Category Archives: Store

Reigniting Enthusiasm – Cultivate Creativity

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What makes you really excited? Studying music history? Sight-reading new repertoire? Dreaming up game ideas? Improvising arrangements of familiar tunes by ear?

Capitalize on your own area of interest to build the enthusiasm of your students. Invest your excitement into putting together creative assignments for your students. For example, plan a group class around composers and have every student present a brief report on a composer of their choosing. Or host a “Sight-Reading Super Stars Challenge” and let students put star stickers on a chart on the wall for every piece they sight-read throughout one month. Or pull out a deck of flashcards and come up with a fun, short game that you can play for the first five minutes of every lesson one week. Or hold a Name that Tune challenge where you print up a list of possibilities and give it to the student for reference; then play various tunes and have them see if they can identify which one it is from the list on the sheet.

One of the most effective approaches I ever started was developing a year-long practice incentive theme for my entire studio. Our whole year is built around the theme and I build in enough structure so that it functions like a lesson plan for the whole year, commingled with enough flexibility to customize the assignments for each student and for any specific needs throughout the year. I was able to spend a bit of time organizing my files over Christmas break and have put together a Resources for Sale page that highlights outlines each of the practice incentives that I currently have available, including the newest one that I finally added – Mastering the Mystery of Music! I’ve included not only the ready-to-print files, but also the original Word Doc files that are fully editable so that you can use the basic idea but customize and adapt it for your studio. Plus, this program also includes lesson plans for 6 correlating group classes throughout the year, complete with objectives, games, resource links, and weekly clues. (This is the kind of thing that gets me really excited, and brainstorming up a new idea every year definitely re-ignites my enthusiasm! :-D )

Piano Camp Lesson Plans

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Piano Camp Lesson Plans
This is the daily outline for our week-long piano camp, with lots of hyperlinks to correlating resources and websites. If you’re interested in planning a fun, memorable Piano Camp for your own studio, this will give you the information and tools you need. The outline is succinct and easy-to-follow. It can be implemented “as-is” or adapted to incorporate your own ideas.

To make this even easier to implement, I’ve decided to offer a special deal: if you purchase this outline by the end of July, I’ll also send you for free the 26-page student workbook that I’ve already compiled from the resource links outlined in the lesson plan! Just place your order, and as soon as I receive the notice, I’ll send the workbook file your way!

Add to CartPiano Camp Lesson Plans

Shop the Music Matters Blog Store for other fun practice incentives and workbooks.

Student Christmas Gift Ideas?

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Is everyone else trying to figure out what to give their students for Christmas this year? Anyone come up with any great ideas yet? I usually like to give something creative that will last longer than the time it takes for a piece of candy to make the journey from their mouth to their stomach. :-) Still trying to come up with the perfect idea for this year…

One of my students’ favorite gifts was this Music Manuscript book I made for them a couple of years ago. Many of them still use their books for theory assignments or composition projects. I’ve made the complete file for this book available in the Music Matters Blog store in case any other teachers are interested in giving these to their students as a special gift. Just click the button below to download the file, save it to your computer, and then use it as often as you like to print books for your students. You can even e-mail the whole file to a print shop and have them run however many copies you need and bind them. The book is set up with margin spacing to allow for double-sided printing. Enjoy!

Music Manuscript Book | $5

Store Up and Running Again

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Apparently while I’ve been out of town, the download company I use reached the maximum level of downloads allowed under my account, so several people who tried to purchase items and download them were unsuccessful. Sorry about that! I’ve upgraded my account now so that it should work properly. Head on over to the Music Matters Blog store to find Practice Incentive Programs, a Recital Program Cover, or a beautiful Music Manuscript Book.

Feel free to contact me if you experience any difficulties. Thanks!

(By the way, I’ll be back in town later this week and hope to be back on my semi-regular posting schedule. Look for pictures from my Fall Kick-Off after Thursday. :-) )

Go For The Gold!

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The practice incentive I developed for last year – Go For The Gold! – is now compiled and available for purchase.

Go For The Gold Cover Image

In the spirit of the Olympics, I developed a practice incentive with an Olympic theme. One new thing I tried was assigning each student to a team and then basing the winners on the total team points rather than individual points. This worked surprisingly well! The students developed more of a sense of camaraderie than they have with any of the other practice incentives I’ve developed, so that was exciting to see. I also designed the system in such a way that every student, regardless or age or ability, had an equal chance to earn points and propel their team forward. Each team had a variety of ages and levels represented and each team color corresponded to one of the colors of the Olympic rings. Here’s a photo of my studio wall part way through one of the sessions:

Go For The Gold Studio Wall

The Go For The Gold practice incentive package contains:
* several more photos from my studio
* all the files you need to print the studio wall decorations and individual assignment books for each student that are specially designed for the Go For The Gold practice incentive
* a list of instructions to walk you through what to do to prepare for the start of the program
* an overview of how the program works from week to week
* additional notes
* a list of resources I recommend

Once you complete payment, you will receive an e-mail with a link to download the file package. Read the teacher_instructions.doc file first and you should be up and running in no time! Feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you have any questions.

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Music Matters Blog Launches Merchandise Shop!

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It is with great excitement that I announce the official launch of the Music Matters Blog Shop! As many of you know, in addition to teaching music I love to do design work. So I thought I’d have some fun creating music-themed designs and selling a line of merchandise. So far I’ve only got one design on a couple of different merchandise items, but I’m really excited about it and can hardly wait to get the shirt I just ordered (the red one)! I’d be willing to do some custom design work for anyone who wants me to create a certain item for them using their studio name, logo, etc. Just contact me and we can work out the details.

