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. . . and be able to play what you want to. This is called sight reading. Most of you struggle (or suffer!) to read the next piece in your books. You are actually sight reading the first time you read through a new piece. This can seem pretty frustrating, but sight reading can be practiced -- and conquered! The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Here's the key: Sight read pieces that are below the level you are currently working.

There isn't usually time for sight reading at lessons, but I can loan you books to practice sight reading. According to Clavier's Piano Explorer (Dec 2009):

HOW TO PRACTICE SIGHT READING

* Look through the music without playing. Look at the key signature, time signature, accidentals, hard rhythms and any areas that might be tricky.

* Play slowly. Find the hardest place and play the whole piece at the tempo you can play that section.

* Count out loud and/or use a metronome.

* Look at the music, not at your hands unless you have a huge jump to play.

* Always read music easier than the pieces you are learning.

WHY YOU SHOULD SIGHT READ

* You will learn new pieces more quickly.

* It is fun to be able to sit down and play new music easily.

* You can accompany other musicians.

* You can play for church and for friends.

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Drumming is one of the oldest forms of expression and music has been used by all cultures for many purposes. But what exactly is a drum circle? I wanted to find out.

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Below is a facsimile of page 14 in the Landsberg 5 sketchbook which contains Beethoven's musical ideas and compositions. Scrutinize it -- can you read it?
 
Unlike Mozart who worked out his compositions in his head then wrote them out, Beethoven kept private notes all his life, revising each composition until he had a final version. Deciphering Beethoven's sloppy handwriting is not easy. Studying the sketch, you get an idea of the level of scholarship needed for interpreting his work. This sketch contains a piano concerto theme. Which one? No can tell!

Nowadays music may or may not be handwritten on the first pass, then it is digitally created by music-writing software such as Finale and Sibelius.
 
Now, what were you saying about music being hard to read?

Piano Street, http://www.pianostreet.com/blog/

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PERPETRATOR: YOU!

CRIMINAL M/O: When you practice a piece, YOU START AT THE BEGINNING EVERY TIME!

How this crime hurts you:

1. You start at the beginning, so the beginning gets better and better, the middle is weaker, and the end is a dud. How come your ending is weak? Because you didn't practice there as much! Why not? Because you always start at the beginning!

2. You start at the beginning, so when you get to the part with tricky rhythm or tricky fingering, you're too tired or your practice time is up.

3. You start at the beginning, heading to the place where you want to nail down the tricky part. Suppose your piece is five minutes long and the tricky part comes after three minutes. You waste three minutes before you even get to the part you want to work on. If you play the piece two times per day five days per week, you wasted 30 minutes of practice time by starting at the beginning each time!

4. You start at the beginning, heading to the tricky place, but you find other places that need work as you go along. You'll stop, because after you notice a problem you'll want to fix it. But since you've stopped, you're not even looking at that tricky place yet! But you fixed a problem and feel good about it, so what do you do? Start back at the beginning!

5. You start at the beginning, so if things go wrong when you play the piece at a recital or somewhere, you only have one starting place: The beginning! Starting over! Embarrassing yourself royal!

SENTENCE: Credited with time served. Probation.

PROBATION ACTIVITIES:

1. DO NOT START AT THE BEGINNING!

2. WORK THE END! Then move back a few bars and work through the end. Move back a few more bars. WORK THE END!

3. GO STRAIGHT TO THE TRICKY PARTS! Go straight to the tricky rhythms in measures 40-45. Go straight to the tricky fingering on page 3. Do not go via the beginning!

4. ADD A FEW BARS! When a tricky part is worked out, add a couple measures in front of it and play through the whole. When successful, add a couple measures beyond it and play through the whole. Etc. Gradually increase the size of the section.

5. MAKE NEW PLACES TO START FROM. Working the particular places will give you new starting places where you can pick up and begin playing the piece from there WITHOUT GOING TO THE BEGINNING!

When probation is over, for a special treat, OCCASIONALLY you can start at the beginning just for the pleasure of it.

I know you'll want to keep your nose clean and stay away from crime so let me assure you it's okay to start at the beginning of a book, start at the beginning when you write a story, or start at the beginning of a game. You'll notice baseball always starts at the beginning, but DON'T BE FOOLED! That doesn't mean you can COMMIT CRIME and START AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR PIECE!

Let there be law-abiding musicians everywhere. But wait! What's this?

REWARD!
These probation activities will save a huge amount of practice time while greatly increasing the quality of your entire piece.

Let there be law-abiding, quality musicians everywhere.

Now go. You're on probation. Read the terms of your probation and get to work! In the middle somewhere. Or the end. Go on now.

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Practicing over and over is not going to help if you're not practicing smart! When you learn to practice smart you will accomplish more during practice, will derive more satisfaction from music study and will allot more time for practicing! If you're not practicing smart, practice becomes just a matter of trial and error through mindless repetition. Mindless repetition will hold back your progress until you stop doing it.

YOU CAN LEARN TO FOCUS

Musical performance involves thinking in motion, attending to several things at once, making split-second decisions, immersed in an interplay of ideas, actions, and feelings. Do you feel immersed in the music when you're practicing? If not, with practice you can develop deep concentration that enables you to handle the simultaneous interplay and invokes your feelings.

It is best to practice early in the day. A musician who is tired or preoccupied may have difficulty concentrating. This does not mean skipping practice if an early time was impossible! (Nice try.) It is when you don't practice that things really go wrong.

To help stay focused during practice, try this: Keep a note pad and pencil at the piano. Every time your attention wanders, write a word or two to remind you about it later. This rids your mind of the distraction so you can resume concentrating on the music. Use the pad and pencil to write even the slightest deviation of attention. This is especially valuable if you do not realize your concentration fluctuates. Try it to prove your level of concentration.

UM, DUH?

Here are some of the biggest 'duh's' that exist. When practicing your pieces smartly, the goal is to achieve the best musical results in the shortest possible time with the least repetition (duh!).

If learning music through repetition has become your modus operandi, you may feel weird at first relying more on musical comprehension and less on repetition. Locate the hardest places, then find a tempo that will allow you to keep going without breaking down (duh!). Typically, this will be slo-mo (duh!). Smart practice is more than just tempo, however. Smart practice means thinking with concentration and control to make everything happen at the right time. So be as accurate as possible with rhythm, fingering, dynamics, touch and phrasing and still maintain a steady tempo every time (duh!).

To practice smart, always use the right fingering, articulations (legato, staccato, accents, etc.), phrasing, dynamic changes and pedaling (duh!). Ignoring these or performing them improperly from the beginning means undoing mistakes later, which is frustrating and wastes your expensive time (duh!).

Practicing smart means practicing musical tasks while the tasks are simple (duh!). When the basic processes for problem-solving and musical thinking are set in motion early, they will grow as the music increases in complexity so you can deal effectively with each successive level of problems.

PRACTICE TIPS

To improve learning skills in daily practice, think of each practice session as an opportunity to progress on your own, to develop the ability to think musically and to solve musical problems intelligently and independently.

To keep practice positive, never play a piece more rapidly than you can correctly perform everything on the printed page. No significant progress is made without first overcoming wrong fingering, notes, rhythms and other negative factors.

Find the difficult spots and begin working on those immediately. As I've emphasized at your lessons, do not begin at the beginning! This results in a strong beginning and all that follows becomes weaker and weaker to a horrid ending! When your playing breaks down, do not go back to the beginning! Instead, begin again right where the breakdown occurred. If you were to calculate the cumulative time wasted by returning to the beginning each time, your result would prove my assertion that it results in a strong beginning and a weaker everything else. I rest my case!

NO MINDLESS REPETITION!

Instead of repeating a passage with mistakes in hopes of eventually getting it right, play each phrase correctly the first time, albeit under tempo, then repeat carefully for greater facility and polish. Learning pieces by mindless repetition is like memorizing a phone number by saying it over and over. Once you stop repeating the number you quickly forget it.

Study every detail of a phrase or section without playing it, then use intense concentration to play the phrases or section according to what you observed. With regular practice this activity builds reading skills by developing the ability to absorb details of the score so you can play them correctly even on the first try. With a better understanding of the music, having studied first without playing, you will be able to bring your pieces to an acceptable performance level in less time and retain them longer.

In each practice segment, analyze your task and identify problems, then write your own prescription for the best action for dealing with the problems. This might involve practicing each hand alone, taking a slower tempo, playing outer voices only, or blocking the chords. After a few minutes, evaluate the results of your prescription for signs of improvement. Then decide whether to repeat the cycle of analysis, prescription and evaluation on that segment, or whether to move on to something else.

SMART PRACTICE REWARDS!

Your ability to notice improvement will enhance your motivation because a sense of accomplishment brings you personal satisfaction that inspires still higher achievement. This creates momentum for learning. The more you learn and achieve the stronger your urge for even higher levels of attainment and its accompanying rewards. The best teachers help you learn to practice smart. Whether you do so is up to you. But why wouldn't you? Practicing smart means developing problem-solving skills that demonstrate your ingenuity and artistry in interpreting musical symbols to create ever more satisfying practice and performances. With the resulting independence, you can learn more on your own with increasing expectations and more rewarding accomplishments.

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That is what would have happened to you.
 
I saw it for myself, I wish you could have been there, and you were invited! I refer to the MTNA State Performance Competitions held at Highline Community College November 7-9. I had various tasks there and heard performances up close and personal. It was a blast! And I was in awe. If you closed your eyes and were not told otherwise, you would have thought the musicians you were hearing belonged to the symphony or a university.

Students 18 and under from all over the state competed in piano (50-some entrants, I think), strings, woodwinds and voice events at the junior and senior levels. Bear in mind that the junior level students were juniors by reason of age, not ability, so some of the junior level contestants were sock-knocker-offers extraordinaire!
 
The MTNA Student Competitions consist of three levels: State competition, division competition and national finals. The purpose of these is to provide educational experiences and recognition for exceptional students and their teachers. The state competitions are considered the primary educational level, the division and national levels showcase outstanding performances and honor significant pedagogical achievement. (See article below "Peda-goggy -- What?! September 9, 2006, and see article below for an article featuring Charlie Albright, state, division, and national competition winner, "Keyboard 'Wizard' Sweeps Competition," September 2, 2006.)

The winners in each category will continue to the MTNA Divisional Competition January 16-18, 2009 at Whitworth University, Spokane. Washington state will be well represented there! This year's winners are found at http://wsmta.net/2007_competition_results.html. National winners from Washington are found at the same address.

Next year I will compel as many of my students as possible to come hear some of it. It will knock their socks off! And it will make them want to practice like never before. I've put my socks back on but have become stricter about my own practice schedule.

Valerie Tedrow (right) with colleague Sally Kirk at the registration
 desk for the 2008 MTNA Performance Competition.

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Why are there dynamics in my piano pieces?

That is a very good question with a very good answer: Because music would be boring without them! It's like talking. When you talk some words are louder or softer. If you really want to make your point, you can yell, or whisper. Think of how hard it would be to express your feelings and opinions if you could only talk at one dynamic level! Composers do the same thing. Sometimes they will write fortissimo, maybe to emphasize a storm. Sometimes they will write pianissimo maybe to suggest a musicbox.

So, dynamics are one way composers and pianists (like you) make music interesting, expressive, and artful.

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Everyone wants these three. How to get them? Learn the piano!

1.  Reading one line of music, playing a simple one-finger melody -- teaches simple concentration.

2.  Reading one line of music, playing two or three notes with right hand -- teaches moderate concentration.

3.  Reading two lines of music, playing with both hands, each with a different assignment -- teaches a high degree of concentration and coordination.

4.  Reading two lines, using both ears, both arms, fingers, legs and feet, with the brain giving each muscle a different assignment to perform simultaneously -- teaches intense concentration and coordination resulting in confidence.

There is no end to the benefits of playing the piano!

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That's why you have to practice so much!

Remember when you were learning to read? At first you had little words -- 'See spot run!' It was hard to figure out at first, but you did it! You can even read this! That is what playing piano is like. At first you learn little pieces and it is very hard. But, like reading, after a while you master it! It is hard, but some things take WORK! And when the work is done, do you know what happens next? You find out it is FUN! Always remember that fun comes after the work. Then you will want to practice even more!

Rhiannon Rasaretnam is getting it down!

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Theoretically, I should be. Seriously, I participate in professional development whenever possible. Recently I attended yet another excellent workshop hosted by Prosser's Piano in Tukwila. Featured was Debra Perez, recreational music making specialist of Pedagogy in Motion, who discussed, among other things, the effect of Boomers on piano study and enjoyment of music.

About those Boomers:

1) Every day another 10,000 Boomers turn 50 years old, 8,000 of them turn 60.

2) One out of every three adults over 21 in the U.S. are Boomers.

3) 70 percent of the nation's wealth is in Boomers' hands.

4) The age segment of 50-65 will grow in size by 70 percent over the next 15 years.

5) Boomers at age 50 expect to live 35 more years.

6) Half of all grandparents are Boomers.

7) Boomers are less about 'becoming someone' and more about 'being someone.'

8) Boomers want life-long learning.


You can see why it benefits you/me for me to learn more about Boomers, how they learn, the reasons they want to learn, and how and what music they enjoy.

Why can I speak about the Boomers? Because, as they say, it takes one to know one!

The music-teaching ranks at banks of pianos at Prossers!




Believe it! (?) A piano teacher brought
 this participant (?) to the workshop!




Debra Perez
 Recreational Music Making Specialist, Pedagogy in Motion.

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A music instructor in the public schools said to parents at an open house, 'I can be the best teacher in the world, but I can't learn the music for your student. The student has the responsibility to practice and learn the music.'

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National Federation of Music Clubs and the National Guild of Piano Teachers

Parents and students wonder what the benefits are for participating in the National Federation of Music Clubs Ribbon Festival, and the National Guild of Piano Teachers auditions every year.

I maintain memberships in these organizations on behalf of the students for several excellent reasons.

1)  Students usually work harder when they have specific performance dates and a goal. Recitals are just not enough.

