<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>tutorial – The Playful Piano</title> <atom:link href="https://www.theplayfulpiano.com/tag/tutorial/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.theplayfulpiano.com</link> <description>Helping you become everyone's favorite piano teacher!</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Aug 2017 15:24:38 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2</generator> <image> <url>https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cropped-logo-square-icon1.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1</url> <title>tutorial – The Playful Piano</title> <link>https://www.theplayfulpiano.com</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">94970687</site> <item> <title>My favorite first lesson, and a sweet flannel board staff tutorial</title> <link>https://www.theplayfulpiano.com/my-favorite-first-lesson-and-swee/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-favorite-first-lesson-and-swee</link> <comments>https://www.theplayfulpiano.com/my-favorite-first-lesson-and-swee/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jennifer Boster]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:31:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Featured Posts]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jenny Boster]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Teaching a FIRST Lesson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[teaching aids]]></category> <category><![CDATA[tutorial]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Young Beginners]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theplayfulpiano.com/2012/01/my-favorite-first-lesson-and-swee.html</guid> <description><![CDATA[Pin It My four-year-old son has recently been very interested in my piano lessons. He will quietly wander into the room while I am teaching and say that he just wants to watch. He has actually had quite a bit of music instruction over the past year and a half, as he has attended all of<br><a class="moretag" href="https://www.theplayfulpiano.com/my-favorite-first-lesson-and-swee/">+ Read More</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="pin-it-button" href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheteachingstudio.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F01%2Fmy-favorite-first-lesson-and-sweet.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-C5WoFHvWScg%2FTx7eNYWmHaI%2FAAAAAAAAHk0%2FC4QgnvYqKjo%2Fs1600%2FIMG_8929.jpg&description=DIY%20Music%20Staff%20Flannel%20Board">Pin It</a></p> <p>My four-year-old son has recently been <i>very</i> interested in my piano lessons. He will quietly wander into the room while I am teaching and say that he just wants to watch. He has actually had quite a bit of music instruction over the past year and a half, as he has attended all of my preschool piano classes and has been sort of my “guinea pig” while coming up with fun music games. But my husband and I have never pushed him to learn, we want him to want to on his own!</p> <p>In the past when I have mentioned to him that if he wants to learn I can teach him, he has said, “but I already <i>know</i> how to play the piano!”</p> <p>So last week I mentioned to him that whenever he wants to learn to play the piano I would be happy to teach him, and to just let me know when he wants to have lessons. He thought for a second, and then said, “<i>how about tomorrow</i>?”</p> <p>Music to my ears!</p> <p>We had his first lesson last week and it was a success. We are keeping it very low-key and not requiring a lot, as far as practicing goes – at his age I do not want to force him to practice. I want this to be a fun, positive experience to give him a great introduction to music – and we’ll see where it leads!</p> <p>We traced his hands and wrote in the finger numbers (which he already knew from our piano class) and played some finger number games. We used drips and rainbows to make a song with short and long notes (thanks to Anne Crosby Gaudet and her excellent <a href="http://pianoanne.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-piano-lesson.html">blog post</a> and <a href="http://pianodiscoveries.ca/MusicDiscoveries/page04.html">Music Discoveries workbook</a>) and then clapped the rhythm and played it on the piano. We then learned a short song in his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_tl?ie=UTF8&keywords=celebrate%20piano&tag=theteastu-20&index=aps&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325" target="_blank">Celebrate Piano!</a><img decoding="async" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=theteastu-20&l=ur2&o=1" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" />book and then he got a turn playing the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007BGS6/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theteastu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00007BGS6">MiDisaurus</a><img decoding="async" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=theteastu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00007BGS6" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" />game on my studio computer.</p> <p>Here is my buddy boy at his first lesson!</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/3.bp.blogspot.com/-8iU8qK4AsVQ/Tx7eCOHL5bI/AAAAAAAAHkM/mbXezXDnKyo/s1600/IMG_8854.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_8854.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1" alt="" width="640" height="426" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I’d like to share with you my FAVORITE teaching aid from the past few months – my <b>flannel board staff</b>! I had the idea for this baby after getting a new sewing machine. Ok, so that’s not entirely true – I was wanting to make some kind of music staff for teaching, and had a few ideas, but then my HUSBAND actually had the idea to sew the lines on! What a guy.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/3.bp.blogspot.com/-ztbzjX2tjKs/Tx7eEQRKUmI/AAAAAAAAHkU/bcTKwPEuZKA/s1600/IMG_8925.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_8925.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1" alt="" width="640" height="426" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This has proven to be such a helpful teaching aid. I have used it in many preschool piano classes, as well as in numerous private lessons. It’s been a wonderful way to get students off the bench and thinking about music theory in a fun and hands-on way.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-C5WoFHvWScg/Tx7eNYWmHaI/AAAAAAAAHk0/C4QgnvYqKjo/s1600/IMG_8929.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_8929.jpg?resize=426%2C640&ssl=1" alt="" width="426" height="640" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So you want to make one? Simple.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Take a big piece of cardboard. I cut mine from a big cardboard box. Mine is about 24″ by 32″.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Get a piece of white flannel large enough to cover the cardboard and wrap around to the back (so you’ll want it a bit bigger than your cardboard).</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Measure off and mark where you want your lines to be. Mine are 1 1/2 inches apart, with about 4 1/2 inches between the two staves. I used a washable marker to mark a few dots where the lines should be, and then was able to wash it out after sewing the lines.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/2.bp.blogspot.com/-kooN-cwhkJA/Tx7eI4iufiI/AAAAAAAAHkk/xCZ_bB7_xjU/s1600/IMG_8927.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_8927.jpg?resize=426%2C640&ssl=1" alt="" width="426" height="640" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Load some black thread onto your sewing machine and then sew a wide and short zigzag stitch (hope that makes sense…I’m not up on my sewing terminology!) for each staff line.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ena-pkzvu4/Tx7eLdE6vrI/AAAAAAAAHks/Rizjvs2qfNk/s1600/IMG_8928.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_8928.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1" alt="" width="640" height="426" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once all of the lines are done, carefully line the fabric up with the cardboard so the lines are straight. Fold it over the cardboard (sort of like wrapping a present) and slap some duct tape on the back to hold it in place.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Voila! You’ve got yourself a flannel board staff.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/4.bp.blogspot.com/-zftB4ecj_2Q/Tx7eGnjtF0I/AAAAAAAAHkc/OT6BhRuZpY4/s1600/IMG_8926.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_8926.jpg?resize=426%2C640&ssl=1" alt="" width="426" height="640" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can then use felt or flannel to make all sorts of notes and clefs and things to put on your staff to use in teaching. Maybe sometime I’ll share more of the ways I have used mine.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6B-l6a4R4k/Tx7ePjBVoxI/AAAAAAAAHk8/YxyR72tvJoY/s1600/IMG_8932.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_8932.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1" alt="" width="640" height="426" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have fun!</div> <p> </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://i0.wp.com/2.bp.blogspot.com/-6UzqEnRS0BA/TI5Iao4KeAI/AAAAAAAAHEQ/dFtcQ9JB8v8/s1600/jenny+bay+signature.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.theplayfulpiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/jenny-bay-signature.jpg?resize=640%2C160&ssl=1" alt="" width="640" height="160" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.theplayfulpiano.com/my-favorite-first-lesson-and-swee/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>6</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">122</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>