Flashnote Derby – a Great App for iPhone and iPad

http://www.FlashnoteDerbyApp.com

If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, there is an excellent app available to help students learn note names, Flashnote Derby. After using it for quite a while now, I have decided this is the perfect iPhone or iPad game for piano teachers because it is easy to set up and play and my students love it. Plus, it really works, and makes drilling notes a lot more fun.

Screenshots used with permission

In order to play the game, select the notes you want to work on. You can select one note, or up to 34 notes, shown above. The notes are fun to select. Just touch the notes you want to use and they change color as they are selected. Touch the “gear” icon and you can select how many flash cards you want to use in your game, and the speed they will be shown. Touch the “thumbs up” icon and the race begins. As 2 horses race across the screen, one flash card at a time is shown above the horses. Students select the name of the note at the bottom of the screen. At the end of the game there is an opportunity to review the missed notes. If the student gets enough correct answers, he wins.

For my beginning students I select 2 notes, usually middle C and G, and 10 questions, at the slowest speed. Beginners always win a game this easy and this give them the confidence to want to play more. I add more notes gradually over a period of weeks, often corresponding to the notes they are learning in their method book. It is very easy to change the level of difficulty for the next student.

The horse racing sound track can get annoying, so I often turn the sound off on my device. I wish there was a way to turn off the sound in the game. I also would like a way to start over if I make a mistake when I first select the settings. [Ed:There is a way to start over. I am embarrassed I didn't know it!  This is from Luke Bartolomeo, the developer:

I just wanted to mention that there is a way to stop a race in the middle if you find that you used the wrong settings, or have made the drill to difficult or too easy for a student. Once the race has started, tap the screen on either side of the actual flashcard, but not on the flashcard itself. A red X will appear in the upper left portion of the screen. Tap the X and the drill will immediately stop and return you to the settings screen.

Thanks so much, Luke for clearing this up.]

Flash Note Derby was designed by a music teacher and I think that is why I find it so successful in my studio. The developer emailed me recently with news of an update that features a dozen instructional video lessons about the grand staff, as well as a way for teachers to create custom drills for their students and send them to students by email.

This app works on the iPhone 3 and 4, iPod touch, and iPad. It seems like every student I teach now has at least one of those in the family.

This app is only $.99 in the Apple iTunes store, and at that price it is a real bargain.

You can read more about it at the website:  http//www.FlashnoteDerbyApp.com

Disclosure: I receive no compensation for my reviews and the ideas are my own. The screenshots are used by permission.

Rhythm Menagerie™ – a Review

Rhythm Menagerie™ Book 1 by Wendy Stevens

How would you like your music students to be proficient in playing and counting rhythm patterns, and have fun doing it?

Wendy Stevens has written and recently published the resource Rhythm Menagerie™, Reproducible Rhythm Explorations, a book to sequentially learn how to be an independent rhythm reader. Recently she sent me the book to give it a look-over and try out with my students.

I think as music teachers we want our students to be able to work out rhythms on their own and not rely on copying or learning by rote. Not only is this book very attractive with an easy to follow layout, but it is so comprehensive that students who use it diligently will certainly become independent rhythmically.

Rhythm Menagerie is 92 pages long, with 8 chapters. Each chapter features a new rhythm problem, starting with quarter and half notes and going all the way to dotted quarter notes. The book will have students enjoying themselves as they play rhythms in a fun and imaginative way. Students will also like the attractive graphics of unusual animals, with interesting information about each one. The graphics are suitable for all ages of piano students, good news for those of use with older beginners.

Have you ever noticed that some students are so concerned about the notes that their rhythm and steady beat is all over the place, and not in a good way? Wendy says that students will learn to read rhythms easier and be more successful if they are not also trying to play notes at the same time.

Rhythm Menagerie is an excellent resource to use along with a regular lesson book at a private lesson, but it can also be adapted for groups, such as a summer music camp. Home school families who want to introduce some music into their curriculum might also find this book useful.

After downloading the book, Wendy suggests printing out one page a week to use at the lesson and gradually work on rhythm skills throughout the year. I think that if you use the book with an older beginner, you can speed up the pace considerably.

Wendy’s book can be purchased and printed directly from her website. Once you have purchased the book, you can print it on your computer to use with your students again and again, and of course adapt it for your needs.

If you order the book before Sept. 20, you will receive a discount. Take a look at her the inside of her book here, and don’t forget to watch the cute video she made showing some of her students having fun with Rhythm Menagerie.

Scatterbrained Scarecrow by Wendy Stevens

Wendy Stevens has written a new piece just in time for autumn. Scatterbrained Scarecrow, published by Hal Leonard, is a late elementary piece for students who can move their hands around the keyboard and play rhythms up to 8^th notes. The piece is in C and C minor, but it is not a positional piece. There are many accidentals that add color, but not so many to make it too difficult.

The title refers to the fun changes in meter from 4/4 to 3/4, several times in the piece. We not only can have some interesting discussions about meter, but also how the title describes the music. The tempo expression, with crazy energy, will get the discussions started.

This 3-page piece is full of slurs and staccatos that make it dance and bounce along. It is excellent for festivals because there is a lot of meat to it, with many dynamic, register, and articulation changes.