2)  Students benefit from the feedback given by adjudicators which often reinforces my suggestions, and may offer new insights about the student's playing. There's nothing better than for a student to hear the same comments from an impartial adjudicator than from his/her own teacher! (Parents, how many times have you told your student something which they appeared not to believe until an outsider told them the very same thing? :-)

3)  The more students have performance opportunities the less fear and stress they will have about performing. A lot of nervousness comes from unfamiliarity with performing. I find that young students get a little nervous but they don't tend to get the giant anxiety adults or older students get. This may be because fear is learned, so by starting out performing while young they will learn to perform with relative ease.

4)  The NFMC offers wonderful options including duets, folk and patriotic playing, hymn playing, concertos and other events which give students exposure to a wider variety of repertoire. The gold cup goal often keeps students taking lessons who might otherwise drop out. Students light up when telling them about the points and how that leads to trophies (see article below 'Gold Cup Point System, National Federation of Music Clubs'). Parents like the idea, too.

5)  Among the great reasons for Guild participation (see article below 'More Performance Privileges for Tedrow Studio Students') is the opportunity for students to build a longer program and to learn what it takes to prepare and perform more than two or three pieces at a time.

6)  The NFMC Ribbon Festival and the Guild are accessible to every student. Students play against a standard of excellence and do not compete with others.

7)  These opportunities build students' confidence. Adjudicators are always positive and the whole program is designed to encourage and motivate students.

I am requiring my students to perform any performance piece at least three times -- for friends, family, other students, etc. -- before they perform it on the big day. I try to leave time at the end of some lessons for a 'performance' for the next student and possibly a waiting parent, which ups the ante a bit from just playing for me.

Before performances I hold an extremely important performance class which is, in part, a performance anxiety workshop, and in part a practice recital in the studio. We go over the whole stage procedure in depth and even learn tips on how to make nerves work for their advantage. I remind them that the people who are watching (friends and family) are cheering them on and if they make a mistake they will still be loved and life will go on.

I encourage parents' questions about these organizations and their programs and I look forward to the exciting performances coming up this year!

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Well yes, I'm supposed to be, having attended a Frederick Harris Music workshop on August 15. Another splendid workshop presented by Prosser's Piano in Tukwila! We were treated with meeting distinguished piano pedagogue Dr. Reid Alexander, THE Reid Alexander, Ed.D., Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy and Chair of the Piano Pedagogy Division at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additionally, Dr. Alexander is a designated U.S. Clinician and author, editor and composer at Frederick Harris Music.

This workshop highlighted the new Celebration Series 'Perspectives,' which includes music from the Baroque era to the present, and which received the prestigious Frances Clark Piano Pedagogy Award. The workshop was stuffed with pedagogical tips. This means I know more than when I went in there.
 
Please feel free to feel good that your teacher keeps apprised of what's going on 'out there' by attending events for professional development whenever possible. :-)

                                        Among the very best, Dr. Reid Alexander.



                         I guess we shouldn't have asked Dr. Alexander that question.

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   Samantha Nolan

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I'm really not a person for collecting quotes and pretty sayings, but I encountered this one and really like it. So I'm sharing it with YOU!

Music speaks what cannot be expressed,
Soothes the mind and gives it rest,
Heals the heart and makes it whole,
Flows from heaven to the soul.

From heaven to the soul. Yes. How true and beautiful.

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Some parents and students are curious about the National Federation of Music Clubs Ribbon Festival and how gold cups are earned. Students perform two selections, one from a required list of pieces and one piece of their choice that meets certain criteria for their age and level. The NFMC Festival Cup Program offers additional incentive to all entrants. Festival gold cups are awarded on a point system and participation is optional.

The Ribbon Festival is a non-competitive event in which students are rated against a standard of excellence. Points are based on the Festival ratings as rated by two adjudicators ("judges"):

Superior, 5 points
Excellent, 4 points
Satisfactory, 3 points
Fair, 2 points
Needs Improvement, 1 point

When 15 points have been earned, the first Festival gold cup is awarded. For each additional 15 points, the next larger cup is awarded:

First gold cup, 6 inches, 15 points
Second gold cup, 8 inches, 30 points
Third gold cup, 10 inches, 45 points
Fourth gold cup, 12 inches, 60 points
Grand gold cup, 14 inches, 75 points
President's gold cup, 15 inches, 90 points

Students may participate in the Ribbon Festival in other categories besides just piano solo to earn more points per year, such as Theory Test, Hymn Playing, American Patriotic and Folk Song, Ensemble events (Piano Duet, Piano Duo, Piano Trio, Piano Quartet), Concerto, Improvisation and Accompaniment. There are also non-piano events such as Chamber Music, Voice, Composition, Dance, Improvisation, Organ, Percussion, Brass, Strings, Woodwinds and Orchestra.

By entering more events that just piano solo, students may earn their 15 points and first gold cup in their first year.

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It is amazing that so many students have never listened to music as a hobby. One boy, age 10, who has never listened to the radio, does not own a CD player or I-pod says, "I don't listen to music." How can this guy want to study piano? If he doesn't find some music to listen to, he will surely be added to the drop-out statistics.

One of our greatest tools today is the Internet. Most homes have Internet access and with parental help, if necessary, can be guided to YouTube. Seemingly every recorded musical performance can be found there. Examples: The 1970s Horowitz concert at the White House, Carnegie Hall concerts, Victor Borge humor, rare jazz footage, interviews with musicians such as Miles Davis, and on and on.
                                                    -- Adapted from remarks by Rick Seifert

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Martin deserves this honor.

He has consistently been the top practicer in the Tedrow Studio for a while now, which is provable by charts and graphs on the students' studio web site Practice Statistics page.

I am known to embed messages in the middle of other writings on the students' Practice Plans page such as, "What is your favorite candy bar?" If they tell me the next week what it is, I know whether or not they've been reading their practice plans. "Twix!" Martin said. He gets a Twix at his next lesson, but priceless was his earnest remark, "I always read everything you write down to be sure I've covered everything." Let every student be like him!

I am no longer surprised when he says, "I was just looking around on the Internet and I found this interesting piece of music . . . " He would like to play them all! He is adding to a formal repertoire; perhaps he will get around to them. That is, if he will stop looking around on the Internet!

Congratulations, Martin!

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You're working on a piece. How long should you work on it? How do you know when you're finished?

Never! Bwaaaahahaha! Never stop until absolute perfection!

Okay, I've got a hold of myself now.

It's an important question. Closure is the art of knowing when to stop, and it's an essential practice skill that hardly ever gets talked about. It's essential because when you're practicing, until you stop what you're doing you can't move on to what's next. Which means what's next isn't getting done, it's waiting in line. So if you're really finished but keep working on it, you're not really being dedicated or thorough, you're actually stealing time from other projects.

How do you judge correctly? First, here's a look at how NOT to tell.

EXAMPLES OF BAD CLOSURE

Students have all sorts of reasons for moving on to what's next. You might recognize some of these:

I'm sick of this bit now.
That's not a reason for moving on. Your job is to complete the practice tasks, not wait until you're in the mood. Get on with it.

I've spent (insert your favorite upper time limit here) on that piece already.
Understand that how long you've spent on something tells you nothing about how ready it is. It just tells you how much older you are than when your practice started.

Okay, that time it was finally right!
Yes, but that doesn't count for much if you messed it up 24 times first. Once-right doesn't mean lesson-ready. It usually just means lucky shot. Which means you're going to need luck on lesson day, too, or else you're going to have to resort to, "But it didn't sound like this at home . . ." (Yes it did, 24 out of 25 times!)

I'll finish that off some other time.
Well, you're going to have to now that you've abandoned it. Wasn't the whole point of starting with this task today to get it done? Using this reason for moving on is a great way to ensure that you have dozens of half-completed tasks.

Unfortunately, these are not just bad reasons for moving on, they're the reasons students usually use. (How many have you used?)

BETTER REASONS FOR CLOSURE

This has stopped improving.
At the very least, the fact that it has stopped improving is a sign that you're wasting your time practicing it as you are. You either need to practice it in a new way or move on to something else.

My practice time is limited which means I can't afford to ignore the rest of my task list any longer.
Remember that while you're bogged down on a piece, nothing else is getting done, including items you really could have dealt with quickly and easily. Move on, win some battles with other practice tasks, then come back recharged. But do come back. (Otherwise this can become a version of "I'll finish that off some other time.")

When your teacher (that's me) says, "I can't stand to listen to that one more time!"

WHAT ELSE NEEDS CLOSURE?

Closure becomes an issue whenever you think you've finished with something, but aren't really sure if you should stop yet. So it applies to a lot more than simply deciding whether or not to move on to the next practice task.

I've done lots of practice already this afternoon. Can I stop the entire
session yet?
Just like closure for tasks, "lots of practice" might sound like a sign you're done, but it is not a reason for closure. In fact, the amount of practice you've done is really not relevant to anything!

My performance is tomorrow. My piece seems fine whenever I try it. Should I play it through just one more time to be safe? Or should I just leave it?
Especially before a performance, you want to leave well enough alone. If your piece seems fine, then just keep feeling fine about it. Going over and over a piece that is otherwise behaving itself will eventually uncover new things for you to worry about.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO BE ABLE TO MARK THIS AS 'COMPLETED'?

There's a way to answer that every time. What you can do is set the reasons for moving on ahead of time. Figure out in advance what the reasons will be. That way you'll know when the time is right because you'll recognize the reasons you set -- no guessing needed.

Examples:

As soon as I can play this entire passage from memory.
As soon as I have written in a workable fingering for this passage.
As soon as I can play this passage with the metronome set at 120 bpm.
As soon as I have color coded all dynamic markings.
As soon as I have cleanly made this jump five times in a row.

Once you have defined your reasons, keep an eye out for them while you practice. As soon as one appears, move on -- without guilt and without delay.
                                               -- Adapted from Practiceopedia, by Philip Johnston

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We talk about them. When were they?

Medieval -- 467-1400
Renaissance -- 1400-1600
Baroque -- 1600-1750
Classical -- 1750-1820
Romantic -- 1820-1900
20th Century -- 1900-2000
Modern -- Now

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A lot of parents wonder about their kids' musical education -- When to start the kids on lessons? What age? How young is too young? Which instrument?

You may not be obsessed with getting your kids into the Seattle Symphony Orchestra or the Seattle Opera, but musical literacy is a wonderful goal for every child. Whole books have been written on this topic, but here are some points to help get you started.

MAKE GOOD MUSIC PART OF YOUR WHOLE FAMILY'S LIFE

Even if you don't sing or play an instrument, you can play music at home and take the family to an occasional concert. This doesn't have to cost a lot of money. KING-FM (98.1) broadcasts for free. See article below, "15 Ways to Attend Concerts Cheaply."

This is very important: Kids love what they know. How many times did they want their favorite bedtime story? Let them come to know good music so they can love it.

ONLY YOU CAN TELL WHEN YOUR KIDS ARE READY FOR LESSONS

Some are ready at 4, others are ready at 10. In general, string and piano students tend to start earlier, wind instrument students more likely later.

Think about your kids' attention span. Can they sit still for the time a lesson would take? For the length of a practice session?

Do your kids exhibit interest in music? Do they love to "play" any piano they find? Do they tell you they want to play an instrument? Is it their idea or yours? It usually goes better if the idea is theirs. A notable exception: Sometimes it doesn't occur to a child that their parents would let them try an instrument. If you're willing, tell them! They'll likely be excited about the idea.

Sometimes a single musical experience will flip a switch in a child's mind. The remarkable oboist Alex Klein, who grew up in a small Brazilian town with limited musical possibilities, attended an orchestra concert as a little kid and heard the oboe; he pointed to the instrument, said, "I want to play that one," and was motivated enough to travel a seven-hour bus ride to his lessons.

MATCH YOUR KIDS AND THE INSTRUMENT

The piano is an excellent "gateway" instrument. Piano lessons teach music-reading and important musical concepts that transfer to other instruments. Having piano lessons gives your kids a huge leg up if they transfer. The piano is so versatile it's a good solo instrument, ensemble instrument (plays with other instruments), or vocal-accompanying instrument.

Not all kids love what's available. If something's in the attic, or if something's in Uncle Bob's basement, that doesn't make it a good choice. In fact, an instrument that has been stored for a while is likely to need an expensive overhaul. Playing an instrument that is not in tune is always a bad idea! It will compromise a student's ear training.

Your child's school music teacher (if you're fortunate to have one) can make suggestions.

FIND A GREAT TEACHER

See article above, "How to Find a Great Teacher."

SUPPORT YOUR KIDS' EFFORTS AND MAKE SURE THEY PRACTICE

I don't know how many times I've heard adults say something like, "If only I'd stayed with it!" Insist on a dedicated practice time. Hold them to it! Your teacher will help you with this, and a good teacher will know ways to help make practicing fun.

Don't be afraid of "pushing." Analogies to other endeavors -- whether it's homework, sports, dance lessons, video games -- will remind your kids that it's worthwhile putting in the effort to improve, and a valuable life lesson, too.

                            Adapted from "Give your child musical wings" by Melinda Bargreen,
                                     Seattle Times music critic, October 27, 2007

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1.    Look at the Ticket section in The Seattle Times on Fridays (or your local paper's equivalent), go to the classical listings, and see the concerts. Many are free or free to children.

2.    Check the children's programs at Seattle Symphony Orchestra or the Pacific Northwest Ballet They offer workshops, tours, and free concerts during rehearsals.

3.    Investigate the $5 student admission tickets at the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Some restrictions apply.

4.    Local churches are never-ending sources of excellent music. Check local listings, ask a friend about their church, or go to church and see for yourself!

5.    Many professional concerts are free to kids with adult admission tickets. Check out Seattle's Gallery Concerts at http://www.galleryconcerts.org.

6.    School districts have concerts in most their schools. Check the district web sites for schedules.

7.    Private schools put on excellent concerts. Check their web sites.

8.    Some local or regional orchestras and chamber groups allow free concerts during rehearsals.

9.    Attend concerts, recitals, and competitions through your MTNA-affiliated music teacher!

10.  City farmer's markets, street fairs, and civic events usually have entertainment. Watch local listings. They feature school groups, barbershop, country, quartets, rock, and much more.

