I am so excited to announce that our next Early Explorers preschool music class lesson plan is now available in The Teaching Studio Store! And just in time for those of you who are still experiencing winter weather! We most definitely are not experiencing much winter here in Texas, but Nichole and I taught this class last week anyway, and the children just loved it!

Once our Summer lesson plan is completed, this Wondrous Winter! lesson plan will be part of our Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Pack! It would make a fantastic four-week class for young students wanting a hands-on and just plain fun intro to music.

So a little about Wondrous Winter! Children will receive a basic introduction to the musical staff, and particularly to chords on the staff (using some friendly snowmen as visuals!). We do some listening/ear training, crafting, beanbag tossing and even eating to reinforce these concepts. 🙂 We talk a lot about fun winter activities, and do a fun movement activity to Vivaldi’s Winter. We also touch on rhythm and beat in music, and sing a SUPER fun (in my opinion, although I am a bit biased since I made it up! haha) song about a sleigh ride. Students get to play along with instruments that mimic the sounds of a sleigh ride, and then get to move around the room like we’re on our very own sleigh ride through the snow.

We think you (and your cute students) will really love it! And because we love you for all of your interest in our “Musical Valentines” lesson plan, we have decided to once again hold a *giveaway* for one free copy of our Wondrous Winter! Lesson Plan! To enter, please leave a comment! For an extra entry, post or otherwise share about this super fun lesson plan via Facebook, your blog, Twitter, Pinterest, you name it. We want to share the love!

Once again, the giveaway ends on Friday, February 15, at 10:00 pm Central time. So enter enter enter! And go check out all of our fun lesson plans available for purchase. Happy Winter!

Today I have a fun Valentines Day activity to share with you! New to The Teaching Studio Store is our “Composer Valentines” activity. This activity is included in our “Musical Valentines” lesson plan and has been expanded to include activities for older students and private students as well.

Students receive a Valentine from a famous composer and learn about music appreciation! It’s also a great way to teach about how music conveys feelings and emotions.

Included in this packet are templates to make 12 different Composer Valentines, instructions on assembly and ideas and suggestions on how to use these with students of all ages. We originally created it as an activity for a class of preschoolers, but it is easily adapted for private students of all ages. These would also be a super cute handout for your students for Valentines Day, especially if you include some candy or chocolate! Just a fun little Valentines Day activity.

The packet is 17 pages and is available for digital download in The Teaching Studio Store. Happy Valentines Day, and I hope you enjoy!

Also, today is the last day for our giveaway!!! Be sure to enter for a change to win a free copy of the entire “Musical Valentines” lesson plan! Ends tonight at 10:00 pm, Central Time.

Who else is starting Christmas music in their studios? I love this time of year. I already started playing Christmas music on my own ages ago, and now am getting my students going on some Christmas music of their own. So exciting!!

I recently have had the opportunity to try out a new book of advanced Christmas solos for piano by Amy B. Hansen, a friend and accomplished pianist/composer who shared some great insights with us about composing a couple of years ago, and I am loving it! Carol Encores is a great collection of Christmas carols that are definitely more advanced than many collections out there. These arrangements will really give your students something to work on. They are a fresh and original collection of well-loved and classic carols that will really add a flourish to a Christmas recital.

These arrangements contain lots of fancy runs, two-against-three rhythms, and beautiful and original motifs, include lots of hand over hand motion, and really utilize the whole range of the keyboard. While all seven of the arrangements are showy enough to wow any recital audience, about half of them are slower and more lyrical. My favorites include the beautiful and flowing arrangement of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and the fun and joyful “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful” (and I am still trying to master the great runs up to speed on this one!).

I think this is a book that both you and your more advanced students will really enjoy this Christmas season. Carol Encores can be purchased here.

Here’s a fun music video featuring some of Amy’s music – it gives you a great preview of her style used in her Christmas music.