As I was working on some plans for the upcoming year of lessons the other day, it suddenly occurred to me that I could design some flashcards and print them fairly inexpensively using VistaPrint. I don’t know why I’ve never thought of that before, but now I’m so excited about all the possibilities for utilizing these cards!

As you can see, I used a colorful design for the back of the cards (the same one I use for my students’ manuscript books) and intentionally made them all the same so that I can use the cards for memory-type games. Then I used a blank staff design for one set of cards and a blank keyboard design for another set. I have several specific game ideas in mind that I’m hoping to post about in the coming months after I try them out and see if they work! In the meantime, though, I thought I would post the files here in case anyone else wants to get their own printed so that you can customize them for use with your students.

Follow these simple instructions to have your own flashcards printed in no time at all!

1. Right click on the above three flashcard images (one at a time) and select “Save As” or “Save Target As” in order to save the image files to your computer.
2. If you don’t already have an account at VistaPrint.com, click on over there and select the “Get Started” button for the postcard option.
3. Click on the upload your own design button. Navigate to where you downloaded the above images and upload them as prompted (they are sized exactly for the postcard printing).
4. Upload the colorful music image for the front and the staff or keyboard image for the back. (This is so that the glossy finish is actually on the back of the flashcard and you can use a marker to customize the other side without having to worry about smearing.)
5. Finish the order process until you get to the checkout page. When given the option, set up an account so that your images will be stored for future use.
6. Do a quick Google search for something along the lines of “free postcards vistaprint coupon code.” This should turn up several options that will allow you to either click on a link or enter a coupon code to get 100 postcards for free. (Even if you use the option where you have to click on another link, your postcard designs should still be in your cart, so just navigate to the checkout page and they should now show up as being free.)
7. Complete the checkout process, pay for the shipping (there will probably be a small fee for uploading the images as well, but this is a one-time fee for these images), and start dreaming up all the creative ways you can use your custom cards!
8. Repeat the same process for the other set of cards as well. I ordered my sets separately because even though you have to pay for shipping twice, you can use the coupon code again this way to get the cards themselves for free. If you put them on the same order then the free 100 postcards will only apply to one set of cards.

Let me know if you end up getting some of these printed for your students and/or if you have some creative ideas for using them!

Congrats to Marsha Sanders, winner of all the studio wall decorations for the Exploring A Galaxy of Music practice incentive! Marsha, just e-mail me your mailing address and I’ll get everything shipped to you right away!

For years I’ve heard people – both parents and teachers – sing the praises of Music Ace. But I just discovered that they’ve combined the original Music Ace and Music Ace 2 into one software program with Music Maestro, a special program for music educators. The result is one software package called Music Ace Maestro!

I’ve been perusing the 48 Lesson outline, looking at the screen shots, and reading the game descriptions. It looks like a fun addition to any music studio or classroom. What’s even more exciting, though, is that one special music studio or classroom is actually going to win their own copy of Music Ace Maestro, thanks to the generosity of Harmonic Vision!

To enter the drawing for this $127.95 prize, just leave a comment on this post. And…since this is such a great prize, if you’d like to earn double entry, just post about this giveaway on your blog/Facebook/Twitter with a link back to this post, then leave a separate comment letting me know you did so. The contest will end on Thursday, August 19, at 12:00 noon CST. Then I’ll use a random number generator to determine the winner!

Also, if you haven’t already done so, you can click here to subscribe to the Harmonic Vision Piano News newsletter. Archived issues may be viewed on the Piano Teacher page of their website.

Have you subscribed to the Harmonic Vision Piano News newsletter? It’s sent via e-mail each month and includes a nice collection of news, links, upcoming events, and resources. Just click here to subscribe (this will set up an e-mail that is ready to send for inclusion on the mailing list). Also, you can view archived newsletters on the Piano Teacher page of their website.

Well, I’ve finally taken the plunge and decided to start a Music Matters eNews. I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while and when I decided to switch my Sibro Publishing newsletter over to Constant Contact last month, I thought it was time to move forward with this newsletter as well!

I’m planning to include quick links to resources, special deals and promotions on various materials, plus lots of other exciting tidbits!  Just sign up using the form at the top of the right side bar to get in on the inaugural issue.

Quick Note: If you’ve ordered materials from me or corresponded with me before, there is a possibility that your e-mail address was already imported into the mailing program. If you enter it in the sign-up form, you’ll be given the option to update your profile.

Last weekend, our local association sponsored our annual Music Progressions evaluations. Students are evaluated in performance, keyboard facility, applied theory, rhythm and pulse, sight-reading, written theory, and listening. We call them student evaluations, but in reality we all know that it’s an evaluation for us as teachers, right? Hence, I was inspired to compile this [facetious] list of the Top Ten Reasons to Participate in Student Evaluation Programs:

1. You don’t have enough stress in your life, so you relish the thought of frantically trying to prepare your students for a whole series of tests in all areas of musicianship.