Several years ago I made some meter cards that I glued to craft sticks. I am going to have students follow along in the score and raise the correct meter in the air as I play. I am always looking for ways for students to focus or for different ways to introduce a piece. You can print them out here if you want to try it.

I recommend this piece for students with a lot of energy who will pay attention to detail and will not get frustrated by frequent position changes, crossovers, time signature changes, and accidentals. This is also a good piece for early intermediate students who want a fun, fast piece to learn quickly, but easier than their current level. I really like Scatterbrained Scarecrow and I look forward to using it in our festival this fall.

Piano Adventures – Second Edition

Graphic Copyright by Dovetree Productions, Inc. Used with permission. 

Piano Adventures, the beloved series by Nancy and Randall Faber, is now available in a 2nd edition. That is good news to me, because I am always interested in anything new from the Fabers. As soon as I received the news about the 2nd edition I ordered copies and I was pleasantly surprised when I received the books a few days later. 

Teachers who use Piano Adventures are curious as to exactly what is new. It is worth noting that this is a second edition, not an entirely different method. The things you love about Piano Adventures, the wonderful music and creativity, are still there. According to their website, only the Primer and Level One books will be updated.  

The Primer Level begins as it did in the first edition but there is an updated table of contents that spans two pages. Each piece is listed in a table that shows the correlating pages in the Theory, Technique, Performance, and Sightreading books.  Sight-reading! Yes, now there is a sight-reading book to accompany the series, but it is not available yet, so I can’t review it here. It should be available in a few weeks.

Most of the graphics are the same, but there are some changes in color and size. For example, in The I Like Song, the keyboard finger graphic was enlarged and moved to a more prominent position. At the beginning of the book, a page was added to work on finger numbers and firm fingertips. More color was added to the pages to emphasize student instructions.

The Pecking Rooster and Hen now get their own page and a helpful piano graphic. Throughout, some of the Discovery and other creative elements at the bottom of the pages are different. I noticed that “home note” is used a lot for the word “tonic.” My favorite 3 note song in the entire world, My Invention, is still there!

Some of the titles or words to the music are different. The title to Russian Sailor Dance was changed to Russian Folk Song, using the words from My First Piano Adventures to help with the dotted half note rhythm. Your students will be happy that Once There Was a Princess is now Princess or Monster.  

Moving along to Level One, the beginning was refined to help with a smoother transition for students who are coming from My First Piano Adventures Book C. The pedagogy was updated to reinforce note-reading skills. Grumpy Old Troll, one of my favorite pieces in this book, now has words. There are a few new pieces, and there is more emphasis on famous composers.

The theory books were changed to correlate more with the Lesson book, both in artwork and material. There are more improvisation activities and ideas. The Performance and Technique books were updated in a similar manner. As far as I’m concerned, the Technique books are one of the best parts of the Piano Adventure series, and if you don’t use them, check them out.

A teacher guide to the Primer Level will be available in June. According to the cover of the Lesson Book, it will include pedagogy, lesson plans, duets, and best yet, a “DVD of model teaching for each piece.” This is an exciting new addition for piano teachers.

To read more about the new edition, go to Piano Adventures Second Edition. Be sure to check out the interactive Piano Adventures Custom Correlation Chart. You can also find information on how to sign up for their new release program.  

Congratulations to Nancy and Randall Faber, production coordinator Jon Ophoff, and the rest of the team for this successful new edition of Piano Adventures!

  

Don’t miss the new blog, PianoAntics

Anne’s logo [used with permission]

Anne Crosby Gaudet can do it all. She is a fine composer, artist,  crafter,  web designer,  computer animator, video maker,  piano teacher, and performer. She is also extremely creative. I’ve loved looking at her videos, music, printables, and tutorials on her website for a long time and I’ve always intended on blogging about it, but you know how time seems to get away from us.  

Anne and I have more in common than our French Canadian last names. Anne shares my passion that teaching music is more effective and fun if students use manipulatives and hands-on activities. Her material is so colorful and creative that I want to move up to Canada so I can take lessons from her!

Thanks to ComposeCreate, my friend Wendy Stevens’ blog, I discovered that Anne has started a brand new blog,  PianoAntics, where you can see more of her creativity in action. Everything she does is top-notch, and if you have never checked out the material on her website,  you’re really missing out. In addition to all her games and on-line tutorials, she has a complete beginning piano method for pre-school available for download.

Recently she blogged about a  new recording gadget for an iPhone, complete with an audio of her performance of a Bach prelude.

Enjoy!

Tangy Tango – a Spicy Elementary Piece by Wendy Stevens

Wendy Stevens from ComposeCreate, has a new solo published by Hal Leonard. I already know it is going to be a big hit in my studio because it so appealing. Tangy Tango is a spicy sounding early elementary solo with a fun-to-play teacher duet. It is perfect for a first recital or festival piece for beginning students.

 The staves are wide spaced and it uses only quarter and half notes and rests.

It is in the key of A minor but the hands stay in middle C position and it moves mostly by steps with a few easy skips. Except for a few dynamic signs, there are not any articulation and expression marks to concern your beginners. I remember one time giving a beginner a very easy piece, but it was full of marks he had never seen and the staves were tiny, so he would not give it a try.