11.  Some city and county parks have concerts all summer long. Watch local listings and see city and county web sites.

12.  KING-FM broadcasts for free (98.1 FM), and streams on the Internet at http://www.king.org.

13.  Universities and community colleges sometimes allow free concerts at rehearsals.

14.  Go to http://www.tedrowstudio.com, go to the Student's Area page and see what's listed under "Events!"

15.  Some cities sponsor "Lunch in the Park" (summer) or City Hall (winter) concerts for free.

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"Changes in technology don't just follow the cutting edge, they follow trends in education which track our new generation. Ignoring these changes is like driving blind." *



                                                          ^{DRIVING BLIND!}


1. I met and attended the workshop of the woman who said that.

2. My husband is blind. I keep telling him not to drive. Sticking his cane out the window will not perceive objects in time to avoid crashing into them. Leashing his guide dog to the front bumper telling him, "Forward!" doesn't work either. 


For these reasons, I thoroughly believe what is quoted above. I make what is at times Herculean efforts to stay close to what's going on with music technology, educational psychology and human development. This is a humongous investment of time.
 
I attend workshops whenever I can and hold myself responsible to keep finding out when and where they're going on. Since the last time I told you of workshops I attended (see article below, October 29, 2006 "Supposedly I'm Smarter Now"), I've attended more workshops with technology-based topics, and continued other technology-related investments of time.

~  Serena Mackey, noted teacher and speaker, "Music in the Method" at Prosser's Piano, a technology workshop featuring Roland digital pianos. Very Fun!
 
~ Michael Stegner, noted musician, teacher and speaker, held three technology workshops at his fully-equipped Wallingford studio titled "Technology in Pedagogy." Very Exciting!

~ Prosser's Piano presented a Roland CD-2 workshop, a new digital device which records audio directly to CDs in real time. The opportunities this device affords are extraordinary: Presenting performances and compositions, advancing playing skills, preserving and archiving important audio events like recitals, providing accompaniment for students, connecting to MIDI devices, digital pianos and computers, capturing unforgettable moments in concerts and public events -- I seriously want one of these. Very expensive!

~ Maurice Hinson, musician, composer, author and arranger extraordinaire, held a piano teacher's workshop at Mill's Music introducing, among other things, a new series of DVDs which highlight the master composers interspersed with Dr. Hinson's observations and instructions. Very impressive!

~ Reading, reading, reading.

~ Researching the World Wide Web.


Know this: I'm paying attention.
          
                                   * Mackey, Serena. "Meet Serena Mackey." Keyboard Companion, 6. Summer 2007.

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Every aspect of practicing can and should be done rhythmically. It is indispensable to work with a metronome, but only if the student's complete attention is devoted to it. A metronome that clicks away while the student remains ignorantly out of synch with it is of no use because the right note at the wrong time is simply a wrong note.

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To most of you in the Tedrow Studio presently, "ensemble" means playing piano duets, also called "four-hand piano." FYI or as you may know, there's also music for "piano duo" and "concerto" which is two pianists, two pianos. There are piano trios and more. Some are quite novel, like six hands on two pianos.

Go to the blog article below about the five-piano Brown siblings and click on the links inside the article. (March 11, 2007, "What is the Value of Classical Music for Young People?") You'll hear ensemble piano like you've never heard it before!

Ensemble can also mean singing in a group or playing different instruments together, such as in an orchestra.

Obligatory definitions are officially out of the way.

Why learn ensemble skills? Those of you in the Artistry at the Piano series with a whole book devoted to ensemble playing have wondered. Artistry students have said things like, "I didn't realize it was a separate skill."

To participate in ensemble playing, your job is to fit into and enhance the ensemble and to participate actively as a player on the same team, but the most crucial skills are awareness and listening -- aware of the score as a whole, listening to the other part(s) and to your part at the same time.

Excellent rhythm is a must. You must listen for the eighth notes inside the quarter notes, listen for the pulse that continues through your measures of rest. Rhythmic inconsistencies that you might not notice when playing solo or playing without a metronome can bring your ensemble piece to a halt.

Rhythmic integrity is both intrinsic (internally able to play with a consistent pulse) and extrinsic (external ability to listen to and adapt to others). You cannot follow passively, you must actively participate.

Ensemble skills are learned. By "learn" I mean gaining an understanding of how a piece works, not just plunging through it hoping to not mess up. You'll gain greater 

                                   

An ensemble: A'lasia Smith and Elizabeth Tran playing, "Come Fly!" at the 2007 Ribbon Festival of the Eastside Music Teacher's Association.


insight into complementary lines in the other part, you'll have a much better understanding of what to listen to.You'll learn how the piece works, not simply learn your part. You will have more ownership in the outcome and will be able to play with greater musicality when you understand how your part fits into the bigger picture.

You will not learn ensemble skills just by playing your repertoire and wiggling through your method books. The duet (ensemble) that rehearses by playing carelessly through a piece multiple times is doing little more than solidifying mistakes and forming negative mental and physical habits. Obviously your ensemble experiences will be enriched by careful preparation. But we want to be able to deconstruct a piece, identify principal themes, agree on articulations, phrasing, etc. Even the most basic formal analysis will be of use in rehearsal.

Each student will be able to find his/her own natural way of communicating through motion, breath, eye contact; each student can be given a chance to lead. The other player responds to the leader's cue to avoid late entrances and for unity of expression. You can learn much by playing with your teacher. You learn to blend, become capable of a wide dynamic range, razor-sharp dynamic contrasts, an endless variety of articulations and more.

High expectations will put you in good stead for your musical future. A deeper understanding of the language of music will make your musicianship more complete. Most importantly, you will learn the value of listening, a skill that enriches all human interaction.

                                                                    Some of these thoughts are adapted from "Ensemble Skills,"
                                                                    American Music Teacher, June/July 2007

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But you know what they say, you can't teach an old you-know-what new tricks.

QUESTION FOR ADULT LEARNERS:

Would you like some new tricks and licks? (Lick: "spontaneous musical phrase.")

Older adults tend to think they're too old to pursue their youthful interests. Hey! You can do what young people do!

Problem? For older people, it's usually their impatience, perfectionism, and social apprehension that gets in the way of success. Restrain your inner voice about these, and about fear and worry. You can overcome what prevents an enriching experience.

Problem? For years brain researchers thought people over a certain age could no longer learn. Now we now know that the adult brain is highly changeable to new information. You can absorb complex concepts of music much faster and more fully than a child who may be really good at playing, but have no grasp of the theory or why they play what they play.

Problem? Adults learn differently than children, teenagers, and young adults. Older adults learn conceptually, not by rote. That means they need to understand what they are doing and are understandably not satisfied by mere repetition.

Problem? Adults tend to be concerned about how others perceive them; children much less so. This can be a source of stress. You will do just fine as you are; do not worry about what others think.

Problem? Students of any age get frustrated when learning something new. Okay, it won't be as easy as you would like. Be easy on yourself about it! It will take as much time as it is going to take. Musicianship can't be rushed.

PROBLEM? WHAT PROBLEM?

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You pay for lessons . . . what's up with them? How's your student doing? Where's the proof?

A fascinating and easy way to find out is by reading your student's practice notebook. It has cool notes, comments, and stickers. Read it every week! It's never boring! Not mine, anyway.

You'll know exactly how your student is doing in their lessons by reading my comments and practice plans.  


         

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Study music. No kidding!

High school music students score higher on SATs in both verbal and math than their peers. In 2001, SAT takers with coursework/experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 41 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework/experience in the arts.

                                      Source: Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers,
                                      The College Board, compiled by Music Educators National Conference, 2001.

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Source: Neurological Research March, 1999

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Your son or daughter is taking piano lessons? Then so are you!

Following are some activities for YOUR "piano lessons:"

~ Make sure friends and family respect the student's practice time.
~ Make sure your student follows up on their assignments.
~ Read your student's practice records.
~ Keep music and materials in a special place.
~ Let your student know you are proud of their achievements.
~ Encourage your student by listening to them play and commenting on their
   performance.
~ Ask questions about what they are doing.
~ Record their practice so they can hear themselves objectively.
~ Attend all recitals and programs open to parents.
~ Go to other concerts and programs as a family.
~ There will be times your student resists practicing. This is normal. Stress
   regularity.
~ Make sure your student never misses a lesson except for illness or
   emergency.
~ Don't allow your student to skip a lesson because s/he hasn't practiced. The
   one who hasn't practiced is most in need of a lesson!
~ Let your student "doodle" at the piano. Just make a clear distinction between
   doodlng and practicing.
~ Emphasize how much is accomplished during practice.
~ Always contact me if you have questions or concerns.
                                                                         -- Adapted from Susan Todd

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The skill of listening is difficult for people today. Many take for granted that if there is a sound, they will hear it. But hearing and listening are different. Listening is an art that is especially needed to practice the piano. Too often students' concentration is so centered on playing the correct notes in the correct way, they do not really listen to the sounds they make. Pity.

It is also true that students seem to have more and more trouble following directions because they fail to listen attentively. (Want to talk WASL, anyone?)

The art of listening carefully is a precious skill that musicians need to learn to use and sharpen.

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This came from Martin. Every Tedrow Studio student is required to learn to perform it immediately. Blame Martin!

Read the score carefully for all the delicious details.

hahahahahahahahaha!

Click here:
http://home.comcast.net/~wwjdvt/Faeries_Aire_and_Death_Waltz.mht

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Well?

Following is what the great teacher, Madame Olga Samaroff,* taught about the art of piano practice.
 
If you were thoughtful about her words and carried them out, what result would you experience?

Madame Samaroff's Way of Work:

1)  Examine the score away from the piano.

2)  Form musical and imaginative goals towards which you will work.

3)  In order to save time, instead of reading through, take the first 8 or 12 measures. Examine carefully for phrasing, type of touch, dynamics, accents, fingering, division of hands and pedaling.

4)  Repeat this section slowly at least 25 times, with all the things included.

5)  Practice entire piece in small sections in this manner; every time you stumble, examine whether it was caused by a special technical difficulty or whether you slipped a cog in concentration.

6) If you find a special difficulty within a passage, isolate it for even more intensive work. Master the special difficulty completely before going back to practice this section as a whole.

7) NEVER LET REPETITION BECOME MECHANICAL. If you are tired, stop for 15 minutes or so.

8) Every time you begin practicing any section, go over it for accuracy.

9) Remember that the result and inevitable result of practice is the establishment of the habit of playing a thing in a certain way.

10) Do not establish the wrong habit.

11) Even though working slowly and carefully, keep in mind the elements of mood and feeling.

12) The playing of music on the piano is a very complex function, including as it does the spiritual, the intellectual, the emotional, the imaginative, and the physical power of the player. This complexity must be practiced.

13) Budget time and work. Schedule.

14) NEVER practice more than two hours at a time.

* Olga Samaroff appeared at Yale, Harvard, Columbia and many of America's finest universities. Her lectures were prepared with extreme care and delivered eloquently. With her eminent position as a virtuoso, a critic, an author, lecturer and organizer, Samaroff is perhaps best known for her distinguished career as a teacher. She was extremely dedicated to her students and would go to extraordinary lengths to provide for them the best, well-rounded education possible in preparation for a concert career. Samaroff died on May 17, 1948.
 
Her piano practicing instructions are timeless.

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A large study (see author's link below) published findings concerning perceptions of children and their mothers about music study.

In the study, about 80% of the children were reminded by their mothers to practice during the first month of learning, even though most of the students came to music lessons as eager, interested learners.

Nine months later, the mother's reminders had dropped to 48%. Oh, Mom! Who dropped the ball?

Obviously a child's initial interest and novelty of learning a new instrument quickly diminishes as the reality of learning sets in. Interviews during the study revealed that mother's reports of their child's practice and how often their child needed reminding showed that most children needed to be reminded by their mothers in order to practice regularly.

The study revealed that after the children began lessons, the mothers assessed two things:

1) Their child's ability to cope with practice.

2) Their own capacity to regulate the child's practice through continual reminders and encouragement.

Mothers responded three ways:

1) Some mothers continued to support practice even though the child's interest had decreased markedly.

2) Some mothers withdrew reminders based on their belief that if the child was really interested then they would practice anyway.

3) Some mothers were unwilling to invest the time and effort needed to regulate their child's practice.

Oh, Mom! Your reminders are so vital!

Most importantly, the study found that the mothers of the children who quit had given far less support in the beginning stages of their learning. In fact, many of the mothers whose children quit had unconsciously given up on their child through a lack of encouragement and reminders to practice long before the child became less interested in learning to play the instrument.

Conclusion: The quality of the mother's involvement was the most significant factor affecting whether the children continued or quit their lessons.

Adapted from research report
http://www.menc.org/connect/conf/imeps/symposium_McPherson.html

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You want to feel secure and free on stage. So practice hard, practice smart. To FEEL READY, practice a lot. As with anything, to do it well, hard work is key. Spend time to work on each detail.

When you sit and practice, try hard to clear your mind. It is very important to have a focused practice.

Thinking about your music when away from the piano is also beneficial. It can help you understand the music better. You can have the ideal performance in your head, then strive to bring those sounds out when you sit in front of your piano.

Reading all kinds of books is important because music is related to literature. By understanding the historical background of a certain genre or piece of music, we sometimes come to understand the meaning of music better. Music is not just an isolated art; all arts are related. Read for a broad knowledge because none of the arts stand by themselves alone.

When you become tired of practicing, remind yourself of the big picture: THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PRACTICING!
                    -- Adapted from "In Their Own Words," American Music Teacher, Feb/Mar 2007

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Experiencing live music is so important! Live music is to recordings as living flowers are to dried arrangements.

"Yes. Recordings are good -- make sense -- for capturing the artists that are gone -- Toscanini, Richter -- but live music is the real thing. There is communication between artist and audience."
                                                                                    -- Yefim Bronfman

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Kailee Cha Wins Highest Rating!

