Favorite Teaching Tools

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Piano Safari Animal Adventure and Pattern Pieces

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Wow…  What an experience it was to attend such an inspiring and amazing Music Teacher National Conference at Baltimore last week.  Even after many years of going to MTNA conferences, I still felt so motivated by being in the presence of so many devoted and famous teachers and pedagogues.  Like a kid in a candy store, I was thrilled to find so many “treats and treasures.”  One of the treasures I found in MTNA 2017 Baltimore Conference is Piano Safari’s new books!

I have loved teaching Piano Safari for years.  I am so pleased to see their latest books -Animal Adventure and Pattern Pieces by Julie and Katherine.  At Piano Safari conference session, I knew right away that my students will love these books.

What I like best about these new books are:

  1. The improvisation projects for each animal technique
  2. The new illustrations

Piano Safari has created improvisation projects that match each animal technique.   The projects provide engaging activities for students to further practice and drill their piano techniques in a fun way.  Watch this video and you will see how much the student enjoys playing the Lion Paw improvisation.

The new illustrations are great in showing the  “roadmap of the piece.”   Because Piano Safari has lots of rote pieces that utilize the whole range of the piano, it is helpful for students to see the picture that represent the structure and pattern of the piece.  For example,  one picture shows the tall giraffe, one of the Safari animal, goes up and down the hill that corresponds to the high and low of the piece.

Hope you will enjoy improvising with these cute animal piano techniques.  The Animal Adventure and Pattern Pieces books are available on Piano Safari website.  Visit their website and check out these gems.

Want to find out more about Piano Safari:

See All the animal techniques in action in this video

Listen to Tim Topham’s interview with Julie and Katherine

In the next blog post, I will share with you another wonderful sight-reading app called “Read Ahead.”  Other than Piano Safari new books, Read Ahead is a resource that I can use right away in my studio. Like a kid in a candy store, I am in awe of the arrays of innovative teaching series and technologies!  I’m also so grateful for all the efforts these teachers have put in to develop such wonderful resources for music community.

Focus Activities

(Part 4) The #1 Teaching Tool I Cannot Live Without

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I am super excited to share “Hip-Hop (Focus Activity)” today.

This fun activity can be applied on so many levels –

from learning note values and subdivision

and technique drill

and percussion instrument fun

all the way to playing solo and duet on piano.

Focus Activities

Let’s “hop” right in and see “Hip Hop” in action. This video packs all my favorite variations of Hip-Hop.

In this video, you’ll see

  • 0:20 Two is double the fun

  • Hold right hand out with palms up.
  • Tap the beat with left hand in the partner’s palm.
  • Tap twice as fast when hearing the word “hip”
  • Tap twice as slow when hearing the word “hop”

  • 1:00 Improvisation with Hip Hop

  • 1:57 Fun for One

  • 2:39 Learn music theory – the Hip Hop way

Concept: steady beat, subdivision, note values

Frog Family

Want something more tangible?  How about adding some croaking, hopping frogs to spice up the “Hip Hop”.  Inspired by Leila Viss’s frog guiro percussion instruments, I came up with the idea of having family of frogs croak the long and short sounds.   Watch this 1-minute video and enjoy the frog ensemble.

More Focus Activities for You to Enjoy

Here are the links to the previous three focus activity videos:

Coke Pepsi

Pass the Eggs

Up Down Upsidedown

Please make sure to leave me a comment or feedback if you would like to see other activities.

Get My Top Five Focus Activities Instant Download NOW

I have prepared my Top Five Focus Activities for download, simply Click below and Get it Now.

The activities are Dalcroze based and always require creative, quick and spontaneous reaction from the student.  If you would like to learn more about Dalcroze Eurhythmics, please visit American Eurhythmics Society website.  I regularly attend their workshop and always have an amazing experience each time!

Focus Activities

(Part 3) The #1 Teaching Tool I Cannot Live Without

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My Top Teaching Tool – Focus Activities

Focus Activities

This is the 3rd video in my series of “My number one teaching tool – Focus Activities.”  Today’s one minute video features Coke-Pepsi. This video takes you from rhythmic echo activity to playing and improvising on the piano.

Watch the video and find out how we add “Coke and Pepsi” to “Canon in D.”

Coke-Pepsi

  • Students echo back the opposite word pattern.
  • Teacher says: coke, coke, pepsi, pepsi
  • Student says: pepsi, pepsi, coke, coke
  • Concepts: Steady beat, quarter and eighth

Want to learn more?