The rhythm is syncopated, like a tango should be. It is written in 4/4 so beginning students can read the rhythms. However, it should be played in duple meter (cut time) so the syncopation will really pop out.  

 Because there is no text and the front cover is not child-like, this is a great piece to use for every age student.  Sometimes it can be hard to find a recital piece for an older beginner that does not have a cover or text that is too childish for them. If you have such a student, this piece will be just what you need. It is also fun and appealing for young children, especially if they can play the syncopations with flair and energy. Children love pieces with interesting rhythms. Time and again they will pick this kind of piece as their favorite.

 You know what the hardest part of this fun and appealing piece is? How am I going to decide who gets to play it at the recital! 

Dennis Alexander on YouTube

Dennis Alexander has posted a number of wonderful, helpful videos on YouTube showcasing the piano method Alfred Premier Piano, which I reviewed last year.

Here is the link to one of the videos with Dennis playing a piece from Level 3A and from there you can follow the links to watch the others as you have time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsN0blZJRmo

Dennis says that he did these videos ”for the benefit of teachers who might be interested in trying out the method for the first time, or for teachers who are already using it who might gain some new insight into the pedagogy being used.” I think you can also use parts of these videos with your students to improve their musicality! 

I suggest you show this video to your students who are on the level to play this piece, even if they are not in this method book.  I don’t have a computer in my studio (can you believe it?) but my students are used to marching with me into my computer room for various show and tells.

Share just the musical performance part of the video with your student. The performance is short so you can play it for them twice. After your students  watch it, discuss it with them. Point out the polished dynamic contrasts. No matter how much my students insist they are adding dynamics, they often do not have enough contrast. After they listen to Dennis, discuss out how much more interesting the music is because of his mastery of the different colors of sounds. 

Next point out his hand position. For some reason it is easier to focus on hand position on a video than in person. It is for me and  I assume it will be easier for your students, too. Students need to learn that a good hand position will help them get the sound they want with a lot less effort and possible injury, too.

In the workshops I’ve attended with Dennis, he is very big on gestures such as the exciting rocket up of the hand after a dashing passage. I tell my students that playing the piano has a certain element of acting and drama. What the listener hears is influenced by what he sees. When students see how much more exciting it makes the piece, they will be more willing to try it out. Watch some of his other videos and make note of places you can show to students who need some inspiration.

For those of you who do not have the opportunity to go to piano workshops and see master teachers perform and talk about teaching, these kinds of videos are a wonderful addition to our resources. Take advantage of them and your students will benefit greatly!

There is another helpful resource from  Dennis Alexander that you will be interested to know. On his website http://www.dennisalexander.com/index.html  he has posted not only the first page of  many of his compositions, but recordings, too.  So now your students can listen to his music played by the composer! This will also be a big time saver for teachers who are looking for new material.

Dennis Alexander is a composer for Alfred Publishing and has published hundreds of pieces that students have enjoyed for over 20 years. He taught piano pedagogy at the university level for many years, in addition to teaching piano.  He is a wonderful performer, also.  I had the opportunity to talk with him over lunch about composing and teaching, and it was something I will always remember!

American Portraits by Wendy Stevens

Wendy Stevens the creative teacher from ComposeCreate has a new book, hot off the press, called American Portraits, Six Character Pieces for Piano Solo. The premise of this book is original. Wendy chose 6 people from American history, unsung heroes as she writes in the preface, and wrote a piece about each of them. I love history and I am actually certified to teach it, so I was immediately intrigued by this book and rushed down to the Hal Leonard booth at TMTA and bought a copy. I am glad that I did, because I have  been enjoying playing through the book and getting to know the pieces.

 The music is late intermediate level. As I played, I tried to imagine the historical figures and what they must have gone through, and the courage and inner strength they must have had. The music expresses this and it is easy to get lost in the music and just enjoy the imagery.

 The music has interesting but beautiful harmonic shifts and some syncopated rhythms that will delight your students. There is a contemporary feel, and the music has lovely melodies that are sometimes haunting, sometimes playful, but always heroic and larger than life, like the heroes she is writing about. Each piece is about 4 pages and can be played by students with small hands on the small side.

 The character sketches include Abigail Adams, Davy Crocket, the artist Thomas Moran, Harriet Tubman of the Underground Railroad, the midnight riders of revolutionary times, and pioneer women. There is an entire page of a  picture and insightful biography before each piece.

 There is also a page of performance notes that describe each piece. For example, in Frontier Chorus, the piece about Davy Crocket, Wendy begins, “The melody in the A section begins like one I would imagine Davy Crockett whistling on a clear, crisp morning.” These performance notes will help your students capture the spirit of these American heroes and learn something about style and imagery. Hal Leonard is certainly to be commended for including these extra pages that make the pieces come to life. Hal Leonard also has posted some pages from the book.

 In our local schools there is a history fair each year, and I think this book would be a great starting point to choose a project. This would also be a good book for students who are looking for a home school project. I hope some of the teachers and parents reading this will consider working this book into their students’ history curriculum if the student is capable of late intermediate music. Another suggestion would be for a teacher to discuss and perform these as a mini-recital in a history class, a history club, or at a senior center. Teachers could even have a student recital with a “hero”  or historical American  theme. If you have any suggestions for other music with this theme, please post in the comments to share with others.