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NO!
The objective of your piano or voice lesson is not to read music accurately with perfect technique to produce a finished, perfect performance of each piece at every lesson. The objective of your lessons is to acquire a musical education, to shape your understanding of musical elements and syntax, and, yes, communicate these by means of eventual performance. During this process you also acquire life skills. You learn to work independently, solve problems, think critically, achieve poise, develop curiosity, and even to explore feelings. If you have the impression that your mandate at lessons is to prove you're finished with each piece, and that less than that or repeating pieces is equated to failure, get rid of that impression! Okay? Okay!

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I am honored that diverse musicians and other people with intelligent questions feel that they can come to me for answers. I am honored that you count on me to protect your confidentiality and anonymity. For this reason I am happy to broadcast your personal and private questions to the World Wide Web. Please feel free to ask me any further questions.

Q: Why should you never hit a famous composer?

A: Because he might hit you Bach.


Q: Why did Mozart give away all his chickens?

A: Because they kept saying, "Bach, Bach, Bach, Bach, Bach!"

Q: Is Beethoven still composing?

A: No, he's decomposing.

Q: How many choir directors does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Nobody knows, because nobody ever watches a choir director.

Q: How do you tell when there's a soprano at your door?

A: She can't find the key and doesn't know when to come in.

Q: What's the difference between a puppy and a piano player who doesn't want to practice?

A: Eventually the puppy stops whining.

Q: What would you get if Bach were reincarnated as twins?

A: Ree-Bachs.

Q: What sign did the conductor post on his office door?

A: Bach in a minuet.

Q: What other sign was posted on the conductor's office door?

A: Bach after lunch.

Q: What is a sextet?

A: I'd rather not say.

Q: What is a refrain in music?

A: That is the part you'd better not try to play.

Q: How would you describe a good singer?

A: When a singer sings, s/he stirs up the air and makes it hit any passing eardrums. If s/he is a good singer, s/he knows how to keep it from hurting.

Q: What is music sung by two people at the same time?

A: A duel.

Q: What is the problem with very young students who are small?

A: They can't reach the brake pedal on the piano.

MANY STUDENTS HAVE ASKED ME ABOUT THE MEANING OF MUSICAL TERMS AND I AM HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANSWERS:

Q: What is the correct musical term for a musical composition that is infernally slow?

A: AnDante.

Q: What is the correct musical term for a note that is held over and over and over?

A: Fermantra.

Q: What is the correct musical term for a series of notes played by a performer but not intended by the composer?

A: Approximatura.

Q: What is a vocal entrance that is somewhere in the vicinity of the correct pitch?

A: Approximento.

Q: What is the Coral Symphony?

A: Study the Beethoven-Caribbean period.

Q: What wind instrument plays only sour notes?

A: A dill Piccolo.


Q: What is a rest of indefinite length and dubious value?

A: Fermoota.

Q: Please tell me what a good conductor is.

A: It is a person who can give an electrifying performance.

Q: What is a mallade?

A: Something like a ballade, it's a romantic song that's pretty awful.

Q: What is it called when piano players rush straight to the ending of a piece?

A: Molto bolto.

Q: Please discuss Pre-Classical Conservatism.

A: It is a school of thought which fostered the idea, "If it ain't baroque, don't fix it."

Q: What is Lento?

A: The days leading up to Easto.

Q: Early in my piano literature you taught sharps and flats. But I've forgotten, what are flats?

A: English apartments.

Q: What exactly are time signatures?

A: Things for piano players to ignore.

Q: I love a beautiful melody. How is a melody defined?

A: Melody is an ancient, now almost extinct art in songwriting.

Q What does d.c. al capona mean?

A: You betta go back to the beginning, capiche?

Q: What is kvetchendo?

A: Gradually getting ANNOYINGLY louder.

Q: What does mucho caffinato mean?

A: To play loudly enough to wake up anyone sleeping in the house.

Q: My son is pianoramic, you said. What does it mean?

A: It means capable of playing in broad, sweeping musical performances.

Q: What does presto chango mean?

A: Quickly going from a very fast to a very slow tempo.

Q: What is a tempo tantrum?

A: It happens when the teacher says the piano player is not keeping time with the metronome.

Q: You've spent some blog time discussing metronomes. What is a metronome?

A: I would like to supply two answers:

#1: A short, city musician who can fit into a Honda Civic.

#2: Do you ever ride Metro buses? Well, I thought I was imagining things at first but seated behind the wheel on a pile of cushions was the smallest man I've ever seen. Couldn't be more than two feet fall. He was wearing a green uniform, a hat straight out of Robin Hood and a pair of curly-toed boots swinging proudly in the vicinity of the gas and brake pedals. The little man stared directly ahead and kept repeating the same word over and over, "Tock . . . tock . . . tock . . . " In spite of the cushions he could just barely see over the wheel. It was difficult to imagine him driving a bus, but there he was saying, "tock . . . tock . . . tock . . . "

So I deposited my fare and took a seat to observe this interesting driver. He never said a thing except "tock . . . tock . . . tock . . . "

I decided to call Metro to ask about the strange driver. They laughed and told me, "That's his job! He's a Metro-gnome!"

THIS CONCLUDES OUR QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION. I HOPE YOU ARE STILL SPEAKING TO ME! :-D

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SILENT MUSIC

My wife wears headphones as she plays
Chopin etudes in the winter light.
Singing random notes, she sways
in and out of shadow while night
settles. The keys she presses make a soft
clack, the bench creaks when her weight shifts,
golden cotton fabric ripples across
her shoulders, and the sustain pedal clicks.
This is the hidden melody I know
so well, her body finding the harmony in
the give and take of motion, her lyric
grace of gesture measured against a slow
fall of darkness. Now stillness descends
to signal the end of her silent music.

                                                      FLOYD SKLOOT

Reprinted from the "Prairie Schooner," Volume 80, Number 2 (Summer, 2006) by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Floyd Skloot's most recent book is "The End of Dreams," 2006, Louisiana State University Press.

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A starting practice tempo will range from 10 to 90 beats slower than the performance tempo, depending on what the performance tempo is. (Remember that the metronome numbers indicate beats per minute. A metronome set at 60 will click 60 times, or beats, in one minute.) For example, a slow piece to be performed at 63 might have a starting practice tempo of 50 or 52 (11-13 beats slower). However, for a fast piece to be performed at, say, 168, then starting practice at 80 would be appropriate (88 beats slower). Increase your practice tempo by conservative increments while you're still learning, and increase the increments when note-learning is coming along. It's good to press yourself with higher tempos, but there are no brownie points available for faster beats than you can play. How do you know the metronome is set too fast? Your notes go AWOL.

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WHO:  You!

WHAT:  A metronome! There are two main types: The older style pyramid-shaped pendulum type, and the hand-sized digital type. The visual of a pendulum sweeping back and forth is replaced in the digitals by a light blinking upon every beat. Thus, metronomes are both auditory and visual.

WHEN:

1. When your teacher recommends / directs / commands (choose one) you to. 
2. When you feel like it.
3. When you learn to know when you need it.

WHERE:  Your place (usually)!

WHY:  Metronome use is mostly common sense. They are a supplemental tool and I require all of my students to have one. The applications for a metronome are many.

1. To learn to hear and follow an externally-generated beat.
2. To establish the tempo of a piece.
3. To learn to maintain an accurate tempo, especially when learning a new piece.
4. To teach you to listen to yourself. Students must hear themselves before they can respond meaningfully to dynamics.
5. To help keep a steady beat when learning technique or scales.
6. To stop freight trains. That is, students tend to play the Reader's Digest version of things by practicing everything too fast, beginning a piece in a tempo so fast they are unable to maintain it, which multiplies errors to the 10th power.
7. The inverse to #6, to learn a consistent sense of rhythm since tougher passages require slowing down to get through them at all.
8. To provide objective evidence that you are actually making progress when faster tempos become possible. The metronome becomes an object of encouragement. 
9. To work out short passages with tricky rhythms.
10. To work with rubato. When the tempo fluctuates faster then slower, the original tempo is difficult to resume. The metronome brings it back.
11. This one is a paradox: To serve as a distraction for students playing pieces from memory. If the metronome is on, they must concentrate only on the piece.
12. To get it over with! It will be required in college, so learning it from the get-go reduces frustration from never having learned to use it.

HOW:

1. Learn what to do when you're "off." Some students understand they are supposed to play along with the metronome, and can tell when they're "on" and when they're "off," but they don't know what to do to fix it when they're off. Such students must be told that if you play earlier than the beat, it means you are too fast and need to slow down! Elementary, Watson, but not necessarily evident to every student. And that's okay.
2. Become fascinated with the tick so it comes thoroughly to your notice.
3. Consider each tick to be a quarter note. Play a single note over and over and over and over with the tick. Count one-one-one-one. Count one-two-three-four. Count one-two-three. One count for each tick.
4. Notice the pendulum or the blinking light that occur concurrently with the tick. This uses more of your senses so you remember more. (I can back this up with science.)
5. Monkey around with subdividing rhythm:

~ Consider the tick a whole note. Count one-two-three-four for each tick.

~ Consider the tick a half note. Count one-two for each tick.

~ Consider the tick to be quarter notes but play eighth notes. This is a little trickier and the clueless among us think eighth notes mean play faster or turn up the tempo on the metronome. No, it's time to apply your IQ. Set the metronome no faster than 80. The first eighth plays on the tick, the second eighth plays between the ticks. This lines up the eighths with the quarter note you're hearing. To help with this, slightly accent the first eighth played on the tick. Count ONE-and-TWO-and-THREE-and-FOUR-and.

~ Consider the tick to be triplets. Count TRI-ple-tee for each tick (or whatever syllables your teacher instructs), slightly accenting the first note of the triplet that occurs upon the tick.

~ Consider the tick to be quarter notes but play sixteenth notes as above.

ACCUSATIONS AGAINST METRONOMES!

It is only fair to accede there are allegations against metronome use. Some say you can't make music while a metronome ticks away because it deadens the ear; it desensitizes the ear to the real beauty of what you need to listen for in your playing. Some say that when we hear the same thing over and over, we get annoyed and when we are annoyed we usually stop listening. Some say it makes you play mechanically.

I respond that the metronome is a tool, and does not force you to play everything mechanistically or to explode with annoyance as if you were a helpless victim to a metronome!

ALTERNATIVES TO METRONOMES

There are alternative tools to a metronome in that they influence tempo, but all have limitations and are not an all-encompassing tool as is a simple metronome. These are important tools, but when discussing them in the context of metronomes, they leave me unmoved:

1. MIDI accompaniments are helpful because they can be played at any tempo.
2. If music is in iTunes, it can be slowed down using The Amazing Slowdowner or similar, saved in a file as a slowed-down version, imported back into iTunes, then played through the studio equipment.
3. There is ample software out there that slows down accompaniments on CDs, such as Slow Gold.
4. CDs that come with method books have a "practice tempo" and a "performance tempo."

WHEN NOT TO USE A METRONOME

For students who have not yet formed an internalized sense of rhythm, or cannot yet follow an external source of a beat, counting work should be substituted in other forms such as conducting to music as it plays, rhythmic body movement activities, singing in rhythm -- things done away from the piano. There is no shame in this.

In the meantime, mighty metronome, tick on!

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That's what postcards from the tropics say. I delare this to be a blog card from the rains.

I saw it for myself, I wish you could have been there, and you were invited! I refer to the MTNA State Performance Competitions at Highline Community College. I had various tasks over November 10, 11, 12 and heard performances up close and personal. It was a blast! And I was extremely impressed. If you closed your eyes and were not told otherwise, you would have thought the musicians you were hearing belonged to the symphony or a university.

Events included piano (50-some entrants, I think), voice, woodwind, violin, and chamber groups at the senior and junior levels. Next year I will compel as many of my students as possible to come hear some of it. It will make you want to practice like never before!

The MTNA Student Competitions consist of three levels: State competition, division competition and national finals. The purpose of these is to provide educational experiences and recognition for exceptional students and their teachers. The state competitions are considered the primary educational level, the division and national levels showcase outstanding performances and honor significant pedagogical achievement. (See below for an article featuring Charlie Albright, last year's state, division, and national competition winner, "Keyboard 'Wizard' Sweeps Competition.")

This year's winners are found at http://wsmta.net/2006_competition_results.html. Guess who won the Senior Piano competition? Yep. You guessed it. Charlie!

The winners in each category will continue to the Divisional Competition in Pocatello, Idaho January 12-14, 2007.

Pictured below are some of the Washington State Music Teacher's Association VIPs who staffed the event.








     Jani Peterson,
     Coordinator Extraordinaire
     of Everything and Everyone!


















Krista Seely, Volunteer Registrar, and Margee Webster, President,
Washington State Music Teachers Association.

                                                           


                                      "Steinway Guts"
Problems ramp up adrenaline, do they not? The Steinway used by the senior
division piano contestants had a low E continuing to resound after the key
was released. The tech addresses this between contestants.




The all-important results announcements.

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I have recently attended three excellent workshops/conferences:

RANDALL FABER
Lynnwood, August 29. Randall Faber conducted this awesome workshop for us to experience the newest Piano Adventures publications -- My First Piano Adventure series and Gold Star Performance by Nancy and Randall Faber. We were presented with fresh and innovative teaching tips and hands-on-the-very-books experimentation. IF YOU'RE IN THE FABER (FJH MUSIC) PIANO ADVENTURES BOOKS, PICTURED BELOW IS YOUR MENTOR!

2006 DISTRICT I & II WSMTA CONFERENCE
Marysville, October 14. A mini-retreat for studio teachers. Sessions directed to re-visiting and refreshing our personal artistry to nourish and develop our skills and talent amid busy schedules and teaching loads. An unusual workshop on Japanese music and its origins by Lisa-Maria d'Aquila of the Edmonds chapter; a "Make Your Work a Work of Art" class and a master class by Dr. Jody Graves, and break out groups under Kaycee Groom, District II Vice President, to brainstorm a relevant "dilemma" then present the solution to the whole group.

