Interview with Amy Hansen: On Composing

November 17, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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I am so excited to share an interview with our guest contributor, Amy Baugh Hansen! Amy has recently released her first album, Piano Noel Classics, which is available here.

Tell us a little about your musical background.

I started taking lessons when I was five with my mother, Susan, an excellent pianist and teacher herself! I took from various teachers starting around age 6. I participated in competitions and festivals throughout my school years. I also won a few competitions in composition at a young age. I even studied the cello in junior high for a few years as well. Classical piano became my main focus in high school. When I auditioned for scholarships my senior year in piano, I received two offers-one from USU and one from BYU. I attended USU for a while, but then transfered to BYU where I studied with Dr. Irene Peery-Fox. I went on to receive my bachelor in piano performance from BYU.

What or who inspired you to start composing and arranging?

I hadn’t composed anything for a LONG time until recently earlier this year. In fact, I believe I was about 12 when I stopped doing compositions on my own for fun. But, during the Christmas season last year, I was playing as a pianist for our ward (church) choir, and I was thinking that I would like to try arranging/composing some music on my own. I started playing around with the idea in January more and from that point, I started working and experimenting on a few songs. It was almost like riding a bike–I just remembered how to do it, and it was a lot of fun!

Do you feel that composing has helped you to be a better musician? If so, how?

Yes I think it does….probably because I can express myself through the outlet of my own music–so it helps me personally with my artistry in a way.

Tell us a little about your composition process

Here is my composition process in a nutshell…..I just start playing! I experiment with different melodies/harmonizations/modulations etc. as I go along. Sometimes I will hear a tune/song in my head as I am driving, or at night before I fall asleep–sounds kinda weird, huh–and then I’ll write it down when I get a chance! I have to write everything down by hand first–that’s just the way I do it. When I write a song that I really like, it almost tends to ‘write itself,’ and everything fits together easily! But that’s not always the case. Sometimes its a little more work to make everything come together, but the process is still enjoyable.

Do you encourage your own students to compose? If so, what are some ways you implement this in your studio?

Yes, I certainly do! For our recent Halloween Group Lesson, I had all my students perform their Halloween pieces that they had composed. By giving them an assignment of writing a ‘spooky’-sounding piece, it made the assignment more specific and direct, instead of just saying “write a piece.” Sometimes students who are not comfortable with composing yet have a hard time when given the assignment to write a piece, so this usually helps to give a little more direction and help when they start. On the other hand, I have a handful of students who love to compose and will play their songs for me at their lessons. I encourage these students to continue their pursuits in composition as well. I have found that if you give assignments for composition, students can often rise to the challenge.

What are your thoughts on encouraging students to work on creative keyboard skills (such as composition, improvisation, transposition) along with studying classical repertoire? Do you feel it is important for classical pianists to have these skills?

Here’s what I think about incorporating composition, improvisation, transposition etc. along with classical training….I think it is wonderful to develop these skills, and that it helps serve as a compliment and an enhancement to the classical pianist in their musical education. If we look to the great composers of the past, they all posessed and incorporated these skills. However, I do not think we are all necessarily equal in our creative abilities. But, if we never tried to exercise our creativity, we might not know what we are capable of! What if we never encouraged our students to write? Then who would be creating the ‘new classics’ of the future?

Tell us about your new album!

My new album is called ‘Piano Noel Classics.’ The album consists of several piano arrangements of Christmas hymns. I have new thematic material for each song, so it doesn’t sound like the traditional hymns we sing in church, although you can still recognize the melodies. I tried to put a twist on each song–I wanted to portray different moods and feelings depending on the piece. For example, ‘Joy to the World’ is very grandious and vibrant. In contrast, ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ is more subdued and tranquil for most of the song. I should also mention that I wrote them all in 7 weeks! It was a little difficult to write in a time-crunch, but it was fun at the same time and my family got to hear Christmas music early this year!

Thank you so much, Amy, for your wonderful insights! I know that I am inspired to be better at encouraging my students to compose, and maybe even do a little composing myself!

