Spring!

NOTE: The piano studio will be open during next week's Spring Break (March 25-29).  Please email me at your earliest convenience if you need to make alternate arrangements for your regular piano lesson time!  Another reminder that the Spring Break Music Camp that was mentioned in March's newsletter had to be cancelled.  Thank you!

What an exciting season - SPRING!  It's certainly a time of celebration in our house as we are more diligently reminded of the death, burial and resurrection (!!!) of Jesus Christ, our Savior!

This is a nice change of seasons all the way around, and is being felt in the piano studio, too.  We just finished a very fun contest, where the students earned "Bach Bucks" for practice and many other accomplishments.  They learned all about several different composers and eras of music and did a fantastic job with all the new material.

That contest is officially over now, and we'll turn our attention toward the Spring Recital.  I'm very excited that plans seem to be coming together for the venue.  Stay tuned for that information as I have to tidy up the last few details before making the announcement.  Many students have already been assigned their recital pieces, but no worries if they haven't yet!  We still have plenty of time.

For the next two months, I will continue to reward students' efforts with stickers, small prizes, and gift cards, etc, but not in a formalized contest.  Our biggest priority from now until May will be preparing for the many facets of piano performance.  I understand that performing in front of people can be a little intimidating for some students.  We will spend lots of time getting a feel for performance in smaller settings to ease them into what will be a first recital for many.

I will be videotaping portions of their lessons (and will always give them a heads up on it) so that they can watch and hear their progress.  That is a really fun and dynamic way to see how good they are getting!

Feel free to let them do the same at home.  Many smart phones these days have video or audio recording capabilities.  I sometimes just use the voice memo feature on my phone to record small portions of songs so they can hear what the music sounds like.  Perhaps you can add some fun to their home practice time by allowing them to take your phone with them to the keyboard once or twice a week and record themselves playing the same song each time.

By April's newsletter, we will have all the information set for our Spring Recital. I'm looking forward to it and hope you are as well!

Classical and Mozart

Beginning this week, students will move on from the works of Vivaldi and the Baroque Era to the slightly more streamlined and cleaner sounds of the Classical Era.

We'll be focusing our efforts on the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  A familiar composer to many of our kids, he is a fascinating composer to study!  Mozart got his composing start rather early - at the age of 5!!  This fact really seems to resonate with my students, as I remind them that musical talents come pretty early!  And it helps the younger students relate to Mozart to realize how he was composing by the time he was their age!

We'll take the opportunity as we study a "young" composer to do a little composing ourselves!  This week, I intend to introduce the students to online composing/arranging activities!

Mozart's works are recognizable, as I've played one particular piece (the tune is the one we know now as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star") for them to hear.  We'll talk about patterns in musical, the nice clean and airy sound of Major 3rd intervals (something Mozart enjoyed using a lot in his works), and getting good at scales.  Trust me, you can't play much Mozart if you aren't practicing your scales!

On the Classics for Kids website, there's another great show to listen to on Mozart (choose #2):

http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/showview.asp?ID=27

Students are encouraged to bring in something to contribute to our bulletin board related to the Classical Era or Mozart.  Looking forward to their contributions!

Baroque & Vivaldi

During the months of January and February our students will continue learning about four major "eras" of musical influence as part of their lesson.

We began our focus on the Baroque Era.  One of the most famous composers of this time period was Antonio Vivaldi.  He wrote the famous "Four Seasons" Concerto.  The students have learned about Vivaldi and his music at age appropriate levels for each child.

For instance, the younger students are listening to "Spring" and "Autumn" and sharing their feelings about the mood of the music (is it happy, sad, slow, fast?) and elements of the music that make them think of each season (Spring has little violin trills that sound like birds, etc.).

Older students have been assigned arrangements of some of Vivaldi's works to play themselves.  They're studying techniques and working hard to add emotions and expression to their pieces.

All students have been encouraged to bring in something to contribute to our bulletin board, and I'm so impressed with what they've shared.  We have pictures that were printed, pictures that were drawn by hand, an image of a gorgeous Baroque cathedral, and some research that has taught ME several new things about Mr. Vivaldi!  FUN!

I shared a link with families by email several weeks ago and would like to include it here for your reference.  Please see the below video for a great introduction to Vivaldi's work and a little more information about the composer.  This is from the "Classics for Kids" website:

http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/showview.asp?ID=1

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I'm eager to see each of my students next week after our Christmas vacation ends.  My mind has been busy with new ideas over the break.  We've tied a nice bow on 2012 with the great job you all did with your Christmas songs.

Looking forward to hearing how each student's family "performance" went with their Christmas pieces and looking forward to giving each student a NEW GOAL to work toward!

As a quick update, we sent 7 boxes out to Operation Christmas Child in December, and because of a new system implemented by Samaritan's Purse, we will be able to track where each of our boxes ends up all over the world.  I will keep students posted as I hear where the toys and treasures they so diligently worked for end up!

We also collectively earned enough points (right at the end) to donate a goat to an impoverished village through World Vision International!  I will be sharing news about that gift with each student at their next lesson and will include more details about it in the upcoming newsletter that will be sent home next week.

I'm so very pleased with each student's progress over the first few months of lessons and look forward to significant piano accomplishments in the New Year!  We'll begin putting details together toward a Spring Recital very soon, so stay posted for more information on that!  Thank you all for your hard work and practice!

And I'll see you next week!
Love,
Mrs. Dunlap

Contest Update

It's been a crazy week around here.  After rescheduling my Monday and Tuesday students (because I was out of town), I got a few students squeezed in Wednesday before I lost my voice completely.

Since I haven't figured out how to teach without being able to speak, all my precious Thursday and Friday students had to be rescheduled as well.

Whew... what a week!

Thought I'd post a quick update on our contest since we won't see one another until after the Thanksgiving break and the shoeboxes have been delivered.

With the points that were tallied as of Wednesday afternoon and an educated guess as to the points that my Thursday and Friday students would have earned, we topped out with a little more than 700 points!

PHENOMENAL!!!!

I will be delivering shoeboxes on Monday morning with the help of a few of the top point earners in the studio!  Way to go, everyone!

Remember, we still have a few weeks left before we break for Christmas!  LEt's keep earning those points so that we hit the 1,000 point mark and get that GOAT for a family in need!

Earning Points

This week, we are eager to see how the students are practicing and earning points at home toward shoeboxes and ultimately, the GOAT!  We're off to a good start already, and I'll be updating the points totals at the end of each day (see the points tally in the left hand column).

I have a stack of extra credit worksheets ready to go for students who are ambitious and ready to bring home a little extra work this week!  And the best way to rack up points quickly is to complete daily practice at home!  Practice is worth 2 points per day!!

I'd love to hear your ideas if you know of a great way to earn more points.  Looking forward to packing some shoeboxes with you guys soon!

Love,
Mrs. Dunlap

Announcing the "Charity Challenge"

I am very excited to announce that we're rolling out our very first incentive program at The Key, beginning next week.

More information will go home in each student's binder, but here's your first look at what we're about to be up to for the next few months.

Talk it up with your kids at home once you receive the flyer.  I'll do everything I can to encourage and support them along the way.

By the way...
The students are doing a PHENOMENAL job.  I'm noticing that the practice is beginning to pay big dividends.  Many students who did not know how to read music previously are reading music by this point in their lessons.  Others are mastering some pretty impressive scales and chords.  And every single student has practiced hard enough to master and memorize at least one piece of their introductory music.  Way to go, everybody!!

So, here is your sneak peek and 2 clues for the contest:

There will be gifts... but for who?

Oh, and did I mention small farm animals?  Yeah... some of that, too.