RECOGNIZING AND MANAGING PERFORMANCE ANXIETY
Lynnwood, October 28. Dr. Craig Sawchuk, clinical psychologist and assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UW School of Medicine, established an anxiety disorders specialty treatment program at the UW. Performance anxiety -- it's temporary, can serve to motivate peak musical performance, but can result in undesirable outcomes including -- Well, you know all about what it includes. Awful, isn't it? Very helpful workshop. 


                               Randall Faber

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~~  Avoid black and white thinking: "I don't have 45 minutes, I might as well forget it."

~~  Avoid perfectionistic thinking: "I can't fix this piece in 10 minutes. What point is there in trying?"

~~  Avoid permissive thinking: "If sight reading is only for five minutes, it must not be as important so I can omit it."

~~  Avoid blaming someone else: "I can't practice now because my brothers are making rude noises."

~~  Avoid deflecting blame: "It's not my fault I can't practice. I had to talk to that telemarketer."

~~  Avoid rationalization: "Soccer practice is over in an hour so everyone's coming home soon. Why practice now since I'll be interrupted?"

~~  Avoid dramatization: "Why bother to practice when I'm going to make an absolute fool of myself at the recital?"

~~  Avoid jumping to conclusions: "Mom obviously doesn't want me to practice because she's asking me to do chores."

~~  Avoid overgeneralization: "Why should I practice when everybody always walks by and bothers me?"


EVEN 10 MINUTES IS FRUITFUL.  GRAB IT!  DO IT!  GO FOR IT!

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You're not supposed to have to do, right? Well, sorta kinda, you are. There's a fine line between reminding ('Sweetie, don't forget to practice.') and nagging ('You practiced, right? You're going to practice? Why haven't you? Well, make sure you do.'). There's a relationship between nagging and demanding ('Son, I told you and told you to practice, now get in there and do it!'), and there's even a relationship between nagging and commanding ('You will practice now.'). Call it as you see it -- asking, ordering, instructing, directing, pleading, requesting, praying, entreating, bribing, any form of persuading -- nagging!

You see, nagging does not have to be a bad thing. It's a negative word, but we're talkin' music practice here and a lot is at stake. It is a misconception that a parent should not have to force their child to practice, or that a parent should not have to remind their child to practice. You do need to, and it is not about whether you 'should' have to or not. Students need reminding sometimes. Some students need reminding consistently. Some students need nagging! You know who you are! I have two words for you: 'Parenting styles.' 'Nuff said!

Complaining about practicing is normal. It is not a sign that the student should quit lessons. When a student complains about practice or doesn't practice without reminding/nagging, some parents interpret this to mean they don't love the piano enough. If they loved it they'd practice, wouldn't they? These are not necessarily related. Ask a school teacher how organized their students are. Organized students are a minority. So simply, some students are disorganized and need a parent to help them remain organized/nag them.

Now think of something cool you have learned. It was terribly hard, was it not? So you can confer compassion to your student, but since improvement requires hard work and great accomplishments don't come easily, keep on nagging if that's what it takes!

Students go through stages with their music study. Some months they love to play on and on and don't need nagging. Other times they're discouraged, uninterested, sick of it and it just feels too hard. They will go back and forth and there is nothing abnormal about this. Some parents give up during one of the negative stages and get tired of pleading/nagging. Take encouragement in knowing that teaching your student to remain committed through thick and thin is an important life lesson.

Remember for purposes of this writing 'nagging' is any form of persuading.

Nag on!

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Mario Ajero is a blogger who runs 'Mario Cast' -- Mario Ajero's Podcast' at http://www.marioajero.blogspot.com. He is a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma, working on his Ph.D. in Music Education with a concentration in Piano Pedagogy. (See 'Peda-goggy --- WHAT?!' below).

  Mario Ajero

On August 10, 2006 Mario wrote of his father, Melecio Ajero:

I'm going back home to New Jersey, but it's for a reason that I wish wouldn't come. According to my brothers, my dad suffered a stroke yesterday August 9 and passed away sometime around 11:30 p.m. He was supposed to celebrate his 73rd birthday on August 14. It hasn't really hit me yet, possibly because of the geographic distance between us. But I know when I see him for the first time in over a year and also for the last time in my life, the emotions might come pouring out and I might lose it.

My dad was really instrumental in shaping me to be the pianist that I am today. He would always push me so hard to practice when I was young, always checking on whether I practiced after he got back home from work or was just messing around. Unfortunately, it was usually messing around, so he'd sit there in the living room and watch me to make sure that I did practice piano. And if he didn't do that, then I probably wouldn't be where I am today.

I wish that I was able to actually tell him that . . . Dad was one of the toughest guys I ever knew. I hope that I can exhibit even just a little bit of that character in raising my family.

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For the record, I would like to express appreciation for the parents of beginners who attend lessons and oversee practice at home. I recognize that the parent and child love each other and I am being invited into that relationship. I do not take that honor lightly.

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For some parents, making sure their children study music has become as basic as making sure they master the three Rs. A new research study in Canada found that children who took keyboard or singing lessons for a year gained more points in year-end IQ tests than their peers who studied drama or took no extra-curricular lessons at all.

The Canadian kids were six years old. Skipping ahead some 12 years, College Board data from the 2002 SATs also show that music students scored more than 40 points higher on their math SATs, and they also scored higher on the verbal section.

Current information is less than conclusive, but it may help parents make an informed decision about striking the right note about music in the pursuit of that elusive academic edge for their kids. In the meantime, embrace music education on its own merits, for the joy of it. College prep and IQ points are bonuses!

Adapted from The Seattle Times, Nov. 27, 2005,                                                           Karin Lipson, Newsday

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You don't have to read notes or know music to do these!

* Encourage lots and lots of classical music listening. Listen with them! Borrow from the library, download from the internet, or borrow from the Tedrow Studio lending library.

* Arrange for or enable lots of singing.

* Find ways for participation in group music such as choirs, youth groups, and community productions.

* For very young students, consider Suzuki lessons on violin or piano, or programs like KinderMusic, Music Together, or Little Mozarts.

* Make sure your student's teacher does group lessons from time and time and has studio recitals.

* Enroll in city or community music programs during the summer.

* Look for music teachers who hold summer music camps. The Tedrow Studio will hold one August 2007.

* Attend live performances often. The Tedrow Studio web site lists gobs of events on the Student's Area page, many free.

* Attend recitals through your student's piano teacher's professional associations (MTNA, WSMTA, NFMC, PTG, NATS) even if your student did not enter the event, because students learn by observation and have a blast evaluating their peers' performances!

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As difficult as learning to play may be, the experience may help you or your child develop 'frustration tolerance,' which music educator Jessica Baron Turner discusses in her book, 'Your Musical Child: Inspiring Kids to Play and Sing for Keeps.' Turner describes this learned frustration tolerance as an essential life skill that enables people to deal with prolonged, challenging tasks and situations.

There is no end to the benefits of music lessons.


                                        Lydia Mata

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YES, THAT COULD BE YOU.

It was Charlie. That was the headline from the August 10 Centralia/Chehalis Chronicle after he won two first prizes at the prestigious New York Piano Competition in June.

Charlie Albright of Olympia, student of Washington State Music Teacher's Association teacher Nancy Adsit, performed twice at the WSMTA convention in Ocean Shores where I met him briefly. He is pictured on this web site. (Click on PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES on the News page) Let's see what he did next after winning in Washington and New York . . . He went on to win in every category of the Eastman School of Music's Young Artists International Piano Competition on August 3, competing against 21 students from the U.S., China, Russia, Korea, Thailand, and Canada. In addition to several cash prizes he won an annually renewable scholarship of $20,000 at the Eastman School of Music.

You don't have to be Charlie. But you have all the same opportunities Charlie had as a student of an MTNA teacher. Among them are opportunities to attend recognition and honors recitals in high-caliber settings where you can learn by observing performances of other students. Lessons educate you in the arts (music), but observing the greats like Charlie inspire you. Be encouraged! Work hard! YOU HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES!


                                       Charlie Albright

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Some are in the archives. Click on the months (above right) and peruse the article titles. Or click on "Index to Blog Articles" on the scrolling news ticker from the Home page, or click it from the News page.

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Paolo Diacono wrote a hymn to Saint John the Baptist (ca 720 - 799), the Latin words Ut queant laxis, resonare fibris, Mira gestorum, famuli tuorum, solve polluti, labii reatum, which translate to So that Your servants may sing at the top of their voices the wonders of Your Acts, and absolve the fault from their stained lips.

1. UT - Queant Laxis
2. RE - Sonare Fibris
3. MI - Ra Gestorum
4. FA - Muli Tuorum
5. SOL - Ve Polluti
6. LA - 0 Biireatum

Using the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la as names for the six tones, C to A, an Italian monk named Guido d'Arezzo (990-1050) created the system of Solmization, a system of using syllables, especially sol-fa like syllables, to represent the tones of the scale (known as the Guido System). Later in history Ut was replaced by the more easily singable Do, and another syllable, si or ti, was added at the end, giving the scale of seven syllables called do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti, which forms the present basic system of singing names for the tones of the scale. The syllable sol was later shortened to so, making all of the syllables uniform in spelling and all ending with a vowel. This allowed for ease of remembering for faster learning and making it easy to do 'sight singing', or being able to instantly sing new music in tune from reproduced standardized sheet music.

Titled Ut Queant Laxis Resonare Fibris (Hymn), you can hear this chant at this site: http://www.solfasound.org/Basic%20Course.htm. Look for it about halfway down the page.

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Lots of good reasons. Here are a few:

1. It teaches students to build skills in appropriate bits at comprehensible levels that will build their understanding of advanced works.

2. Classical music is a springboard into everything else. For example, rock and jazz emerged from classical music. Children's songs have classical themes through some of them. Mozart wrote the melody to what became Twinkle, Twinkle little Star!

3. Technique is better because of classical study since it must be practiced more precisely for classical music. In other forms of music, specific techniques may not be used often, if at all.

4. Dynamics develop during classical training because it teaches students to watch for expressive elements that are nearly absent in most other forms of music.

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It's easy to get the impression that the instructor meets with your student for a certain number of minutes and that's about it. Seems like a lot of money to spend for just that, doesn't it? But in fact, tuition covers far more:

ONE-ON-ONE TIME WITH YOUR STUDENT
Lessons, group lessons, performance classes, master classes.

TIME PREPARING FOR YOUR STUDENT
Planning and developing curriculum to ensure a balance of theory, technique, computer technology, sight playing or sight singing, ear training, composition, accompanying, repertoire and performance. Personal music library research, online research, driving to music stores. Bookkeeping and clerical tasks. Web site development. For every hour of student lesson time, teachers invest approximately two hours.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS
These raise the level of teaching skills and are the main source of performance events such as festivals, adjudications and competitions, monster concerts, Bach festivals, piano olympics, etc.

RECITAL PREPARATION
Planning programs, scheduling rehearsals, renting the venue, planning refreshments, purchasing awards, pulling hair, etc.

TEACHER'S EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
These are worth money in the high six figures at the least.

PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS
Information to keep the teacher current in new trends and technology.

TECHNOLOGY TRAINING
It takes hours upon hours to become proficient with each of the many forms of computer music technology and software that brings considerable benefit to students.

CONTINUING EDUCATION
Classes, seminars, conventions, publisher's events, and lessons that keep the teacher current in pedagogy (the strategies, techniques, and approaches teachers can use to facilitate learning) and techniques.

STUDIO EXPENSES
Copying, office supplies, special program costs, software, instruments, repairs and maintenance, and acquisition of new or better technology.

ONLINE MUSIC TEACHER COMMUNITY FORUMS
Time spent in discussion, Q and A, and helpful information raises the level of teaching skill.

BOOK AND MUSIC CLUB MEMBERSHIPS
These keep the teacher current on pedagogy, trends, and technology, and provide items for the Listening Library.

MUSIC BOOKS AND CDs
For the teacher to keep current on his/her own practice requirements, because a teacher who is always learning is a better teacher.

SELF-EMPLOYMENT TAXES, PROPERTY TAXES, INSURANCE
Tuition helps cover the cost of living and may reflect rising costs of living.

BUSINESS LICENSES
The Tedrow Studio holds two licenses as required by law.

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YES! Because parents/students tend to think in terms of the cost of tuition and forget the rest.

NO! Because the 'hidden' costs are out in the open.

There are five cost components. Let's look:

1. COST OF THE INSTRUMENT.

(Duh?)

2. COST OF MUSIC AND MATERIALS.

More and more often music books are accompanied by a CD (a tool I love!) and the cost of the books reflect that. I can usually get music for you and save you time and hassle hunting for and ordering music yourself. These days more and more pieces are downloadable from the Internet, some even free, saving you the cost of buying a book only to use one or two pieces from it. I'm becoming an expert at tracking down music on the Internet! I do respect copyright law and therefore don't provide copies from my personal music library to students unless it's public domain, 'fair use,' or permission is obtained from the publisher.

3. COST OF ACCESSORIES.

Metronomes and spiral notebooks are required. A special music book bag is recommended. Sometimes a portable CD player needs to be acquired.

4. COST OF MUSICAL EVENTS.

Festivals, competitions and musical events are an exciting part of music study and they often have entry fees. If I recommend participation I let you know the cost ahead of time. Entry fees are low and worth every dollar.

5. TUITION PAID TO THE TEACHER.

Thank you! I spend hours outside of lesson times planning, scheduling, researching and working with resources and technology.

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They let you feel smug. :-) And other great ways to feel. Let's look at how and why.

What's the attitude about scales? Lots of students are indifferent -- neither good nor bad, just something they're stuck with doing. WRONGGG! Indifference is the wrong attitude. Some students consider them bad. WRONGGG! These students are just ignorant and haven't yet made the delicious discoveries that come from working on scales. Lots of students obediently carry out scales in a mousy, messy way with a slumped posture. WRONGGG! Other students don't really practice and try to fake it at their lesson -- OH, BROTHER!

Remember we're talking about attitude. It never works in life to say to someone, 'You have the wrong attitude.' But most of these students are inadvertently and ignorantly taking away from themselves a lot of pleasure above and beyond the pedagogical reasons for doing scales. That is not smart. You know that, I know that, so we can let them figure it out and make it so obvious they can't miss it. Because they really want to look smart.