Returning to the Piano

Wendy Stevens, a friend to this blog, has a new publication.  Her latest book  Returning to the Piano, a Refresher Book for Adults is fresh off the press from her publisher, Hal Leonard. You can read her  post about it on her website here.  As far as I know, there is no other type of book on the market like this for adults that contains such a nice collection of music that adults really want to play. There are 96 pages and  pieces range from show-tunes, popular hits, and folk songs,  to classical arrangements adults like. Wendy is really an excellent composer and arranger, and her arrangements are always musically and fun to play. If you teach beginning adults or recreational piano for adults, check this out.

The Perfect Start for Note Reading

I like to review material that takes a different approach to teaching because I think there are always new ways to reach our students.  When I saw Kevin and Julia Olson’s new book The Perfect Start for Note Reading, Book 1, I was immediately interested in checking it out.  Kevin Olson is a well-known and accomplished piano composer so I was curious to take a look at what he and his wife, Julia, would put in a beginning book.

In the preface, it states that The Perfect Start is created “to give the beginning student a solid foundation for note reading and is designed to supplement any piano method.” How many times do we use an excellent method book  only to realize down the line that the student is not making progress. At this point we often look into supplemental music and we don’t want another method book that starts back in the pre-reading stage. What we need is  a book of sequential pieces that are simple, with easy rhythms, cleanly engraved so not to distract from note reading, and,  finally,  non-frustrating so the student will not give up.  Students who have trouble reading music need to feel successful.  All children learn at different rates, and some need more help than others. Teachers tell me all the time that a student has finished the Primer and not ready to go on and ask if I can suggest a book. This book is the perfect solution.

The rest of the preface suggests who might benefit from this book:  “The young beginner, the busy student, any student who might need reinforcement, and for sight reading”.

The other day I took the time to play through each piece and the teacher duets. The first thing I noticed is that this is not a method book.  There are no pre-reading pieces, but there are 7 pages of introductory material that review all the beginning concepts of music.

The pieces are short, 8 measures in length with  staves on the large side, but not too large for an older beginner.   The  illustrations, by Julia Olson,  are stylized black and white  drawings with light orange shading appropriate for all age levels.  There are clever lyrics to help with rhythm that can be used for all ages.  If you are looking for a colorful book with teddy bears and pink ponies,  this is not the book.  A slow learning older student will not be embarrassed because this does not look like a baby book.   The pages are clean without a lot of expression markings to confuse students.

The first notes introduced are middle C and D. Six pages are devoted to those 2 notes, so the student receives a lot of reinforcement.  There are 6 pages that use only C, D, and E. I can tell you that it is not easy to come up with appealing music using only 2 or 3 notes. I have tried it! Of course it is the teacher duets and  lyrics that must sustain interest, and this book  does that!  The teacher duets are full of the interesting harmonies Kevin Olson is famous for in his more advanced compositions. I enjoyed playing the duets and they are easy to follow along with the student. There is another thing I noticed about the teacher duets. Most of the time the rhythm cleverly follows the student’s rhythm to help the student  and not confuse him. I don’t know if this was done on purpose, but I suspect it was.

By the end of the 80 page book the student is playing a fifth above and below middle C. That makes this  one of the most thorough early elementary books I’ve come across. If you use this book along with a good selection of games,  worksheets, a solid method book, technique material, and some other simple supplementary music, I believe your student will be a lot more secure in note reading.

I know the next question you would like to ask is it a middle C position book. The answer is yes and no. Every piece has a notation at the bottom that tells you where to place the fingers after learning the piece in middle C position. Remember, this book is designed to keep students from becoming frustrated and giving up. Let’s face it, some students need this security.  Learning the piece in middle C and then playing it again with the third finger on D, for example, will give the student confidence to branch out of middle C position.  In the book it states, “Hand positions are only ‘guides”. They help you feel comfortable learning new notes. Once you are comfortable, you should explore your pieces further by starting on a different finger.”

When I decided to write a post on this book I emailed the composers and told them about my planned review. They had this to say:

This book was inspired by many of our students that were in need of some solid, note reading reinforcement. We have found that there are a large number of students that move through the method books without actually knowing their notes. This book is designed to reinforce the notes one at a time, so that students can build a solid foundation from the start. We have found that hand positions are comfortable for students to reinforce notes through this logical, steady approach. We realize, that it is important that students not become dependent in hand positions, and encourage teachers to use the alternate fingering options found throughout the book, as well as provide the student with other music that is not written in position.

The book lists a  website The Perfect Start for Piano that has flash cards, audio files, and worksheets. The Perfect Start for Note Reading is by Kevin and Julia Olson and is published by The FJH Music Company. FYI,  I bought this book in a new release package and I’m writing this review because I think this is a new resource that teachers should know about.

Bottom Line

• To be used along with a method book
• Starts on the staff
• OK for varied age groups
• Clean engraving with emphasis on  slow sequential note reading
• Uses only the notes above and below middle C
• Lyrics and musical teacher duets
• Check out other piano pieces by Kevin Olson

 

• check out other piano music by Kevin Olson

How Sweet the Sound

Wendy Lynn Stevens sent me a copy of her new book of hymn arrangements, How Sweet the Sound,  and I have been enjoying them immensely for several weeks.

