Making piano lessons fun and engaging!

I thought I'd share with you what game my students will be playing next week to celebrate Valentine's Day.  I really enjoy creating games that incorporate the seasons, holidays, and honestly  any celebration I have an excuse to make a game for.  I've found that my students are WAY more engaged in the material when they have activities and games to participate in.  They are learning new information and retaining what they've already learned all the while they're having fun.  I've had parents say to me that their kids are having so much fun during their lessons that they don't even realize they're learning. I went out and bought a Valentine's Day container made of tin.  You could purchase one made of cardboard but I specifically chose tin so that it would last.  I've had my container for 6 years now.  I gave the contents of it (sour candy) to my son who LOVES anything tart.  If it were filled with chocolate then I'd...

Happy Tuesday!  I am looking out from my window at the clearest blue sky and beautiful oak tree branches swaying in the wind....simple pleasures!  Have you ever had students ask why there was a line going through middle C?  I have.  I could simply say that that's the way it is and be done with it but there's no fun in that so I make it into a mystery that the students need to solve.  The best way to explain this is in dialogue form with a few pictures thrown in the mix.  There's obviously a lot more dialogue happening between myself and the student but I simplified as much as possible here.  From beginning to end this mini lesson only takes 5 minutes! The Mystery Behind Middle C Student: Why does middle C have a line through it? Me: Ah! I am so glad you asked that.  There is actually a very good and logical reason for it.  In order to understand why Middle C has a line through it let's back track a little bit by revisiting the staff. ...

Happy New Year!  It has been quite a while since I've blogged!  Moving is not one of my favorite things to do but we're all settled into our new home and I've slowly begun to build up my student base here.  It was very difficult saying goodbye to all of my wonderful students back in Frisco but keeping in touch with them has made it a bit easier.  I'm looking forward to teaching piano to a whole new group of kiddos!  Oh! I finally have a website up and running thanks to my amazing husband!  Check it out at www.msdaphnepiano.com .  Thank goodness I have a technologically savvy spouse or I'd still be in the dark ages.  It's still a wonder to me how I was able to create this blog all on my own. Blogs are so interesting to me because we can have a particular audience in mind that we think we are blogging to but never know for sure who's actually reading it.  I imagine my audience to be college students majoring in piano pedagogy o...

If you've just joined me, please read "Locating staff notes on the piano: Part I" first. NOTE: This blog entry is written with the understanding that your students already know their musical alphabet and can identify the letter names of the white notes on the piano.  Although there is quite a bit of text written below, it goes very quickly (10 valuable minutes)! If you feel that you are running out of time, you can always continue with activities #3 and #4 at their next lesson.  Some of my students like to talk through everything I teach them.  It helps them understand the concepts and retain the information better.  It does, though, add extra time onto this mini lesson so I simply cut it in half and teach the other half next time I see them. REVIEW You are reinforcing what was taught in the previous lesson which focused on "high/low" from a vertical perspective (up/down) to a more horizontal per...

High/Low Before teaching children how to read staff notes and to accurately locate them on the piano they need to know the concept of high and low in relation to the grand staff as well as the piano. I can't tell you what an asset my master's in education has been in teaching piano quite effectively!  We as education majors were always told to break things down into smaller pieces for our students.  NEVER take your knowledge for granted and assume that your students should just get everything you're saying because you think it's easy.  Use concrete examples as often as you can.  The more hands on the activities the better your students will retain the information. *Take a break from the piano bench and do this activity standing up: Kids love change and the thought of leaving the bench for just a few moments gets them so excited!* When teaching the concept of "higher and lower" here are a few things you can do: -Have a container of a few items...

Wow!  It's been a while since I've blogged.  I hope everyone is enjoying this spring weather.  I know I am.  I am SO proud of my students who took the statewide theory test this past February!  Way to go for receiving scores of 95% and better!  Also, congratulations to my students who participated in the winter festival who received "Excellent",  "Superior", and "Superior +" ratings! I found that testing my students with quick fun games most every lesson really helps them retain information from week to week.  Here is a matching game I made up using multi-colored pegs purchased from "U.S. Toys" (intersection of Independence and Parker Ave.) or www.cptoys.com .  They remind me of shish kabobs when they're put together so I named this game Key" bobs. Ha! Funny, right? OK, maybe not that funny but I thought it was a cute name for it.  Anyway, I drew or wrote musical terms on a sheet of blank sticker paper and...

I have all sorts of blank grand staffs in my studio of varying sizes from business card sized to poster board to one grand staff that takes up the entire floor length of my foyer.  By now you already know that I LOVE places like Dollar and party stores.  My favorite place of all which is a few minutes from where I live that I consider a teacher's paradise is called U.S. Toys (CPToys online) right next to LaserWorld.  I go in there focused on getting only one or two items that I need and end up walking out with a bag full of stuff....sigh.  Sometimes, for inspiration, I just walk up and down the aisles thinking of what games I could make up with the stuff they have.  This activity came from one of those such aisle walks. I saw these cool plastic party favor mazes (first picture) and at the time I knew it could be used for something musical but didn't know what.  They were cheap enough so I bought them!  A few weeks later the idea came to me! ...