Okay, how?

One of the things I especially encourage is what I call takin' a 'tude. If other than a beginner who doesn't have the hang yet, I love to demonstrate takin' the 'tude. I stride up to the piano assertively, stretch large, pull out the bench and sit with awareness and verve. I stretch some more as though I am about to do something crucial and electrifying, which I am. In this demo for students, I love to start dramatically with the key of C beginning at the very top coming all the way down, all the way up again, then a glissando all the way down again, add in some 'Ah! Yesss! Oh, yesss!' here and there, then launch into cadences and arpeggios and whatnot because we are having such a good time. I make a big deal out of the energy, and I persuade them to do their scales the same way at their own pianos, though they'll be playing different scales, different number of octaves, etc.

By this time we're always laughing and all the WRONGGG attitudes in the former paragraph melt because they have seen something new. We try to make it their new paradigm and I stay on them about it. I've even had them stride in the door at their lesson like they own the place, mimic my demo, pause over the keyboard importantly, then launch into scales! And we laugh.

Here's something quite successful: Some students spend lots of time yakking on the phone. I pick up the phone, begin some fake yakking, and all the while I'm doing one-handed scales. Kinda mindlessly, just training the muscles in the hand to recognize their movements as I yak on. I show doing partial scales over and over. Like just one or two notes past a finger pass, over and over, then add another note, then another, etc.

Then I put the phone on the other ear, change hands, keep up the fake yakking, and work partial scales as above. This works particularly well for students who have digital pianos and can do this repetitive muscle-memory stuff without making noise by leaving it turned off.
 
The working-while-yakking technique also works well for practicing one skill in a piece, one tricky place, one something relevant while yakking. It is hilarious when I pretend to yak! But really, so many students excruciatingly play a scale until somehow it is miraculously eeked out. I like to have them work on the finger passes over and over until they're smooth as chocolate, then add another note or two at a time, elongating the chocolate indefinitely.

There are also the unbearably awful scales that, when played hands together, fall apart. I have the students notice which key their fourth finger is going to land on for each hand. Since most people are right handed, once they have a confident, identified place for the fourth finger of the left hand to land on for each octave, the right hand usually obliges and the whole scale tends to fall into place. If it doesn't, checking the place for both fourth fingers usually works out the problem.

Except for beginners, there is a great way to show them what an advantage they're giving themselves by knowing the scales. I often do this with transfer students at their interviews. I open at random the books they have brought to show me, and it's very easy to find partial scale passages among the pieces that, if they already knew the scales, will fall right into place when they get to the piece. I do a short demo of a scale, then the partial scale in a small context in the piece. This impresses and encourages them. (And their parents!)

I make much of the scales, but what I make the most of is takin' the 'tude until the scales just FEEL GOOD and are as REWARDING AS CHOCOLATE! Then a 'RAH!!!' from me upon their doing a confident scale at a lesson becomes something they desire and work for.

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That is the question my husband has posed about the last item in which I said scales are fun, feel good, and should be as smooth as chocolate. I can only reply the truth: He is the nut! Wouldn't you agree?


                                   Mrs. T's dh, Randy.

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Today's Seattle Times contains an article, 'Distraction Study: Multitasking? Why it's likely to impair the way you learn,' from a Kaiser Family Foundation study published in the Monday Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It has two especially interesting implications for music students. The article is about studying. ('Your parents were right: Don't study with the TV on.')
 
What has now been learned about distractions can have a significant effect on practicing. 'What's new,' says Russell Poldrack, associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, 'is that even if you can learn while distracted, it changes how you learn to make it less efficient and useful.'

Poldrack explains the brain learns in two different ways. One, called declarative learning, deals with learning active facts that can be recalled and used with great flexibility. The second is called habit learning.

For instance, in learning a phone number you can simply memorize it, using declarative learning, and then recall it when needed. A second way to learn it is by habit. 'Punch it in 1,000 times; then even if you don't remember it consciously, you can go to the phone and punch it in.'
 
'Memorizing is a lot more useful,' he pointed out. 'If you use the habit system, you have to be at a phone to re-create the movements.'

The problem is that the two types of learning seem to be competing with each other, and when someone is distracted, habit learning seems to take over from declarative learning.

Now think music practice: When trying to learn new concepts and new information, distractions are bad. They're going to impair your ability to learn. So, all that stuff going on around you when you're practicing? Find a way to eliminate it or practice at a different time because it's going to impair your ability to learn.

The second interesting implication for music students is the flip side of the coin. Remember, the article is about studying. The finding is that a silent study environment is not essential because music can help in learning since it can make the individual happier. So of all the distractions in the world, only the one you're causing can enhance someone else's study. Next time you get a dirty look from a sibling who is supposedly doing homework while you're practicing, tell them this! "I know what I'm playing is making you happy!" ;-)

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Because I said so, that's why. (I couldn't resist, and it was fun to say! You've got to watch that Mrs. T!)

WHY SCALES?

1. A scale reduces 88 keys to seven. Five keys are eliminated in each octave: There are 12 chromatic tones in a scale, minus five, leaving seven diatonic scale steps, and each of the seven tones retains its meaning regardless of octave. You could visualize it as a scale in C Major with the five black keys removed. That leaves seven. Only seven! In a row, no less! You already handle seven!
   
   So, for example, if playing the Pachelbel Canon in D, you can ignore one third of the keys on the keyboard and visualize a simple thread of the D major scale interleaved through seven tones per octave, across the whole keyboard.

2. Security, predictability, and confidence! In the Canon in D example, attention is limited to this D major thread. Observe that this confidence leads to an improved self-image.

3. They're fun! (Yes, they are!) (Not having fun yet? You will!)
   
   

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Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS, a nationally standardized test) math scores of eighth graders who had received music instruction were compared according to whether the students were given private lessons. Comparisons also were made between students whose lessons were on the keyboard versus other music lessons. Analyses indicated that students who had private lessons for two or more years performed significantly better on the composite mathematics portion of the ITBS than did students who did not have private lessons. In addition, students who received lessons on the keyboard had significantly higher ITBS mathematics scores than did students whose lessons did not involve the keyboard.

From Music Training And Mathematics Achievement
Adolescence, Winter, 1999 by Joyce M. Cheek, Lyle R. Smith

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A MIXED BAG, THREE THINGS IN IT:

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

There are lots of things to enjoy at a concert, lots of things to pay attention to. Remember what your job is? To be affected by the music. But you can be affected by what appeals to you, or by whatever grabs your interest. Here some choices for what to listen to. Choose whatever you like, switch as often as you want, add to the list.

Moods and feelings
Loudness and softness
Different speeds
Instrument sounds
Melodies
Rhythms
Changes and transformations
Beautiful performing
Excitement
Triggered memories
Visual images

A concert is also for the eyes. Watch the players, see and feel their energy and intensity. Watch their body movements as they make their instruments sound in different ways. Watch as the music moves from one player, or group of players, to another. Watch what the musicians do while their parts are at rest. Watch the way the conductor controls events, or how he or she gives control to the musicians.

BOREDOM?

Don't worry. It happens to everyone sometimes. Sometimes you don't connect to the music. That's okay. Just let your attention be captured by one of the many ways of enjoying the music. See above.

Remember your job! Your job is to be affected, not to like everything.

EVALUATING THE CONCERT, DISPENSING WITH SNOBS!

Human beings instinctively evaluate their experiences. Some music critics give the impression that the listener's job is to pass judgment on the performance. Instead of asking yourself, 'How good was it?' ask 'What happened?'

SNOBS MAY LURK NEARBY

There are snobs in every field. Baseball snobs try to make you feel bad if you don't know Ty Cobb's lifetime batting average or Willie Mays' hat size. Computer snobs try to make you feel bad if you don't know a ROM from a RAM.

Classical music snobs are some of the snobbiest snobs of all. They try to make you feel bad by showing off their knowledge and proclaiming their opinions. Sometimes their snobbery masquerades as helpfulness, but snobs have a way of making you ashamed of your ignorance.

Nobody should feel ashamed of ignorance. If a classical music snob tries to shame you at a concert, don't take it personally. They're just showing off and may be unaware that they are making you feel small in order to make themselves feel big. Humor them; they will love you.

Classical music has a reputation for snobbery, but, in fact, the audience is full of wonderful people who are not snobs, people like you, people who come to enjoy the beauty of the music as you did.

-- Adapted from Education by John Steinmetz

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HOW TO NOT EMBARRASS YOURSELF AT A CONCERT!

It's common sense: Be quiet! The music needs silence, the audience contributes it. The musicians and the audience need silence to concentrate on the music. Therefore, several noise factors emerge:

* Don't you dare have your cell phone on! Or anything else digital!

* Don't unwrap candy or lozenges

* Don't get up and move around

* Don't talk

* Don't whisper

* Don't dig in purse or pockets

* Don't nod off or snore

* Don't bring babies or children too young to know how to behave at a concert

* Don't 'Shhh!' somebody else even if they need it, unless it's your kid, then do it silently

* Don't sneeze and cough. If you must, do so into your elbow at lap level (your own lap)

* Don't do anything distracting at all!

* Don't take pictures or video. In most places it's illegal. If it's not illegal, it's against the rules. If it's not against the rules, it's rude.

Sound strict? Not really. Some of these can be done during the applause, which covers your noise and movement. (Do not leave your seat.) Which brings us to our next consideration . . .

WHEN TO APPLAUD AT A CLASSICAL CONCERT

At most types of concerts people applaud when the music stops. In classical music you wait until the very end of a piece. In classical music, one piece may have several endings within it, several changes of mood. So how do you tell when a piece is really over? When in doubt, applaud when others do!

Classical Concert Rituals and Applause

Concert rituals have developed over hundreds of years, in different countries, and date back to societies very different from ours.

The leader of the orchestra's violin section is called the concertmaster. Often the concertmaster stays backstage until the rest of the orchestra is ready to begin. Then the concertmaster comes onstage and takes a bow as the audience applauds. The concertmaster turns to the orchestra, a tuning note is sounded, and the musicians tune their instruments. The audience remains quiet during tuning.

Next the conductor comes onstage and the audience applauds. The conductor may invite the orchestra to stand to share in the applause; the conductor may shake hands with the concertmaster.

As the players sit back down, the conductor turns toward them (away from the audience), and begins the music. When the whole piece is over and the audience applauds, the conductor turns toward the audience to accept the applause.

Then the conductor leaves the stage. As long as the applause keeps going, the conductor will keep coming back onto the stage to bow and receive the applause. He or she may ask the orchestra or individual players to stand to share in the applause.

Eventually the conductor will come onstage again to lead the next piece. If there is a featured soloist, he or she will walk onstage with the conductor. The conductor may stay somewhat in the background during the applause, allowing the soloist to be the focus of the audience's attention.

In chamber music ritual there is usually no conductor, so the musicians do all the bowing and walking in and out.

Rituals of Opera and Ballet and Applause

The orchestra for opera and ballet is usually in the orchestra pit in front of the stage. The concertmaster doesn't usually make a special entrance. After the orchestra has tuned, the audience applauds the arrival of the conductor.

In some situations the audience applauds whenever they like something. They may applaud the lights dimming, the curtain opening, the first appearance of a major star, an impressive dance move, a lovely song, or a beautifully-designed backdrop. But it's not like this at every ballet and opera. If you're not sure, just follow the rest of the audience.

Opera and ballet have some quirky rituals. The most surprising ritual is that the story may be interrupted without warning for taking bows during applause. The performers may break character to accept the applause, or they may freeze while the audience applauds, then return to the action.

Intermission

Most classical concerts have an intermission in the middle, a chance for performers and audience to take a break. In an opera or ballet, the main performers often come through the curtain to take a bow. The musicians leave the stage; you may leave your seat.

Standing Ovations, Shouting, Whistling, etc.

Audiences show extra enthusiasm by standing while applauding. You may shout 'bravo!' if you like. (To be politically and grammatically correct, shout 'brava!' for a female performer, and 'bravi!' [BRAH-vee] for a group.)

Musicians love it when the audience gets excited and makes a big racket at applause time, whether shouting the correct word, or "Yeah!" or whistling, or hey -- a teen scream.

One last article to come, a mixed bag: How to experience the concert, boredom, and evaluating the concert with no snobs allowed!

-- Adapted from Education by John Steinmetz

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A rule of thumb: Wear what you would wear to a business meeting or, better yet, to a wedding. Something festive! To get more specific wardrobe advice, ask around or call the organization and ask what people tend to wear.

Part 7 is your friend: Concert manners so you won't accidentally do something dippy and embarrass yourself.

-- Adapted from Education by John Steinmetz

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Sections of the Theater

The Orchestra. The main floor of the theater is called the Orchestra. (This can be confusing if you're going to an orchestra concert and your seat is in the Orchestra. This does not mean you'll be seated onstage with an instrument in your hands!)

Balconies. In some theaters the balconies have special names like Loge (pronounced LO-zh), or Founders' Circle, or Dress Circle. Sometimes the front part of a balcony has one name, and the back part another. The names and what they mean are different in every theater.

Boxes. Boxes are small booths for a few people, usually located in one of the lower balconies, and may have extra privacy. Not all theaters have them.

Standing room. In some theaters you can buy a cheaper ticket that entitles you to stand in the back behind the last row of seats.

Special seating. Occasionally, extra chairs are set up on the stage surrounding the musicians. Some concert halls are designed with this kind of wrap-around audience in mind; they have permanent seating behind the musicians.

Visual obstructions. Some theaters have a few seats with only a partial view of the stage. Maybe there's a handrail or pillar in the way, or maybe the architect was a nut case. Visually obstructed seats are sometimes extra cheap.

What seat exactly?

Everyone's taste is different. Do you like to sit close enough to examine musicians' shoes? Do you like the middle where the sound is blended together? Do you like to get the big picture from the back? Do you like to be in the top balcony looking down on everyone? In some concert halls the cheap seats have the best sound because the music floats straight up to the balcony. Ask the ticket seller's advice; sometimes they'll have a good suggestion for you.
 

