In my studio, group classes are offered as an extra perk in addition to the regular lesson that week. They are scheduled approximately every 6 weeks on a Thursday evening for two hours. Since I set the schedule for the studio at the beginning of the fall semester, everyone can put the dates for all the classes on their calendars if they want to attend. This has worked out really well for quite a few years and usually around 15 of my students are able to make each group class.

I’m tossing around the possibility of trying a different approach next year just to change things up a bit and try some new ideas, but we’ll see if I actually end up doing it or not! I know a number of teachers schedule group classes in place of regular lessons for the week, but I’m not sure how individual assignments would be handled in that case. Anyone want to chime in? If they are performing for each other and participating in various group activities at the class, perhaps you could incorporate specific practice suggestions and/or give them new assignments as part of the class that would give them something to continue working on until their next lesson.

I also tend to think that if students have taken some ownership for their own musical progress that they will be able to continue working on their own for two weeks and moving forward even without new specific assignments from the teacher. Some students are great at this; others, of course, will take the extra week as a “get-out-of-jail-free” (a.k.a. take-a-week-off-of-practicing) card.

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!

1. The Mediterranean Sea is so bella and pacifico this time of year.
2. If you ritardando in the streets of Naples you might get run over!
3. The street performers in Rome are allegro and full of giocoso.
4. Gelato is a dolce way to fine a meal.
5. If that luggage is troppo pesante, just fermata and we will have someone else carry it for you.
6. We are dolente that our trip will presto be over.
7. I would like a poco piu cheese on my pizza.
8. Please accelerando so that we get to da capo of the bus line in time to catch a ride.
9. The sound of the train is crescendo.
10. The people of Italy are assai friendly.
11. It’s sempre exciting to travel to new places.
12. See if you can find loco to stay for meno than €100 a night.
13. Let’s sit by the fuoco and sip a mezzo cup of coffee largo.
14. The dancers in the ballet moved around so leggiero and grazioso.

And for your convenience, here’s a handy list of the same messages with the Italian terms translated into English. Of course, these are not necessarily the Italian words you would actually use in that context; I just tried to stick with ones that my students would be somewhat familiar with from their music studies.

1. The Mediterranean Sea is so beautiful and peaceful this time of year.
2. If you gradually get slower in the streets of Naples you might get run over!
3. The street performers in Rome are fast and lively and full of humor.
4. Gelato is a sweet way to end a meal.
5. If that luggage is too heavy, just stop and we will have someone else carry it for you.
6. We are sorrowful that our trip will quickly be over.
7. I would like a little morecheese on my pizza.
8. Please gradually get faster so that we get to the beginning of the bus line in time to catch a ride.
9. The sound of the train is gradually getting louder.
10. The people of Italy are very friendly.
11. It’s always exciting to travel to new places.
12. See if you can find a place to stay for less than €100 a night.
13. Let’s sit by the fireand sip a medium cup of coffee slowly.
14. The dancers in the ballet moved around so lightlyand gracefully.

Activities for the group class included:
Mixed Messages – students had to translate Italian musical terms to complete English sentences. The winning team members each won a Free Travel Pass!

Board Patrol – as each student performed, the others were placed in pairs and given a board labeled with one of the following: Dynamics Board, Tempo Board, Articulation Board, and Mood Board. They had to listen and write on the board as many elements as they could come up with that they heard in the performance.

Key Signature Lesson and Scramble – Thanks to the Teach Piano Today blog for the inspiration for this activity!

[Find the full explanation of the Rhythm Chart game we played in the 5 for Fun! book of games and activities for the private piano lesson.]

I can hardly wait to try this in my studio!

This is a much-loved game in my studio! It’s one of the first ones I made and students don’t mind a bit that it’s all constructed of simple, homemade materials.

Here’s a close-up of the treble clef game. The treble clef shape is cut out of white posterboard and orange and blue circles are placed on the treble clef to create a path. Then I laminated it to preserve it. To play, each student places their game token on the first circle and draws a card from the draw pile. If they answer the card correctly, they get to roll the die and advance their game piece.

The dice are made from foam cubes and then I used a black ink pen to draw a keyboard or staff with a different interval on each side. The student rolls the die that corresponds to the color space he is on on the treble clef board. He must identify the interval and then move the equivalent number of spaces (i.e. 4th – move 4 spaces).

