Espressivo Piano Camp

Almost as soon as I arrived in McPherson, Tiffiney Harms, area piano teacher, invited me to join MAPTL (McPherson Area Piano Teachers League) and to participate in running their upcoming brand-new Espressivo Piano Camp. I eagerly accepted both invitations. 

I have wanted to do a piano camp for several years now, but being a traveling teacher in Southern California made finding a place to host a camp a bit tricky. My associate teacher Mallory & I brainstormed possibilities a few times, but weren't able to come up with any options where we'd be able to reserve a location AND keep the cost affordable for parents. 

So needless to say, I was thrilled to participate in Espressivo Piano Camp's first run the week of June 4th through June 8th. Here's a bit of what we were up to:

Performance Class - Students were taught how to approach a performance with confidence, musical expression, performer's ettiquette & increased focus. The weeklong camp wrapped up with a concert that parents were invited to attend.

Music History - Campers learned about the 4 big musical time periods from Baroque to 20th Century. They explored major composers & musical characteristics of each period and listened to musical samples.

Music Theory - Reviewing music theory concepts can be fun, especially when you use games to do it! Rhythm Cups, Musical Spoons & Stinky Sock were this year's big hits.

Piano Engineering - On Wednesday, we had a special guest teacher in the form of piano technician, Chuck Vetter, who gave the students a demonstration on what makes a piano work. From the sound board, to string tension & hammer action, the students had a great up-close look at all the parts that come together to make our favorite instrument.

Composition - In the piano lab, each of our pianists worked on composing & notating an original piece of music. During the course of the week they learned about building melody, harmony & other compositional technics for their respective levels.

And that's how it went, a huge success. Thanks again to Tiffiney, Shulah & Brett for inviting me to help out when I arrived in town just a few weeks before the camp began. I can't wait to do it again next year!