dawn's piano

I haven't done one of these posts in a couple years, and I realized I missed doing it! Even if it's for no one else's sake than my own, it's really fun to look back over the year to remember and delight in the different things students have accomplished throughout the studio year.  So I'm inviting you to have a look back with me and celebrate some of the highlights and student accomplishments from the 2022 year in the piano studio!  Winter Piano Parties Our first event of the year in January 2022 was a piano party! These bi-monthly events give students an opportunity to dig into some different musical topics that may not always get a spotlight in lessons. This year we've had 5 piano party themes with a full house each time: Rhythm, Music History, Music Theory Game Night, Look Inside the Piano and, most recently, Improvisation!  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dawn's Piano (@dawnspiano) Preschool Student Central In the first ...

Lessons begin this week, and for this year's BIG practice challenge we're going to start a studio One Minute Club . This is a challenge that's been floating around the piano teaching world for a while, but I first heard of it on Susan Paradis' blog  several years back. And I think it's the one for us this year as we continue to build our sight reading fluency across all learning levels.  To get into the One Minute Club, all you have to do is to play all the notes in your assigned flash cards in under a minute! In the studio we'll be using Note Rush during piano lab to build the skills and try to gain entry into the club. Any students who hit their target during lessons will get added to the One Minute Club studio wall chart, AND will receive an official membership card and a prize. (I'm thinking gift certificates to the Pink Flamingo  candy shop , or something equivalent in your area for online students, so you know, prizes your piano kid is going to want!...

At the beginning of June, the McPherson Area Piano Teachers' League held it's third annual Espressivo Piano Camp. 25 local piano students from 2nd grade through high school came together in the halls of the Wesley Black Fine Arts building to dig into music with some fun sessions on Music History, Theory & Games, Composition and Performance.  After cancelling our 2020 camp due to the pandemic, we were extra excited to relaunch this year for a new group of piano campers. With a mix of whole camp activities as well as some sessions where students work in smaller groups of their own age and level, this camp provides  something really special in the way of a large, fun social environment for more musical learning and engagement. We know that a lot of learning to play the piano involves practice on our own, or private or small group lessons, so these piano kids really seem to embrace the idea of getting to grow their learning together in this type of summer camp setting.  ...

If you're looking for a great way to kick off piano study for the summer, you'll definitely want to check out Espressivo Piano Camp. What is Espressivo Piano Camp, who's it for and what are the benefits?  EPC is a summer day camp for piano students from elementary (entering 2nd grade in fall 2020 and up) through advancing levels hosted & run by the local KMTA chapter.  It provides an opportunity for local piano students from different studios to interact and become a part of the larger musical community in McPherson. Since the camp is run by area piano teachers, students will get valuable learning & feedback from teachers beyond their usual studio experience. We get to focus on extra-musical learning, such as music history, composition & theory, performance classes, aural skills, rhythm etc in a group setting. All those things that can often get squished into the last few minutes of typical lessons can now take center stage.  The camp also include...

As we head into the home stretch of our studio school year, and look ahead to Progressions & the Spring Recital coming up in April, we've got one last practice challenge that is focused on getting us confident and performance ready: the bead challenge is back! The way it works is students mark on their practice tracker every single time they play their Recital and/or Progressions piece. For every 10 practices, they will earn a bead for their lanyard that we'll make in the last week of lessons. The goal is to practice those performance pieces 100 times before the show.  Students who get 10 beads will have completed the challenge, and will earn a music charm to attach to end of their lanyard, but they don't have to stop there! We'll be adding beads for every 10 times they practice their recital song through the end of March, and those lanyards can get as long as they like.  While this practice challenge does have a fun incentive, as always, the goal is to enc...

Welcome to our Fall 2019 Online Video Recital! Thank you for tuning in.  Over the past month or so, piano students have been working hard both at home and in the studio on their recital selections, and once a piece was prepared we would grab a video for this online performance. What you'll watch below is a compilation of all those collected videos. This online format for our first recital of the school year provides a lower stress performance opportunity, while still providing the essential practice in working a piece up to a performance level. It also provides a way for all of Dawn's Piano students, in McPherson and online around the country, to participate in a recital together. And I especially really like this format is because it's perfect to share with out of town friends and family who want to cheer on your piano kid but might not be able to attend a traditional recital setting.  Parents, friends and family, thank you for supporting your piano kids on t...