you can see, I am very busy this year and rescheduling
lessons will be difficult. Please
remember to give me as much notice as possible to facilitate this process. Remember that I am not obligated to
reschedule and I only do so if we can come to a mutually agreeable time. Your
current payment allows for at least 3 missed lessons during the year.
Congratulations
Lauren and Evelyn!!!
Special congratulations goes out to Lauren
Roberts and Evelyn Cumming! Both Lauren
and Evelyn completed a Grade 5 Royal Conservatory Exam this past June. They both received a mark of 85% - earning
them First Class Honours! Congratulations on all the hard work you both
put into this exam!
Fall
Challenge:
Interested parents may want to take a peek
inside the music room to see the dancing music notes taped onto my wall. Stickers are earned for completed homework, exercise
books, scales, sight-reading, and of course songs learned. For every three
stickers earned, your student’s name is entered into a draw for a prize. The
draw will be done the second to last week of lessons in December and the prizes
awarded the last week of lessons. From years past, I know that there will be
lots of little eyes watching the progress of the “note thermometers”!
Piano
Tuning:
Now is the time to make sure that if you have an
acoustic piano that you get it tuned. It
only costs a little over $100 and is well worth it to make sure everything in
your instrument is operating properly and is in good tune. Students should have their pianos tuned at
least once per year – more if it tends to go out of tune. If you need a
recommendation for a piano tuner, please try Peter Kilpatrick. He is very thorough and the best that I know
of. His phone number is 613-346-0460
Recital:
Everyone
is expected to participate in the recital at the end of the year. It is a wonderful way to celebrate the
progress that has been made during the year and to use our talents to
entertain.
Festivals and other performance
opportunities:
We
have 2 performance opportunities this year in addition to the year-end recital.
The Kinsmen Music Festival,
if it runs as it did last year, will take place in February with a December
deadline. This is not a
competitive festival, but a workshop in which the students perform and receive
specific feedback to improve their performance in a workshop setting. This is appropriate for those who are
not beginners.
In April, the MCM Festival takes place at the Abbey for the arts
in Glen Nevis. In the past, this
has been the main festival in which we participate. Their deadline is
mid-February and performances take place in mid-April during the week. Pieces prepared for one festival could
be performed in the other to keep things simple!
I am also tossing around the idea of
a “Studio Festival” where just students from this studio could participate in a
workshop/festival. For those who find it
hard to participate in the MCM festival, or find it expensive, this would be a
great alternative. It would also be a great warm-up for the MCM festival as I
would plan to hold it just prior to the MCM festival. More on this later in the
year.
These are great opportunities for
students to “strut their stuff” so to speak. I do not require students to
participate, but I would highly
recommend participating in at least one of these, as it allows students to play in front
of other students at their own level and to receive adjudication from someone
other than myself. The
experience opens their eyes to new songs and degrees of excellence that they
would not otherwise have the opportunity to see. It can really excite them to continue
their studies.... and everyone wants to see that happen. I will have more
details later in the year for those who are interested.
Practicing:
(ouch!)
Signing
up for piano lessons is one thing… practicing every day is quite another.
Unlike other extra-curricular activities in which your child might participate,
learning an instrument takes a commitment each day to practice (translation for
kids – play their tunes). Here is a
time guide:
First
year students under 8 years old: 15
– 20 minutes each day
All
other students: minimum 30 minutes
each day – or the same length as your lesson time.
If
you set a time for your child to practise every day so that they get into the
routine of doing it, you will find that they will progress very well. By
establishing a routine, they will understand better what is expected, and you
will have fewer problems getting them to do it. Just treat it as a necessary
thing - like brushing their teeth. Some parents find it easier to “dangle a
carrot” - so maybe a small reward if their practising is completed every week -
a treat - or special privilege can do the trick. Whatever works for your
household and manner of parenting. If
you need some suggestions, let me know and I can help you with that. I will be
giving guidance to each student on that topic.
I’m thrilled to have so many
returning pianists this year and of course beginning students. It’s exciting to
see the lights go on once they understand how to read notes. And it’s exciting to see them enthusiastic
over an instrument that I really love!
If you have any questions or issues, please feel free to discuss them
with me at the beginning of your child’s lesson or over the phone or email.
Blessings
Mary
Tips and Tricks to keep your aspiring pianist practicing:
1. Be
present: This means that you
need to interact with them while they are practicing. Words of encouragement such as “good try”,
“let’s hear that again”, “I really like that song – can you do it again for
me?”, and encouraging them to play for family and friends, really makes playing
the piano fun. Try to keep comments
positive.