Visit Amy’s website: http://www.amybhansen.com/

Amy’s Facebook page

Guest Contributor: Amy Baugh Hansen

November 16, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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We are so excited to have a wonderful guest contributor this week who will share some great insights into composition with us! Amy Baugh Hansen is a pianist, composer and piano teacher in Utah. We are excited for the great things she will be sharing with us about composition, and wanted you to get to know her a little bit!

name:
Amy Baugh Hansen

from:
Pleasant Grove, Utah

she is:
a mother, wife, piano teacher, ward choir pianist, composer 🙂

she attended:
Pleasant Grove High School, Utah State University, and Brigham Young University

currently:
a newly signed artist with Covenant Communications (owned by Deseret book) and will debut a cd of hymn arrangements next year. Also is currently writing music for the KSL series ‘History of the Saints’, and is in the process of publishing more music with Jackman Music.

her studio:
consists of 20+ students. We are getting ready for our Christmas recital next month! Yay!

she loves:
spending time with the fam, working out, decorating, shopping–in any form!

she recently:
released her Christmas album ‘Piano Noel Classics,’ which can be purchased here

her website:
http://www.amybhansen.com/
visit her page on facebook

Red & Blue Review, and a GIVEAWAY!!

November 15, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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As we are discussing functional keyboard skills this week, I am excited to share my review of some new books featuring jazz, blues, funk and contemporary pieces for piano students!

Blue and Red are part of the new Color series by New York City pianist Dror Perl. Blue contains “contemporary music with a harmonic twist” and Red contains jazz, blues and funk. Mr. Perl’s intent in writing these books was to help teach his students chords and harmony, improve their sight reading skills and refine their technique, as well as to help keep them excited about playing the piano. There is also another volume in the series, Purple, which contains jazz and blues compositions.

As a classical pianist and teacher, I do not believe that any books such as these will ever replace the classics of piano literature. However, in light of our current topic and the great need for keyboard literacy among our students, I think that Mr. Perl has truly created some excellent resources to use as supplementary material in our lessons, and that these books have great merit and purpose. (They also make me look back fondly on the good old days of junior high and high school jazz band…)

What I Like About This Series

I love the fact that each piece includes chord symbols. I think this is a great way to help our students know and understand what they are playing, and will give opportunity for lots of great discussions about chords, including about augmented and diminished chords, seventh chords, and chord inversions.
I appreciate the sophisticated harmonies used in these books. This is a great way to expose our students to some new sounds and musical ideas.
The music in these books are written simply enough to be played by students of most ages. Blue is written for “all level pianists” and is simple enough for some of the youngest students to play (but is great for higher-level pianists as well!)
I think that these books are also excellent for working on technique and sound, and are an awesome sight reading resource.
You can also purchase duet parts for many of these pieces for a variety of instruments – how fun to create your own little jazz combo! Visit www.sheerpiano.com for more details!

The Books

I really enjoyed playing through Red. Here are some highlights:

My favorite piece in Red is Lullaby for the Sun. Mr. Perl calls this piece a “wistful ballad,” and I just love its contemporary harmonies and bluesy feel. It is the perfect piece for working on sound production and learning to bring out the right hand melody.

I would not normally think of teaching my students funk. But I loved Medium Rare Funk and think that it is an awesome exercise in playing syncopated rhythms. If your students can play this piece with an accurate, tight rhythm, then they are in pretty good shape. Here, take a look:

(And yes, all of the pieces in this book are printed in red!) Another great piece for working on rhythm, this time focusing on triplets and swung eighth notes, is Wrong answer!!

I enjoyed Out of ketchup blues and think that this could be a really great piece for doing a little improvisation in the right hand. The student could play through this bluesy piece as written, and then play it again, adding their own flair to the melody.

Sunburn is fun and fast and is perfect for introducing a walking bass line.

Blue is chock-full of great contemporary pieces with a bluesy feel.

One of my favorites in this book is Bluebird. I love that it sounds like a jazz ballad, and that the left hand rhythm almost lulls you to sleep (in a good way!). This piece is perfect for working on sound production. Waves has a similar lulling quality.

Burn with a low blue flame is a piece that I really enjoyed. I love that the left hand is comprised of single whole notes for the entire piece. I think this piece would be an excellent one for improvising a bit with the left hand and practicing filling out chords to improve a student’s harmonization skills.

I enjoyed what Mr. Perl described as a “mildly twisted Waltz” – Once in a blue moon is, like most of these pieces, perfect for improving technique and sound production and for practicing making the melody louder than the accompaniment.

