Important Upcoming Piano Dates

October 25 - 29 - GROUP LESSON WEEK! We are going to try something a little bit different this time. This week, we are going to have 'mini recitals' as part of our group lesson. During the last 20 minutes of each group's lesson, family members and friends are invited to come and see the students perform their Halloween songs! This should be a fun experience for all of us, so mark your calendars now to join us for this spooky performance!

November 1-3 - Regularly scheduled lessons.

November 4 - 5 - NO LESSONS. My brother is getting married. :)

November 8 - Resume regularly scheduled lessons.

November 25-26 - NO LESSONS for Thanksgiving.

November 29-December 1 - Regularly scheduled lessons

December 2 - 8 - GROUP LESSONS. This will be a preparation for our Christmas Recital!

December 9 - HOLIDAY PIANO RECITAL. 7:00 p.m. at Baker's Piano

December 9 - 15 - Our annual RECORDING STUDIO PIANO LESSON!

December 16 - January 2 - Holiday Break - NO LESSONS

January 3 - Regularly scheduled piano lessons resume.

Piano Lessons Schedule June/July/August

June 21 - 25: GROUP LESSON WEEK! Thank you for all your feedback about the new way of holding group lessons. The response was huge and unanimous: everyone loves the new way of doing things. So, we'll plan on keeping it going with these new smaller groups. I've had to do some slight rearranging/combining of groups as a result of some students leaving for summer. Below is the group lesson schedule, in case you have any questions about when your student should come:

• Monday 4 - 5 p.m. Drake, Justin, Nick, Jacob
• Monday 5 - 6 p.m. Ana, Lainey, Kassandra
• Tuesday 4 - 5 p.m. Becca, Carmen, Claire
• Tuesday 5 - 6 p.m. Bella, Gabby, Ally
• Wednesday 5 - 6 p.m. Hailey, Kristin, Brynley
• Thursday 5 - 6 p.m. Cara, Sophie, Sam, Nathan
• Friday 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Ariana, Grace, Rachel

June 28 - July 2: NO LESSONS! Yes, I will be taking this week off. This means everyone will owe for one less lesson in July when it is time to pay. :)

July 5 - 9: Resume regularly scheduled lessons

July 12 - 16: Regularly scheduled lessons

July 19 - 23: Regularly scheduled lessons

July 26 - 30: GROUP LESSON WEEK!

August 2 - 6: Regularly scheduled lessons

August 9 - 13: Regularly scheduled lessons

August 16 - 20: Regularly scheduled lessons

August 23 - 27: GROUP LESSON WEEK!

August 27: SUMMER RECITAL! Theme: Music from the Movies! Students have already begun work on their songs. Have them show you what they can do so far, and encourage them to play their songs often. Mark your calendars now: 7:00 p.m.

A New Way to Have Group Lessons?

Dear Students and Parents:

As you know, this week we are going to try a new way of holding Group Lessons. Before, I offered one group lesson per weekday (5 lessons total) for an hour and 15 minutes. Some of these groups were getting really large and included a wide range of ages and levels. Rather than having everyone assigned to the same day of the week simply come together, I want to try having smaller groups of 2 - 4 students meet together that I have organized by level/age/personality. We will now have 9 smaller groups meet throughout the week for 1 hour each. I think this will be a good experience for the students, but there are definitely some pros and cons. The pros and cons, as I see them, are listed below:

Pros

• More of my time will be dedicated to personal instruction in the smaller groups; I can tailor the lessons more to each individual's needs
• I can teach to specific levels and age groups
• Perhaps a better opportunity for friendships to form amongst students
• We can get more done in less time with the smaller groups

Cons

• Scheduling issues: it was so convenient before to allow students to come any day or time of the group lesson week. Also, if your student has to miss a group lesson, and there are only 2 or 3 students in the group, that can also present a problem for the other students in the group. Finally, your student may need to be assigned to a different day of the week than their regularly scheduled lesson, so we will have to essentially schedule two lesson times for each student - one for private lessons, one for group lessons.
• There are some advantages to having students in different levels meet together. The more advanced students can offer help to the newer students and motivate them to keep practicing through their example. The newer students offer more advanced students opportunities to teach and demonstrate, which helps solidify musical concepts for both students.

Overall, I believe that the new, smaller organized groups is going to be worth it or I wouldn't be trying it out. But, during this week of group lessons I will be thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons as we experience it in action. I would LOVE your feedback, also. Please speak to your student(s) following their group lesson and see what their feelings are regarding the changes. Then, please take a second to vote in the poll listed on the right hand side of my blog. If you have any further comments to offer, you can leave them as a comment at the end of this post, give me a call, or shoot me an email. I really value your feedback, so thank you for taking the time to let your opinion be heard!