Here are a few specific ideas for pre-reading students:
* pictures of a piano keyboard with an “X” to identify the name of the key
* simple rhythm patterns
* note values
* basic dynamics
* pictures of instruments to identify

Here’s a close-up of the simple note identification questions that are included in the deck. For students just getting into reading notes on the staff, you could make cards with all the staff notes and just include a specified range of those in addition to other easier cards. Or you could make it multiple choice. Another fun approach might be to do a series of notes and have the student see if she can identify the word that is spelled. (Click here for a list of Musical Alphabet Words.)

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!

An Italian Intrigue: Musical Adventures in Heart, Mind, and Strength

Last month I had the amazing experience of spending three weeks in Italy! I decided to do double duty and use the trip to do reconnaissance work for this year’s theme. It was a ton of fun and now I’m excited to take my students along with me for a journey through the country! Along the way they’ll be racking up Complication Coins, trying to identify the hideout of the Mystery Musician, traveling covertly at times to get double earnings, completing Italian language lessons, and  learning to play the piano beautifully, excellently, and naturally.

I made the official announcement at the September Surprise! last Thursday. To start off the event I gave each student a strip of paper with several measures from a familiar tune. They had to try to find all the other students who had excerpts from the same tune. Once they all found each other they laid out the measures in order and then did something to get my attention. After all the groups were formed each one took a turn humming, whistling, or otherwise vocalizing their tune for the rest of us and then telling us what the name of it was.

After a round of students played their prepared “surprise” selections, I had the groups from the introductory activity re-form and spend time working together to come up with a musical way of playing their pieces. Every member of the group had to be involved in some musical capacity in the performance. I had a box of rhythm instruments and a xylophone available for them to use in addition to the piano. This group did a lovely job with their rendition of “Ode to Joy.”

“Jesus Loves Me” was the perfect selection for this group that included quite a few young and/or beginning students. I was really impressed at how well they all kept the beat together on their instruments!

Whistling, playing piano, and a few rhythm instruments made “Spring” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons sound great!

This group ended up being all girls. They had the tune “Greensleeves” and did a beautiful job playing and singing it together – harmony and all!

The evening was a great reunion after our month off and we’re all super excited about the year ahead!

This course is specifically designed for middle school and high school students who are serious about music. In order for students to participate, I required them to commit to an hour of practice between each of our daily 2-hour sessions. Some of my older students are used to this kind of practice schedule, but for some it’s an entirely new experience. But it gives them a glimpse of what they can accomplish when they work diligently to accomplish their goals! You can see a few photo highlights from our first week of Kick-it-up-a-Notch! in this post.

One teacher has this to say after receiving her package of materials:

“You are amazing, that’s all I can say!  It is so well put together.  I can’t imagine the time you have put into all of this.”

I am really excited to share these materials with other teachers, and hope that you and your students find the experience as beneficial and rewarding as we did!

During the Finding Focus time, the students could write or draw on the corresponding page in their workbook, finish up homework from the previous day, close their eyes and relax, or just sit and watch the clip on YouTube as the selection played. There was nothing particularly special about the selections (except that they are some of my favorite pieces!), but this proved to be an excellent way to start out each class session. It did seem to help the students focus and prepare for our studies, and it also gave them exposure to some beautiful music that hopefully inspired them as much as it did me to just sit back and listen!

It has been a ton of work for both the students and me, but I think I speak for all of us in saying that it has been well worth it! They found out really quickly that when I said, “intensive,” I meant “intensive.” In order to participate, each student had to commit to practicing at least an hour between each session. This time is split each day between written theory homework, technique, and solo repertoire. I have been so impressed with their dedication and hard work!

Since it’s been so quiet on the blog this week, I thought you all might like to catch a glimpse into what we’ve been doing:

The essential planning supplies: hot tea, notebook and pen, books for research, iPod Touch with everything else!

The first group of the day includes these four. Naomi and Amanda practice one of their duets while Joey and James do some analysis of their piece.

During the second group of the day, Suzie and Hannah discuss the duet that they’re working on.

Noelle and Abigail have fun sight-reading and perfecting their duets!

A snapshot of one of the students’ notebooks from our discussion on “Principles of Notation.” Surprisingly enough, this has been one of the favorite segments so far for several of the students.

Today is the final day for these two groups, so I’m hoping to share more from our experiences in the coming days!