Here are the links to the previous two focus activity videos:

Please make sure to leave me a comment or feedback if you would like to see other activities.

Get My Top Five Focus Activities Instant Download NOW

I have prepared my Top Five Focus Activities for download, simply Click below and Get it Now.

The activities are Dalcroze based and always require creative, quick and spontaneous reaction from the student.

If you would like to learn more about Dalcroze Eurhythmics, please visit American Eurhythmics Society website.  I regularly attend their workshop and always have an amazing experience each time.

Focus Activities

(Part 2) The #1 Teaching Tool I Couldn’t Live Without

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Why is “focus activities” my TOP teaching tool?

The answer is simple.  When a student is focused and engaged, the lesson is much more productive.  Without student’s attention, even with the best lesson plan, very little can be achieved.

Have you tried the focus activity “Up Down Upside Down” introduced in the previous blog?  Are you ready to fire up your student’s focus with the second activity “Pass the Eggs?”  It’s great for parents to try with the children at home, too.

Focus Activities

In today’s short 2-minute video,  you will see “Pass the Eggs” in action and you’ll know why FOCUS activity is my #1 teaching tool of choice.  Just see the big smiles on everyone’s face.

Pass the Eggs

Pass the egg shaker to the neighbor while chanting “Shake, Shake, Pass and Take” and doing the movement at the same time.

After watching this video, please take a moment to reflect this question:

What music concepts does the student learn through “passing the eggs?”

This activity may seem very simple, however, the students are learning all these concepts: steady beat, left and right, coordination, tempo change, quarter and eighth notes, ensemble skills.

Most importantly, these music concepts are learned in a way that seems invisible to the students.  They learn through playing.  While watching the video, did you notice that when the egg was dropped on the floor accidentally, we just simply pick it up and wait for the right moment to pass the egg again?  This is the fundamental of ensemble playing.

It also shows students how to handle mistakes.  Dropping the egg is totally fine and making mistakes is totally cool.  I believe in creating a fun-loving environment that allows for mistakes. Perfection is not a learning goal.  It is more important to quickly find creative, spontaneous reaction to handle the mistake.

Please make sure to leave me a comment or feedback if you would like to see other activities.

Get My Top Five Focus Activities Instant Download NOW

I have prepared my Top Five Focus Activities for download, simply Click below and Get it Now.

The activities are Dalcroze based and always require creative, quick and spontaneous reaction from the student.  If you would like to learn more about Dalcroze Eurhythmics, please visit American Eurhythmics Society website.  I regularly attend their workshop and always have an amazing experience each time.

 

Focus Activities

(Part 1) The #1 Teaching Tool I Couldn’t Live Without

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Recently Tim Topham, an innovative music educator,  asked me this question: “What is the one tool you couldn’t live without?”

It’s a great question and it’s so hard to choose just one.  However, if I really have to decide, here it is…

I always open the lesson with a FOCUS activity.   It is a huge hit among my students and parents.  (Yes, I invite parents to do the focus activity if they like to join.)

Focus Activities

The focus activity is short, fun, spontaneous.  Most importantly, it keeps students engaged and ready for learn.  Imagine having the student’s full attention from the very beginning of the lesson.  When student, parent and teacher are energized and focused, everyone is in the optimal learning mode.  What I love best about the FOCUS activity is that it ensures everyone gets in the zone of learning and therefore contributes to a productive and effective lesson.

The activities are Dalcroze based and always require creative, quick and spontaneous reaction from the student.

My most popular activities

  • Pass the Eggs

  • Coke-Pepsi

  • Up Down Upside Down

  • Rolling the Ball

  • Hip Hop

  • Body beat

  • Body Canon

  • Solfege Canon

  • A1B2

See it in Action

In today’s short 1-minute video,  you will see “Up Down Upside Down” in action and you’ll know why FOCUS activity is great as an opening ice-breaker that grabs student’s attention right away.

Up Down Upside Down

  • Student points up or down opposite to what they see but say the right direction.
  • Concepts: Steady beat, opposite, up and down, note values

Get My Top Five Focus Activities Instant Download NOW

I have prepared my Top Five Focus Activities for download, simply Click below and Get it Now.

If the student comes to lesson feeling tired and sleepy, these activities will surely wake them up and ensure they are in “ready to learn” mode.

Want to learn more about Dalcroze Eurhythmics? Please visit American Eurhythmics Society website.  I regularly attend their workshop and always have an amazing experience each time.

Please make sure to leave me a comment or feedback if you would like to see other activities.