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Here's my crazy story on my blue piano. One night, I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a Steinway & Sons post about a special Boston upright that was designed my Alicia Keys. I was stunned and all googlie eyes at this piano!! It was simply stunning. Well, it was simply stunning. I found myself thinking about it for a while- like a year. When you think about things for that long...well, maybe you need to do something about it? So, keep in mind, we are in the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. But, things are going really well at the studio. By February, a lot of our students are moving away from virtual lessons and starting to come back into the studio. But we were starting to be out of room. The smartest thing for me to do is to add another piano room. The only place we really had room to use was my office, and I was not really excited about that. In the past, I had taught where I worked and I would look over at my pile on my desk and think about the work I needed to do while I was teaching. I liked the separation of leaving my office to go into another space to teach. I wasn't sure how I was going to make this work, but knew I would be willing to if it was a cool piano. So, I thought, maybe a Steinway upright? This would be all mine. How cool would that be? But, as beautiful as those were, I couldn't get the Alicia Keys piano out of my mind. I think I wanted something with a little more pop! After talking with the guys at Steinway Hall- Dallas, they had a guy who painted pianos for them. He's not just a normal painter, like he really knew what he was doing to paint a piano. So, I got to work on picking out colors and putting things in motion. Once I got swatches, I took them to my office to check out the color scheme:  So, I anticipated having this piano by the beginning of April. We began moving things around at the studio. Ms. Gayle needed to have a space to work at in the front of the studio rather than in my office where I would be teaching.  The feeling of seeing the Steinway delivery truck in the parking lot was so amazing!! It seems absolutely crazy that I am this excited about a blue piano. But, we have learned a lot from this pandemic. We appreciate the little things. This piano is so fun to play and it puts off such a fun energy with my students. They absolutely LOVE playing it!! Their faces light up! I'm so thrilled with this new addition and very grateful for being able to buy a blue piano. I'm in love and I'm beyond blessed! for a little more on the colors and the "pop", check out the video below. I didn't have much of a voice when I filmed this, but I was so excited!!
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 We are wanting to encourage our students to listen to different and important musical works. Your Assignment: Listen to the link below, share with your family, and add comments to let us know what you think! This one is Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words: Spring Song Time Period: Romantic, 1844 Originally written for solo piano, here is a lovely version with clarinet playing the melody. The second link is a solo piano version. Can you imagine lots of birds, butterflies, bees, & flowers swaying in the breeze?
 This week, we are recognizing these students for 5 & 6 years of music study! Congratulations! Special awards will be given in May! Navir
Ryan
Anna
Kaira
Savannah
Christine
Ezekiel
Ada
Eva
Ignacio
Myles
Reenie
Kaivan
and also these students: EvanLiviaSydneyLukeNikoAriaIzabellaJoshuaLola We are wanting to encourage our students to listen to different and important musical works. Your Assignment: Listen to the link below, share with your family, and add comments to let us know what you think! This one is J.S. Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D Minor Time Period: Baroque Used in scary movies sometimes! One slow, dramatic melody in the Toccata, followed by many fast melodies. Then, in the Fugue, organized, overlapping melodies (starting at 2:41)  This week, we are recognizing these students for 7 & 8 years of music study! Congratulations! Special awards will be given in May! McKenna
Anna
Juliette
Mischa
Sohumnot pictured
-Stathia Orwig So, you've got your child in music lessons and now, you've got to figure out practice. Why? Well, they can't learn to play an instrument only by attending lessons. Practice is a must. I know, it's hard to fit in. I get it. I struggle with my kids every day, every week, and they are older! So, here are some pointers on how to get in practice.
 Once practice becomes part of the schedule, then it just gets easier and even more fun! Of course, we as teachers are always rewarding our students for practice with music bucks, contests, music ball, and honor roll. But the real fun, honestly, comes when they are confident & learning more repertoire! For more fun practice pointers, check out an past blog from the Old Pro. Happy practicing!! Let us know what works for you!   We are wanting to encourage our students to listen to different and important musical works. Your Assignment: Listen to the link below, share with your family, and add comments to let us know what you think! This one is Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro". Time Period: Romantic Era, 1918 This stage performance opens with Gianni Schicchi shouting, in resistance to the idea of his daughter marrying her love. Then his daughter pleads with him. -Stathia Orwig So, if you follow us on social media, you've probably already seen this. For those of you who have not- you're in for a real surprise! Music SO Simple was in the Richardson Community Impact!!! Basically, out of the blue, a reporter emailed the studio asking to set up an interview with me. After the interview was a hit, he came in to take pictures of the studio and me teaching, Little Miss Sophia, my student who I was teaching the evening he came in felt like a star!! The article was about MSS, how we started, and how we were adapting to the coronavirus pandemic: Music SO Simple was named after a philosophy that owner Stathia Orwig uses when teaching music gets overwhelming.
Sophia signed a copy of the article that is now hanging in our studio. Please feel free to share the article with family and friends!! Thank you all for sharing your love of learning music and MSS!! We couldn't do this without you!!
 We are wanting to encourage our students to listen to different and important musical works. Your Assignment: Listen to the link below, share with your family, and add comments to let us know what you think! This one is Offenbach's Can-Can Time Period: Romantic Era Here is a great performance from a youth orchestra in Slovenia!  Well, it's the spring and it's time to get ready for Honor Roll 2021! I'm so excited!
As many of our students know, Honor Roll is a BIG deal around here. Mostly because it's HARD and the end result is amazing. We've changed up a few things this year. First, I want to say that making it on the Honor Roll is not easy. It's for the student who is ready to practice harder than ever before. If everyone was able to do it, it wouldn't be so amazing would it? Just like Honor Roll at school, those who rise to the occasion, practice hard, and complete all of their work each week will be on the Honor Roll and receive one of two prizes. Here at this year's requirements:
This year, we are giving our students an opportunity to get extra points. Students are limited to 12 total points for the entire duration of Honor Roll.
The 2 prizes are the composer bust for 65 points and higher. Those that get 50-64 points will receive the metal bookmark. Awards will be announced at the Spring Recital. Good luck!! Work hard! Let your teacher know if you have any questions! |
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MUSIC SO SIMPLE
469.778.2121
info@musicsosimple.com
1144 Plano Road, suite 142, richardson, texas 75081
