-Stathia Orwig Every week, each teacher at Music SO Simple is able to pick one student who really “shined” that week. This is a tradition that I absolutely love and that I wanted to continue in my own business. You see, we can pick a student for any reason! It could be that the student showed up with their books for the first time in a while, or that they practiced more than usual. It could be that they blew their teacher away by memorizing a random piece, or that they learned one on their own. Maybe even that they had an attitude that was better than their “usual” attitude. The reasons are endless! The student(s) that are picked receive a certificate, 10 music bucks, and a “Student of the Week” yard sign for the week. Some people might think that recognizing a student every single week could get redundant. That’s a lot of music bucks and certificates given out! But you have to remember that we have 20-30 private students each. Theoretically, that would give each student a chance to be student of the week at least once during the school year. Now, do we give it to everyone? The answer is no, but we try really hard to find a reason to give them some recognition. I’ve seen some students in such a slump, with not a whole lot of practicing and on the verge of quitting. A little positive (public) encouragement gives a little lift. They are basically getting a high five that everyone around can see that just gives them the boost that they need. Even for the students who are used to doing well every week need a little recognition. My students always ask me why I picked them. And I’m honest! Even today, my student said, “Ms. Stathia, why did you pick me out of all the students you teach?” I told her that I saw so much improvement in her and that she totally surprised me by learning her holiday piece all by herself in just a week! She normally practices just a couple times a week, but when I had given her that piece, she practiced it almost everyday! These kids have so much going on with school, lessons, and other activities- they stay busy! My own kids are included in this!! We are busy parents too and not always giving our kids the attention and time that they need. When my daughter got Student of the Week a couple of weeks ago, her dad took her out to get a special stuffed animal- as a way of saying great job! She knew we were proud of her, and then proceeded to keep practicing every day without us asking her to! We need to make our kids feel special and recognize their progress, and at the same time encourage them to keep working hard.
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-Meredith Manley A lot of people ask me what age should their child start learning about music, and their guess is usually around age 4 or 5. While this might be a great age to begin studying an instrument in private lessons, there is a lot of learning that needs to happen before then. The real “window of opportunity” for music learning is from birth to age 5. How do you get a child ready for private lessons when they are so young? The answer is through music immersion, or exposure to a rich musical environment. As a certified Music Together teacher, I firmly believe that attending music class should start before their first birthday. As a parent, you simply have to provide your child with this environment. Although babies are in “receptive mode”, they observe and absorb sensory experiences and respond to music in different ways. Outward responses become more advanced as the child grows older. I love to share this story of a family who attended my Music Together classes for years in Chicago. Abigail was only 6 months old when she started coming to my class, and she eventually completed the 3 year curriculum. Once you finish the curriculum, you start again with the first collection of songs. When we returned to the songs from when she was just an infant, she sang every word of every song in the collection IN TUNE. Her parents were amazed; I think they finally believed me after all of the times I told them that she is learning even though she cannot outwardly “participate”. A relatable comparison is language development; you have to expose your child to elements of speech (talking to your child, reading books, singing, etc.) in order for them to develop it.