These elegant late intermediate piano solos have a peaceful, timeless quality and are appropriate to play for preludes offertory, and postludes. The 9 solos include Day of Arising, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, There is a Balm in Gilead, Thine Is the Glory, This Is My Father’s World, ‘Tis So Sweet, We Walk by Faith, and Not by Sight. There is also a beautiful medley of How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds with Amazing Grace. I would not have thought to put those 2 hymns together, but it is a wonderful choice.

I have written before how well Wendy knows how to craft music. These artistically written solos are mostly reflective and peaceful in nature, but there is also a spirited version of Take Up Your Cross, the Savior Said. These arrangements are perfect for both the accomplished church musician and a talented student to use in recitals or festivals. It is worth mentioning that these are not specifically teaching arrangements (there are no finger numbers) but this is a good choice for a student who aspires to be a church musician. They are also excellent for any student who will benefit in a  study of rubato and playing freely with imagination and artistry.

How Sweet the Sound is published by Augsburg Fortress. Contact Wendy if you are interested in purchasing this book from her website, or ask for it at your favorite music store.

Irish Celebration

 

Irish Celebration is the latest piece by Wendy Stevens, published by Hal Leonard. It is a “Showcase Solo” which means that it is leveled with the Hal Leonard Student Piano Library, which is a piano method popular with many teachers. This series starts with Level One, not a Primer level, so Level One on the front means it is an Early Elementary Piece. It is written on-the-staff in the key of C, with 3 pages including a teacher duet. 

Irish Celebration is a jig with very large notes that will make your youngest students feel very comfortable. As we know, large notes make it look easy, and when we show a piece to our students, we want them to feel like they can do it. At the top of the page there is a keyboard diagram to show students where to put their hands. This is a very handy thing to have because, while the right hand is in middle C position, the left hand pinkie will sit on E, not F as it does in a true middle C position piece. But this is not a problem because the left hand only plays 2 notes the entire piece. If your student can only play in middle C position, this is a good piece to start branching out.  I’ve said many times on this blog that middle C position is very awkward for the hand, and it is so much better if the thumbs are on different keys. I have personally arranged many pieces for my beginning students with the thumbs touching, but not on the same key.

Sometimes I look at a piece with just 7 notes  and wonder how the composer managed to make such appealing music out of so little. Irish Celebration  is one of those pieces. Wendy, my hat goes off to you, because you have written another winner. This piece is a jig, written in 3/4 time, but like all Irish jigs it has a  6/8 feel. It is written  in 3/4 time to be accessible to the beginning student. That means the piece should be played fast with one beat in a measure. Students will love this tempo. Just the other day one of my students told me he didn’t want any more “boring” pieces. I asked what made a piece fun and not boring, and he said “a fast song!” I guarantee that Irish Celebration is a fun piece. The teacher duet is appealing and also helps the student get the feel of the rhythm.

Before you start to teach this music to your young ones, work some on feeling 6/8 rhythm. Sit on the floor and chant or sing some 6/8 songs. There are so many: Hickory Dickory Dock,  Mulberry Bush, Jack and Jill, the list is endless. That’s because spoken English falls naturally into a 6/8 meter. Take a look at any nursery rhyme book and you will see what I mean. As you say the rhyme, you and your student should keep the large beat on your lap or the floor. Be sure you are beating the dotted quarter note in 6/8 meter, not the “small beat” eighth note.  Then change quickly to you singing the melody to The Irish Washer Woman while also beating the dotted quarter note. I don’t know the words to that tune, but I can sing it with fa, la, la, la.  Have fun with it by starting slow and then singing (and beating) faster and faster. This will really get the child to feel the rhythm of a jig.

Then go back to the piano and tap the rhythm of Irish Celebration (using whatever counting method works for you) on the piano lid. Now you are ready to teach Irish Celebration! The notes are not difficult, mostly steps, so it is a very good beginning reading piece.

More Music For St. Patrick’s Day

If you are looking for more music for St. Patrick’s Day, Melody Bober (FJH Publications) has written a level 1 solo that my student’s love, The Leprechaun’s Jig. Here are some more:

 Schaum Publications: Jolly Leprechaun by Schaum, E

Hal Leonard: Jazz Jig by Keveren, EE 

Willis: Jaunty Jig by Hudelson, Elementary

Kjos: Dublin Irish Jig by Bastien, Level 4

Willis: Irish Suite by Melody Bober, Intermediate

FJH: Farewell to Ireland by Timothy Brown, Intermediate

These are not particularly St. Patrick’s Day, but I like them

FJH: Three Wishes by Kevin Olson, Pre Reading

FJH: The Troubadour by Kevin Olson, Intermediate (My student and I liked this so much when it first came out, I wrote Kevin and told him how great we thought it was. Later it became at NFMC choice piece! This is a great piece for teens who like Celtic sounding music)

There are many, many more pieces that can be used for St. Patrick’s Day. I did a search of all the publishers and came up with many songs about rainbows, pixies, castles, ponies, and jigs. I have also posted on my website a few games with shamrocks and a composing piece for beginners with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. If you have a favorite St. Patrick’s Day piece you can recommend, please send me an email. Éire go Brách!

Ask a Composer Questions

At Compose/Create, a blog I read a lot, the wonderful piano composer Kevin Costely is being  featured.  There is a lot of biographical information about Dr. Costley, an interview with him,  and a review of some of his pieces.