In Part 6 is the crucial question you've all been pining to hear: What to wear!

-- Adapted from Education by John Steinmetz

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Types of Classical Concerts

A Recital usually shows off one or more musicians, either a pianist, or musicians accompanied by a pianist.

Chamber Music is a small group of musicians usually performing without a conductor. These may be string quartets (two violins, viola, and cello), piano trios (piano with violin and cello), wind groups, vocal groups, percussion groups, or mixed groups. Some chamber music concerts include a few different combinations of players and/or singers.

A Chamber Orchestra is a small-sized orchestra, from ten to forty players, usually led by a conductor. Some use only string instruments, some include other instruments.

A Symphony Orchestra (or Philharmonic Orchestra) is a large orchestra. It may have eighty or more players and all instrument families: strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and often harp and piano. An orchestra of this size has a conductor, will usually feature a guest artist to play or sing with the orchestra, and sometimes a chorus is added.

Choral Music has a glorious variety. Some is sung a capella (without accompaniment), some accompanied by piano, by groups of instruments, or by an entire orchestra. Choirs range in size from chamber music groups of three or four to huge choirs of more than a hundred people.

Opera and Dance have visual and theatrical elements with the music. The music might be played by a full orchestra, or it might be played by a smaller group, by a piano, or by a pre-recorded tape.

Children's Concerts and Family Concerts are designed to be fun for children, are shorter, and often happen during the day. Usually the conductor or an emcee talks about the music.

Pops Concerts feature lighter classics and popular music. Sometimes a pop music celebrity is a guest artist.

Some performers use Period Instruments. Musical instruments and styles, like everything else, keep changing. Period-instrument groups perform using the kinds of instruments and the techniques of playing and singing that were in use when the composer wrote the music.

Where to sit? See Part 5!

-- Adapted from Education by John Steinmetz

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Listening to live music is one of the most pleasurable experiences available to us. The music sounds wonderful, feels wonderful, and we get to watch the musicians create it. I would like to focus on classical music, a tradition which originated when all music was live music. It was played by live human beings for other live human beings, with everybody together in the same room. When heard in this way, classical music has a special excitement.

Hearing classical music in a concert can leave you feeling refreshed and energized. It can be fun. It can be romantic. It can be spiritual. It can also scare you!

Classical music concerts can seem like snobby affairs full of foreign terms and behavior. It can be hard to understand what's going on. It can be hard to know how to act. In some ways a concert is like a ballgame. Concerts and ballgames have their rules of behavior and their rituals, and both can be baffling if you don't know what's going on. (I'm still trying to figure out how it is that, in the middle of a baseball game, when everybody is talking and eating and throwing trash all over the place and nobody is watching the game, all of a sudden everybody except me knows to leap to their feet and roar. And BTW, don't throw stuff on the floor at a classical music concert! Have some class!)

If you haven't been to a live classical concert before, or if you've been baffled by classical music, I would like to explain the rigmarole so you can relax and enjoy the music.

In Part 2, you have a pleasant job to do!  

So how long does a concert last?

Concerts come in different sizes, but most last between 90 minutes and two hours. This includes an intermission -- you won't be sitting there listening the whole time.

Noontime concerts can be as short as 45 minutes, and children's concerts are short, too. Some concerts last longer than two hours, as do some ballet and opera performances. Sometimes there is more than one intermission. Marathon concerts, celebrating a single composer or some other unifying idea, can last for many hours, sometimes continuing all night long.

What is a classical concert anyway? Part 4 is coming right up! 

-- Adapted from Education by John Steinmetz

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WHAT YOUR JOB IS

Classical music concerts can seem intimidating. It seems like you're supposed to know stuff. What if you don't understand the music? What if you don't "get it?"

Here's your job: Just listen and let the music affect you.

There's no right way to listen, no correct experience to have, there is no one thing to "get." Understanding is not required. It is not your job be an expert on music.

Listen and let the music affect you. That's it. That's all. Now, that's not so intimidating, is it?

Because you are unique your collection of experiences is unique, so the music will affect you differently than it will anyone else. It may affect your emotions, thoughts, spirit, or body. Music is meant to trigger reactions, invite reflection, awaken feelings, activate memories, and touch your heart. So just let yourself be affected.

A wonderful and mysterious thing about live concerts is that everyone is affected together. Everyone onstage and everyone in the audience shares in a corporate experience, each of us in our unique way.

So what exactly are you in for? Hang on for Part 3. 

By giving your child piano lessons you are likely putting them ahead of their peers in certain types of learning and reasoning.

Consider the latest body of research into music and intelligence which includes the active realm of music-making. Gordon Shaw (who died last month) was president of the Music Intelligence Neuronal Development Institute, and his brain research used 'music as a window into higher brain function.' Results show music enhances spatial-temporal reasoning and learning math, and is of scientific and educational relevance.

One of his studies, published in a landmark report in the March '99 issue of Neurological Research was based on tests done with 135 second-grade students at 95th Street School in Los Angeles. The research demonstrated that children given four months of piano keyboard training, as well as time playing with newly-designed learning software, scored 27 percent higher on proportional math and fraction tests than other children who had not received keyboard training.

'Piano instruction is thought to enhance the brain's 'hard-wiring' for spatial-temporal reasoning,' said Shaw. (Spatial-temporal reasoning is the ability to visualize ratios, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and time.)

He (with a colleague) also discovered what he called "The Mozart Effect," a phenomenon in which college students scored higher on spatial-temporal reasoning after listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major.

Shaw's findings are significant because a grasp of proportional math and fractions is a prerequisite to math at higher levels, and children who do not master these areas cannot understand more advanced math critical to high-tech fields.

As a parent, you can be proud of yourself for giving this valuable gift to your child.

PUTTING THE RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE!

How can you benefit from the wealth of research on playing music and increased brain activity?

First, ditch some old-fashioned ideas and icky memories. Here's the stereotype: Playing boring exercises all by yourself for what seemed like a long time while your friends were out having fun. If you didn't hate it, you at least didn't like it, and you didn't look forward to practicing or learning.

Second, since it is now known music helps make children smarter, music education embraces new technologies, computers, tools and techniques, and new teaching methodologies make learning music fun and exciting. This environment puts the research done on the benefits of playing music and intelligence into practice. There is still no substitute for regular practice and plain hard work, but it is not the same as it was when baby boomers were growing up. You don't have to be in Kansas anymore.

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What was the 'K' for in the names of Mozart's compositions, including his first composition, Minuet in G K.1, a replica of which is below? I could not find the answer! Therefore I asked the professionals on a list I am fortunate to belong to, and one of them had the answer right away.

The 'K' represents the catalog number assigned by a man by the name Kochel.

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Minuet in G K.1, written December 1761. He was born in 1756 so he wrote this when he was only five years old! How cool is that?



(You thought your music was hard to read?)

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It does not take talent to understand how to match lines and spaces to keys on the keyboard. It does not take talent to count a quarter note "one" and a half note "one-two." It does not take talent to play some notes loudly, some softly. You don't need talent to learn to play. THIS MEANS YOU!

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De Amor heridos (Wounded by Love), Mexican folksong

Pastoral Song, Eastern Inner Mongolian folksong

Ngana, contemporary (extremely) Australian choral work by Stephen Leek

El grito (The Scream) by Finish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara

Slovak folksongs by Hungarian Bela Bartok

Jabula Jesu, African folksong

The Bellevue Chamber Chorus was founded in 1984, and is a non-profit organization consisting of about 30 professional and avocational musicians of diverse backgrounds, performing music of various styles from all musical periods. [A favorite chocolate bar goes to my first student who explains to me the definition of 'avocational.' I'll take email responses first, at-lesson responses second.]

What IS a chamber chorus, you ask? (What? You weren't curious? Horrors!)

A chorus is a large group of singers performing in concert. How is this different than a choir? (You're more curious now, I take it?) 'Chorus' and 'choir' are often used synonymously, but 'choir' is more often a group singing liturgical music, or singing in a church.

What is chamber music? (By now you can hardly wait to find out?) Chamber music compositions are frequently heard in public, usually in halls much smaller than those used for orchestral concerts. The more intimate acoustics of a smaller space, imitating the drawing rooms in which such music was originally played, are more suitable for a smaller group. Chamber music is most often associated with an instrumental ensemble, but can be vocal.

I am not going to define 'Bellevue!'

Coming full circle to the Bellevue Chamber Chorus -- While the repertoire is not suitable for beginners, there are some pieces within the technical and artistic capabilities of serious amateurs. That is why it is comprised of professional and avocational musicians. And that is partly why the group has performed at Carnegie hall and many other prestigious national and international venues, and is honored and active in community activities.

My husband, Randy, attended the concert with me. He had no previous frame of reference for what a chamber chorus would be like, and he was extremely impressed. You would have been, too.

Next time, shall we? :-D

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Does not mean silence.
The absence of moon in the dark sky
for example.
Does not mean barely to speak,
the way a child's whisper
makes only warm air
on his mother's right ear.
To play pianissimo
is to carry sweet words
to the old woman in the last dark row
who cannot hear anything else,
and to lay them across her lap like a shawl.
                                -- Lola Haskins

From Desire Lines: New and Selected Poems, BOA Editions, Rochester, NY, 2004. Published in the Seattle Times, "American Life in Poetry." Ms. Haskins has written a number of poems about musical terms, titled "Adagio," "Allegrissimo," "Staccato," and others.

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Being up close and personal to a harp and master harpist was fascinating and exciting! I did not realize a harp has seven pedals. Each pedal raises the pitch one-half step. Mr. Journey himself has a sense of humor. Someone asked him how heavy his harp was. He said, "It's pretty light," he hefted it with one hand, then said, "About 500 pounds." That was a good laugh! It's actually 85 pounds. Then he asked, "How are a harp and an elderly person similar?" No one ventured a reply. He said, "They're both hard to get in and out of cars!"

The harp was beautiful with gold inlays on the column and other detailed work. I wish I'd thought to bring a camera because the beauty of it would impress you.

Bronn Journey is coming to the Auburn Performing Arts Center December 16 for a Christmas concert. I'll remind everyone before that time. Don't miss him a second time!

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Reconsider the matter of missed lessons and make-up lessons . . . 

FROM AN ECONOMIST'S POINT OF VIEW
          By Vicky Barham, Ph. D.

I'm a parent of children enrolled in Suzuki music lessons. I'd like to explain to other parents why I feel - quite strongly, actually - that it is unreasonable of we parents to expect our music teachers to make up lessons we miss, even if I know as well as they do just how expensive lessons are, and, equally importantly, how important that weekly contact is with the teacher to keeping practicing ticking along smoothly. I think that it is natural for we parents to share the point of view that students should have their missed lessons rescheduled, but if we were to 'walk a mile' in our teachers' shoes, we might change our minds about what it is reasonable for us to expect of our teachers.

Like many parents, I pay in advance for lessons each term. In my mind, what this means is that I have reserved a regular spot in the busy schedules of my sons' teachers. I understand - fully - that if I can't make it to the lesson one week (perhaps my son is sick, or we are away on holiday, or there is some other major event at school) then we will pay for the lesson, but that my teacher is under no obligation to find another spot for me that week, or to refund me for the untaught lesson. And this is the way it should be.

In my 'other life' I am an economist and teach at our local university. Students pay good money to attend classes at the university; but if they don't come to my lecture on a Monday morning, then I am not going to turn around and deliver them a private tutorial on Tuesday afternoon.  When I go to the store and buy groceries, I may purchase something that doesn't get used.  Days or months later, I end up throwing it out. I don't get a refund from the grocery store for the unused merchandise.  If I sign my child up for swimming lessons at the local pool, and s/he refuses to return after the first lesson, I can't get my money back.  So there are lots of situations in our everyday lives where we regularly pay in advance for goods or some service, and if we end up not using what we have purchased, we have to just 'swallow our losses'.  On the other hand, if I purchase an item of clothing, and get home and change my mind, I can take it back and expect either a refund or a store credit.

So why do I believe that music lessons fall into the first category of 'non-returnable merchandise', rather than into the second case of 'exchange privileges unlimited' (which I think is one of the advertising slogans of an established women's clothing store!)? Speaking now as an
economist, I would claim that the reason is that items like clothing are "durable goods' - meaning, they can be returned and then resold at the original price - whereas music lessons are non-durable goods - meaning, once my Monday slot at 3:30 is gone, my son's teacher can't turn around and sell it again. The only way she would be able to give him a lesson later in the week would be if she were to give up time that she had scheduled for her own private life; and that seems pretty unreasonable - I can't think of many employees who would be thrilled if their bosses were to announce that they couldn't work from 3:30 to 4:30 this afternoon, but would they please stay until 6:30 on Thursday, because there will be work for them then!

Many teachers hesitate to refuse our request to shift lesson times (because our busy schedules do change), because unless they keep us parents happy, we will decide to take our child somewhere else for lessons (or to drop musical study), and they will lose part of their income. This is particularly true in areas with lower average income, where it can be particularly difficult to find students. So rather than telling us that 'well, actually, the only time when I'm not teaching and that you can bring your son for lesson is during the time I set aside each week to go for a long soul-cleansing walk, and I can't do that on Monday at 3:30 when you should have turned up,' they agree to teach us at a time that really doesn't suit their schedule. Teachers who are 'nice' in this way often, in the long run, end up exhausted, and feeling exploited; they try to draw a line in the sand.  However,  too few parents ask to switch only when absolutely necessary, and too many parents want lesson times when it suits them this week, which is not the same time that suited last week.  The only time that I would feel entitled to discuss shifting a lesson time is if the reason I can't make the lesson is because (i) I have to do something for the Suzuki school and the only time at which that other event can happen is during my lesson time; (ii) my teacher were to ask us to participate in some other activity (e.g., orchestra, etc.) and that other activity were to create the conflict. If the conflict arises because my child is in the school play, and they have
their dress-rehearsal during his lesson time, then I feel that I must choose between the two activities, and if he attends the dress rehearsal my private lesson teacher doesn't owe me anything.

