There is nothing quite so invigorating for a piano teacher as a room full of little ones having a blast learning about music! Here are the highlights from Day 2 of To Russia with Mussorgsky and His Expedition: We didn’t get to our game yesterday, so we started today with a piano keyboard relay. Black […]
Group Class Ideas
Piano Expeditions Piano Camp – Day 1
What a fabulously fun morning we had at piano camp going To Russia with Mussorgsky and His Exhibition! Here are a few highlights: “Fishing” for their two-black-key flashcards with a simple stick-and-magnet pole. Coloring while listening to Promenade from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Listening attentively while Stephanie (my wonderful high school student who is […]
It’s Time for Piano Camp!
One of our favorite studio traditions is a week-long piano camp! It’s taken various forms over the years – from an intensive course for serious high school students, to a Carnival of the Animals adventure for my current students, to our most recent offering: Piano Expeditions for young, mostly-preschool students who are not taking formal […]
Time for a Music Spelling Bee!
We finished out our final group piano class this week with a fun game of Music Spelling Bee! Each of the students received a magnetic dry erase board (I really like these from Really Good Stuff and have used them for years!) with magnets and a transparency sheet with a music staff printed on it […]
Free Beginner Piano Game for Whole and Half Steps
Now that I’ve started offering preschool Piano Expeditions piano camps in the summer, I’m always on the lookout for games and activities that are well-suited to this age. I love to have some sort of simple activity to engage them right at the beginning while everyone is arriving, and this Toads, Tones, and Semitones game […]
Tapping Telephones Rhythm Game is a Hit!
Since I hold a monthly group piano class in my studio, I always love incorporating some kind of game or activity along with performing for each other and learning about music history. At last week’s group class, I dusted off a game that I purchased years ago, but have used sparingly over the years – […]