Thanks for the “rest!”

January 12, 2012 Jennifer Boster

After quite the long hiatus, I have decided that I need to return to the Teaching Studio! I am not sure how often I will be posting, but I have so many piano-related things on my mind that I probably need to write them down anyway. Plus, I miss it! I have been lurking around the music blog-o-sphere for awhile and thought it was time to show my face again! Thanks for the rest, readers o’ mine!

I have been quite busy for the past few months – of course, having a baby will do that to you!

Aside from taking care of my little family and adjusting to life with two little ones, I have been teaching a lot! My students had a great recital in December – I even ambitiously decided (a week before the recital) to play Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu after not playing it for quite some time, and it went pretty well! My studio is just about as full as I want it, and I am just loving it.

I have also been SUPER busy planning, preparing for and teaching an amazingly fun preschool music class with a good friend and colleague of mine. We spent hours coming up with ideas, cutting lots of little things out (which our husbands teased us relentlessly about), making little crafts, writing lyrics to classical songs by Vivaldi, Smetana and others – and the class was a huge success. I loved it. My son loved it. We’re probably going to be planning a level two course pretty soon. And I probably will be sharing some fun ideas – so stay tuned!

In the meantime, here is a fun little tidbit….we needed something for the kids to sit on to help keep things orderly and manageable in the class. We came up with these fun musical rest mats…(iron-on transfers are my new favorite thing!!)

Happy (belated) New Year…and welcome back to The Teaching Studio!

fun with short and long notes!

June 22, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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At our piano camp today we talked about how some notes are short and others are LONG. We had some fun playing some short-sounding rhythm instruments (like drums and rhythm sticks) and some LONG instrument sounds (like a rain stick!), and also playing short and long on the piano.

I love the little song in Faber’s My First Piano Adventures Lesson Book 1 called “Will You Play?” – students get to sit down at the piano and improvise a super fun duet with the teacher, following directions such as “will you play some white keys softly please?”, “will you play some long sounds now with me?” and “will you play some short sounds now with me?” The kids loved playing this fun song, and did so well playing long sounds and short sounds!

And because there is not much that is more fun for kids than a bottle of Elmer’s glue and a whole bunch of craft supplies (seriously, they were in heaven!) we then moved to the table where we learned about Beethoven’s Symphony #5, and the kids got to pick short things and long things to “notate” the theme of the symphony! Pom poms, marshmallows, and googly eyes are perfect for short notes, while popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and pasta are great long notes! We sang along as we listened to the music – “short-short-short-LOOOONG….” and I think the kids enjoyed learning that Beethoven started piano lessons when he was four years old – just like many of them!

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Let’s play!

May 25, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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I was recently told by a family member about a music program for children called Let’s Play Music. I was perusing their website and just had to share this video about the program…it not only looks like a fabulous program for young children (and so much fun!), but made me SO excited about teaching music to youngsters! I love their philosophy that music is learned best through play; I think that it is so important to help young children experience the fun and joy in music. I feel so motivated and inspired to make my own preschool program tons of fun as well!

Giant Floor Piano – the specifics!

April 25, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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I have had so many nice emails and requests to know more about how I made my giant floor piano – so I thought I’d share a post on the specifics for any interested in having a similar one made (and I know that summer is swiftly approaching, and many readers are working on summer camp plans!). In fact, I have done all the work for you, if you want to easily order an exact one for your studio, read on!

My floor piano is a 3′ by 8′ vinyl banner. It is super sturdy (which is perfect, considering all the running and jumping-on it gets!) and I was so pleased with how it turned out.

I first designed my own piano keyboard graphic on the computer to use for the banner. If you would like, you may purchase and download my graphic and save yourself the time and energy! I was very pleased with how the graphic turned out on the finished product. Visit the Shop to purchase and download the graphic.

I then searched around for the best rates on vinyl banners. I came across the website www.bannersonthecheap.com, went ahead and designed my banner, then crossed my fingers while clicking “order,” hoping it was a legit, good company who would do a good job! I was very pleasantly surprised with the quality of their product, and with the fast delivery time! The vinyl is very thick and sturdy and rolls up really nicely for storage.

The banner itself is 3 feet by 8 feet, which costs under $30 from Banners on the Cheap (shipping costs are also reasonable, and I have noticed they have even better deals from time to time). When you visit their website, near the bottom you want to select the “Have your own design?” option. Choose 3×8 and click “Start Now!” In the next window select “Upload an Image” and upload your own image or mine that you downloaded. Enlarge the graphic on the preview screen to fit the banner, then center it using the center tool. When you go to the order screen, make sure you un-check option #4 (because you don’t need grommets for hanging the banner). Add to cart and you are done! My banner arrived so quickly and I am super pleased with it.

