Monthly Archives: December 2010

Dusting Off These Sight-Reading Worksheets!

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In conjunction with my practice incentive theme this year, I’ve dusted off this set of Across the C’s sight-reading worksheets that I developed years ago. And you know what? My students are loving them! Something about the range of the keyboard that is used and the perceived initial difficulty make students feel very accomplished when they can play these worksheets successfully. And the cool thing is how accessible they are to even the most struggling sight-reader. One of my little guys who has a great ear, but really has difficulty sight-reading, exclaimed, “Wow! This is fun!” So of course I agreed with him and encouraged him to move on to the next worksheet in the series. :-)

Here are direct links to each of the sight-reading worksheets in the series:

We’re still not master sight-readers here in our studio, but hopefully we can keep taking steps in that direction!

BAM Radio Music Broadcasts

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The BAm! Radio Network has recently posted two of the shows for which I served as an on-air commentator. Initially, I actually declined participation in this first one because I hold a different position than the group that was being interviewed. After being assured, though, that the network welcomed and encouraged opposing viewpoints, I agreed to participate. Here are links to the two shows:

Singing Green: Can Music Save Our Planet?
Maryann Harman with The Banana Slug String Band and Natalie Wickham

The Message In the Music
Maryann Harman with Tom Chapin, Red Grammer, Natalie Wickham

Monday Mailbag – Teaching Performance Skills

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During your informal performances in group lessons, how do you prepare your students for how to approach the bench and to take a bow afterwards?  Do you have them introduce their piece and/or talk about it?  I really want my students to become more comfortable with performing for their peers as a ladder-step to performing for others.  And I want them to be comfortable taking ownership and pride in their performances.  Thanks!

These are exactly the same goals and objectives that prompted me to begin offering regular group classes. To facilitate it, I designed a practice incentive theme called, Let’s Have a Ball!, where we held musical “balls” throughout the year to develop better performance skills.

For our informal gatherings, I usually have the students introduce themselves and the piece they are playing. For the formal recitals, I use a printed program. The thing that I have found the most effective for instilling proper performance procedures is this set of Performance Signs that illustrate and define each element of a good performance. They cover:

  1. Approach to Piano
  2. Arrival at the Piano
  3. Performance
  4. Completion
  5. Bow
  6. Return to Seat

We use these frequently during our group classes as a reminder of the proper performance procedures. Students who have been with me for several years or more have them down solid, and new students manage to pick it up pretty quickly by observing the others.

It’s important to keep in mind that nothing beats practice! The more students have the opportunity to perform, the more confidence they will develop. I’ve also found that using drama and public speaking games is a great way to reinforce the same skills and help students develop confidence in front of others. There’s a great book called, Theatre Games for Young Performers, that I often refer to for new ideas.

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Super Cool Musical AlphaGems!

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Does anyone else keep a list of projects that they’d like to make for their studio? It seems like my list grows longer rather than diminishing in size! Regardless, these Do-It-Yourself Musical AlphaGems that Joy posted about recently have just been added to my list! I think my students would really love these, and there are so many possibilities for how they could be used. Maybe I’ll make some progress on my list during Christmas break this year…

Equipment Needed to Live Stream a Recital

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After the post about my upcoming Christmas recital, several of you left comments or sent e-mails asking what equipment was necessary in order to live stream a recital. This will be my first time experimenting with this, but from what I can gather here’s what I’ll need:

  1. A USTREAM account.
  2. Laptop computer with access to the internet (via a wired or wireless network).
  3. Built-in video recording capabilities or a camcorder. I’m planning to use my digital camcorder to capture the video feed, while also recording to a miniDV at the same time.
  4. Good sound capture capabilities. The instruments will need to be mic’d and you either need to use a built-in mic from the camcorder or computer, or use a direct line input from the sound board. We are planning to use the latter option in order to get the best sound quality with the least feedback.
  5. Really smart, savvy equipment operators! I’m having a friend of mine run the sound board and another friend run the video camera and laptop. Both of them have lots of previous technical experience, so I’m hoping that even if we run into some glitches, they’ll be able to troubleshoot and find solutions!

Unless I’m forgetting something, I think this is all we’ll need. I’ll keep you posted, though, as we get things set up and I’ll let you know what all I learn along the way!

Group Class Focuses on Performance

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It’s been a while since I posted pictures, so I figured it was about time! The Thursday before Thanksgiving week, we held our third studio group class. We have four main areas we’re focusing on this year, and each group class highlights one of them. This one focused on performance. We started out with a game called Mirrors to emphasize the importance of watching and anticipating the leader in ensemble playing. For the remainder of the evening, we went back and forth between Performance Rounds and Presentation Planning Sessions.

For the Performance Rounds, each student played their prepared solo or duet while the other students listened and evaluated them on their overall performance etiquette using our tried-and-true performance signs. For the Presentation Planning Sessions, I divided the students into four groups of four students each and assigned them a topic related to performing. They were to brainstorm together as a group and come up with a creative way to present the topic to the rest of us. I pulled out my huge prop bag for this and let them use whatever they wanted for costuming and props. We had a ton of fun and even picked up a few helpful tips for our upcoming recital!

Here are the topics I gave them:

  • Every Piano Student Can Become an Excellent Performer!
  • How to Avoid Embarrassing Recital Experiences
  • Preparing for the Big Day
  • Tips for Conquering Nervousness


Group One has fun talking about their clever idea – a takeoff on the “shoulder angels” who give conflicting practice advice to the student preparing for an upcoming recital.


As the lead-in to their presentation, Joey helps Jed understand that the cello is not an over-sized violin and should not be played as such!


Andrew gives a helpful demonstration.


Tommy is a great emcee, giving each member of the group the cue for their part.


Hayley plays the part of a very shy student who lacks confidence.


Emily provides the contrast to the shy student by entering the room with a “Hi y’all!” and even proceeds to take a call on her cell phone mid-performance.


The fourth group gives helpful ideas on how to get rid of those pesky butterflies in the stomach. :-)

Since I’m focusing a lot on collaborative music this year, I’m also trying to explore other ways that students can collaborate to work toward a common goal or objective. The students were incredibly creative with their ideas and really enjoyed working together to plan and execute these presentations!