I’ve been out of town on a whirlwind vacation, and am still putting myself back together!  Thanks for being patient with me while I get back into the swing of things!

Really quick, before I head off to unpack and then teach some lessons, I wanted to share this really cute idea for making a cake shaped like piano keys.  I don’t want to take the pictures from the blog, so I will just leave the link here for you to visit.  It’s very cute and looks really easy!  Let me know what you think!

http://partyperfectblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/clever-keyboard-cake.html

My 5 year old student stopped mid-song to scratch his feet.  He apologized and then explained,

I can usually itch my feet with no hands, but I’m wearing different shoes today.

Ah yes.  I understand.

Don’t you just love 5 year olds?

A big welcome to today’s guest writer, Suzan Pleva, of www.melodypiano.net and www.melodypiano.blogspot.com! 

Hello Everyone!  I feel so privileged; Rebecca gave me the honor of inviting me to guest post today!  I need to let everyone know how exiting this invitation was for me.  I knew that this meant that I would be getting lots of great advice and feedback from fellow colleagues.

I would first like to introduce myself.  My name is Suzan Pleva.  I am new to the piano teaching world.  I began teaching piano lessons in February, so it’s been a little less than a half of a year for me now.  I am not sure what happened, one day, something just “clicked” in my head.  I love working with children, I love to teach, I love the piano.  Why not put them together!  This is what I did.  I am now proud to say that I am the owner/Instructor at Melody Piano!

I have played the piano for 17 years now.  I am classically trained.  I would have to say that my forte is my ear for music.  I have always had a passion for the piano.  I am not sure what it is, I just get this wonderful feeling when I can play my heart out.  I was the kid that WANTED to practice everything that I could to get better. 

Today, one of my students (11 year old) was having trouble with her hand structure and seemed as though she couldn’t keep her body straight when doing her scales.  When she finished her F major scale, I said to her, “Do you ever play video games?”  “Yes”, she said.  “Me too” I told her.  “It’s so funny how I always want to move with the character on the screen, if he needs to go left, I lean left.  If he needs to turn right, I move my body and the controller to the right! LOL!”  I told her. You should have seen me, I must have looked like a fool.  I stood up and was acting out everything that I was saying. She was laughing, “I do that too!”  I said, “You know what’s really funny about it, I always think about how no matter how much I move my body, it’s not going to affect my video game character a bit.  The only thing that matters is what is going on with the controller.” I then directed this analogy towards the piano, elaborated a bit more than that, but she totally got it!  I was AMAZED!  She immediately improved!  At the end of lesson, I always go over our “What to work on this week” sheet.  I told her, “When it comes to hand structure and posture, think video games!”  I even wrote that on her sheet.  She responded to this really well! 

Now, some questions:

Repetition is a great way for kids (and adults) to learn.  Kids (and adults) learn well through repetition.  Repetition helps kids (and adults) learn.

Ok, ok.  I’m being obnoxious.

But it’s a truth!  Repetition is so helpful and necessary.  Especially for a beginer.  Your brand new student may understand finger numbers after one lesson, but it’s very likely that without another reminder of finger numbers, that knowledge will become fuzzy.  Be sure to find time to bring early concepts into later lessons.

Subjects I find myself repeating and repeating with each student:

1. finger numbers
2. quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes
3. middle C
4. Treble C
5. Bass C
6. correct hand position
7. names of keys
8. notes on staff

What subjects make you sound like a broken record?

My husband and I got to go along with my sister-in-law and niece to a Jon Schmidt concert last weekend.

Have you heard of Jon Schmidt?

He is a Utah favorite, so I’ve heard about him ever since I’ve lived here.  If you haven’t had the opportunity of hearing Jon Schmidt, you really should look him up.  His music is beautiful and thrilling, “the sort of music that stops you dead and demands that you listen,” according to one fan.