Special Offer: At the checkout, I received the option of entering the e-mail address of 5 friends to receive a $5 off coupon for Cafe Press. I will enter the e-mail addresses of the first 5 people who e-mail me and tell me that they’re interested.

Free Recital Program Template

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Click here to download a free template that you can use when designing your own recital program. This template was created using tables in Microsoft Word. I made everything generic for this template, but usually use two contrasting fonts for the title of the pieces and the students’ names. You can adjust the spacing allowed for each line by hovering your mouse over the vertical line until you see the double arrows and then dragging the table border to one side or the other. You can also add or delete rows by highlighting the row and then right clicking on the mouse and selecting the appropriate menu option.

This design is for a sheet of 8.5×11″ paper, folded lengthwise. If you are interested in purchasing a complete package with a beautifully designed cover, customized message, and editable files, please check out this previous post.

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions about how to edit or adapt this file to suit your needs!

Music Manuscript Book

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This past Christmas I gave each of my students a personalized manuscript book. They loved the design and some of them starting filling them up with original compositions the very next week! Since, for the most part, I’ve opted not to use theory books I can also utilize these for written assignments I give my students – writing out their scales, chord progressions, etc.

Whether you want to give your students a special, but practical, gift or use a manuscript book for their regular written assignments, you can get lots of use out of this versatile and attractive manuscript book! (Just click the button below to download the file, save it to your computer and then use it as often as you like to print books for your students. You can e-mail the whole file to a print shop and have them run how ever many copies you need and bind them. The book is set up with margin spacing to allow for double-sided printing.) Enjoy!

Music Manuscript Book

Let’s Have A Ball! Practice Incentive

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Now that my regular teaching year is over I can say without a doubt that this year’s theme was by far the favorite among my students! In determining a theme for each year I always contemplate whether there is any area in particular in which I think all my students need to improve. As I was planning last August I realized that all my students could use improvement in their performance skills. They needed to prepare pieces to a performance level and then build the confidence to perform well. Thus was borne the theme for the year: Let’s Have A Ball!

Here’s a brief overview of how it works (this is what I included in the summer newsletter for parents and students announcing the theme for the year):

“Because I have seen how motivating it is (for myself and my students!) to have a specific opportunity to prepare for and work toward, I am centering my theme this year around Musical Balls scheduled throughout the year. We will have three in the fall semester and three in the spring semester: Fall Ball, Thanksgiving Ball, Christmas Ball, Mid-Winter Ball, Spring Ball and Grand Finale Ball (specific dates are listed on the studio calendar and on the website). The Christmas Ball and Grand Finale Ball will be open to family and friends who want to observe the performances and join in on the fun!

As part of this year’s theme, we will be emphasizing three specific areas of musicianship that will help us become well-rounded musicians: Brains, Brawn and Beauty (aka Theory, Technique and Performance). In the front of each assignment book is a page titled with one of these areas. On each page is a list of ways to develop that particular area of musicianship. Throughout the year, each time a student completes one of those ways, they will be allowed to place a bouncing ball in their jar in the studio (there is the potential to earn quite a few balls each week!). Each time a student has collected 25 balls in his/her jar, they will write their name on a slip of paper and add it to a container for prize drawings that will take place at each Musical Ball.

Balls may also be added to the jar depending on the number of days practiced each week. Five practice days will earn one ball. Six practice days will earn three balls. Seven practice days will earn five balls. Throughout the year, there may be extra ways presented for students to earn additional balls, so keep your eyes and ears open!“

The packet below includes 11 files, including an instructions file to walk you through how to set the program up step-by-step. (Once you complete payment, you will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to download the packet.) My Climbing the Ladder to Success practice incentive has been very well received and I hope that this one is equally successful in studios all across the world. I know my students and I sure had a ball with it! :-) Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

Let’s Have A Ball! Practice Incentive

A Customized Christmas Recital Program!

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As I’ve given workshops for our local associations on how to use the computer to develop customized materials for the studio, one common desire many teachers have is to be able to make their own well-designed recital programs. In light of this, I am making available the following cover design, and corresponding files, for purchase and use in your studio:
Cover SampleBack Sample

If you have the Print Shop software (either the Deluxe or the Pro Publisher Version), you will be able to open and edit the cover file yourself. I highly recommend this software! It is user-friendly and can be used for designing any kind of material you can imagine! However, for those who do not have the Print Shop software, I am offering the option for you to purchase the same files, but I will customize the cover file with information specific to your studio: your name, recital date and a personal note on the back.

The download includes the following files (and includes the right to print, or have printed by a commercial printer, as many copies of the program as you need at no additional cost):

1. Recital Program Sample (pdf) – the inside of the program so that you can see how the layout is designed
2. Recital Program Cover 1 (pdf) – the full cover (front and back)
3. Recital Program Sample (doc) – the inside of the program in Microsoft Word format so that you can edit it and add all your own program information
4-6. Fonts (in case you don’t have them on your computer and want to use the same ones I used for the cover design. For instructions on how to install new fonts on your computer, read this post.)
7. Cover (Print Shop file) – for those who have the Print Shop software and can open and edit the cover design themselves.
Please note: the files come in a zip format. If you don’t have an unzip program, download a free trial version of WinZip here.

Christmas Recital Program Files | $10
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Custom Design for Recital Program Cover and Back | $10

Once you complete your order, if you are ordering custom design services, please click here to send me an e-mail with the following information:

1. Your full name (to be listed as “students of…” on the cover)
2. Your recital date
3. A personal note for the back (100-150 words is best)
4. Verse or quote for the bottom of the back cover (optional)

Once I receive the above information, I will e-mail you a customized PDF file and you will be able to print, or have printed by a commercial printer, as many copies as you need at no additional charge. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!