I hope this helps some of you! I’d love to know if any of you use this in your summer camps and studios, and hear your brilliant, fun ideas on how to use it. Enjoy!

Now I am toying with the idea of a giant staff banner for learning notes… 🙂

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Musical Easter Egg Hunt

April 19, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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I am so glad to be a part of this wonderful online network of piano teaching bloggers, because I am so grateful for all of the wonderful ideas you all share!

This morning I was reading this post on Heidi’s Piano Studio, and decided to use her great idea and adapt it for my preschool student who came later this morning. (Thanks, Heidi!!)

I got out my stash of colorful craft foam (seriously, it is the best stuff!), some paper, a pen, some tape, and an egg-shaped cookie cutter…

…and made these fun Easter egg preschool flashcards!

I included things that we have learned during lessons in the past little while, including things such as:

rhythms to clap, including rests
line notes vs. space notes
steps and skips
treble clef and bass clef
the staff
finger numbers
high notes & low notes on the staff
Presto and Adagio

I hid them around the room, and my student had lots of fun hunting for eggs and then identifying the things on the back! My three-year-old son got his turn after my student left, and he loved it as well!

After we found all of the eggs, we lined up the rhythm eggs and tried clapping them in different orders, and playing notes on the piano in the correct rhythm.

I love that with a little creativity, you can turn a boring old flashcard exercise into a fun, memorable learning activity!

Lines & Spaces and Steps & Skips

April 1, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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I love it when last-minute ideas turn out to be the funnest activities for students! To teach about lines and spaces and steps and skips, I got out the ol’ trusty masking tape and slapped it on the rug to make a quick musical staff. I cut out notes out of sheets of craft foam (LOVE that stuff!) and voila – a fun musical staff game!

Here is my giant musical staff. Please excuse the graininess/yellowness of the photo, and the fact that I can’t seem to get it to rotate!

I used this fun game for preschoolers. We had already introduced the staff, and how notes can be high or low. We first practiced walking up the staff in steps – line, space, line, space, line space (this was fun to tip-toe!) – and in skips – line, line, line or space, space, space (hopping works well)! We also played each on the piano – steps by playing every single note going up or down, and skips by playing every other note. We then practiced putting notes on the staff in steps or skips. The kids loved walking on their notes after they placed them on the staff, as I played the steps or skips on the piano. We then played a game where I would hand them a note and call out “step!” or “skip!” and they would have to place the next note on the correct line or space. It was fun with two kids at a time – they started on a note at the bottom of the staff, and I would hand each a note and call out “step” or “skip” and they would use their notes to try and get across the staff (wouldn’t it be fun to pretend the staff was a river to cross?).

As I was playing this game with a student who loves to get stickers as rewards, I had a sudden stroke of genius as I drew a staff on her assignment sheet and had her put her little circle stickers on the staff on lines or spaces, as if they were musical notes. So fun!

Themed Classical Music for Kids

March 29, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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Image source

In brainstorming for some upcoming preschool piano camps, I started thinking about fun classical pieces to share with young children. What fun it would be to have a theme for a piano camp, and to use classical works related to that theme to teach the children. Here are some that I came up with – I know there are so many more!! In fact, here is a great website with an even better list with more themes, including themes such as Fairy Tales, Transportation and Halloween, and lists of pieces that are Fast or Slow.

Weather
Clouds by Griffes
Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven
Clair de Lune by Debussy
Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suite by Grieg
In the Mist by Janacek
Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the Rain) by Debussy
To Spring by Grieg
Rustles of Spring by Sinding
Prelude Op. 28 No. 15 (Raindrop Prelude) by Chopin
see a more extensive list of pieces about weather & seasons here

The Night Sky
The Planets by Holst
Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven
Clair de Lune by Debussy
Variations on Twinkle Twinkle (Ah, vous dirai-je, maman) by Mozart

Water

Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the Rain) by Debussy

Jeux d’Eau (Water Games or Fountains) by Ravel

Reflets dans l’eau (Reflections on the Water) by Debussy
The Moldau by Smetana (love this piece!!)
La Mer by Decaux (so fun to find this youtube video – I played this piece for my senior recital and it is hard to find!)

