What Happened at Prospective Student Piano Camp? Plus More Fun and Games

This week at piano camp the activities that students sampled were based on the 4 Arts of Music: Improvising, Reading, Arranging and Composing (see Forrest Kinney article)  This pedagogical framework in piano instruction enables students to become more expressive and creative at the piano as well as entrenching a solid understanding of the reasons behind the organization of the music they read on the page.

Improvisation
We started out with a simple improvisation duet on the black keys (key of F#) using the MusicClock app as a backtrack.

Piano Improvisation: Scale Practice and Composition with BenSound

Recently I received  a tip from one of my piano students about a fun site with "backing tracks" in a variety of styles that provides the perfect backdrop for beginning pianists to improvise with.  Although BenSound isn't specifically designed for this purpose, the repetitive themes provide a nice background for the budding composer to "play around" on scales in a variety of keys while choosing a variety of themes and moods.

Teaching Piano Chord Progressions with Pop Songs

Chord Progressions are the ingredients to music, but sometimes practicing them in drill like fashion can be a bit boring.  But accompanying familiar songs can get students asking to play them for fun!  I compiled a list of familiar melodies that include the primary chords.

Is Your Piano Teaching Curriculum Comprehensive?

Planning a well balanced piano teaching curriculum can be difficult because there are so many elements to consider as students began learning to play the piano.

Foundations of Piano Curriculum

When organizing my curriculum as a new piano teacher, I started making leveled checklists with the basic foundation ingredients that I received in my own piano lessons as a child such as Notereading, Rhythm, Theory, Technique, Ear Training and eventually organized preparatory materials in Piano Teaching Binders

Colors of the Wind Piano Improvisation for Beginners

One of the easiest ways to get piano students improvising from the very first lesson is to have them focus on playing the notes from the pentatonic scale (only black keys). Improvisation has become some of my student's favorite activities because it allows them to freely express musical ideas all across the keyboard without the restraints and complexities of reading music that can take a while to solidify. Using it as a lesson starter is kind of like eating dessert first before eating your vegetables😋!

Free Printable Piano Improvisation for Beginners: Do-Re-Mi Ice Cream Improv

Beginning piano students can gain experience and confidence with this free printable introducing a simple improvisation activity with an ice cream theme and Do Re Mi Solfa patterns. More experienced students can explore rhythmic dictation, ear training and add more complexity to their composition by extending the range of notes or adding harmony.

Gethsemane Simplified Piano Music Free Printable

As part of Holy Week leading up to Easter with our family we've been reading scriptures and singing songs about the week leading up to the resurrection resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ (see Easter Come Follow Me and Mercy River Holy Week for Teens). One of my favorite Easter songs is Gethsemane by Melanie Hoffman.

Intermediate Arrangements of Gethsemane

There are many vocal and choral arrangements available for purchase on her site, as well as an illustrated Gethsemane story book including sheet music.  Another favorite early intermediate arrangement of Gethsemane that I love to play is in Marshall McDonald's book Simply Sacred 2.

While this simplified version from The Friend is suitable for some intermediate-level students I wanted something accessible for my beginning piano students to play as well.