My friend and I have been sharing motivational ideas for our students.. since we are both piano teachers. She lives in Michigan, and I'm in Indiana.. so we have put an interesting twist on some of them. Most of the children think it's pretty cool, so I thought maybe some of you would like to try some and see how they work for you. We have put them in competition against each other, and they think it's the greatest thing in the world to beat the other state! HOOSIER'S RULE!!! :) One of the things…
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Added by Angela Bowles on June 19, 2009 at 2:58pm —
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How do you deal with a child that has talent to play by ear, and therefore does not pay attention to a new piece of music, but rather tries to figure it out according to how he has heard it in times past. I have a very talented young man… about eleven years old, and he can play just about any tune that he has heard before without any music in front of him. It takes him awhile to figure it out, but he gets it eventually. When he reads music from his lesson books, he does fine; but, when I give hi…
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Added by Angela Bowles on May 19, 2009 at 3:02pm —
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Well, my recital is just two days away, and as I have had the final lessons with the students, I have had a few surprises. Some of the students are super confident, some are not, and others, well…I don’t even know what to call it. I thought a little four year old girl getting ready for her first recital would be hesitant, scared, and maybe not even willing to participate. But oh was I surprised when a week before her recital she demanded that she be able to play five songs at the recital instead…
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Added by Angela Bowles on April 29, 2009 at 2:11pm —
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I have had an idea that I want to put to good use, but I think I need some advice first! I would just love to have a composing contest with my students. I have never done anything like that before, but I have so many of them that always want to play me a little tune here and there that they have made up on their own. Do you think it is too difficult of a task for them to actually “write” their composition down? I would love to make a contest out of it and have them all play their pieces at the n…
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Added by Angela Bowles on April 13, 2009 at 9:00pm —
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How do parents expect for their children to have a profitable piano lesson if they don’t come with their books. I am sure any parent would agree whole heartedly that if they sent their child to school without their books, that their level of learning would be hindered. So, what makes it different for a piano lesson? What do you do when you have an hour long lesson with a child, and they have no books. I do have a few extra books here and there, but not all of my students are in the same books. I…
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Added by Angela Bowles on April 2, 2009 at 2:28pm —
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Well, it finally happened. A student pulled a fast one on me, and I fell for it…. hard. Usually, if a student is trying to get out of something, “trick” me, as I have had them do in the past, I catch on and stop them before they can finish. But this unfortunately was not the case last night. I don’t know about any of you other teachers, but for some of my younger students, (4 yrs old), I sometimes offer them an incentive to be good during the lesson. It could be the smallest thing, yet their who…
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Added by Angela Bowles on March 24, 2009 at 2:10pm —
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The excuses that kids make for not practicing these days!…. and they expect me to buy it I say this not complaining, but rather laughing inside. At least they make their excuses humorous.. but that’s the best part about it. They are ever so serious as they begin to tell you why they didn’t get to practice, and to try to listen and not just burst out laughing is almost unbearable. So was the case last night in one of my lessons. This particular student is only four years old, so for her to think…
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Added by Angela Bowles on March 17, 2009 at 12:09pm —
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Why is that the parents of my students are more nervous than their children when it comes to getting ready for the recital? It is just a little annoying as I tell the student to let me hear their recital song without their book, the parent interrupts me, and says, “Oh no, I would rather them not play without their book.” I keep my cool of course, but I’m thinking… it’s only an eight measure song, and your kid is brilliant. They have had it memorized for the last month, and it’s good for them to…
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Added by Angela Bowles on March 10, 2009 at 6:19pm —
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Just wanted to give a "shout out" for my friend Dave Gaus! Check out his site at www.unravel.us Unravel Us is a unique company that designs t-shirts and promotional items for small businesses and individuals. The website hosts regular contests where graphic designers will do de…
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Added by Angela Bowles on March 4, 2009 at 9:54pm —
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I have recently taken on a student who just wants to learn theory. He is an adult student, and plays the guitar but can not read music. Oddly enough, I thoroughly enjoy teaching theory, and I even read my old theory text books from college every now and then. I do not want my student to be “bored” by just learning theory. I have started lessons with the most basic theory book level, and I started from square one. We covered note values and the grand staff in our first lesson. Basically, I am jus…
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Added by Angela Bowles on February 24, 2009 at 1:54pm —
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I currently have a little girl who loves to play the piano and likes coming to lessons, but she has an hour lesson each week. She is not that advanced, and it seems like I run out of things to “do” in our lessons. I review flashcards with her, and do the usual…letting her play her songs, helping her with problem areas, and going over her song for the upcoming recital. I don’t want her to get bored, so I think I need to add something to her lesson time. However, I don’t want to add anything to he…
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Added by Angela Bowles on February 19, 2009 at 12:45pm —
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Wow! I just finished teaching what had to be the roughest lesson I have had in a while. The student: an adorable and brilliant 4 1/2 year old little girl, who at her first lesson blew me away with how much she was able to learn and retain… and yes, she enjoyed every minute of it. Through out her last few lessons, we have been making progress and she even has been able to play a little tune here or there, using the basic C,D and E keys. Today was a different story. The problem: Purposely saying w…
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Added by Angela Bowles on February 16, 2009 at 8:10pm —
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It’s amazing how much you forget in just a little bit of time. I have literally spent hours composing a song, performed the song, never written it down on paper, and months later forgotten a good majority of it. I look back on those moments with so many regrets. Even though it seems like it takes for ever to script an entire arrangement on the piano, it takes even longer to try to remember the piece two months later. I was reminded of how fragile our memories are (at least how fragile mine is),…
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Added by Angela Bowles on February 10, 2009 at 9:51pm —
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I do not have children of my own, so each new student that I have is quite an adventure for me! I never know what to expect, but I am always excited to meet new kids and to start the “getting to know you” process. I have had a few children who on their first lesson are totally at home, cool, calm, and collected; and I have also had some who are very shy and cling to their Mother or Father, and barely give me the time of day. For most kids, their parents, most particularly their Mother is their “…
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Added by Angela Bowles on February 6, 2009 at 1:23pm —
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I am thinking about taking up a new career these days seeing that the weather we have been having has totally put a damper on mine. I really am just kidding, but I have had about seven lessons cancel and then reschedule for the next day just to have to cancel again. I am not upset at the parents or students in the slightest - the phone calls that I got were kind of histerical. Today, a frantic mom calls and tells me that she could not get out of her drive way. There was just too much snow. Of co…
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Added by Angela Bowles on February 4, 2009 at 11:27pm —
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I am going to have my first recital for my students - I am beginning to plan it now, but I will not have it until April. Basically all of my students are beginners, so I am not sure what kind of approach to take. I have a lot of questions about this. Should I pick out a special song from a different book, or let them pick a song from their existing books that they will be more comfortable with? Should they memorize their piece for the recital? Some of my students are four years old, is that even…
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Added by Angela Bowles on February 3, 2009 at 3:19pm —
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This past Friday, one of my piano student’s was having a talent show at her school, and for her talent she wanted to play the piano. I thought that was amazing, and I was so proud of her, but then she told me that she wanted me to play a duet with her. She is only eight years old, and of course, I couldn’t turn her down. I went, not knowing that my whole Friday evening would be taken up by the talent show. It had to be the longest school function I have ever been to. I sat next to her as we wait…
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Added by Angela Bowles on January 28, 2009 at 2:57pm —
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