About the Spring Festival 2018

This year the studio hosted a Spring Festival.  Students were invited to attend as many of the five events as they wished. Our first two events featured special guests.  Melissa Goodchild was invited to give a workshop on improvisation.  She brought over a whole bunch of percussion instruments for students to try out as a… Continue reading About the Spring Festival 2018

Musical Timeline

In the fall, students started building a musical timeline.  Each composer get their own strip of paper, and students write on their name and dates.  Students often like to add other information too, such as a list of some well-known compositions.  We’ve included composers students are familiar with and have played and have also added… Continue reading Musical Timeline

Brainy’s Food Bank Challenge 2017

The Brainy challenge wrapped up last week!  Students who participated in this challenge had 3 challenges over the course of three weeks – one per week.  Students were asked to try and place one piece eight times over the week.  If they succeeded, they earned Brainy a penny. At the end of the challenge, Brainy… Continue reading Brainy’s Food Bank Challenge 2017

In the studio: 2017 news

It has been a busy fall in the studio!  Students have been collecting music badges for their practicing, participated in recitals, worked on a musical time line, and have learned a lot of great music.  Students worked on Compositions for November, and we will continue to be working on finishing these compositions and typing them… Continue reading In the studio: 2017 news

Practicing Badges

This year in the studio, students are collecting badges for the hard work they’re doing practicing and preparing music.  Badges can be earned through a variety of means.  Some badges come from attending studio events, others from learning songs in their method book, practicing ear training, beating a high score in an educational music game,… Continue reading Practicing Badges

November Composition Project 2017

For November, students are working on compositions!  We’re composing using a variety of methods.  Some students are writing their songs out by hand and others are beginning by putting songs they’ve already finished into Musscore, a notation program.  Students who are writing them out by hand will get help from me to input them into… Continue reading November Composition Project 2017

Spring Recital 2017

The studio’s spring recital was today. It was a fun concert! Students celebrated all their hard work practicing this year by playing some of their favorite music.  Puffy the puffin enjoyed hearing everyone’s lovely playing.  He had the front seat in the house – right on the piano! Performances included pieces for solo piano, piano… Continue reading Spring Recital 2017

Brainy’s Practicing Challenge 2016

This was the second year for Brainy the Octopus’s practicing challenge.  This ran for three weeks.  Each week, students were challenged to play one of their pieces eight times.  If they met the challenge, brainy collected a penny.  At the end of the three weeks, all pennies were tallied and the total number of pennies… Continue reading Brainy’s Practicing Challenge 2016

Winter Recital 2016

This afternoon the studio had it’s winter recital for 2016.  Students  worked hard and did a lot of practicing – thanks to everyone for sharing their music! A lot of preparation is involved in learning recital music.  Practicing pieces to learn notes, rhythm, and dynamics (and all the rest) is the first step, but as… Continue reading Winter Recital 2016