End of Week Thoughts

Now that we have finished this week of Group Lessons, I think that overall the experience was a good one. Most of the groups I think work really well, and I believe the kids had fun and really did learn better. I did notice with these smaller groups that if one or more students couldn't be there for the complete hour, it was more of a challenge for the one or so students left behind. But hopefully that won't be a common thing to worry about. I particularly loved how I could alter my plans according to ages and abilities; I think this helped each individual to get a little more out of the lesson than they otherwise would have.

Preschool/Toddler Music Classes

A new round of preschool/toddler music classes will begin in June! To sign-up, give me a call or an email sometime in the next week. For more information about the classes, go here.

One of the moms took these pictures and created this cute collage for me from a round of classes several months ago. So fun!

Group Lessons This Week!

This upcoming week (March 22 - 26) will be Group Lessons. Group Lessons will be held daily from 4:15 to 5:30. Unfortunately, I do not have enough students to fill up the Wednesday group lesson this week, so I will only be holding the group lessons on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. If your student is not planning on attending their regularly scheduled group lesson, could you please let me know which day they will attend? Thank you!

As part of this week's group lesson, each student will be performing the song that they are preparing for our upcoming recital. Remember - the recital is scheduled for April 24; it's coming up quickly!! :)

Also, as part of this week's group lesson, I've decided there is a need to give a special focus to recognizing the notes on the staff. Each student should have their own set of note flashcards that I printed off for them when they leave group lesson this week.

Do you know about the 'One Minute Club'? At lessons, I will time the students with their note flashcards. Students who can name all the notes of the staff in a minute or less get to write their names on my special poster and get a reward of 5 treats from the candy box! Anything you can do at home as parents to help your students learn their note flashcards would be greatly appreciated. :)

Parents: Thanks again for all your support! Students: See you this week at group lesson! I can't wait to hear you all perform your recital songs!

Christmas Piano Recital 2009

Dear Piano Students,

I want to take the opportunity to say how proud I am of each of you for your amazing performances at the Christmas Recital!  I was so thrilled for you; many of you overcame feelings of anxiety and nervousness in order to perform, and I couldn't have hoped for a better result.  I thought each of your performances reflected your very best efforts.  I truly enjoyed listening to every song, and I hope your evening was as wonderful as mine. 

Sincerely,

Jennifer 

P.S. Spring Recital - April 24!  ;)  Let's start planning this week!

Piano Lessons Calendar Dates January - April 2010

Welcome back, piano students!  I hope you each had a wonderful holiday break and are ready to get back into the swing of lessons once again.  I know I'm looking forward to seeing each of you again!

As you probably know, lessons resume today, January 5.  This week I will be giving each student a new calendar covering January through April 2010.  I will also list those calendar dates below for your convenience:

Week of January 5 - Regularly scheduled lessons

Week of January 11 - Regularly scheduled lessons

January 11 - Payment due.  Monday students have three lessons; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday students have four lessons in January.

Week of January 18 - Regularly scheduled lessons (Yes, lessons WILL be held on Monday the 18th)

Week of January 25 - GROUP LESSONS!  A group lesson will be held daily Monday - Friday from 4:15 to 5:30.  Typically each student attends the same weekday as their regularly scheduled lessons.

Week of February 1 - Regularly scheduled lessons 

Week of February 8 - Regularly scheduled lessons

February 8 - Payment due.  All students have four lessons in February.

Week of February 15 - Regularly scheduled lessons

Week of February 22 - GROUP LESSONS!  A group lesson will be held daily Monday - Friday from 4:15 to 5:30.  Typically each student attends the same weekday as their regularly scheduled lessons.

Week of March 1 - Regularly scheduled lessons 

Week of March 8 - Regularly scheduled lessons 

March 8 - Payment due.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday students have five lessons; Thursday and Friday students have four lessons in March.

Week of March 15 - Regularly scheduled lessons 

Week of March 22 - GROUP LESSONS!  A group lesson will be held daily Monday - Friday from 4:15 to 5:30.  Typically each student attends the same weekday as their regularly scheduled lessons.

Week of March 29 - Regularly scheduled lessons

Week of April 5 - Regularly scheduled lessons

April 8 - Payment due.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday students have four lessons; Thursday and Friday students have five lessons in April 

Week of April 12 - Regularly scheduled lessons

Week of April 19 - GROUP LESSONS!  A group lesson will be held daily Monday - Friday from 4:15 to 5:30.  Typically each student attends the same weekday as their regularly scheduled lessons.

APRIL 24 - TENTATIVE DATE FOR THE SPRING RECITAL - 7:00 p.m.

Week of April 26 - Regularly scheduled lessons