2017/2018 Term Opening

Hello!
Thank you to everyone for your patience as we all settle into our new routines. 😊

Welcome back to another season of piano! I'm excited to get back into the swing of things after the arrival of our sweet little Zayna. At this time I plan to only teach on Monday and Tuesday.  Please feel free to contact me anytime to set up your timeslot for the new term!! Priority will be given to returning students until Oct. 1st.  Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Annemarie Linde🎶

Pianoforte Music Studios
905 537 5358 (call or text)
411 Wilson Street, Eden Mills
Pianoforte.musicstudios@gmail.com

The World's Largest Instrument(s)!

If you are ever in West Virginia, this is definitely a place worth checking out! The sound is AMAZING and the caverns are beyond words!

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Getting ready for the school year to start!! Couldn't resist this one!

 

Laminating

An investment in a laminator happened! The studio has been a happening place lately - all kinds of fun new games and activities!
Here are a few favourites so far:

Note Value Practice

Theory Practice

Keyboard Printable!

Musical Meander!*

A HUGE thank-you from a great support group for ideas and printables!


**http://colourfulkeys.ie/musical-meander/

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Meeting the Parents

It is important to build an open relationship with the parents of students.
As a teacher, the parents are giving you a unique (and very special) opportunity to train and teach their child! If at all possible, meeting for coffee to meet the student and parent before the first lesson makes a large difference. During the meeting it is important to encourage the student to answer questions for themselves.

Chances are that once lessons are started (as a teacher with a busy teaching schedule), seeing the parents usually becomes a short hello at the weekly lesson! So its important to establish a bit of a relationship.
 
Here is a few things I think are important to know for the parent-teacher-student relationship


1. Knowing how the student responds and reacts to situations
       - There is little worse in teaching than saying or doing something in a lesson and watching your student start to close up and zone out. This can be a challenge with new students, since you don't know them well. As a teacher you learn to read your students pretty quickly, however this little paper * does wonders during the startup to avoid any rough spots. (Because really, who knows the student better than their parent!)  I find this paper especially helpful if a new student not excited for lessons. With a student open for learning, so much fun can be had!

Get to know students!

2. Knowing if there is anyone in the student's home that has musical background and is willing/able to help if the student has questions between lessons.
      - This is important to know for the teacher. Most concepts need to be fully understood for a student to practice effectively. If not, keeping the lines of communication open via skype, email, texting or telephone is a great tool!
      - If there is someone in the home, it is also a wonderful rescource for the teacher to be able to check-up on how it is going at home. Sometimes there can be challenges for the student at home that doesn't come out in the lesson and being able to communicate that to the teacher is really helpful!

3. Knowing how the student learns best!
      - This also goes back to the previously mentioned resource: Teachers learn how to teach each student effectively for their own unique learning style, but boosting that straight from day one can make learning quicker and FUN!

4. Knowing the family dynamic to avoid awkward situations
      -  If a student has troubling behaviour or simply is distracted at the lesson, being able to discuss with the parent right away is the best option for the teacher! Sometimes it can be a simple solution (such as a lesson time change) to better suit the student's needs. 

Hope these are helpful and a big shout-out to the fantastic parents that we have at Pianoforte Music Studios!



*Attachment paper sourced from  http://www.teachpianotoday.com

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Note learning Game

This Game is fabulous! Learning their keys and the note values is so easy with this little gem!
Great work from Colorful Keys!!

 

Its also so great for group lessons! I have this in my student library as well as a game to take home.
Kids love to play and they don't even realize they are practicing!

Free Keyboard Printable!

Keyboard Printable

This printable comes in handy when beginner students are learning to find notes on the keyboard. The kids love to color and make it their own!

It also provides a nice visual for beginners when learning a new hand position. When using them in a lesson for hand positions, I usually have two options: laminated ones and a few paper ones. Students practice on the laminated and can erase their mistakes, and then get to take the paper ones home and remember easily where their hands need to be for each position.

Enjoy!

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How many composers can you name?

Loved this! Can't wait to someday have a studio performance with each of my students playing a different composer!

Classical Mashup!

Free Printable: Empty Staff

This page is a hit with toddlers and school-age pupils: They are just a fun way to spend some time writing out concepts and not doing "theory homework" at home.

Draw out anything from beginner level (Treble and Bass Clefs/Notes) to Mid level (Notation/Timing/Ear Training and Clapbacks)!
These handy papers can be used in so many ways and, after a quick laminating(and some dry-erase markers), they should be good to use and reuse for a long time!

Added Bonus: Leave these out in the open and they also become a great activity for waiting siblings!

Click HERE for the Free Printable!

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Daily notes!

 Sight reading notes is always a great way to freshen up on our notes with beginner and intermediate students. Here are a few games that make the memorizing that much easier! 

http://www.musictheory.net/exercises/note

http://www.readmusicfree.com/grandstaffdefender.html

Learning letters

For young students one of the most challenging things to learn is to say your alphabet backwards! I'm so excited to try this activity with my preschoolers this afternoon!

When they make a tower of A-G, if they turn it around, they will have the reverse and be able to read the letters from G-A.

Preschool Group Classes

Yesterday was the first preschool class of the year and what a treat it was! The kids were great and so eager to learn.  Here is a little glimpse of the activities! My own kidlets posed for me for the demonstration.

Aiming to create staff recognition, students observed the spaces and lines.
The students then took turns placing a pompom a space or line as directed.

When prompted with a flashcard, students placed a button on it's match.

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Sight Reading Help!

 Music Tutor Free App:

If there is anything I love more than music, its free stuff! (Ask my family... they think I'm crazy!)

Need help with your sight reading? This app is for you!
Parents, if your kids need practice on their notes, this free app is just what your kids need! It even has settings for each musical clef and a note range, and has timer options making it totally beginner-friendly!

Music Tutor Free

The App has several challenge levels
and encourages quick thinking and accuracy.

Happy sight reading!!

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Making Learning Fun!

As a teacher, I am always looking for new and exciting ways to teach musical concepts. I am so thankful for the support and ideas of a group of fellow teachers from "Piano Teacher FunMakers!" that I have recently come into contact with! They have some great games and ideas that make learning (and teaching!) so fun! I thought I would share a few recent ones I've found here!

Musical Jenga! How fun is that!?

Learning notes! I've also seen this done with smarties!

Learning the fingers! These will be so great to send home and for beginners practice!

I can't wait to try these out with my students!