So what exactly are the skills that are gained from music class that will help prepare for private lessons? The two main things are a sense of steady beat and tonality. Within the first lesson, I can see if a student has a good “internal metronome”- can they play a piece with a steady beat, or do they slow down and speed up at different parts? Developing the internal metronome is a big focus in early childhood music classes, and it is primarily achieved through movement and instrument play. Tonality in layman’s terms is the structure, order, and spacing of pitches. A child who has been training his/her ear in music classes for a few years will be able to sing “in tune” and display a beginning understanding of pitch spacing. Besides preparing your child for private lessons, music classes also do wondrous things for general development. According to research studies, children who participated in interactive music classes before age 7 have more sophisticated language skills and extensive wiring in the corpus callosum (the nerve bundle that connects the two hemispheres in the brain). Whether or not you have a strong desire for your child to study an instrument, music classes are beneficial for brain development upon which other learning depends on. To learn more about music immersion and the importance of early childhood music, click here To learn more about the stages of music development in children, click here -Stathia Orwig We all need a little motivation to work towards long-term goals, regardless of our age. For our students, we decided to continue a little incentive that I started quite a few years ago called Piano Bucks. The idea began around 2003 when I attended one of my first national conventions. I remember seeing music money being sold at one of the vendor booths and thinking that I could design something like that myself! When I got back, I designed a printed my own little “bucks” and rewarded my private students with them every time they did something great! It could have been answering a question, or working extra hard on a piece, or completing their theory work. These bucks became so popular with my private students that they began telling my (at the time) group students about them- which then led me to give them to my group classes. Once my students started earning bucks, they had to spend them! So, I came up with prizes for the students to buy; of course, they loved that! A prize box is brought to lesson at the end of every month. This really helps students to not get distracted every single lesson wondering what they can buy, and it also forces them to save a little too! Being able to visit the prize box each month gives them even more incentive to earn bucks because they see things that they want to buy! So, the student goes home and plans to practice every single day till their next lesson! The day of music buck prize box, students are always so proud of what they can buy and what they earned. Upon creating Music SO Simple, I really wanted to keep the piano buck tradition that my students loved so much. So, since we added voice to the mix, we decided to call the “music bucks” instead. Our students love music bucks- they help motivate our students to practice, officially making it a habit. We also use them as a reward for learning festival/recital pieces, memorization, and performances. In addition, we give them as gifts for Christmas, when they are chose for student of the week, and birthdays. Music Bucks are seriously a win-win! It’s not rocket science- it just works!
-Meredith Manley This week, I want to highlight the importance of having a solid music library within the studio, and how lucky we were in building ours. Generally, a music library consists of method books, theory books, sight reading, and books exploring certain genres, styles, and/or composers. The library should also have a wide variety of supplementary pieces, which we use for Halloween and Christmas, recitals, and festivals. While method books are essential for learning new concepts, it is important for students to spend time practicing these concepts with supplementary music before jumping on to the next topic. Most teachers acquire their library over time, if ever. My guess at the average cost of one method book is about $8.00, so it’s quite expensive to buy all of the materials at once. Stathia had quite a few books already to start our library, but we were very fortunate to receive a large donation of used music from her piano teacher, Jerry Stephens. He brought us at least 10 boxes full of music from his old studio, and it was like Christmas morning opening them up and discovering all of the gems inside. Over the summer, we sorted through everything, decided what music we wanted to keep, and organized it by genre. We decorated some old file cabinets, and now all of our music is neatly stored there. Besides having access to additional repertoire, it’s great to have the library in case a student forgets their books at home. This will really be helpful whenever we have a space of our own, but for now, our library is great for when teachers want to choose pieces for their students ahead of time.
We also allow students to borrow our library books and play through a couple of pieces before we buy them a fresh copy- that way, you can make sure you like it before investing in the book. Its super easy for us keep track of the books we lend in My Music Staff, so we want to encourage our students and families to explore all of our available resources. If you or your child want to explore a certain piece or genre, just let us know and we can bring some options from our library to the next lesson. Also, if you are unsure of what to do with your child’s previous books, ask your teacher! We love to take them back and use them as reference copies! It’s a great way of recycling and “sharing” the music we all love! This week’s blog is about how we offer our piano and voice lessons. In my years of teaching, I have always found it fascinating how different students learn in different environments. At Music SO Simple, we offer lessons in the convenience of your home as well as in our home studios. Deciding on which route to take depends on what’s best for your family and how the student learns! There are pros and cons to consider in each learning situation. Back in the day when I started teaching, I was hired to primarily be a travelling teacher. Now that my daughter's piano teacher (Ms. Meredith!!) comes to my house, I am now seeing the amazing benefits of being able to cut one more activity out that I have to drive to, and I can get things done at home while she gets her lesson! As wonderful as this sounds, there are also quite a few potential drawbacks to having lessons at home:
For some people, having lessons at a studio might be a better “fit”. For other, the opposite is true- either way, there are pros and cons. Make the best decision for your family and for your student’s learning style. If keeping the siblings entertained while your student is having their lesson at home, then maybe it’s best to drop your student off for the 45 minutes while you run errands with the other kiddos! Make it worth your time, your money, and your sanity...just my two cents as both a mom and teacher!! -Stathia Orwig This week’s blog is about all of the technology that is available in the music pedagogy world. In today’s world of fast fixes, we think that in order to learn any instrument, all we need to do is log on, watch, and play! While this can get us going, it will only get us so far. You don’t need me to tell you that there is something very important about human contact and the importance of the student/teacher relationship. Just a few things a teacher can provide (vs. YouTube video) are hand position, breathing techniques, correct fingering, dynamics, reading, and so much more!