2. Length
of practice versus quality of practice: The quality of practice always trumps the
length of practice. If a student is not
following my instructions or practicing the assigned pieces, then there is no
quality of practice and their time is actually wasted. I give time guidelines
for practice because I know from experience that it usually takes a certain
amount of time to cover a certain amount of material at a given level. However, it is more important that the
student practice each song the way they have been told, for a minimum of 3
repetitions ( 5 is best). So if your
child finishes in 20 minutes what others need 30 minutes to do – then
fine. Just make sure they are actually
practicing what is written in their notebook.
Some kids just love to “mission” the work, and others are more diddly
about it.
2. Try
shorter but more frequent practice times: Perhaps your little one is finding 20 minutes
too long to sit. You could try 10
minutes twice a day. I’m not sure how many families have the luxury of doing
that, but if it might work for you, then give it a try.
3. Be
consistent: Find a time that
works every day for you and your child.
Our kids practiced every day before school… all three of them if you can
believe that! We started at 6:30 in the
morning and went until 8:30. It was a
necessity since our piano was always busy after school with lessons. If possible, pick a time when they are rested
and fed, and can focus, and make it the same time each day.
4. Try not
to over-schedule: I often have
kids come in quite frustrated that they have not been able to find time to
practice. They just have too much on the
go every night of the week. Piano
requires consistent practice and it should be done every day. If your child has an activity every night of
the week, it becomes difficult for them to fit in the practice they need to
succeed and they become overwhelmed and frustrated. Just be watchful of this. We all seem so busy, rushing here and
there. Sometimes it’s better to be
really good at one or two things than mediocre at a lot of things.
5. Make it fun: Some
kids have a hard time with the idea of having to repeat a song 5 times every
day. So do something to make it fun if you have this problem.
Buy some
small candies like smarties or rockets or use raisins or chocolate chips, and
let them have one each time they play the song. You can line up 5 on the piano
and let them eat one each time they play.
It might be healthier and almost as much fun to have little buttons or
animals that they move over as they complete a repetition.
Some of
you might see that I’ve put 5 checkmarks beside their songs in their
books. They can use a different colour
each day and mark off each time they play the song on each checkmark.
Some kids respond well to having a chart each
week to check off when they’ve practiced and how many times they’ve played the
song. As long as they are honest about
this (and you as a parent can keep an eye on this), it can be quite rewarding
just seeing all the stickers/checkmarks at the end of the week. I know it may seem silly, but if you could
only see how many of the kids are checking out the Fall Challenge wall of
Stickers every week, you’d know how well this can work. You can make this more
interesting by offering a small reward for work well done – like earning
computer time or some other privilege that the child values.
6. If your child is under
8 years old: You really need to be involved. Children below 8 years of age are not likely
to practice independently. Yes, some
will, but the majority will not. I know
you did not sign up to spend the time everyday to sit with your child, but that
is the reality of what you need to do.
Be in the room, listen, make sure they are reading their book, or read
it to them. Even If you don’t know a thing
about the piano, you can still be a big help. Reading their notebook to them,
or just helping them keep track of how many times they’ve played a song –
really helps. And encouraging words are always appropriate. Don’t be afraid to
sit in on their lesson to find out what we are doing and where they need
help. You are always welcome.
7. Make sure the
punishment fits the crime. Too often I hear parents
threatening that if practice is not done, then something drastic is going to
happen…. No birthday party for you… or you can’t go to your friend’s party, or
- yikes! You’re not going on vacation with us next week! Really? Kids are not stupid. They know when it’s overboard and they really
do expect you to be fair. They also need
the discipline of you being able and willing to follow through with your
punishment. So find the thing that turns their crank… are they always on the
DS/computer/reading/whatever? Then use
that to your advantage. Make them earn
the privilege of having that item in their life. For however many minutes of practice, they
earn an equivalent number of minutes for their privilege. It’s a no-brainer. Some kids just thrive on this. Others don’t need it at all… they do better
with rewards like stickers or a small treat. Better yet, try to avoid the
punishment thing and go with rewards… always seems to work better – even for us
adults
If you aren’t having
problems – Super! Just keep these suggestions handy for when
you might have some trouble. These suggestions will work for a season to get
you through a rough patch or to help you establish a routine.
There is a page up on the website that
addresses some different ways to practice problem areas for students in Grade 1
and beyond. Be sure to check it out if your child is in a more advanced level.
