I just put together this simple Recital Repertoire Pop Quiz worksheet that I handed out to each student as they arrived – in exchange for the book with their printed music! They had to fill in as many blanks as they could. Then as each student performed their piece during the rehearsal, I tallied up their answers and awarded prizes to the top finishers. Three of my students tied for first place. And the others will hopefully make it a priority to know as much as possible about their recital repertoire selections in the future!

It was one of my students who first gave me the idea of designing keyboard scale fingering diagrams and many of my students have used them since. A special book for each of them with a complete set of major, natural minor, and harmonic minor musical scales and keys on the staff with keyboard fingering diagrams below seemed like a perfect next step!

[Special thanks to Am Y for the use of her beautiful piano photo for the cover!]

As a way of wishing everyone a Happy New Year, I am giving away 3 copies of The Pianists’ Book of Musical Scales and Keys! Just leave a comment below for your chance to win a copy. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator on Thursday, January 12, at noon (CST). Enjoy!

When I asked her recently, one of my students who has struggled with this for at least a year affirmed the above statement. She didn’t, in fact, think that fingering was important – contrary to what I’ve been telling her every week. So, it was time to come up with a creative and memorable (i.e. sticky) way to convince her that this reluctance would be her undoing in several years if she didn’t put in the effort to fix it now. We discussed it briefly and she was anxiously anticipating what I would come up with to convince her.

After considerable thought and prayer, I finally settled on an object lesson of sorts that I thought would do the trick. Enter: Dot-to-dot drawing sheets!

I printed off two of each of the following free dot-to-dot worksheets:

Smiling Flower

Underwater Seahorse

Since this student comes with her brother, I gave each of them a pencil and clipboard with the smiling flower dot-to-dot affixed. I instructed them to complete it as quickly as they could and that the winner would receive a complication coin (part of our An Italian Intrigue practice incentive theme this year!). The only hitch was that on my fingering-challenged student’s worksheet, I erased (via a computer program) all of the numbers.

Her brother finished a split second before her, but she didn’t seem to notice the lack of numbers and it didn’t faze her too much. On the second one however, it was a different story altogether! When I gave the signal to begin her brother was rapidly connecting dots while she sat in confusion connecting a few random dots, then erasing, then trying to figure out where to draw next. Eventually she got them all connected, but it didn’t look like a seahorse, and it took her almost a whole minute longer than her brother.

As I handed him his second coin, I explained that doing a dot-to-dot without the numbers is like trying to play a piece of music without using the correct fingers. At an early level you may be able to get by okay and play the piece how the composer intended it to be played, but at higher levels, it will take much longer to learn a piece and you may or may not be able to perform it as the composer intended it to be played. Using the correct fingering can make all the difference in the continuity, accuracy, and musicality of a piece.

When I finished the brief analogy my student was smiling (in spite of the fact that she lost out on two coins!). Only time will tell if it works, but I think she finally gets the importance of fingering now. She asked if she could keep the dot-to-dot coloring sheets and take them home with her. Of course I readily agreed. And added that she should display them prominently on the keyboard rack of her piano so that she is reminded to use good fingering every time she practices.

[Update: There were a lot of requests for the numberless version of the connect-the-dots pictures I used with my students, so I've uploaded my file and made it available for easy download and printing. It's just a simple Word doc with both the numbered and numberless version of each picture embedded. Click here to download and use with your students!]

You’re right that the amount of notes played at these two tempi would be exactly the same. The distinction is in the rhythmic feel. When playing eighth notes at MM-60, the student would feel two notes per pulse; whereas when playing quarter notes at MM-120, they would feel only one note per pulse. Then the eighth notes at MM-120 would be played two per pulse. Part of the purpose in playing scales this way is that the student gain a better internal sense of pulse that they can apply to their playing.

As far as the chords, yes, eventually the student will be playing inversions of each primary triad and seventh chord within the key. We have a wonderful systematic state curriculum, though, that I use as a guide for when students should be learning and playing various scales and chords, so I adapt according to the student’s level and individual progress. Older students also play scales and arpeggios in triplets and sixteenth notes, so the columns have to be adjusted for this purpose, too!

Also, if you like the general idea of using a scale and chord progress chart, but want to develop your own custom version, be sure to check out this post: Free Scale Chart and Tips for Making Your Own Progress Charts!

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!

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!

Quest for Capital is without a doubt one of the most fun, educational, and motivating practice incentives we’ve ever done in the studio! I like to think of it as an entrepreneur-meets-music-student endeavor. In addition to investing in specific piano skills (a.k.a. Stock Options) throughout the year, students could also dream, plan, and create special Capital Improvement Projects that were showcased at The Gallery at the end of the year. The students were given a small table space and encouraged to sell their projects for a small profit, thus experiencing the excitement of integrating their music talents and knowledge with other areas of life and producing something of value in society.

The practice incentive is designed to provide a framework that will spur students on to attain greater proficiency in their skills and get their creative juices flowing as they contemplate possible project ideas. Students have already been asking me if we can do the same theme next year, or at least keep some of the same elements so that they can work on new projects. I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome of this theme and about the potential for it to be used in other music studios all over to inspire students in creative musical endeavors!

And now…for the special deal! Through the end of June, you can get $5 off the practice incentive package price when you use this coupon code: 59W3E7W2.

AND – everyone who purchases the practice incentive by the end of June will be entered in a drawing to win my complete set of studio materials – all the laminated studio cash, the wall banners, and the stock folders on the wall! Just select the Quest for Capital theme on the Resources page and checkout, and you will be entered in the drawing. The winner will be chosen at noon (CST) on Friday, July 1, using a random number generator.

A handful of my studio parents attend every lesson, so I see them all year long, but for those who don’t, this is a great opportunity to catch up and make sure we’re all headed in the same direction. It also gives them a chance to voice any concerns or share ideas for working more effectively with their child(ren). I really love spending this time with the families and would highly recommend it for any teacher!

Here are a few links for free forms that you are welcome to download, adapt, and use in your own studio:

Year-End Evaluation Forms – this is a generic form that I use for every student. It takes a good bit of time for me to do this, but it is so helpful to think back over the past year and be intentional about future planning.

Year-End Student and Parent Questionnaires – a sample form that I used several years ago.

2011 Year-End Parent Questionnaire – I like to tweak the forms a bit each year to solicit specific feedback. This is what I’m using for the parents this year.

2011 Year-End Student Questionnaire – this year’s version.