2. You enjoy seeing the glassy-eyed look of your students when you use strange foreign terminology like “tempo” and “dynamics” that your student has obviously never heard in his life.

3. You want your students to realize that as good as they may feel about themselves and their musical abilities, there is always room for criticism and lower-than-average scores.

4. You feel it’s important for students to be subjected to performance on a wide variety of pianos, including ones that are out of tune, missing keys, lacking pedals, or produce a ringing sound throughout the duration of the performance.

5. You love being scrutinized by your colleagues and forever thereafter wondering if they’ll think of you as the teacher whose student forgot all his scales.

6. You enjoy the mental stimulation of trying to keep track of all of the requirements for each of the ten levels so that you can [theoretically] be preparing your students for their evaluations throughout the year.

7. You delight in the spontaneity that ensues when you realize you have forgotten some of the afore-mentioned requirements and must quickly teach your student all the varieties of 7th chords so that she can properly play them, identify them in questions, and write them on her theory test.

8. You like experiencing the adrenaline surge that comes from standing with your ear to the door of the room in which your student is performing and hearing her take the andante-labeled piece at 200.

9.You appreciate the opportunity to expand your vocabulary while looking for creative ways to convey the scores to each student while simultaneously encouraging them to continue in their music studies.

10. You think it’s healthy to contemplate a career change and submit your resume to different companies on an annual basis – just in case you missed your calling after all.

One of the things I discovered (quite to my surprise!) when I connected with people at the MTNA Conference this year is that many of the readers of this blog had formed certain ideas about who I am that are not quite in line with reality. For example, I found out that quite a few people thought I was married and had children – neither of which are true. One friend who knows me said that another teacher was so insistent that I was married that when my friend assured her I wasn’t, she surmised that I must be divorced – which is also not true. A couple others thought I was a homeschool mom – also not true.

So, in order to set the record straight (and to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the release of my first book!), I wanted to offer a special deal for anyone who is curious to know who I really am, how I got started teaching piano, why I started this blog, some of the philosophy and ideas behind my teaching, plus lots of other things! From now through the end of this month, you can order a copy of my book: Pajama School – stories from the life of a homeschool graduate for only $12. Just checkout at SibroPublishing.com with the coupon code: MMB. And if you have any friends or students/families that you think would enjoy the book, you are welcome to order multiple copies at this same discounted price. Also, if you want your books autographed (either a generic autograph or personalized), just leave a note to that effect in the comments box when you checkout and I’ll be happy to autograph them for you!

I guess I’m on a scale kick this week! One of my students asked me if I knew of any good on-line resources for scales that included an audio recording of the scale. She’s an aural learner, so it’s really helpful for her to hear what she should be playing. I did a bit of sleuthing around and came across some pretty cool stuff.

For example, did you know there is an iPhone App called Scales & Modes? It’s beautifully designed and contains a ton more scales and modes than your average musician would ever need to know. My student was able to download this for only $1.99 and use it with her iTouch!

This Your Accompanist website has downloadable mp3 recordings of the Major and minor scales, plus a few others.

Here’s a printable set of scale fingerings (on the staff), grouped according to fingering patterns. A handy reference.

The Piano Tricks website contains several short, concise tutorials on different musical concepts that could be helpful for students to reference for reinforcement. Sometimes it just helps to hear the same thing several times from several different sources!

Anyone else have any great resources for understanding and learning scales? I’d love to know about them! You can never have too many, right?!

One of my favorite things to do is visit other piano teachers’ websites. You can catch a glimpse into their studios, read how they word their policies, get creative ideas for use in your own studio, and generally feel somewhat connected to all of your colleagues in the world of music teaching. So…I was thinking it would be neat to put together a page with a listing of piano [or any instrument, really!] teachers and their websites.

If you’d be interested in including your website in this listing, just leave a comment below or send me a quick e-mail with your website link and what state/province or country you’re in. I’ll post the complete list as a page here on Music Matters Blog and also make it available as a free PDF so that you can print it off, use it in technology workshops, etc. There are still lots of teachers who are interested in setting up websites, but haven’t yet, so I think this will be a great resource to help those who want ideas of what to include on their sites. And even those of us who already have websites I’m sure will find great ideas and inspiration from others that we can incorporate into our studio sites!

[As an aside, there are quite a few parents that come across this blog when looking for piano teachers, so I think this will be a helpful way to get your studio name and website out to potential students as well!]

The winning names have been drawn (i.e. chosen my a random number generator ), and three winners have emerged. Jennifer, Anatolia, and Michelle will soon be the recipients of their selected book from Music Motivation. However, be not dismayed if your name was not selected, because Mr. Simon has generously extended a special offer to any Music Matters Blog readers that are interested in checking out his books. Just enter the code: MusicMatters2010 to receive a 15% discount on your order (and free shipping for orders of $50 or more). It’s always fun to try out new resources and see what grabs each student’s interest!