Piano Maestro Summer Camp: Week Four

Posted by MaryO on July 26, 2020

This week’s Summer Camp piece is Love Yourself by Justin Bieber. There are 3 levels – Just the Melody Line, Simplified and the whole piece. This is in C Major – no sharps or flats.

Piano Maestro Summer Camp: Week Three

Posted by MaryO on July 19, 2020

This week’s Summer Camp piece is I Want to Break Free by Queen. There are 3 levels – Just the Melody Line, Simplified and the whole piece. This is in C Major – no sharps or flats.

Piano Maestro Summer Camp: Week Two

Posted by MaryO on July 12, 2020

This week’s Summer Camp piece is I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown. There are 3 levels – Just the Melody Line, Simplified and the whole piece in d minor. The sharps are written in.

Piano Maestro Summer Camp: Week One

Posted by MaryO on July 6, 2020

Summer Camp is where the Home Challenge usually is, with HC right underneath.

Piano Maestro Summer Camp has begun with 2 levels of Sweet Home Alabama. Learn mode is available if necessary.

Reminder! Piano Maestro Summer Camp Starts Tomorrow – July 5

Posted by MaryO on July 4, 2020

Piano Maestro Summer Camp Starts July 5

Posted by MaryO on July 1, 2020

Schools Closed? We have a Plan!

Posted by MaryO on June 13, 2020

Note: As of March 16, 2020, All FCPS school buildings are closed until further notice.

What Will Happen If Schools Close In Fairfax County?

Piano lessons will continue because we have a plan!

Please note that I clean the piano and keyboard keys with Clorox wipes between each student. Students are expected to wash hands before lessons and after using the restroom. Hand sanitizer is available.

I am continuously monitoring press releases from public health officials both locally and nationwide and have developed a plan for continuity in piano lessons should we need to implement it.

If any of the school districts that students in our studio attend close down or the health department provides suggestions to more seriously limit interaction and engage in social distancing, piano lessons will continue for students of ALL ages.

Our contingency plan if Fairfax County Schools close is to:

Close the physical studio temporarily
Provide online lesson options completely customized towards each student using an app/website called Tonara. All students have been assigned user names and passwords already. Your log-in information is in your student’s notebook or I will send it to you.
All assignments are due by the beginning of the student’s regularly scheduled lesson time and new ones along with comments about the past week will be given during the regular lesson time. Students will still be expected to continue practicing, completing all assignments and demonstrating progress.
We started using Tonara March 11, 2020 for assignments so that students will be accustomed to it is needed for real.

There will be assigned theory games using an app called SproutBeat. You can download this in the app store. All students have been assigned user names and passwords already. Your log-in information is in your student’s notebook or I will send it to you.

There may be assigned theory games using a website called SproutBeat Leap. You use it in a browser window at https://leap.sproutbeat.com/home . All students have been assigned user names and passwords already. Your log-in information is in your student’s notebook or I will send it to you.

There may be written theory work from your assigned theory book If so, please take a picture of it in Tonara and upload it along with other assignments. It could also be scanned and emailed to maryoconnor@gmail.com
For students with iPads, please be sure that you have downloaded PianoMaestro. There will be weekly assignments listed under “Home Challenge”. Please try to get 3 stars. It is possible to slow the pieces down but you may lose points/stars doing so. If it’s really hard, try the Learn Mode.
For students without iPads, I will assign at least one or two pieces to be videoed in the Tonara app/website and submitted to me for feedback. These will be due by the beginning of the student’s regularly scheduled lesson time and new (or review) ones will be given during the regular lesson time. Feedback will also be provided during the scheduled lesson time.
Depending on how long school is canceled, we may have online lessons using StreamYard as a virtual piano studio during the regularly scheduled lesson time. I will create a ‘broadcast’ for the day and send the same link to all my students. When a student clicks in I see them “backstage” and add them to the lesson, so we can both see/hear each other. Then when the lesson is over the next one has already arrived. I click that one through and the 3 of us are there for a minute. they say hello/goodbye just like in a live lesson.
Other Apps you might want to try at home:
1. Theory: Music Theory Pro – a great tool for preparing for auditions: scales, chords, intervals and more
2. Theory: Jungle Journey
3. Rhythm: Rhythm Swing – a fun, interactive game that covers basic note values
4. Rhythm: Rhythm Lab – assign rhythms for students to practice and tap- hands alone or together
5. Rhythm: Rhythm Cat
6. Note-Reading: Flashnote Derby – a customizable game where students ‘race’ to select the correct note
7. Note-Reading: Note Squish: think whac-a-mole with notes. Also customizable by clef (includes alto clef!)
8. Note-Reading: Noteworks
9. Note-Reading: Staff Wars
10. Note-Reading: Note Rush: great for keyboard geography. Students have to play the note that pops up
11. Note-Reading: Treble Cat
12. Note-Reading: Bass Cat
13. Ear Training: Beat Melody – great intro to ear training
14. Ear Training: Ear Cat

Your payment will still be due at the same time. All assignments are due by the beginning of the student’s regularly scheduled lesson time and new ones along with comments about the past week will be given during the regular lesson time. Students will still be expected to continue practicing, completing all assignments and demonstrating progress.

If you have an underlying health concern or family member who has one that you believe puts you in a high-risk group and you would like to take steps ahead of time to mitigate your exposure, please let me know and I will set up online lessons for you (see #10 above).

Did I forget anything? Questions or comments?

Daily Listening Assignments 2020

Posted by MaryO on June 1, 2020

This summer, I’ve decided to add a new feature to piano lessons. I know that many families travel during the summer months and it’s sometimes difficult to practice.

These daily assignments, June through August will help you and your students learn a bit more about the pieces they’re learning during the year – or maybe give ideas for something that they’d like to learn.

Each piece has a bit of composer info and several different interpretations, some of which are very humorous. Some of the assignments appear in Piano Maestro so be sure to have that handy, if your student uses that.

Some days give hints that the assignment of the day may be played (or reviewed) at the next lesson so please be sure that your student takes note of that (no pun intended!)

Find them here, under Daily Listening Assignment starting June 1 at 9:00 am.

Have a safe and musical summer!

Why Bi-weekly Lessons Don’t Work

Posted by MaryO on March 31, 2020

7 reasons why bi-weekly lessons do not work…

Now and then, our studio gets asked if we offer bi-weekly lessons. I mean, doesn’t it make sense that if you take lessons every other week, you have half the number of trips into the studio, you have double the amount of time to practice, and you can save some money, right?

WRONG.

Aside from the fact that it is a scheduling nightmare for the teacher and studio, I want to outline a few reasons why (in most cases) bi-weekly lessons do not work.

Source: Bi-weekly Lessons – Why they won’t work – The Piano Studio

Schools Closing? We have a Plan!

Posted by MaryO on March 13, 2020