We are now halfway through the school holidays and I trust all my wonderful school-aged students are enjoying their time away from school and piano lessons. Lots of fun, laughter and exploring. I hope there is still a bit of practising happening, though! Of course, my adult students and I are still plugging away through the holidays.
The dates for Term 4 are Monday 06 October – Saturday 20 December, making this a term of eleven weeks. Full term fees (including discount) are as follows:
30 minute lessons – $313.50
45 minute lessons – $470.25
It’s a bit scary to think about how close we are to Christmas, but a few kids have already been asking about Christmas music. I have ordered some new Christmas music at a variety of levels so the kids can have some fun. Of course, the adult students are welcome to play them as well 🙂
Rhythm Cat teaches and reinforces the most commonly-used musical rhythm notation. The free ‘Lite’ version has 15 levels while the ‘Pro’ version works up to following three different colours in each rhythm, encouraging co-ordination of both hands.
The ‘Cat’ family also includes ‘Treble Cat’ and ‘Bass Cat’. I don’t tend to use Bass Cat with my beginners because it starts in a different octave, but Treble Cat is better suited. These games involve recognising the notes from amongst a group of notes, not just on their own. The notes also move slowly, giving you plenty of time to recognise the correct notes.
A basic note recognition app, NoteWorks is customisable for difficulty, including clef/s and range of notes. The interface and sound effects are fun for younger students, but the app still moves quickly enough to be challenging for older students and adults.
Tap that Note uses the device to identify notes, while Play that Note requires you to play to specified note on the piano (or whatever instrument you tell the app you are using). Play-a-day is a great sight reading exercise for intermediate students. As the name suggests, Hear It, Note It – also available as a standalone game – involves listening to what is played and notating it and has three difficulty levels within. Activities include tasks such as adding accidentals to correct a scale or completing rhythms with notes, rests and bar lines.
While it does contain basic note recognition, Tenuto is really suited to more advanced students, as the majority of activities are more complex.
In our late teens to early adulthood, these differences became our strengths. We worked together really well because we complemented each other and didn’t suffer from competition. Even when we sang, I sang the soprano to her alto. When she moved on to singing lessons, I accompanied all her practising. The picture on the right is a famous artwork that was on the cover of a card she once gave me.
merri bell music 