One of the perks in our studio is a monthly group class for all the students. When I hold Year-End Evaluations in the spring each year, group classes often make their way onto the Student Questionnaires as one of the activities students enjoy the most. Since I have a combination of in-person students and virtual students I’m always trying to find the right activities to involve everyone. Performances by each student are a given, but beyond that we are always trying new ideas.
This year, I knew I wanted to include some music listening as a part of each group class, so I included the new Music Listening Worksheets in the back of our assignment books for this year’s practice incentive theme: Glacial Meltdown. So we started our hour together by listening to a rendition of the Paraguayan Folk Song Galopera performed by Jopara Ensemble. We are bringing the Jopara Ensemble to our city next spring for a student masterclass and community concert, so I want my students to become familiar with them and also experience a variety of Latin music this year.
Next up, ensemble time! Everyone had such a blast with our cup tapping choreography to the energetic Piano Guys version of What Makes You Beautiful last year that I knew I wanted to include some ensemble music-making again this year. I pulled an old copy of A Folk Gathering by Lynn Freeman Olson out of my files and decided on Ash Grove as our first selection (I found out after the fact that it’s the same tune as one of the families’ favorite hymns: Let All Things Now Living.). Each student was assigned either a piano part or a rhythm instrument part and I gave them about 5 minutes to practice it on their own before giving it a run-through all together. (I think all of our piano sight-reading focus last year is paying off!) Our time was up all too quickly, but I’m excited to continue this emphasis on listening and ensemble playing at group classes throughout the year!
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