During May, my eldest son will be missing three lessons because he is going to accompany me on a trip to New Zealand to visit his great-grandparents. I do not expect my son's teacher to refund me for those missed lessons, or to reschedule them by 'doubling up' lessons in the weeks before or after our departure.  Since there will be lots of advanced notice, I might ask her to consider preparing a special 'practice tape' for that period, or to answer my questions via e-mail, but if she doesn't have the time (the second half of April is going to be really busy for her, and she wouldn't be able to do the tape until more or less the week we left) and so has to refuse, then that's fine. I certainly don't expect her to credit me with three make-up lessons; there is no way for her to find a student to fill a three-week hole in her schedule during our absence. Instead, I hope that she will enjoy the extra hour of rest during those three weeks, and that we will all feel renewed enthusiasm when we return to lessons at the end of the trip.

Article Copyright © 2001Vicky Barham

About the Author
Vicky Barham, Ph. D., is the mother of two children who are enrolled in Suzuki music lessons in Canada.  She also teaches Economics at the University of Ottawa.

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1.  Since 1876, Music Teachers National Association has been the undisputed leader in empowering music-teaching professionals.

2.  The MTNA mission is to advance the value of music study and music-making to society, and to support the professionalism of independent and collegiate studio music teachers.

3.  MTNA's membership includes 24,000 music teachers in all fifty states and the District of Columbia who are committed to making a difference in the lives of their students.

4.  Performance competitions, events, and opportunities of the highest quality in the nation.

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Two hours per day seven days per week. Ha-ha. You gotta watch that Mrs. T!

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
30 - 45 minutes per day minimum

SECOND YEAR STUDENTS
45 - 60 minutes per day minimum

THIRD YEAR STUDENTS AND UP
60 + minutes per day minimum

All students need to practice more when preparing for recitals, auditions, festivals and competitions.

Short sessions of 10 or 15 minutes two or three times per day will get very good results, particularly for first-year students.

Please read the article on Practice Triggers on the blog!

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Van wrote the following acrostic:

Motivating
Understanding [while]
Stimulating
Intelligent
Concentration

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I do not refer to the Lone Ranger's horse.

When you don't practice, it's not necessarily because you are actively avoiding it. It's just that sometimes, in a week filled with school, sport, family, television and the Playstation, the idea of practicing simply doesn't occur to you often enough.

There's nothing shameful about this. Practicing is one of those 'at some point, when I get some time, I really should...' things, don't you think?

This article looks at Practice Triggers -- what they are, how to spot them, and how you can use them to be ready for your next lesson.

Some students can be called 'passive non-practicers.' You're not the ones who lie and cheat your way out of practicing. You're the ones who start the week with the best of intentions, but then realize to your horror when lesson day rolls around that it's been seven days, and you haven't actually remembered to practice. Would that be you?

Okay. You have the daily adventure of being a kid or a teen. Or, hey -- being an adult. Let's tweak your timetable a little.

A traditional solution is to employ parents as the Practice Police.We all know how that turns out :-D 'It's 4:30! Go practice!' and you trudge off like a condemned prisoner. There's another powerful alternative and it's more fun for you and the Practice Police.

You see, you are surrounded every day by events and objects that could be triggers for practice. You just have to be taught to recognize them.

It's simple enough. We're going to take a couple of ho-hum everyday events and turn them into instant practice reminders. These events should be frequent enough to guarantee plenty of practice during the week, but unpredictable enough that you're never quite sure when the next one will happen -- which is what makes this interesting.

Here's your obligation: Stop everything and practice for a short burst whenever the trigger occurs. The practice sessions don't need to be long, just long enough to achieve something. To learn a new measure. To memorize a new phrase. To work out the fingering for that tricky place on page 2.

WHAT ARE THE PRACTICE TRIGGERS?

Your get to choose them. The possibilities are limitless and you'll have plenty of fun deciding which ones to go for. I'll cover some of the classic options.

TRIGGER: Television. For better or for worse, most people spend a lot of time watching TV -- or at least they spend a lot of time being in the same place as a television that's on. Much of that programming is actually ads, and that's going to come in very handy for this particular Practice Trigger. Choose a type of ad -- a car ad, a dessert ad, a beer ad, it really doesn't matter -- and every time an ad of that type appears, you have to disappear to the piano to complete a small practice task. It will only take you a couple of minutes each time. If the ad occurs in the middle of your favorite show, you can defer the practice until the instant the show is over. Then jump up, skedaddle to the piano. If three such ads appeared in your show, complete three practice tasks beginning when the credits are still rolling. Keep an 'Ad Pad' to record the number of ads -- and hence the practice owed -- at each television session. With television being on so much of the time, this technique can be a very powerful practice trigger.

To keep this fresh, change the type of ad every day. So today it was ads featuring pasta of any sort. Tomorrow it will be ads about clothes. Okay, Smartie. Do not wait for 'ads for second hand pet skunks' as your Practice Trigger for the Day. Keep it real!

TRIGGER: Telephone. How many times does the phone ring at home? You'll soon know because every time it does, go and complete a small practice task. If you're not keeping your end of the bargain, you'd better hope I don't put your number into my speed-dial and call you repeatedly to create Practice Triggers!

If the phone in the house is insanely busy, you might only practice if the caller's name is in the first half of the alphabet. Or if the caller is male. You'll be keenly interested in the identity of each caller to discover your fate!

Another possibility is to have a hierarchy of practice responses. Two practice tasks to complete if the call is from a relative. Five practice tasks if the call was telemarketing. Or a whopping 10 practice tasks in the event of a wrong number. Again, you can make up the rules and then tailor them the following week based on how much practice they actually produced.

TRIGGER: The computer. You may spend plenty of time at your computer, a terrific Practice Trigger. One favorite is the Crash Trigger -- every time you have to restart your computer, go complete a practice task. By the time you're done the computer will be back up and running.

Try the Save Game Trigger. Most computer games require reasonably frequent saving of progress, so that if you die, you can restart from where you were. Every time you save your position like this, go complete a practice task. The game will still be waiting when you get back.

New email arriving can be a trigger. Error messages can be a trigger. Running your virus-detection software is a terrific trigger because they take so bloomin' long! Any of the everyday computer events that you otherwise ignore can now be calls for you to go practice and become a little more ready for your next lesson than you already are.

TRIGGER: Four-letter Word Practicing. If you're wrestling with your mouth, a Cuss Trigger will ensure that every piece of colorful language results in 5 practice tasks to complete then and there. And we all know students who are likely to become very accomplished musicians after only a few weeks with this one.

TRIGGER: Kitchen Timer. This one's a little different. It's not really random, but it feels random.

Set a kitchen timer, and when it has counted down to the alarm, go complete a set number of practice tasks. The thing is though, it's not setting it like an egg timer. There are no three-minute countdowns here -- much too easy. Instead, set it to 83 minutes. By the time it goes off, you'll probably have forgotten you set it in the first place and will be quite startled by it. Drop what you're doing, do the practice. Set it for another 83 minutes. Lather, rinse and repeat. Ha-ha. Practicing is like shampoo.

Note to parents: The Timer Trigger is a useful compromise technique if you feel duty bound to remind your student to practice. When reminded to practice, your student is allowed one of two responses, either a 'yes,' or a 'I'll set the timer.' Either way the practice gets done. There's no argument, the student does not feel bound to submit then and there to 'nagging.' (A BIG plus for some teen students.)

TRIGGER: Sibling Disagreement. Next time you're fighting over the last cookie, your parents can invoke the power of the Sibling Disagreement Trigger. Off you go to the piano where you can channel all that energy to sorting out some scales. It's not designed to be a punishment, it's just a highly productive way of side-stepping conflict. You'll either end up playing better or being nicer to your family. That's a win-win situation.

BUILD YOUR OWN!

This list has just been a starter. You can produce some great triggers of your own. Never before in the history of music lessons has the daily humdrum of crashing computers, telephone calls and sibling rivalry had the capacity to produce such good results in tomorrow's musicians.

But be careful with the trigger lists, particularly if you start stacking them. What will you do if your computer crashes during a phone call, thus causing an argument with your little sister while a car ad appears on the TV? I guess you'd have to practice all livelong day, huh? :-D

 -- Adapted from Philip Johnston's The Practice Revolution, the PracticeSpot Press.

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As piano students prepare to enter college as either music majors or minors, they need to be ready with at least the minimum music fundamentals. Piano students should take private voice lessons if they can, and get into any choir, ensemble, or singing group they can, even if they don't have great voices, and SING, SING, SING!  Why? There is a direct correlation between those who make it in college music and those who don't according to their internalization and development of auditory skills. A few will want it badly enough to work hard enough to develop it during that first year of college. The rest will land in remedial theory and ear training which can add a whole year to their quest for a music degree.

Remember this: Trained singers make pianists better musicians!

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A440 is the pitch or the note 'A.' A440 is 'standard pitch' or concert pitch.' Why do we need it? Standard pitch is a universal frequency or note that all instruments are set to. Today's standard pitch is A440 and this concert pitch enables musicians to play instruments together in harmony. A form of standard pitch has been around ever since two individuals wished to play two instruments together or sing to an instrument. A tuning fork is normally used to set the pitch. However, in the past, pitch pipes have been used, and today electronic tuning forks are also used. In less formal settings, instruments tune to the 'A' being plunked on the piano. Most metronomes have an A440 on them so instruments can tune together anywhere. Cool, huh?

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Perhaps some of you saw the recent Lysol TV commercial? It showed a child sneezing on the piano keys, then an adult spraying the keys with Lysol. Very harmful to keys! Don't do it! One would think the company would have done their research before showing that. Piano teachers all over inundated the company with complaints!

The best way to clean keys is warm water and a soft cloth. The best way to keep germs off your keys is to have those who play it wash their hands first!

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Piano:
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Piano Stool:
Plinkenplankenplunkenboxspinnensitz

Pianist:
Plinkenplankenplunkenboxgepounder

Piano Recital:
Plinkenplankenplunkenboxgepounderoffengeshowen-spielen

Fathers at the Recital:
Plinkenplankenplunkenboxgepounderoffengeshowen-spielensnoozengruppe

Mothers at the Recital:
Plinkenplankenplunkenboxgepounderoffengeshowen-spielensnoozengruppeuppenwakeren

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(Source: a Missouri music teachers' newsletter. )

Bach died from 1750 to the present.

Refrain means don't do it. A refrain in music is the part you'd better not try to sing.

Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was rather large. Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling him. I guess he could not hear so good. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died from this.

Henry Purcell is a well-known composer few people have ever heard of.

An opera is a song of bigly size. In the last scene of Pagliacci, Canio stabs Nedda, who is the one he really loves. Pretty soon Silvio also gets stabbed, and they all live happily ever after.

When a singer sings, he stirs up the air and makes it hit any passing eardrums. But if he is good, he knows how to keep it from hurting.

Aaron Copland is one of our most famous contemporary composers. It is unusual to be contemporary. Most composers do not live until they are dead.

My favorite composer is Opus.

A virtuoso is a musician with real high morals.

Probably the most marvelous fugue was between the Hatfields and the McCoys.

My very best liked piece of music is the Bronze Lullaby.

Agnus Dei was a woman composer famous for her church music.

Caruso was at first an Italian. Then someone heard his voice and said he would go a long way. And so he came to America.

A good orchestra is always ready to play if the conductor steps on the odium.

Morris dancing is a country survival from times when people were happy.

Most authorities agree that music of antiquity was written long ago.

Music sung by two people at the same time is called a duel.

I know what a sextet is but I'd rather not say.

A harp is a nude piano.

A tuba is much larger than its name.

Instruments come in many sizes, shapes, and orchestras.

You should always say celli when you mean there are two or more cellos.

Another name for kettle drums is timpani. But I think I will just stick with the first name and learn it good.

A trumpet is an instrument when it is not a hearing aid.

While trombones have tubes, trumpets prefer to wear valves.

The double bass is also called the bass viol, string bass, and bass fiddle. It has so many names because it is so huge.

When electric currents go through them, guitars start making sounds. So would anybody.

Question: What are kettle drums called? Answer: Kettle drums.

Cymbals are round, metal CLANGS!

A bassoon looks like nothing I have ever heard.

Last month I found out how a clarinet works by taking it apart. I both found out and got in trouble.

Question: Is the saxophone a brass or a woodwind instrument? Answer: Yes.

The concertmaster of an orchestra is always the person who sits in the first chair of the first violins. This means that when a person is elected concertmaster, he has to hurry up and learn how to play a violin real good.

For some reason, they always put a treble clef in front of every line of flute music. You just watch.

I can't reach the brakes on this piano!

The main trouble with a French horn is it's too tangled up.

Anyone who can read all the instrument notes at the same time gets to be the conductor.

Instrumentalist is a many-purposed word for many player-types.

The flute is a skinny, high-shape sounded instrument.

The most dangerous part about playing cymbals is near the nose.

A contra-bassoon is like a bassoon, only more so.

Tubas are a bit too much.

Music instrument has a plural known as orchestra.

I would like for you to teach me to play the cello. Would tomorrow or Friday be better?

My favorite instrument is the bassoon. It is so hard to play people seldom play it. That is why I like the bassoon best.

It is easy to teach anyone to play the maracas. Just grip the neck and shake him in rhythm.

Just about any animal skin can be stretched over a frame to make a pleasant sound once the animal is removed.

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Uh-huh. Right.

I've met LOTS of adults who regret they quit when they were young. (Dear Parents, please DO NOT allow your children to quit! Make sure they practice!). There are none who regret staying the course through the frustrations, through the time-taking away from other activities, through the strong impulses to not practice -- none later regret this! None!

Continue what you started until that day you can say to your parents, 'I'm so glad you let me play the piano.' Then continue until you're bursting with gratitude for all they invested in you. I remember telling my parents that every dollar they spent was worth it because of the myriad things playing piano empowered me to do. It's a wonderful moment. Don't take it away from yourself by quitting.

The hard part is learning, the soul-satisfying part is choosing what to do with your knowledge and ability and being able to do it.

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