We had a terrific October of musical fun! Here’s a little recap:
The week of Thanksgiving was our first master class (all studio group lessons) of the year!
We opened our master class with a partner game where older students were paired with younger students and searched for musical clues around the room then matched the musical vocabulary to their sheet. This was a great moment to have some of the older students teach some of the terms to the younger/newer students.
Then we did a little musical improv with Halloween rhythms. Students picked a rhythm card and created a melody for it on their keyboard with their partner while I accompanied.
Students were given the opportunity to perform a piece they’d been working on since the start of lessons in November.
Then we tried something called SQUILT. Super Quiet Uninterrupted Listening Time. We learned a little bit about Edvard Grieg and the music he composed for the play Peer Gynt and spent some time listening to and dissecting the piece, In the Hall of the Mountain King. I wanted the students to listen attentively and focus on the essential elements of beautiful music: Rhythm, Tempo, Dynamics, Instrumentation and Mood. As we develop this habit for active listening it will be easier to be mindful of incorporating these essentials into our own playing.
We also had a little bit of a mini photoshoot and prepared new photos for our wall. The polaroid photos and cards of last year were so cute but we have many new students this year and these photos turned out so great. Pop in and check out our wall!
Master classes are always a fun time and the little ones enjoy listening to and being partnered with some of the older students.
We finished the month with a week of Halloween fun during our regular lessons and classes. Particularly popular was the Trick or Treat cards. Randomly throughout classes or lessons I would have a student pick a card that would have either a musical trick or treat on it. If they drew a trick card, they learned a piano trick or technique and if they drew a treat card, we watched a fun piano youtube video. We didn’t get through all the tricks and treats in lessons so if you want to try out more at home, here you are:
Hope you all enjoyed a safe and fun Halloween!