My other favorite in this book (besides Bluebird) is The blue city. One thing that somewhat bothers me about some of these pieces is that they have a very small range, and tend to stay in the lower register a lot (8va markings are very common in this series, which can be somewhat confusing for a more advanced pianist but may make the pieces more accessible for all ages). But in The blue city, there is a great range of notes! The piece begins on a high treble B, then changes mid-song to the middle register of the piano. It then goes down to the lower register, and ends back in the middle. I think students would love this piece, which Mr. Perl describes as “slow” and “meditative.” I think this piece is perfect for sight reading, as it contains a lot of accidentals.

This series is well-written and, I believe, has a wonderful purpose and place in our piano lessons. Whether you use it for fun recital pieces, for instruction on chords and harmony, or simply for occasional sight reading, it will be a great asset to the musical training of our students.

Now, for the GIVEAWAY!! One lucky reader will win a copy of Red, which features jazz, blues and funk. I really enjoyed the fun variety of pieces in this book, and I think you will too!

TO ENTER:

Visit Mr. Perl’s website, www.sheerpiano.com, look around a bit, and then come back and leave a comment telling us what book you would like to try out if you had your pick!

Additional entries:

One extra entry: become a follower or email subscriber of our blog, and leave a comment letting us know you did!
One extra entry: Like us on Facebook, then leave a comment letting us know you did!

Giveaway goes until next Monday, November 22, at 11:59 pm central time. Winner will be announced on Tuesday the 23rd!

U.S. and Canadian residents only, please 🙂

The Black Hole of Piano Study

November 13, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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There is often a big gaping hole in the piano education of classical pianists. Many of us can play very advanced pieces with great artistry, have great technique and are very accomplished pianists – but what happens when someone sticks a fakebook or lead sheet in front of us? Or when we are asked to play something in a different key? Or when we are expected to improvise or play a song by ear? Even many of the most advanced pianists get weak in the knees in such situations and are not able to do these things.

In Martha Baker-Jordan’s Practical Piano Pedagogy, she refers to this phenomenon as the “black hole of piano teaching.” She says,

There seems to be a huge void in the universe of our classical piano training and concertizing that I call the “Black Hole of Piano Teaching and Performance.” The gravitational pull of this hole is so strong that the functional keyboard skills of harmonizing, transposing and improvising (all of which can include reading chord symbols) are sucked out of our world into oblivion. Concert pianists, studio teachers, even piano and pedagogy professors, all are affected, and many go through life without ever acquiring these skills. I include composing here as well, even though it isn’t normally thought of as a functional skill. I believe that composition is also a vital part of piano study and that the ability to teach it is just as important as it is for harmonization, transposition, and improvisation. (Baker-Jordan, p. 243)

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I personally did not really learn these basic keyboard skills in all of my years of pre-college piano study, except for the occasional transposition exercise and basic instruction and exercises involving seventh chords. And even though I was the pianist in my junior high and high school jazz band for a few years, I somehow (amazingly) was able to skip over that whole improvising thing, because I never had a teacher who helped me with it and I felt too completely lost and self-conscious to attempt it in front of the whole class.

So, what is wrong with this picture? Why is it that so many pianists get to such advanced levels of study and ability without these basic skills? I remember in one of my college keyboard classes, we had the assignment to be able to sit down and play “Happy Birthday to You” by ear. I suddenly realized that I had never even thought of trying that before. And I remember thinking about the panic I would feel if I were at a party, and somebody (knowing I was a piano performance major) asked me to play that on the piano to accompany the singing.

So, I would like to focus on this important topic here on The Teaching Studio this week! How are we, as teachers, doing in teaching our students basic, functional keyboard skills? Can our students play chords and harmonize from a lead sheet? Do they feel comfortable improvising? Can they transpose a simple piece up a half or whole step? Or to an entirely different key altogether? Do they have opportunities to compose their own pieces? Can they play multiple lines of music at once (such as an SATB choir song?), or play from different clefs? I can’t wait to hear lots of comments this week!

Please take a minute and take our “Black Hole of Piano Study” Survey!

<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/s/27B10019A84EE38E”>View Survey</a>

Introducing the Keyboard

November 2, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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I’d like to share a fun little game that helps introduce the keyboard to young students. I wanted to help my little students learn the layout of the keyboard – that there are groups of two black keys and groups of three black keys, and that these alternate. I also wanted to make it fun, rather than sit them down on the bench, explain how the keyboard is laid out, and then show them the keys (we don’t want to bore these kids!!).

