Great Finds: New Teaching Tools
Where has the time gone? The fall semester is right around the corner. So, here are some new tools that just might help you addicts along. Enjoy!
At Chromatik the sheet music appears beside performance videos. This is a wonderful resource for all skill levels and genres of music. Think, giant YouTube Channel and you will have the idea. Besides performances, there are education portals for music reading, history, etc. Chromatik is currently in beta release and input is welcome. My brain is full of possibilities for using this tool—from listening projects, to on your own assignments, to ear sharpening, and more!
Exemplify is an online educational tool that allows you to use the features of Soundcloud to create tailored lessons for specific pieces of music. Here is an example of a lesson on Peter and the Wolf (keep listening and questions will pop up periodically). They are in beta mode now and I am hoping that eventually teachers will be able to add their lessons to the database for a truly awesome interactive resource.
Deborah Rambo Sinn’s new book, Playing Beyond the Notes: A Pianists’s Guide to Musical Interpretation, is a perfect resource book (aka tool) for the studio teacher or for teen and adult students. It is written clearly, without either pretension or condescension and with detail but not great length (it is about 140 pages). Well placed examples illustrate each point. I especially appreciate the way she uses examples from three style periods to aid in understanding performance practice or what I like to call musical manners.
Chapter titles include: Messy Basses, Rubato; Stealing as an Art, Transitions: Getting from Here to There, and “Staccato Means Short” and Other Myths. At the end of each chapter checklists are given to help the pianist apply what they have learned to their own repertoire. A companion website is available where you can access over 100 recordings that “bring life to the musical excerpts included in this book.”
Here are the details and down to earth principles that we all explain, countless times a year, to both transfer and continuing students. I’m so pleased to have a book that includes them all in such a readable and understandable format. You can find a specific piece of advice or answer to a question, or, you can immerse yourself and read the entire book from cover to cover. Since it is intended as a textbook, it is perfect for studio group lessons as well.
For me, this book is a keeper!
For all you true performance geeks, the folks at Carnegie Hall have released records of the first 50 years of it’s history. Over the next year, the complete archives are due to be available. I entered Rachmaninoff and voila, among all the results was this program from Dec. 21, 1918 ConcertReport.pdf.
Music Motivation Composer Page
Jerald Simon has recently added a Composer Page to his site. He has collected online information (from Wikipedia and other sources) on prominent composers to create a one stop resource for students and teachers.
Color In My Piano Great Composers Series
Joy Morin has released a set of lapbooks for kids focused on great composers and their music. Currently, there are 18 lapbooks available with more to come. She also has a line of music history era materials that you can see here.
Erica Ann Sipes new eBook, Inspired Practice: Motivational Quotes to Inspire Thoughtful Pianists, is now also available in print. If you are looking for inspiration for yourself, a friend, or a student these nuggets of personal advice and quotes are sure to please.
This site pulls together many resources for all aspects of ear training including intervals, rhythm, chords, audio mixing, and transcription. They also have software available for purchase. Their eBook, 101 Ear Training Tips For the Modern Musician is available at a discount for Piano Addict readers here.
This eBook is in pre-order phase. Written by Leila Viss, the book promises resources and tips for using the iPad in the studio. Chapter titles include: What are some basic apps that come with the iPad and how can they be used in my studio?, I’m ready to go to the App Store so how do I decide what to purchase first?, How can the iPad help me take care of business?, Is there a creative side to the iPad?, and Once I purchase an iPad and apps, will I need anything else?.
Your tried and true music studio management software. For years, teachers have used this service to keep track of scheduling, expenses, and billing, as well as manage studio websites and communications. The software now allows you to accept payments through credit cards and will automatically enter those payments into your billing records for you. Cost is between $14 and $49 monthly, depending on the plan that is right for your studio.
Their public blog includes an archive of articles from prominent teachers on a wealth of subjects including business, music history, practicing & performing, professional development, and more.
North American Music Teacher’s Association
No, this is not a professional association of music teachers a la Music Teacher’s National Association. It is a newcomer into the studio management software arena with a prominent search bar for finding a nearby music teacher. Recently, ads for this service have been appearing everywhere on social media. If you join this community of teachers, you have access to all their services for between $7.99 and $14.99 monthly, depending on the plan you choose.
Their Business Resources for Teachers & Music Schools includes business cards (with the NAMTA member Logo prominently featured – it’s literally 1/2 of the card) as well as marketing and studio management tools. There is also a page of publicly available articles and resources for teachers and families on topics from health in seniors to early childhood, to practicing.
You should not confuse NAMTA with Music Teacher’s Helper even though their header under the search bar states: Welcome to NAMTA – Music Teachers Helper. I was so puzzled, I went to the Music Teacher’s Helper site to be sure that they hadn’t merged with another service. Indeed they had not (see above).
Would you please check out Teaching Aids for Music’s fun, new product for teaching rhythm notation. We believe it would be a product your readers would enjoy introducing to their young music students. Children enjoy and retain learning through hands on exploration. This idea was applied to rhythm and the result was Little Hands On Rhythm; a new engaging and comprehensive rhythm kit that gives students the tools to understand concepts of rhythm notation through tactile exploration. It can be used to teach the beat value of notes and rests, time signatures, how to divide the beat to make measures, the difference between beat and rhythm, two-handed rhythms, mixed meter, composition and more. Little Hands On Rhythm can also be used as as board game with the Random Rhythm card set. Our website has a few videos posted that you can view on our Teacher Resource page. We hope you will endorse the teaching tool and add Little Hands On Rhythm to your New Teaching Tools list. Thank you for posting your website and sharing teaching resources and ideas!