His concert was so much fun because he is wildly energetic with the piano!  He pounded keys and slammed his feet on the pedals with an intensity that alarmed me!  I was just waiting for the piano to fall apart, but, of course, it never did.  He played upside down, standing up, and (occasionally) sitting down.  He used his arms and his head on the keys.  Really!

Also performing with him was Steve Nelson, a cellist/percussionist with a great sense of humor!  Here they are together performing a beautiful arrangement of Taylor Swift’s Love Story (a song which is usually gag inducing for me, but here it’s lovely) and Coldplay’s Viva la Vida.

The highlight of the concert for me was actually a teaser.  He performed a few minutes of a piece he’s still working on called “Rock”maninoff.  It’s Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C# minor all rocked out, with an accompanying electric guitar!  Fabulous, and I’m definitely buying his CD when that song comes out.

In addition to performing, Schmidt also sells sheet music (which is wildly fun to play!).  He even has some free MP3 and sheet music downloads at www.jonschmidt.com.

My piano teacher from my high school days would probably be shocked to know that I used to think she only listened to classical music.

I remember well the day that she casually mentioned liking some popular rock group during a lesson.  I think my jaw dropped to the floor.  I didn’t think classical piano teachers were ALLOWED to listen to anything but classical music.

Now, as a piano teacher, I wonder if any of my students hold the same view towards me.  I wonder if they would be surprised to hear my pre-set rock radio stations in my car or take a peek in my many CD boxes filled with rock music from today (and from my high school days) that they probably adore.

Would your students be suprised at some of your listening choices?

I just got my copy of George Skaroulis‘ new CD, Imagine.

Imagine this:  You just finished teaching a particularly difficult student- you know the one I’m talking about.  You start making dinner while trying to keep your toddler happy.  Your toddler is most definitely not happy.  You feel your stress levels rising while you still try to shake off the effects of your difficult lesson amidst whining and screaming and your own attempts to accomplish a task.

You walk over to your CD player, pop in George Skaroulis‘ gorgeous music, and take a step back.  You begin to feel calm.  Your unhappy toddler begins to perk up while she sways and hums to the music.  All is well.

This CD is filled with The. Most. Relaxing. Music.  The songs include “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “You Raise Me Up,” “Unchained Melody,” and my favorite- the one that is wearing my Repeat button out-”Hallelujah.”

George Skaroulis truly has a gift for composing beautiful arrangements.  His music makes you stop,listen, and truly enjoy.  And you would never know by listening that he is self taught and unable to read music!  Read his amazing bio here.

You can learn more about his music, order this CD, or any of his many other CDs at his site, www.evzonemusic.com.

You know I love art, right?

Do you also know I love children’s books?  And I obviously love the piano.

Put them all together, and what have you got?!?!

Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum by Robert Andrew Parker

The children’s picture book follows the childhood of Art Tatum, one of the all-time greats of jazz piano.  Art Tatum had very bad vision that only got worse with age.  The book tells how, because of this, he loved playing around on his family’s piano.  As he grew up, he had many opportunities to play for people- first at his church, in his school, at cafes, and soon he became a fixture in local bars.  Shortly after that, he was asked to play for a radio station, five days a week.  As the book says, he soon became famous for his ability to “play one song and then weave another song in and out and through it.”

I especially love the above picture, as I have my own tiny pianist at home.

I confess, I did not know who Art Tatum was when I picked up this book.  But I have since been listening and watching videos of him on YouTube.  And I am in LOVE.

Don’t you just hate it when you discover something or somebody you wished you had discovered long ago?  I’m glad to have found Art Tatum.  How about you?

It’s finally summer here.  We had rain nearly every single day in the month of June.  It energized me beyond belief.  Now that we’re approaching 100 degree weather, I’m feeling the motivation being sapped from my body.

Will you share a happy story from your week with me? 

 It could be about music or teaching if you want, but it really doesn’t have to be.  I just have a suspicion that many of us could benefit from some happy stories today!