Bastien Piano

Guild Auditions

The last event my students will play for will be Guild Auditions. To help prepare for this event, I asked each student to create a program listing the pieces he will be performing. I held rehearsals where students brought their programs, and passed them out to audience members before it was their turn to play. I allowed each student 6 minutes to perform their choice of pieces off of their program. We also heard the required scales and chords and it gave parents and students a better understanding of what Guild Auditions will be like. Click here to view a sample Guild program!Download guild_program_2008.doc

~Lori

March 21! Happy Spring!

At least here in San Diego it is an incredibly beautiful spring day! I am enjoying planning Guild pieces for my students as we get ready to finish out this school year. This last event that my students prepare for takes place in mid-May and they have the opportunity to play several pieces for an adjudicator in a warm, low-key atmosphere. The National Piano Guild has been around for years and is a great event for students of all levels and ages. More information can be found at: http://pianoguild.com/page/nztj/Auditions_Programs.html.

The book being held by my student is A Debut for You, a solo book written by Jane, Lisa and Lori Bastien, which comes in Levels 1- 4. These are the types of solos I like to program for my elementary students.        ~Lori

New Orleans

The New Orleans Music Teachers' Association had a beautiful luncheon in honor of my mom last weekend. Lisa, her husband and I as well as many New Orleans teachers and former students of Jane's attended the event, which was superb!

It was exciting to visit New Orleans again... I had not been back to New Orleans for about fifteen years. My parents lived there for seventeen years and Lisa and I were born there and lived there until our family moved to California in 1976. Lisa also lived in New Orleans as an adult for five years, where she had one of her first teaching jobs. We had a wonderful weekend catching up with old friends, eating incredible food, and seeing the city.

~Lori

Enjoyable Visit in La Jolla!

We had a wonderful time with several Japanese piano teachers who spent a few days in La Jolla observing our teaching studios. Thank you to all the teachers who visited. We really enjoyed seeing all of you and hope you will come back soon!

~Lori and Jane

Smiles on Concerto Day!

We had several students who participated in the our local music teachers' concerto competition in February. What a great experience to learn a concerto movement and have the opportunity to perform it with an accompanist in a beautiful hall on a big stage. The students who participated worked hard, learned a lot and had fun! I always feel that the students gain so much confidence from playing in this event, and I feel fortunate that our organization is able to provide this event each year.  ~Lori

What is Frustration?

As a teacher of children of all ages, I frequently hear comments from parents who tell me their children get frustrated while practicing the piano.  As the mother of two children who practice at home, I see my own children frustrated on a weekly basis, sometimes pounding the piano when they can't master something...(often followed by tears and "why can't I do this right?") I am in the same place as so many of the parents of students I teach right now. So if I hear, "Lori, you can't imagine how upset my child gets when I ask him to count aloud while playing. He gets so frustrated and our fighting is causing a huge strain in our household." I really sympathize with this situation, and I explain that, yes, I truly can imagine how the parent and child feel!

However, besides the feeling of frustration, I like to remind parents that on a weekly or monthly basis, (not a daily basis!) I also see feelings of pride when a difficult hurdle has been overcome. I hear comments such as, "After I have practiced and done my homework, may I play a computer game?", reminding me of the discipline that is being instilled in my children from having to practice regularly. And even occasionally, I have the pleasure of hearing, "I love this new piece of music!" In the end, I think that having music lessons is a wonderful learning experience to have as part of any child's education, frustrations and all!

~Lori

The Gift of Music

Years ago, my grandmother gave me a poster with this saying and I put it up the first time I had a piano studio to decorate. I don't know who wrote the saying, or created the poster, but I was never able to find it again. Students have commented on these words, year after year, so last summer when students were painting a mural around the door to my studio, I painted those words at the top, and there they remain!

~Lori

Happy 2008!

The holidays flew by even though I had a nice long break! The kids went back to school yesterday and I was excited to start teaching again. My biggest teaching day in the week is Monday, and I love it because I get to see almost all of my students on Mondays. I have a few private lessons on that day and three different group lessons, as well.

The semester starts out quickly here with an upcoming concerto competition in early February. I love teaching students to play a concerto. My daughter is playing her first concerto this year, as well, and I am learning so much from helping her practice at home. I realize that learning to play a much longer work is a great experience for a child who is ready for this. It is a mental, musical, and discipline challenge!