This is a great way for your students to connect with a composer. My students have submitted a lot of questions for Dr. Costley. It has given us a chance to talk a little about composing and to get to know my students better.

One of my students’ favorite is Mighty Eagle. You can actually listen to Mighty Eagle at the FJH Website. Click here and scroll down the page to find Mighty Eagle. There you can see the link to listen to it. It is a dramatic piece that really catches the imagination and makes students sound very impressive! Both boys and girls like it, especially middle school age students.  

You have to get your questions in by Oct. 6, so start asking your students today. There are so many resources available to us as teachers. If Dr. Costley and Wendy are willing to spend some time making this available, lets support their efforts.  All of our composers are so busy, it is hard to find time to feature this kind of direct involvement.

Win a set of Wendy’s new hymn books

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you might have read about my review of Wendy’s new series of traditional hymns. The music is really nice. Hal Leonard put a few selections on the promotional CD they just out to music teachers.

Well, Wendy is running a contest to give away all 3 books, worth almost $30.00.  If you post a comment on her blog you will be entered to win all three books. You can also blog or tweet about it and you will be entered again. Go to her website ComposeCreate to enter. 

If you have a blog, write about it and you will be entered, too. Hurry, the contest ends midnight, Sept. 18th.

If you win, let me know!

Easy Hymn Solos by Wendy Stevens

There are two ways to arrange hymns for the piano student. You can arrange them harmonically, in more or less a simplified hymnal setting, with words. This is great if the student wants to play an accompaniment for singers. It also helps students learn to play out of a hymnal and to sing along as they play.

 Another way to arrange hymns is for solo piano in a way that is meant to be performed, perhaps as a prelude or during the offertory. For most pianists, this is a lot more enjoyable to play and often more musical.

 Wendy Stevens has written 3 graded books in the solo arrangement style, Easy Hymn Solos, 10 Stylish Arrangements, recently published by Hal Leonard. Each book contains 10 beautiful and sophisticated arrangements of the best traditional hymns, complete with introductions. These are performance-oriented arrangements, but they are student friendly. They have finger numbers where appropriate and they contain all the expression markings needed for a musically sensitive performance. They are obviously arranged by a teacher/composer who knows how to challenge without overwhelming her students and they are enjoyable to play. But what I would like to stress is that these arrangements are interesting and more creative than most arrangements at this level.

 The hymns in level one are at the Elementary level. The book includes a beautiful arrangement of Amazing Grace, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, the Doxology, Come, Christians, Join to Sing, and other favorites. The notes are in 5 finger patterns, and there are only a few accidentals. Hands are separate most of the time, but together enough to add interest. More interest is added with articulation and dynamics, creative introductions and endings.

 Level two contains ten hymns in several positions that should be comfortable for a student at the late elementary level. There are 8^th notes and the hands move around in very interesting ways, but they rhythm is not difficult. Included in this level is Come, Thou Almighty King, This Is My Father’s World, and Be Thou My Vision.

 Level three is where the music really sounds satisfying. Here, keys change, hands move up and down, and each piece has a flowing style that is very enjoyable to play as well as listen to. Written at about the early intermediate level, they sound much more difficult than they are. I believe I could perform out of this book and the audience would not guess it was easy piano. Three of the ten hymns are All Things Bright and Beautiful, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, and Battle Hymn of the Republic.

 The books are well designed and engraved. Because they contain beloved traditional hymns, not Sunday school songs, and book covers appropriate for all ages, they are especially good for older beginners and adults. If you are looking for good hymn arrangements for your students, I encourage you to check these books out.

Alfred’s Premier Piano Course

Alfred’s Premier Piano Course

When you hear the words Alfred Method, if you think of the old Alfred Basic Piano Library, then you need to read my blog today about the newer Alfred piano method called Alfred’s Premier Piano Course.  With music beautifully written by the wonderful composers Dennis Alexander and Martha Mier, this is a modern method for today’s student.

  Alfred’s Premier Piano Course is an intervallic method that uses landmark notes to teach reading but does not go so overboard on the landmarks that it drudgery for the student.  The word “position” is not used in the method so your students will not think their RH thumb plays only middle C. My student who started in this book never thought about positions,  but rather looked for the note with the correct finger. And this was not a strong student.

 Rhythm is taught through groups of rhythm patterns to help students feel the flow of the meter. In order to play musically, students must learn using these patterns, rather than thinking of individual note values. Those of us who learned the Kodaly method know that students need to feel an entire pattern rather than just learning how long to hold a note. Students will, however, learn to count in this method.

 Lesson, Performance, Theory, Assignment, and Christmas books, as well as flash cards, MIDI disks, Technique, and a unique At-Home Book are available at the early levels. Since this method is still being written, some of the extra books such as the Technique book are not available yet at all levels.

 Books with included CD’s are available at a slightly higher price, so you can choose if you want your student to have the CD or you can keep a CD in your studio for use at the lessons.  The CD’s have both a performance tempo and a practice tempo.

 Recently Alfred published level 5 of this method, which is the 7^th level in the series, following 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3, and 4. Level 6, the final level,  is still in production, and should be available in 2010.

