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Counts and Chocolate Cake
Ever had trouble remembering the note counts/values? When I only had a couple of students, and they were beginners, I would bake a cake (or cupcakes) and we would dissect them into Semibreves, Minims and Crotchets (aka whole notes, half notes and quarter notes). Now I just talk about the visual image to my students, […]
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Getting a little creative with rhythms and composing
With so many students preparing to sit their AMEB examinations, I wanted to keep on top of their sight reading skills. Of course when we’re constantly going through new repertoire it’s no problem, but I don’t like to get stuck into the ‘typical’ exam routine where students are only focused on their exam work and […]
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Giant Action Cards – Beginner Violin game
I remember using some giant cards I would hold up to teach a song to a group of students. The cards had things like ‘Sing Loud, Sing Soft, Ice-cream Lovers Sing, Stand up to Sing, Sit Down to Sing’ etc each with a different picture. I decided to make up my own set of giant […]
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Music Practise at home: Motivational charts and stickers
Why do I spell ‘Practise’ with an ‘s’ instead of a ‘c’? Because practise with an ‘s’ is the verb whereas practice with the ‘c’ is the noun. A verb is a doing word, and so our students/children should be physically practising rather than just talking about it. I’ve been putting up a few helpful […]
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Music practise at home – ‘three times in a row correct’ with sounds
Practise at home doesn’t have to become drudgery. If you keep things fresh for your kids, they can absolutely love the time they spend with their instrument. My kids love to play their pieces 3 times through (each piece) and proudly ring one of the three bells I have sitting on top of my piano […]
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A little on the subject of practising and parents…
I found this article on a site called Piano253.com and it expresses what I feel about practising so well. I feel it is so important to have parents on board with their child’s practise, to check if anything needs to be read or signed, perhaps take notes in your child’s lesson. I even have parents record their child’s […]
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‘Three Times in a Row Correct’ with coloured handbells.
Aldi were selling one octave sets of coloured handbells for $15 about a year ago, so I bought a set almost expecting them to be out of tune and very dodgy (ever seen the violins they have sold? EEK!!) but to my surprise, they weren’t bad at all for that price! I will quite happily […]
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