Animals
The Cat and the Mouse by Copland
Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens (with movements about many different animals, such as: Royal March of the Lion, Hens and Roosters, Tortoises, The Elephant, Kangaroos, Aquarium, Characters with Long Ears, Aviary, The Swan)

Bugs
Grasshoppers and Dragonflies from Cinderella, Op. 95 by Prokofiev
Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov
Papillons (Butterflies) by Schumann

Farm
Excursion No. 4 by Barber
The Happy Farmer by Schumann
I Bought Me a Cat by Copland (after I watched this video my 3-year-old started singing the song – he LOVED it!)

What pieces would you add to the list? What themes would you add?

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Introducing Curved Fingers to Young Children

March 24, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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At our preschool piano camp we wanted to teach the kids about curved fingers – but how can you make that a fun and understandable concept for 3- and 4-year-olds? I decided to take my usual bird’s nest analogy and add in a fun little visual to help them understand the concept. I found the idea for these cute little fuzzy birds on this blog (which actually is written by a fellow-piano major of mine from BYU) and decided they would be perfect for teaching about curved fingers!

The kids LOVED holding their little birds (which are made with the really BIG pom poms, so they fit perfectly in a little hand) in their curved-finger birds nest. They could easily see that if they flattened their fingers, their poor little bird would fall right out of the nest! We had a lot of fun with these little birds.

In what ways have you taught important piano concepts to young children in fun and creative ways?

Giant floor piano!

March 23, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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One of the highlights of our preschool piano camp was the giant keyboard we used to learn some music theory and keyboard topography. I had seen some wonderful ideas on other blogs using big floor pianos, and decided that we needed one! We ended up having one made as a vinyl banner (because I wanted it to look nice and professional and to last awhile), and it turned out awesome! The kids absolutely loved running and jumping on it and learning things using this huge piano!

A few things we used it for:

Learning HIGH and LOW on the piano – we did a BIG version of my high/low game where we picked a picture of something and the kids had to decide if it was something high or low, and then run to that end of the keyboard. They had fun jumping down the keyboard to represent raindrops, stepping up and running back down to represent a slide, etc.
Learning about the 2 black keys and 3 black keys, and we taught them a little song by rote using the 3 black keys, and they loved walking on the keys and hopping up to the next set of 3 black keys while singing the song!
Learning all of the white key names! My friend made the cutest beanbags and we ironed on pictures of Doggie D, Grandma G, etc. so the kids could practice putting them on the correct keys. The kids were so smart and learned them all so quickly!

Purchase the graphic used to create this giant floor keyboard banner in the Shop here!

Preschool Piano Camp

March 22, 2011 Jennifer Boster

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Well hello – I am alive and well and am finally jumping back into the blogging world! Last week a piano-teaching colleague and I taught our first ever preschool piano camp. We had so much fun and it was an overall success! Over the next little while I would like to share with you some of the fun games and activities we used to teach these great kids. First, a few things that I learned (or things that I already knew but that got reinforced during this week):

Preschool-aged children LOVE music – to them it is a magical, wonderful thing. If taught creatively using a fun, hands-on approach, you will be amazed at how smart they are and how much they can really learn at such a young age!

Young children can pick up on musical concepts before needing the full-out explanation. For example, they can learn to clap eighth and sixteenth notes without necessarily knowing that a sixteenth note gets 1/4 of a count!

Get out a bunch of fun instruments and a young child will stay busy for a long time – children love exploring different sounds on drums, rhythm instruments, bells, the piano, etc.

Never take a late flight (especially when you are pregnant and traveling with a 3-year-old) arriving home at 1:00 am on the day that you lose an hour through daylight savings time, the night before you teach a 9:00 piano camp. 🙂

In planning our curriculum for our camp, my friend and I drew our inspiration from many sources – including some great method books for young beginners, ideas from fellow-bloggers and our own personal teaching experience. Here are some wonderful books that I would highly recommend for young students:

Music for Little Mozarts – I LOVE the story format of this book and the way that the characters of Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse are used. We found that the children at our camp LOVED anything in a story format, and that they learned concepts so well when taught this way.

Lesson and Musicianship 1B: A Comprehensive Piano Method (Celebrate Piano!®)

Celebrate Piano – This is a wonderful method book for children. I love that it gets them playing in many different keys/hand positions right from the get-go, and it also emphasizes things like transposition a lot. There are some cute pre-reading songs in this book that we used.

My First Piano Adventure, Lesson Book A with CD (Faber Piano Adventures®)

My First Piano Adventures – I recently purchased this book and I love, love, LOVE it! One of its major strengths is that it teaches good, solid piano technique in really fun and creative ways.

Stay tuned for some fun preschool piano activities!