 Level 5 has great music that is fun to play.  The pieces composed by Alexander and Mier sound like recital pieces and your students will love them. Out of the 20 pieces in this book, 8 are original classical pieces from the Baroque to Contemporary periods as well as some arrangements of classical orchestral music. One thing I really like in this book and think is unique to a method book is the music history. There are pages devoted to each classical period including the style,  a historical time line, and melodies of other famous tunes from the period. This should make teaching music history a lot easier.

Gayle Kowalchyk, a co-author of the method wrote the lyrics in this series. The music is co-composed by Alexander and Mier, so on a recital program list them both as the composers. E.L. Lancaster,  Victoria McArthur, and Gayle Kowalchyk worked on the pedagogical concepts. The illustrations are by Jimmy Holder and are a tasteful addition to the book. Timeless in style, they will not insult your older students and will not be dated in a few years.

 If you are looking for something new and haven’t seen these books, check them out. I think you will be impressed.

Review: American Popular Piano

Once upon a time about 250 years ago there was a young boy named Wolfgang who took music lessons with his father. To keep the young squirmy boy interested, his papa tempted him with a steady diet of inspiring music by such top-notch composers as Monterverdi, Palistrina, Byrd, and Gibbons. To make it a little more educational he threw in some 500-year-old plain chant. Little Mozart resisted and begged to play some popular music. Like a lot of young people of his time, he was especially fond of minuets. And his father, wanting to be up to date, obliged the little boy and said he could play some popular music, but only in the summer and only if he learned his other, real music, first.

Of course I just made this up. Leopold Mozart wrote pieces in the contemporary style of the time for his young son. So why do some musicians today only regard music by long dead composers as the only valid music to teach piano students?

Why not have a carefully sequenced method series that uses the music styles of today? Why not seriously teach these styles with a series that starts at the beginning and moves gradually up to the early advanced level? Why not offer this in addition to classical music?

Christopher Norton and Scott McBride Smith, very well known in the field of piano pedagogy, have written a series that does just that. Recently I had an opportunity to hear this series presented in depth. I bought the books and played through all the pieces. I was very impressed with the quality of the music. Christopher Norton has a long history of writing well-composed music in popular styles.  The music is carefully graded to progress gradually. It is meticulously edited by Scott McBride Smith with all the musical elements we want our students to learn. All popular styles are represented. I love the covers, which will work for any age. There are no “popular” hits in these books. All of the music is specifically composed for the piano in popular styles students are used to hearing.

There are 9 levels complete with Repertoire, Etude, Technic, and Skills books. The books can be also be used as a supplement to your regular method. Inside the Repertoire books, there is a CD of backing tracks for the Repertoire and Improvisation Edude books. There is a practice and performance tempo track and all the tracks are carefully listed on the back cover.  I have really playing along with the CDs! This summer I hope to work on improving my improvisation skills. I improvise a lot, but always on my own. These CDs will allow me to improvise within a group. I also like the Glossary at the end of the Repertoire book. You might need to study up on all the different popular styles so you can have more fun teaching them.  

I would like to point out this is not a beginning method book in the traditional sense. Students should be reading notes around middle C before starting the Primer book. If you’re one of those teachers who just has to use a specific primer book or you’ll fall off the bench, your piano will burst into flames, and your students will never get to the conservatory, you can start the students the way you usually do and then move into this series.

Let’s make it our goal to give students quality music in today’s styles as well as the great classics. Check out the web site at http://nvmusicgroup.com/NVWeb/Home.htmlwhere you can view a discussion of these books. The videos will probably answer all your questions. American Popular Piano is published by Novus Via Music Group and distributed by Hal Leonard.

Complementary Sheet Music Offer

Rebecca over at Piano Teachers Retreat recently posted that Elijah Brossenbroek is offering a copy of his piece A Song of Simplicity if we go to his web site and send him an email requesting it. Rebecca always has interesting things on her blog, which is why she is a link on my blog roll. I don’t know how she keeps up with everything!

I always love to hear piano music by new composers so I went to Elijah’s site. You can read about him and listen to his piano music here.  He sent me a copy of his piece almost immediately and gave his permission to blog about it. It’s a lovely 5 page piece at about the late intermediate level with quick broken chords, lots of pedal, rubato,  and needs attention to  dynamic expression. The boys and young men in your studio will be interested to learn Elijah spent 5 years in the Marine Corp. I can guarantee that your teen students will love working on it this summer! Be sure to show them his web site and let them listen to some of his other music they can download to their m3 players. You can also show them several YouTube sites to watch and listen to it.

 Point out the hidden melody in the broken chords. Let them follow the music on the web and notice how the dynamic changes really make this piece.  You can also sneak in some theory as you work out some of the chord inversions, but I wouldn’t do much of that, just enough to show the reason we learn theory!  If you have potential young composers, this might encourage them to sit down at the piano and try their hand at it. If you would like to download A Song of Simplicity, go to his web site and email him.

My father was in the Marine Corp in WW 2 and was injured on Iwo Jima, the island with the famous picture of the Marines raising the flag. He loved music and was always very encouraging of my musical efforts. He would be thrilled to listen to Elijah’s music if he was here. With Father’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d mention that.