The other side of technology is in the hands of a teacher. Great new programs and apps are available to teachers and students to help with technique. I have been using a great app on my iPad which allows the student to practice sight-reading. The app is able to listen for the correct notes and rhythm, and will award stars in order to get to the next level! It will also play the duet for the student to play along to! Teachers may assign extra work on these apps for practice at home. It’s awesome! It’s different than reading traditional sheet music, and it definitely takes a little getting used to, but students today catch on rather quickly! Even metronomes are available as apps on our mobile devices! There are software programs that assist in music writing and theory! I think this new technology adds a little twist and convenience to traditional learning. Obviously, this technology doesn’t have to be used every time you practice, but it’s a great resource that is now available to us. Using it every now and then is ideal for a student of any age or stage. It can open your ear to the possibilities, have as a tool to perfect rhythm and notes: almost like taking your teacher home with you! -Stathia Orwig There have been a ton of articles written on the benefits of music, and of course we know that music is good for people of all ages. What exactly are the benefits? Music Lessons... ...improve how we learn, remember, problem-solve, and pay attention. ...increase memory capacity through learning and memorizing pieces. ...helps time management & organizational skills in learning a piece, especially when preparing for recitals, festivals, and contests. ...teach responsibility by practicing, bringing music to lessons, and preparing for events. ...teach discipline and perseverance: how and when to practice, not quitting when it gets hard, working through challenges. ...improve mathematical ability (scientifically proven through multiple studies!) ...allow self-expression through making music. ...provide health benefits: reduces stress and anxiety, decreases pain, improve immune functioning, and aid memory. ...enhance coordination; reading music, hand-eye, using both hands and feet, and keeping a beat! ...relieve stress; students always leave lessons happy! Practice & lessons can be a great way to take a break from homework and be creative. ...teach etiquette by attending recitals and concerts. ...allow a student to build relationship with a teacher by working one on one.
-Stathia Orwig Recitals are a very special event for students and parents! It is a time when we come together to celebrate the accomplishments of the student! Here are a few things to keep in mind for a recital: FOR PERFORMERS: • Performers should wear appropriate attire. Girls in appropriate-length dresses or nice pants, boys in dress pants and polo or button down dress shirt. Please no flip-flops, or athletic footwear. Please do not wear dangling, jingling jewelry. • It’s a great idea to practice in your outfit, especially with shoes included. • Once it is your turn, rise quickly and walk up to the piano. Adjust the bench, pause and collect your thoughts, and begin when you are ready. • Performers bow at the end of the performance. We will practice bowing properly a few lessons before the recital. • Arrive at the requested time in order to learn where you are to sit and receive instructions for the performance. FOR THE AUDIENCE • Please arrive a little early in order to find a comfortable place to sit. • Turn off all cell phones and any electrical devices that may produce sound. • Once the recital begins, please listen and be quiet. Crying babies should be taken out. They are not happy, and neither is the audience or the performer! • The soloist will bow and your response is to applaud politely! • Please stay until the performance or event is completely over. If you have other obligations or matters to attend to before the recital is over, please do not attend. -Stathia Orwig Yep- it’s that time of the year! Recital time! As teachers, we always get the parents and students who are not sure they want to participate in end of the year recitals. Want to know why your student should prepare and play on a recital? What’s the big deal? Well, there are a lot of amazing things that happen from preparing and participating in a recital. Here are just a few:
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