We all had a great time at the Halloween Party. Everyone played a creepy Halloween song and the we did a very scarey Halloween Word search and scavenger Hunt!
Tag Archives: piano lessons

Time for Back-to-School and Halloween
Over the summer all of my students completed 5 one-hour lessons to keep up their technical skills, theory, and sight reading which get them ahead of the game for the new school year. They were all SO ready for September piano lessons and back-to-school! Right now they are busy with school activities and homework but they all make time to practice for their lessons. After all, music is an equal part of their educations- if Math isn’t optional, neither is music! Just look back to the ancient Greeks and their educational systems- we still base our education on these subjects today: grammar, rhetoric, and logic, geometry, arithmetic, MUSIC, and astronomy.
This year, our piano hands are becoming filled with stars (see photo)- each star represents one year in piano. My students are dedicated and have been studying with me for years! I couldn’t be more proud. This year we are working on memorization skills- our “practice” beads have been traded in for “memorization” beads. Every time my one of my students memorizes a page of music, they receive a bead for their chain…and the chains are growing already- WOW
October is time for Halloween party music, so each year we take a lesson to go “shopping” for a piece. This means that I play through a number of  Halloween songs and the student gets to choose which piece they want to play at the party. I think its a tie between this and Game Week for my students all-time favorite lessons of the year!
I know it feels too early for Christmas, but not in the piano studio! Some of my more advanced students have already been preparing their Christmas pieces for a couple of months- it going to be a great concert this year; bell choir, percussion ensemble, Jazz Christmas songs, as well as our favorite traditional Christmas pieces. Stay Tuned!

October Creepy Piano Fun!

Tommy played the “Pumpkin Patch” game- he placed the pumpkins on the music staff (i.e. the pumpkin patch) by their name and then ‘picked’ them by placing them on the keyboard by flashcard.

Josie played the “Skull Master”Game by placing the skulls on the keyboard by name and then putting them back by by flashcard…..BUT, in order to be a “Skull Master” she had to name each note before putting it back — by its enharmonic name!

Noah played the “Candy Corn” game by matching the letter to its place on the staff and then to the piano key.

Great job Noah! You got them ALL right!

Andrew and I played a game of “Stepping Up and Down” on the piano.

Can you believe it? We tied!!

Emily played the “Circle of Spooks” game. I drew a letter and she had to remove the pumpkin or Owl from its location on her Creepy Circle of Fifths.

Aaron is a new “Skull Master”! He learned a lot about double sharps and flats!

Tommy and I played a “Musical Spelling Game” by spelling each word in ascending order on the staff using Halloween characters!

Josie picked all the pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and correctly placed them on the piano keys! Nice job, Josie!

Noah composed his own song about Halloween. He even sang it for me! It was the BEST SONG EVER!

Summer Lesson Fun
Summer Lessons are in full swing and my students are working on advancing their music theory knowledge, technical skills, and sight reading skills…not to mention few fun lesson additions like our SUMMER LESSON CHALLENGE.
Students can choose a challenge from any of the clothespins- but they MUST do the challenge if they pick it. Challenges can include naming and playing all 88 keys on the piano, playing scales prestissimo and staccato, or even sight reading Happy Birthday. Two of the clothespins have a prize of NO HOMEWORK for the week!
“Oh, but I LOVE homework in the summer!”, said no one ever.

Awards Recital Fun

More Upside Down Week Adventures

Caroline and I played a Mozart duet composed to be played rightside up and upside down!!

Tommy played his recital piece upside down

Emily did a great job identifying intervals and writing the size upside down!

Emily and I played the Mozart duet sitting on opposite sides of the table using the same copy and a two-sided keyboard on the iPad! She was upside down and I was rightside up!

Aaron did a great job with upside down intervals

Noah wrote his letters upside down and he’s not even in Kindergarten yet!!

Tommy read the upside down sign, upside down!! (oops! I forgot the word “down” ! haha!)

It’s Upside Down Week!

Isabelle does some music theory upside down- first she turned the book upside down, then she had to write the letters upside down!!

Josie worked on a music quiz by reading AND writing the answers upside down!

Josie plays her lesson assignment upside down! Great job, Josie!!

May Studio Happenings

This is how we sight read in my studio. (Hands together and NO peeking!) Great job, Sarah!! My students have to read between 150 and 200 lines of music to receive the studio Sight Reading Trophy.

Aaron did a great job transposing at his lesson. He picked all the best keys out of the key bag too: f# minor, a-flat minor, A major, C-flat Major, and B-flat Major. Show me a 3rd grader who can do that!! Way to go, Aaron!!

Quintin (shown on snare drum) not only finishes his 4th year of piano, but has also completed his career in the Belvedere Elementary School band on percussion. But thats not the end for him! He will be continuing piano and percussion into Middle School this fall! Way to go, Quintin!!!

Colleen has been accompanying at Belvedere Elementary for a few years now and the chorus director Mrs. Supko (far left) sure will miss her now that she’s graduated!

Oops, I forgot to change lenses on my camera, but Annabelle and Colleen are accompanying for the Severna Park Middle School chorus concert. Annabelle has been accompanying since 5th grade and she will continue as she enters high school in the fall.

Colleen is rehearsing for her Senior Recital scheduled for THIS Saturday June 4 at 1:00pm at St. Margaret’s Church Annapolis.

October Student of the Month
Congratulations to Juliette- October Student of the Month!
Juliette has been hard at work this month. She not only earned a perfect rating of 5 beads every week, but she also earned more bonus beads than any other student this month!
Juliette is a 2nd grader and working on her 2nd year of piano. When she isn’t practicing for bonus beads she is busy on the Navy Swim Team and she also likes drawing.
Juliette will have her picture on the Studio Wall of Fame and receive a $10 Music & Arts gift card to buy some fun music to play at home or anything else she wants.
Want to be student of the Month? Here is what you have to do:
Have a lesson rating of 5 for each week of the month.
Have perfect attendance for the month.
Have an encouraging spirit toward other students.
Have a positive attitude in lessons and look ahead in your piano materials.

Severna Park Chorus Concert
I am so proud of my students who are accompanying for school choruses! Annabelle (7th grader at SPMS), Colleen (Senior at SPHS), and Delaney (8th grader at Chesapeake Bay Middle) are old pros now. Between them they’ve more than a dozen concerts! Last week Annabelle and Colleen played for a HUGE concert at Severna Park High School where both the high school chorus and the Middle School Elite Chorus had a performance of several opera arias and other operatic selections.
It was a great “night at the opera” and the girls played beautifully!

Halloween Games

Happy Birthday Project

Juliette’s September Lesson Fun

What’s The Happy Birthday Project?

Congratulations Emily!

Practice Chains

Ready for the School Year!

Summer Lesson
