recital programs
Students Playing at Retirement Homes
I mentioned in another post that my students have the opportunity once a month to play at a retirement center. We go to the same one each month. I just wanted to share last week’s experience playing there. I only had about 12 students sign…
Student Concert – Lesson 10
In my groups, I have a concert every ten weeks. I let them know about this during the first lesson, and really build it up. I also tell the students that it would be great to invite friends and family. Of course, having friends and…
Piano Parties & Recital Ideas
Would anyone like to start a discussion re piano parties? I’m most interested in tools that might help the families of the kids be involved and that sneak in some SM concepts. But if you have any other suggestions for things that were really wonderful–…
General Open Stage Questions
In response to some questions I have read, here are my replies. “…I’m assuming that I should do a brief description of the program at the beginning to introduce Simply Music..not sure how long, how much?…” I think it’s valuable to talk about SM, at…
Another Spring Open Stage
I’ve been teaching Simply Music since last fall and had my very first Student Concert this past weekend. If I were to describe it in a few words I would say that it was an “emotional boost.” Everything ran smoothly, students and parents were encouraged,…
Fear of Recital
Any advice on how to talk to kids who don’t want to play at a recital? I have a 7 year old who plays very well. As soon as he heard the word recital he went into a tizzy. It took 10 minutes to refocus…
Comparing Annual Recitals
Last year, I had only switched to teaching Simply Music about two months before my annual recital. Yesterday, I had my first recital with students playing who had been learning SM for the entire year. I compared what they played last year to this year…
Annual Concert
I have always dreaded organizing Concerts ever since I started traditional teaching 24 years ago. Becoming a Simply Music teacher made the songs fantastic, but did not take away the struggles of organizing the annual Concerts. This year, my husband suggested putting it back into…
Online Holiday Fun
Due to Covid restrictions I’m sad that this year I won’t get to do my usual Christmas Carol sing along at a rest home. My study’s would learn to accompany carols and we would perform/play and sing along with the residents. I can’t even do…
Airtable Studio Organization
In response to a recent post asking for suggestions on spreadsheets and studio organization, I mentioned a free database software app I have used the past few years called “Airtable.” Airtable is a cloud-based database creator with really exciting possibilities, and the FREE version is…