So, I made a Giant Keyboard puzzle. Each piece contains either a group of two black keys or a group of three black keys. Students can sit on the floor and try to put the puzzle together the right way. I like to just sit on the floor with them and talk about the keyboard there as we do the puzzle. Later you can go to the piano and play the black keys. Once you put the puzzle together, there are so many ways you can use your new giant keyboard to teach new concepts (some of which I will share with you in upcoming posts)!

I love this because it is super simple to make and to use, and it gets young ones having fun while learning about the piano. You can also keep a copy for your studio and send home individual giant keyboards with each young student. I have included two different versions you can choose from – one with the black keys filled in, and one with them not filled in (for others like me who frequently run out of black ink and feel like doing some coloring! haha). I printed three copies for my giant keyboard (so I can make three octaves), but you can print however many you want. I cut out each piece, and then I mounted mine on colorful cardstock to make them a little more sturdy and fun. Laminating them would also be an excellent idea, so they will last longer! Enjoy!

(…and stay tuned for a fun giveaway coming up!)

Giant Keyboard Black Filled In

Giant Keyboard

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Piano Teaching Q&A: Stopping Lessons

November 1, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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Each week we will be featuring questions asked by our readers, and will do our best to answer them and to give some ideas 🙂

A few weeks ago, we received an email from a fellow piano teacher which stated the following:

How does everyone else deal w/ students who drop? I just came home yesterday to a voice mail from a mom of 2 of my students. Out of the blue, after 4 years of lessons, they’ve decided to go with a different teacher. For whatever their reasons, my feelings are hurt that after all this time invested, I just get a message. I’ve also been dropped by email. I know that no one likes confrontation, but geez!. Thanks!

In response, firstly I’d like to offer my condolences for such insensitive and impersonal behavior! Like you said, I think sometimes we want to avoid confrontation by any means possible, but don’t realize that by trying not to “come off as mean” we end up coming off even MORE mean than before!

I haven’t been teaching for as long as many of you, and we’ve moved around so much that I always ended up being the one who left my students, before they even had a chance to leave me! However, I’d like to offer some thoughts and suggestions on the matter. My current studio is comprised entirely of transfer students, and I can share with you some suggestions I gave those parents who were about to leave their current teacher in order to have their children study with me.

Of course it hurts that after 4 (or however many) years of invested time, emotion, and talent, a student chooses to leave our studio. I think the important thing to remember is that there is a wide array of reasons why a family may choose to study with someone else – we don’t know everything about their circumstances. It could be that their financial situation has suddenly changed and they can no longer afford piano lessons. It could be that the student has a conflicting schedule and has chosen the other activity (sports, ballet, etc) over piano. Those are just 2 of the many possible reasons for leaving. If this were happening to me, I would convince myself that it was definitely one of those two things – but that’s just how I am! 🙂

Now, to tackle the more uncomfortable possibilities… It might be that their learning style was not matching up as optimally with your teaching style – and that is okay. One might immediately say “Yeah, but then why did they study with me for FOUR YEARS? Wouldn’t this have come up sooner?!” Possibly, possibly not. Students change – we all know how much personalities change as students get older! The last (and most uncomfortable) possibility is that the mother found a teacher that was a better fit for her children. However, the important thing to remember about that sentence is the last part – FOR HER CHILDREN. It doesn’t mean that you are a bad teacher or a “lesser teacher” than someone else. And this is assuming she’s even leaving you FOR SOMEONE ELSE – it might be that she just chose to remove her children from lessons altogether!

I am totally the “Every Cloud has Silver Lining” sort of person, and so what I would do is this:

1. Call the mom and ask why. I know it might sound gutsy – because it is – but you have a right to know, at least as it concerns you. Why? Because you want to know how you can improve yourself. I wouldn’t call her and demand “Why did your children drop out of my studio?! TEL ME NOW!” Nothing like that! But call her and kindly ask if there was anything in the way you ran your studio that prompted her to remove her children from your studio. Explain to her (and this, I think, would be the most important part) that you aren’t trying to be nosy, but as a professional teacher, you want to know how you can improve your services to your students. This phone call will be very revealing, and if you’re a sensitive person, brace yourself, because you don’t know what the response will be. However, whatever the reason is, know that it will help you be a better piano teacher.

