November Students of the Month - Emma and Gloria

November Students of the Month - Emma and Gloria

Did you notice in the title that we have two Students of the Month for November?  That's because I've separated the Lakewood and Bemus Point piano studios.  Congratulations, Emma M. of Lakewood and Gloria M. of Bemus Point.  You were each chosen from the hat.  Your name got in the hat because you practiced all month, were prepared at your lessons (could play your pieces), did your theory/games, and had a great attitude at the lessons.

Last year I interviewed each student about their likes and dislikes.  You can view Emma's interview here and Gloria's here.  If a student was not Student of the Month last year, I'll interview them about their likes and dislikes.  However, both Emma and Gloria were Student of the Month last year and so I'm asking them one question:  What advice would you give to a beginning piano student on how to be successful at learning piano?  Here are their answers:

Emma said to look at assignment to know what you are to practice.  Good advice, Emma.  Checking your assignment sheet every time you practice will help you stay on track for the week. 

Gloria said to start playing hands alone, slowly, and don't rush, Play your pieces a couple times a day. More great advice, Gloria.  Playing hands alone when you have a two-handed piece is an excellent way to learn the motions and notes of the piece.  Practicing slowly will help you with coordinating the hands, playing the correct notes the first time, and keeping a steady beat.

Awesome advice.  I wonder who will be December's Students of the Month?

Congratulations, Bryan! You Are October's Student of the Month

Yea for Bryan!  Bryan is a new student at Cindy's Piano Studio Bemus Point.  He moved here from Ohio where he took some piano lessons for about a year.  Here's his interview:

What do you like to do for fun?  Bryan likes to play with his new friends on the playground at recess.

What is your favorite toy?  He likes his baby jaguar stuffed animal.

What is the best part of piano lessons?  Being the Student of the Month!

What music are you listening to that's not piano related?  TV songs like Wild Krats where they explore the world. You can click on the link to see their website.

I look forward to hearing more from Bryan.

Emma's First End-of-Book Recital

Congratulations, Emma! You've finished your first End-of-Book recital! Emma played ten pieces from Hal Leonard's Piano Method Book One this past weekend.  Here is her program:

Skateboard Doodle (from memory)
My Best Friend (from memory)
Nobody Know the Trouble I'm In
Let Me Fly!
Pirates of the Sea
Trumpet Man (from memory)
Star Quest
Go for the Gold
Long, Long Ago (from memory)
Scottish Air (from memory)

We arranged her keyboard in her living room so it was just right. Mom had little lights decorating the piano and snacks for afterwards.  Emma's sister, Ida, her mom and dad, joined me in the living room as I introduced Emma.  She played her ten pieces and then I gave her her certificate of accomplishment and her new books.

It was an exciting evening for Emma and I!

Student Wall Completed

Student wall art has been added to the Bemus Point piano studio.  Pictures of current students will go on this wall.  The Student of the Month will go on the left.

It was really easy to put up the wall art.  I had Molly Brown's Signs design it for me.  It was inexpensive and looks great.

Other walls will be featured here later.

Gloria's First End-of-Book Piano CD Recorded

Congratulations, Gloria, on recording your first piano End-of-Book CD of Alfred Premier 2B.  Over a period of about four weeks, we recorded the following pieces:

Enchanted Forest
Inspector Beauregard
Jazzy Toccatina
Pirates at Sea
Scales My Way
Science Fair
Musette by Bach
Minuet by Bach (duet with me!)

Gloria's First CD

Congratulations to Gloria.  She just finished recording her first music CD from her level 2B books and two extra Bach pieces.  This is a major accomplishment and she performed very well at all her pieces.

September Student of the Month - Eliza!

Congratulations, Eliza! She was chosen as September's Student of the Month.  You know what that means?  We get to find out a little more about her!

Eliza began piano lessons at Cindy's Piano Studio in March of 2013.  She finished her first end-of-book CD before summer and is now in Level 3 of Alfred Sacred All-in-One.  Eliza is self-motivated.  What does that mean?  She goes to the piano and practices because she wants to.  She told me in her recent interview that she loves everything about piano.  There is no "worst" part for Eliza.  When she isn't playing piano, she is playing sports including gymnastics, soft ball, and soccer.  She has a stuffed animal named Woggy that she has had since she was a baby that is still giving her some precious memories.  She likes to listen to Toby Mac and Britt Nicole when she isn't making her own music.  Eliza also plays with her church's youth praise band.

Congratulations, Eliza!

First End-of-Book Piano Recital

Congratulations, Kenny.  You are the first to host an End-of-Book Piano recital in the new studio in Bemus Point.  Today was Kenny's day.  He played ten songs from the Alfred Premier book one.  His favorite ten pieces were:

• Fortune Cookies
• Up the Attic Stairs
• Down the Attic Stairs
• Old MacDonald
• Ode to Joy
• All-Star Game (duet with me!)
• Arrow Head
• Dream Big Dreams
• Merrily We Roll Along
• Waltzing (duet with me again!)

Afterwards, I gave Kenny his Music Excellence certificate and we ate cookies while Kenny entertained us with his robot and dancing.

Great way to start of the new year in piano.  Thanks, Kenny!

Student of the Month - June

I picked Kenny for June's Student of the Month because he was consistently prepared for each lesson.  He accomplished what I asked of him and did it with a great attitude.  He has progressed a lot this first year of piano lessons.  I look forward to working with him next year and seeing what he will do!

