Practice Tips Schubert Waltz in B minor D145 No6

Tips for Schubert Waltz in B minor by Janna Williamson

Warm Up with Chords and Inversions in B minor 

• Label the V7-I chords in the music, Keys of B Minor, D Major, B Major

Target Shooting Left hand stride. Practice eyes closed or silent jumps.

St Patrick's Day Piano and Mixolydian

Irish Composing

The free printable CR Irish Jig Composing by Chrissy Ricker provides the structure of a simple rhythm pattern in 3/4 time that elementary students can choose melody notes to create their own jig.

Intermediate Students could use this same resource but add left-hand 5ths for harmony, create a contrasting B section, or convert their piece in  3/4 time into 6/8 by halving the value of each note and doubling the measure length.

But why are there no sharps when it appears to be based around the key of G?

The Mixolydian Mode

Watch this Mixolydian in Irish Music to learn about why Irish music uses this unique pattern of notes.

G Mixolydian Scale

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Composing and Improvisation Activities for the Month of March

Monthly Piano Challenges

Select a monthly challenge below to access the online games and activities that accompany each topic. 

Monthly Piano Challenges

September: Note Naming Challenge

Keyboard Skills Challenge

This month at piano, the focus is on mastering keyboard skills, and there are TEN options for students to choose from to complete the keyboard skills challenge. Be sure to choose one that is challenging for you!

Keyboard skills, including learning to play scales, arpeggios, and chord progressions with speed and accuracy, are much like the "warm-ups" that athletes use in practice to prepare for a big game. 

Elementary Piano Festival Music Playlists

 

ELEMENTARY LEVEL 1 & 2 PIANO PIECES

Similar in Level to Piano Adventures  Primer/1 or Piano Pronto Prelude/1 or Hal Leonard 1 & 2

Click the image to view the Elem 1 &2  piece choices/booklist  that includes links to the books containing each piece.

Music Terms Rap and Games

This month our piano studio focus is theory, terms and signs. I love finding fun ways to teach music terms to piano students!

I have used many engaging activities like Quizlet matching games, music theory art, Musical Headbandz and Split Second, and Piano Cranium. 

Music Dictionary Rap

But this month I'm starting out one of my group lessons  with this Music Dictionary Rap from Piano Adventures Gold Star.

Music Flashcard Game Variation

Typically my students start out lessons with a quick game like music term memory match. Instead of playing this typical memory style with cards face down, to introduce relatively new terms and signs I first play a face up version. I like how this variation combines both skill and an element of chance so that any player can win. If the teacher is playing with the student, I even the playing field a bit by saying the teacher doesn't get to "steal on sixes" because they have an unfair advantage of already knowing all the answers. 

Divide the cards into 2 piles, one pile for the term or symbol and one pile for the matching answer.

Shuffle the cards and place them face up. 

Students then roll a die to determine how many cards they get to collect by guessing the sets of cards that are a match. 

If they roll an odd number (1,3, or 5) they guess just one match. 

If they roll an even number (2 or 4) they guess two matches. 

If they roll a 6 they get to steal a match from the opponent of their choice. 

The winner is the player with the most card matches at the end.

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Split Second Music Theory Game

Musical Cranium

Wunderkeys Streetlamp Solos Christmas for Intermediate Piano

Most people are familiar with Dicken's A Christmas Carol. I love this new book from Teach Piano Today that provides a musical backdrop to the story. I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present and have been thoroughly enjoying the pieces the past few weeks.

Click the Image to Buy The Streetlamp Solos on Amazon 

Andrea Dow's new Christmas book Streetlamp Solos provides a musical backdrop for the beloved story of  "A Christmas Carol". It blends the familiar Christmas melodies together with some pop-infused chords and diversions from the regular tunes. The pieces are easily accessible for early intermediate pianists with many broken chord patterns in the left. The simplicity of playing in the keys of C Major and A minor allows students to peruse through a lot of music during the short Christmas season.