Implementing Music History into Your Piano Lessons – the Easy Way!

“Building desirable attitudes toward music is the first aim of all music education.” – Mabelle Glenn, music educator

There are SO many reasons why we should teach our piano students to love and appreciate great music. They need to be LISTENING to piano music from all different eras, countries, styles and composers to help develop their ear, become well-rounded musicians, get inspired to practice, and so many more reasons. And learning the HISTORY behind the music is SO important to give them CONTEXT to what they are listening to. That is why it is so important to include music history/appreciation in our teaching!

There are so many great ways we can do this, and that is another post for another day – but I think that the important thing is to just get them LISTENING.

Have you tried out my Shades of Sound curriculum yet? This well-researched and engaging music history curriculum is so easy to implement. I have literally done ALL the work for you. You can use it with individual students by assigning them a page per week (which gets them listening at home and hopefully the whole family will get to listen to some great music – bonus!), you can use it during lessons if you have some sort of listening lab or partner lessons with time for listening or other work, or you can do it all together as a group during a group lesson or class.

The basic premise of the curriculum is that the students read a little bit about the composer, learn some background information about the piece, and then as they listen to the piece (using the accompanying playlist, accessed by QR code) they get to color a beautiful coloring page. This curriculum utilizes all four learning modes – reading/writing, visual, aural and kinesthetic. Try it out today! Shades of Sound: Summer is a great place to start during the summer break. Explore music by composers such as Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Gershwin, Copland, Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, Elizabeth Maconchy, Judith Lang Zaimont and more!

Available for digital download in the shop, or paperback edition on Amazon.

Happy teaching!

Pumpkin Spice & Vivaldi

I don’t know about you but I am SO excited for fall! There is something about this crisp, beautiful season that is giving me hope of getting through this crazy year…looking forward to the holiday season, enjoying the beautiful changing leaves and spending time with loved ones.

Along with the traditional sights and smells of the autumn season, I LOVE listening to gorgeous music that was inspired by autumn. I would love it if you check out my Shades of Sound: Autumn book! I loved choosing the music, researching the wonderful composers and drawing the beautiful coloring pages that are paired with each piece. It was a labor of love, and my hope is that these books can help some of your students come to love and appreciate classical music. Let me show you some sneak peeks of this book!

Of the seventeen composers featured in this book, five of them are women. I LOVED learning about Imogen Holst. She was the daughter of composer Gustav Holst and was such a fascinating and talented person. Students will get to color the above picture of autumn leaves while listening to her gorgeous “Fall of the Leaf” – a suite for solo cello.

Students of all ages will love coloring the pictures while listening to the music. The reason why this curriculum works so well is that it uses all four learning modes. Students read to learn about the composers and the history of the pieces, and they write down their observations and what they like about the piece. They use aural learning as they listen to the music, visual learning as they see the coloring pages, and kinesthetic learning as they color the pictures.

I have included some gorgeous music for solo piano in the book, including this movement from Fanny Mendelssohn’s “Das Jahr” (The Year), called “September: At the River.” This work has been described as “one of the greatest of the unheralded piano suites of the nineteenth century.” ⁠

Composers included in this book include Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Richter, Beach, Zaimont, Ives, MacDowell and many more!


Interested in this book? Use coupon code FALLINGLEAVES to save $2 on the studio-licensed PDF download! Just enter coupon code at checkout.


Prefer paperback? This book is also available in a gorgeous paperback version, available on Amazon. 

Happy teaching!

Tracking Music Appreciation: Simple Ways to Turn Piano Students into Music-Lovers

One of our most important jobs as piano teachers is to help our students love and appreciate great music. If we can turn them into music-lovers and ignite a spark of excitement about music, great composers and the piano, the rest of our job will be so much easier!

Today I want to share four simple ways to encourage your students to listen to classical music. As piano students do these things and keep track of what they’ve done it will help them to discover great music on their own and be motivated to learn about new composers and pianists. 

Listen to Great Music & Keep Track of Favorites

Our students need to listen to great music to be familiar with great composers and beautiful music. We can’t expect them to become great pianists if they don’t regularly LISTEN to great piano music. We also can’t expect them to love a lot of the music they are learning in piano lessons if we don’t teach them about composers, styles and genres and guide them in their music appreciation journey.

Listening should be a REGULAR part of piano lessons and piano practice. Parents can help a LOT in this area but it is up to us to guide and teach and encourage.

As your students listen to classical music they will start to come across composers and pieces that they love! They will find some recordings that they want to listen to over and over. Have them keep track of their favorite recordings and composers. Keeping a list of favorites will help them discover their particular music tastes and preferences. It will help them to really listen to music, and to recognize what it is about certain recordings and pieces that speaks to them.

Keep Track of Pieces You Want to Learn Someday

Studies have shown that piano students have a lower rate of dropping out of lessons when they are given more autonomous choice in the repertoire that they learn. One study showed a music student practicing twelve times longer per note on a piece of their own choice compared to a piece assigned by their teacher! The student’s practicing was also more strategic on the piece that they had chosen on their own. Having some autonomous choice is VERY important in helping our students be more self-motivated in piano. 

