Play – have fun with your music. Review- always review what you did the day before and then build on it. Anticipate where you may have trouble before you begin so you can actively tackle that tricky spot. Calculate your progress – did you master the section you had set out to master today? Try…
It is piano lesson deja-vu. I am sitting with a student listening to a piece for the 4th week. The piece sounds exactly like it did last week and the week before. The phrase mark that blankets bars 6,7 and 8 has been ignored and the notes of the left hand are still being played…
Have you ever taken a good look at a piece of music…a really good look? It is made up of lines, dots, squiggles and a mish mosh of symbols….a beautiful piece of visual art that, when translated by the capable hands or voice of a musician, becomes an auditory treat….well, if it is translated correctly. Like…
It’s hard to believe that 30 years ago a young woman from Ontario was embarking on a journey that would change the face of music education not just for Ontarians but for children all over the world. That is exactly what Frances Balodis has done. March 7 is the official birthday of Music for Young…
When I was a child I asked a neighbour to teach me how to knit. I was determined to learn and went about learning the stitches with enthusiasm. I was working on a pair of slippers and could hardly wait for my piece to grow big enough to wrap around my small feet….
For a musician, nothing is worse than an instrument that is not in tune. Sour notes can be as nauseating as sour milk. Musicians heavily rely on their ear to determine accuracy of notes, intervals, tone, shading, balance and touch. You can imagine how difficult it would be to gauge all of these things if…
My students are familiar with the phrase, “the metronome is your friend!” It is a phrase I find myself repeating frequently. Usually the phrase is greeted with a moan or an eye roll or an “I know”. Despite this,I still repeat the phrase with the hope that eventually my students will realize yes, the metronome really is their…
I always loved that song, “D’em Bones”. It’s a good reminder that none of our body parts work independently. They are all connected. I know what you’re thinking. I’ve got the lyrics all wrong. The jaw bone’s connected to the finger bones???? Ok, you got me.. that is NOT how the song goes….but in music class, that…
I love the following words from Haim Ginott. I first read it when I was an undergrad in university. It was in the “Ask Ada” column of the city paper and I cut it out. I still have that worn piece of newsprint and the passage has been my own personal teaching guideline ever since….
I noticed an interesting thing last week in my Sunshine I classes. (Sunshine I students are 3 and 4 yr old beginners) Many children are printing their letters with confidence, where in some cases, before our first music class together, they had never printed before! In four months, these children have learned their letters from A…