Music Notation Resources

When your students start to compose music on their own, they will need a reference book to answer  tricky questions such as in a 3/4 meter measure with one quarter note, do you use 2 quarter rests or one half rest.   Students need to learn the importance of notating music in the conventional way so that it is easy for the music reader. The book I recommend is Essential Dictionary of Music Notation by Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, published by Alfred in 1996. It  is a very tiny paperback, about 4″ by 5″ in size, full of illustrations and examples. It also has a very tiny price, $6.95,  making it  affordable for students.  This is really an excellent book, as good or better than some of the more expensive textbooks I have seen, especially for writing piano music.

 

 

 However there is a new book on the block,  Essentials of Music Notation. This book has a similar title and is by the same authors, Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, and is also published by Alfred. I expect there is going to be some confusion when I suggest one of these books to students and teachers. Essentials of Music Notation is very new, published in March 2009. It is a larger 80 page paperback, 9″ by 12″, and is more comprehensive. Everything you need to know about music notation is in the book and it is still a very affordable $11.95. This new book has an interesting format, two columns on a page, and is also full of  excellent illustrations and examples.  It is quite easy to understand and easy to look up questions, even for a beginning composer. I highly recommend this book to teachers and students who want or need a book with more depth than the Dictionary of Music Notation above.  You really can’t go wrong with either of them. If you want to look inside the book,  do a search in Amazon and you can see that it will answer all your music notation questions.  As soon as I saw it was available, I added it to my collection. Also, since it is larger, maybe it won’t get lost on my desk!

 

Thanks to Alfred Publishing for making these books  available at such a reasonable price!

Lynn Freeman Olson Signature Collection

 Lynn Freeman Olson (1938 – 1987) was a piano teacher, author, and composer. His teaching compositions are a major contribution to 20^th and 21^st century piano pedagogy. Olson introduced new and different contemporary sounds to our teaching repertoire, including interesting meters, rhythmic patterns, harmonies, and quick shifting chordal patterns not commonly found in teaching pieces in the early 1970′s. 

Last year Carl Fischer issued a set of 3 books, Lynn Freeman Olson, Signature Collection, edited by Elizabeth Gutierrez. The 3 volumes complete with CD contain many of the favorite pieces he wrote while associated with Carl Fischer.

 The first volume contains elementary to late elementary pieces such as Silver Bugles, which students love. Electronic Game, written in 1981, is still fun for students today, with its “My turn, your turn, bong, zap” written in the score. Another one my students love is Yankee Doodle Drum, so simple you can teach it by rote, yet very effective. On the Run, with the quick patterns in 5ths that move all over the keyboard is another one that is easy but sounds hard. Few of the pieces in Volume One contain words, making them appropriate for all ages of children. They help students get out of one position and move all over the keyboard and they do it in such a fun way. Students need to have supplemental music they really love to play and show off to others if we expect them to stay in piano. 

  The pieces in Volume Two are late elementary to early intermediate in difficulty. This volume contains one of my all-time favorite pieces, Rhythm Machine.  Some other favorites of my students are are Sunbird, Sonatina Americana, and Wheels, among others.  While they especially appeal to boys, Sunbird was one my daughter’s favorite recital pieces when she was young. And I have never had a student who didn’t love Rhythm Machine, which has become a classic in the piano teaching world. If you are not familiar with L. F. Olson, you might want to start with this volume.

 Volume Three is intermediate to late intermediate and has some wonderfully imaginative pieces with unexpected twists and turns that will intrigue students. Every piece except for the just for fun Yankee Doodle Boy is a National Federation Selection, as are almost all of the pieces in all three volumes. Volume Three contains a varied selection of music in many styles, contemporary, impressionist, and romantic, all of which are fun to play, and are very showy at recitals. There is something for everyone here. Many of the pieces in this volume are only 2 pages in length, which can be helpful with certain intermediate students.

 The CD’s that come with each of these volumes are very well done. I was amazed that Lynn F. Olson himself performs some of the pieces, which were recorded in 1971-1972.  Back when he recorded them I was still a college student and the personal computer was not invented. Now, almost 40 years later I am sitting here at my computer, listening to him perform works my students have played over the years and blogging about them.

The remainder of the pieces on the CD are  thoughtfully and lovingly performed by Elizabeth Gutierrez. Piano pedagogy VIP’s Martha Hilley, Joanne Smith, and Marvin Blickenstaff wrote the forwards at the beginning of the books. This is a testimony to the high regard Olson is held in the piano education field.  In the 2-page biography at the beginning of the volumes, it states Mr. Olson wrote over 1,200 works for piano in addition to writing music for a successful radio show and for the TV show Captain Kangaroo. He studied piano pedagogy with Frances Clark and composed music for The New School for Music Study directed by Frances Clark. She was a great influence to him as a piano teacher and composer. He co-wrote with Marvin Blickenstaff and Louise Bianchi the highly regarded piano method Music Pathways.

For years his piano music has been a favorite of piano students around the world. Whether you are a new teacher and have never heard of Lynn Freeman Olson, a teacher who played this music as a student and wondered if it was still in print, or a teacher with many years experience who would like to use more of his music, check out these volumes. I am so glad Carl Fischer came out with these books, which are leveled better than some of his original collections of pieces. The books are only $8.95 and each includes a CD. You can visit the Carl Fischer web site for more information.