As they are listening, have them keep a “Repertoire Wish List” – a list of pieces they have heard that they would LOVE to learn someday! When they are at an appropriate level, be sure they get the opportunity to learn pieces of their choice. 

Look for Role Models

Are your piano students familiar with great pianists – both living and from the past?  Can they list ten or more living pianists by name? Not knowing of any great pianists by name is like aspiring to be an athlete but not knowing of any professional athletes. Our students need role models to look up to. We have the amazing capability of being able to watch and listen to performances of great pianists simply by typing their name in a search on YouTube! The great pianists are literally at our fingertips and it is so important that our students have opportunities to watch them perform. Much can be learned from their skills and techniques, their interpretation of music and simply from being inspired by an amazing performance. Have your students keep a running list of pianists they admire.

Experience Live Music

Although the opportunity to access great performances online is wonderful, we must not also forget the importance of LIVE music. Do your students attend live professional performances? Have they been to the symphony? What concerts and recitals are available in your area that you could recommend to your students? Live performances are inspiring and motivating. Attending a live music event allows you to experience music WITH OTHER PEOPLE. Piano lessons can feel like a really solitary thing, so it is important to experience music with others. Invite your students to keep a list of concerts and recitals they have attended. You could even have them write down their favorite pieces they heard live – they may want to add some to their Repertoire Wish List!

All of these tracking sheets pictured in this article are included in my Piano Practice Journal, available for digital download as well as in paperback.

giveaway winner, and Summer Music Activity Jar freebie!

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway for the free copy of our Rushing Water preschool lesson plan! Our lucky winner is:

Blogger xiaoxu wen said…

It’s so thrilled.I’m teaching my Chinese students how to enjoy picture books and music.Yesterday,I found this blog,the content is just what I want,I can learn so many funny methods of teaching music,thank you!I would love to win a copy,
wish me luck!
20/2/13 4:29 PM

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Congratulations, xiaoxu wen!! Please be sure to contact me and let me know what your email address is so I can get you your free download!

Be sure to check out our “Rushing Water” lesson plan all about short and long in music, as well as our other fun preschool music lesson plans!

And now I’d like to share a new freebie that is available on the Free Printables page. I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance that parents and home environments play in encouraging children to be musical and to succeed in musical training. As a teacher I can only do so much, but if the parents create a home environment where music is appreciated, valued and USED (singing, playing instruments, listening), and if they encourage their child to love music, then the child will be SO much more likely to succeed in music training and lessons.

So, I created a fun printable to help parents have a fun, musical summer with their children! The Summer Music Activity Jar contains lots of simple musical activities to do with your child. Simply download the file, print it out, cut out the strips and put them in a jar. Whenever you and your child want a fun musical activity to do, simply pull out a strip and follow the directions! There are listening activities, movement activities, craft activities, computer activities, hands-on instrument activities and more. Should be a fun way to have a more musical summer at home! Hope you enjoy!

our winner! & why I love teaching preschool music

Thanks to all who entered our “Wondrous Winter” lesson plan giveaway! The lucky winner is…..

Blogger JeremyandElizabeth said…

Sounds like so much fun! 🙂 ~Elizabeth
13/2/13 12:19 PM

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Congratulations, Elizabeth!! Please contact me and let me know what your email address is so I can get you your free download!

Be sure to visit The Teaching Studio Store to check out our “Wondrous Winter’ lesson plan as well as the others available there. And be sure to check back in the next week or so for our next lesson plan which should be available soon (and is one of my very favorites to teach!!!).

Here’s a hint about our next lesson plan – it involves Smetana’s “The Moldau,” which is an amazing, gorgeous piece that is probably my favorite to teach to the kids. This piece has been a long-time favorite of mine – I remember listening to it with my Dad on a Saturday morning, we pushed a couple of small couches together to make a sort of “boat” to sit in while we listened to this beautiful music. Now I get to share this beautiful music with my kids and my other little students! My five-year-old son often begs me to turn on “The Moldau” while we are driving, so he can pretend our car is a boat.

I have really been amazed over the past couple of years teaching preschoolers just how much music can touch these little ones. These classes can be so meaningful for these kids, particularly if the parents read through the take-home books with their kids at home and turn on the classical music! My own kids absolutely love listening to classical music in the car or at home, especially when it has a neat story to go with it (whether the story is commonly-known, or if it’s one we made up on our own). My 18-month-old daughter just beams with joy when a song she loves begins, and often will break into applause after a grand ending and ask to listen to it again. Music is a real blessing in our lives, and I have discovered that it is never too early to begin – it really isn’t!

Do you teach music to preschoolers? What do you love about it? I’d love to hear your comments!

Have a wonderful weekend!

fun with short and long notes!