Our Final Private Eye Workshop

Our final Private Eye Workshop was also our dress rehearsal for Our Mysterious Piano Adventure recital.  Here the students are just being goofy and having fun with their disguises for the recital.  The students played their recital pieces and worked out what to say during the "mysterious" portion of the recital.

Of course, we had to have a snack after all that work.

Student of the Month - May

Congratulations, Harper! You are May's Student of the Month at Cindy's Piano Studio.  Harper is fun to teach and makes me smile! 
Here's more about who Harper is:

What do you like to do for fun? Play outside and climb our tree in the backyard.
What do you hate to do? Come inside when I'm playing outside.
What’s the best part of piano lessons? Learning recital pieces..
Whats the worst part of piano lessons? Waiting for my sister's lesson to end.
What music are you listening to (that’s not piano lesson)? MoTown Superstition

So now you now a little more about Harper.

April Student of the Month - Kenny

Yea! Kenny was picked to be April's Student of the Month!  Kenny is a hard worker and I'm so glad he was chosen this month.

What do you like to do for fun?   Play dinosaurs.
What's your favorite toy? Small baby T-rex that I call "Rex"
What do you hate to do? Move chairs so mom can mop
What's the best part of piano lessons? Learning more of how to play piano
What's the worst part of piano lessons? Nothing
What music are you listening to that's not piano lesson related?  Frozen. I like Let It Go

March Student of the Month - Yea! Emma

Congratulations to Emma for being picked as March's Student of the Month.

Emma started piano lessons in 2014.  She is currently in the Hal Leonard Piano Method book 1. 


Emma moved to the United States from Sweden.  She speaks Swedish and French.  Here's her interview:

What do you like to do for fun?  She likes to play on the trampoline and swim.
What is your favorite toy?  Glynn, my stuffed tiger.  I like to hug him.
What do you hate to do?  Stop playing and having fun so I can practice piano.  BUT, I like playing piano!
What's the best part of piano lessons? Learning how to play.
What's the worst part of piano lessons?  She couldn't think of anything.  Yea!
What music are listening to that isn't piano related?  Her wake-up music.

So that's Emma, our March Student of the Month!

Music Art

When students learn a new music symbol, I have them draw a picture using it in some way.  This one was really creative.  The symbol was a fermata.  Can you see it in the eyes and mouth?

Great job, Eliza!

Student of the Month - February

Isac is February's Student of the Month.  Isac has been taking piano lessons since July 14, 2008.  That's over six years in Cindy's Piano Studio.  

Here's some things you may not know about Isac.

What do you like to do for fun?  Isac likes to play soccer at the Y.  He really like playing offence and making a score.

What's your favorite thing to play with?  Soccer video games are Isac's passion.  He especially like, Fifa.  He thinks it's the best one out right now.

What do you hate to do?  Typical answer for a boy...clean anything!

What's the best part of piano lessons?  M&M's at the end! 

What's the worst part of piano lessons? Owning up to not practicing something assigned.

What music are you listening to that's not piano lesson related"?  Dubstep, it's a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, England in the 1990s. Here's an example of a Matthew Parker's Meet Your Maker.  Sounds cool!

So there it is, you now know a little bit about Isac and learned about a new genre of music. 

Student of the Month - January

Congratulations to Stephanie for being chosen as the January Student of the Month.  What a great way to start 2015.  Stephanie recently brought her American Doll to piano lessons and showed me how she teaches her to play piano.  It was fun!

Here's her interview with me this week.

What do you like to do for fun? Stephanie likes to play piano and dance.

What’s your favorite toy? Ashley, my American Doll and her toy piano. Stephanie gives Ashley a lesson and then practices her own pieces. She gives Ashley what she is supposed to do and then Stephanie practices piano.

What do you hate to do? I don't like to play basketball with my brother, Andrew, because he has me do strange things.

What’s the best part of piano lessons? Stephanie loves to learn and make progress at piano.

What's the worst part of piano lessons? She really doesn't like it when she messes up and has to start over again.

What music are you listening to (that’s not piano lesson)? One Direction, Taylor Swift, R5, Vamp, Radio Disney
Can you relate?

Private Eye Workshop #3 - Famous Pianist Episode

12 students crowded into my home studio on Sunday as we solved the mystery of the musical instrument.  It was the oboe!  And, we started a new mystery of the famous pianist.  We watched videos of Van Cliburn and Victor Borge.

The workshop helped us learn how to be better performers and we critiqued everyone on their approach to the piano.

Their bows.

Their ability to play loud and soft.

And whether they listened to the music in their heads before playing.  I'm hoping it sticks with them for a lifetime!

We ended with cookies and pop.

Student of the Month - December

Congratulations Alex! You have been chosen as Student of the Month for December.  Alex has been taking piano lessons since October 2013.  Here's her interview:

What do you like to do for fun?  Play with friends, especially tag.

What's your favorite toy?  Frozen dolls, Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Cristoff in castle.

What do you hate to do? be interupted by my brother, Ben.

What’s the best part of piano lessons? playing games and doing races.

What's the worst part of piano lessons? Nothing!

What music are you listening to (that’s not piano lesson)? Let It Go, all Frozen music.

Now you know a little bit about Alex, our December Student of the Month.