If the mom doesn’t respond to your phone call or email (I’d do both), then perhaps try contacting her via both mediums one week later, and then leave it at that. If you choose to not contact the mother, or if you never hear back from her, then I would do some self-evaluation. Do a Studio Evaluation, as I like to call it – scrutinize every aspect of your studio, think of a master teacher (such as Leon Fleisher, Nelita True, etc) and ask yourself “Would his/her studio handle it this way?” and model your studio after that. This way, you are ensuring that you have the most professional studio possible.

These are just my thoughts and theories – I would absolutely love to hear feedback. If you completely disagree, please let me know – we can all improve!

Weekend Repertoire: Le Cimetiere

October 30, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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In honor of Halloween, I’d like to share a great piece I played at my senior recital. Le Cimetiere, or The Cemetery, is from the four-piece work Clairs de lune by Abel Decaux, a French organist and composer who lived from 1869 to 1943. I believe this is the only piece he ever published, and is very modern for his time. Make sure you keep listening for the awesome chords in the second half of the piece – I just love it!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from The Teaching Studio!

Inspiration.

October 29, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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I wanted to share a few wonderful things I have discovered lately:

1. This fun blog, Music for Tots. I love this post about making a difference in someone’s life.

2. Another great piano blog, Gretchen’s Pianos, and this post that tells how sometimes “enthusiasm trumps experience!” Love it.

3. These. Although not exactly piano-related (hehe), these were my usual practice break treat in college, and they are a-mazing. Last week when my usual dark chocolate wasn’t available at the store I decided to try extra-dark….mmmmmm…

4. A great scale preparation exercise, or spider fingers – what a great idea! I love this blog by pianist/writer/teacher Amy Greer, who I first became familiar with by reading her column in American Music Teacher five years ago.

5. Dvorak piano quartets (or maybe quintets?)…so a couple of weeks ago I went to the grocery store at night after putting my son to bed. As I pulled out of the garage and turned on the classical music station I heard the most gorgeous music. After sitting in the grocery store parking lot for a few minutes and realizing that an entire new movement was just starting, I called my husband and asked him to google the radio station, listen online and find out the name of the piece! Well, he caught part of the name and we know it is either a Dvorak piano quartet or a quintet….quite possibly this one, but I’m still not sure. Either way, it’s gorgeous!

Poll Results & a Congratulations!

October 26, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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Thanks to those who took our poll last week! We only had a few takers this time, but I am sure that many of you would agree that there are many challenges in running a piano studio with a variety of students. Here are the results!

What has been the most challenging thing about teaching a variety of students?

And, congratulations are in order to our wonderful contributor, Bonnie Jack, who two weeks ago gave birth to a sweet little baby boy. Head on over to her blog for some adorable pictures. Congratulations, Bonnie!!

Teaching the Individual, Part 5: Communication & Attitude

October 23, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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This week we are discussing ways that we can maintain standards of excellence in our studios, while at the same time adapting our teaching styles to help each individual student succeed. For this final segment, I’d like to talk about the importance of communication and attitude.

Communication

Just as it is important to communicate with a new student about goals and expectations, it is just as important to keep communicating with them all along the way. Communicate with the parents to keep them involved, for they play an important role. Discuss with the student how they are doing on their goals. I think if we can keep a good line of communication going, students will feel like they can tell us when they absolutely loathe a piece we chose for them. They will be more likely to communicate honestly about how they are feeling about lessons, if they are enjoying them or if there needs to be some changes.

In what ways do you keep a good line of communication going with either the student or the parent?

Attitude

A couple of weeks ago I heard an inspirational address given on teaching. While this was directed specifically toward teachers in a religious setting, the speaker said a couple of things that really resonated with me as a piano teacher. He quoted David McCullough, the great author and lecturer, who said, “What matters most in learning is attitude. The attitude of the teacher.”

I think that if we can approach teaching each individual student with a good attitude, no matter the student’s ability level, goals or personality, we can truly succeed in teaching them the joy of music. Even if they never perform on a big stage, or any stage at all, we can teach them the joy that comes through making music, and hopefully give them a great, positive experience with music lessons.