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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Themed Classical Music for Kids

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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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laying a foundation: the joy of music

Tonight my sister and I were talking about teaching piano (she is also a piano teacher!). One thing we talked about was the challenges of transfer students. At times it can be challenging and slightly frustrating when you need to completely re-teach basic concepts, such as note names or rhythms.

This conversation got me thinking about my own teaching, particularly of young beginners. Do I teach them the things they need to know to become good musicians? Do I give them a good foundation that will help them succeed with other teachers they may study with?

Teachers of young beginners really do have a great responsibility. It is at the beginning that the student starts to form habits – good or bad – in their technique, their practicing, and their performance. A child’s first experience with piano lessons will probably remain with them for a long time. If they have a bad experience, they may not progress much, and probably will quit early on; if they have a good experience it will make all the difference in their success and their later piano study. If they learn how to practice early on, they will learn so much more and progress much more quickly. If their love for music is nurtured through a positive and engaging experience, they will likely be music-makers and music-lovers for life!

So how do we give our beginning students a good foundation? What are the things that are important? (I hope you take a second and take our poll this week, for it deals with this exact question!) I believe there are many factors, all important to some degree.

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I believe that two very important ways that we can give our students a good foundation of piano study are:

  • fostering an appreciation and a love of music, and by 
  • making lessons a positive, fun experience that will give the student a good attitude toward piano study.

(I also believe that teaching them good technique and theory and practicing skills are of the utmost importance….we will talk about that later!)

Do we make lessons a fun and positive experience for our students? Do we plan fun and creative ways to teach and reinforce musical concepts? Do we introduce them to the joy that is found in music? I think these are great questions to ask ourselves periodically as we evaluate our teaching.

I think that Bonnie Jack said it so well in her post about teaching a first lesson. She talked about the importance of getting your students excited about piano lessons. She said, 

“Do something fun! Young children especially have eagerly looked forward to this day, filled with the wonder of music that is so evident to their little minds. Be careful to nurture that wonder, rather than squashing it with lengthy explanations and assignments. Get off the bench. Move to the music. Do not for a moment let this newly opened mind begin to believe that music is boring and unmoving.”

I love discussing teaching and sharing ideas with other music teachers, and have really been inspired lately by so many of your blogs, particularly by ideas of how to teach concepts in fun and engaging ways. I am excited to use many of these ideas in my own teaching, and really want to strive to make my teaching more fun and engaging, particularly for young beginners.
Amy Greer, a pianist and piano teacher who blogs at tenthousandstars.net, shared a wonderful quote by Kodaly that I love:

“If at the most susceptible age, from the age of 6 to 16, the child isn’t at least once moved by the life-giving power of great music, later he will hardly be influenced by it.  Many times one single experience opens the young soul to music for his whole life.  This experience shouldn’t be left to chance:  to obtain it is the duty of the schools.”  -Kodaly (1929)

I think of my two-year-old son who is so into music right now. He sings as he plays with his toys throughout the day; he dances around whenever there is music playing; he climbs up on the piano bench and loves to play the piano. I think of the joy that music already brings to his life, and how much that joy and appreciation will grow if my husband and I continue to nurture that love of music in him. I believe it is the same with our piano students – if we nurture that love of music (that I really think is inherent in young children) by making piano lessons fun and engaging and by bringing great music into their lives, we really can lay a strong musical foundation that will bless their lives for a long time.

Intermediate Piano Repertoire

Intermediate students can be tricky – no longer in a method book, diving into the world of piano literature but not advanced enough yet to play some of the really fun works of the great composers. Many students at this level drop out of lessons for various reasons.

I think a lot of students get caught in the “I don’t like classical music” trap, and as teachers we sometimes can’t figure out what repertoire will really inspire them! Hopefully we can implement some fun ways to teach music appreciation in our studios from the time our students are young, and maybe that will help them gain a love for music early on. But what about our students who are already at that intermediate level, and may not think they enjoy classical music?

How can we choose repertoire that our students will actually enjoy playing? How do we keep our students engaged, interested and enjoying piano lessons?

This is what I would like to explore this week, as it is such an important topic. I would love to hear your input as well, especially to hear what your favorite intermediate repertoire collections are.

There is a wonderful book by Jane Magrath called “Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature” which is very similar to Hinson’s “Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire” except that it specifically is about elementary and intermediate piano repertoire. It is a great resource for teachers (and I need to get myself a copy one of these days!! 🙂).

Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance LiteratureGuide to the Pianist's Repertoire, third edition

What other resources do you know about that help you in finding good repertoire for your intermediate students?

Poll Results

What a fun topic this has been – thanks for the comments and for voting on our poll! Here are the results…

How do you teach Music Appreciation in your studio?

This next week’s topic will be: The Intermediate Student: Repertoire. As we discuss this topic, we’d love to hear about your favorite intermediate repertoire collections and pieces that you use in your studio!

If you have not already, we’d love it if you could take a minute and take our reader survey! We love getting to know you and learning what kinds of topics you’d like to discuss on this blog.

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