  Yesterday, one of my students asked me for specific practice directions on her piece, which is the Mozart Concerto in G Major, K. 453. In her own words, "I need to organize my practicing and I'm having trouble knowing how to get through all this music each day." Here is the advice I gave her for her one hour of practice each day this week:

• Play through the piece at the beginning of your practice time, without music or metronome.
• Practice in sections. Practice any sections you had trouble with first, hands separately and hands together, with music and with the metronome at a slow tempo, counting aloud.
• Practice "starting places", meaning practice starting at many different places on a page, so that you can easily rehearse with an accompanist, or easily go on in a performance, should you get off.
• Study the piece of music away from the piano for a few minutes each day. Notice what keys you are in, and the form of your piece.
• Practice larger sections, up to tempo, hands together with metronome, counting aloud.
• Finally, throughout the week, try to sit down several different times, "cold" meaning, not warmed up, or having practiced first, and play straight through your piece.

~Lori

Preparing Students for Sonata Contest

Our annual Sonata Contest (sponsored by our local Music Teachers' group) will be this Saturday. It is an event where all students competing play a required piece off of a repertoire list. There are 11 different levels, so students can play in this event from an early age, all the way through high school. It is an unusual event in that students compete against other students who are playing exactly the same piece. My students look forward to the event every year, and I view it to be one of our most competitive events... I struggle a little each year as they work so hard on their music, and then worry so much about whether they will win or even be chosen as a finalist. But I have come to realize, time and again, that most students are highly motivated when preparing to perform or compete, especially when there are possible prizes involved! They work harder than they would for a regular week of lessons, and their abilities improve greatly in the weeks they spend preparing for this type of event. I remind them that whether they hold a trophy at the end of the day or not, they have already won because they have worked hard, tried their best, and learned a piece of music really well.

~Lori

Group Lesson Get-Togethers!

Pictured are a group of third-year students of Jane. She and I both teach both private and group lessons weekly. The group lessons are 45 minutes and provide extra time to focus on theory, ear training, sight reading, ensemble, and performance. Her class met yesterday in the form of a rehearsal. The parents were invited to hear their children play pieces which they will be playing in up-coming recitals. She also gave out Christmas music as well as showed the parents a little bit about key signatures!

~Lori 

Brighten up the Studio, or Make a Fun Gift!

The glass jars pictured were made as a craft project in my summer piano camp, but they give color and warmth to my studio all year long! They also make great gifts and are so easy to make. I save jars throughout the year and use puffy paint to decorate these jars. I fill them with flowers, pencils or candy, and even if they are left empty, they still make a great decoration.

~Lori

Associated Arts Women's Club

I attended a meeting of the Associated Arts Women's Club this week. They are an organization in San Diego whose sole purpose is to award scholarship money to music students. They hold auditions once a year in May and award scholarships in June for the following school year. Then, from September through June, the women in the group meet once a month to have lunch together and hear the scholarship students perform. The students who receive these scholarships gain so much from performing at these meetings. They play for 5-10 minutes each, in a nice hall, on a stage, in front of people who really love music. Performing for this kind of group is so inspiring for a student! I really appreciate this group who has given so much support to aspiring young artists of San Diego.

Happy Halloween (from Austin Powers!)

A Passion for Teaching

I was born into a family of teachers, all of whom became my role models. Both of my own parents were piano teachers, my mother's mother was a piano teacher, and my father's mother was a high school English teacher. I was fortunate to be surrounded by their words of wisdom and their compassionate viewpoints as I was growing up.

I began teaching piano as a teenager, first as a practice tutor for my mother's students. I enjoyed helping students practice, seeing their progress as they learned a new piece, or helping them understand theory concepts. In high school and college, I began taking on private students of my own. I didn't know then that what started out as a part-time job for me would turn into a life-long career!

Now, as a wife, mother, piano teacher and composer, the part of my time that I spend teaching piano rounds out the rest of my life. In working with students, I am reminded on a daily basis that the key to success in anything is to have patience, and to never give up! I love the people I work with... there is something fascinating to me about sitting in my studio, listening to kindergarten students ponder over new crayons, or talking to a high school senior who I have known for years, about his interests and dreams for the future. And then, of course, there is so much joy in bringing music into another person's life. I feel fortunate to have this job that brings me peace and happiness on so many levels!

~Lori

Challenges for a Third-Year Student

This student is in 3rd grade, and this is the start of his third year of piano lessons. He has a private lesson with me once a week for 30 minutes and he practices at home about 30 minutes a day. Our main focus right now is in building a strong foundation in reading music. We are concentrating on reading the correct notes, rhythm and fingering in several pieces of about the same level each week. He has an easy time with reading the correct notes and fingering, but it is the rhythm that is challenging him. To improve his ability to count and play in rhythm, we are working on these things:

• writing the counts in every piece of music he learns
• counting aloud while playing
• counting aloud while playing with the metronome
• playing duets together
• playing music with accompaniment tracks

Some of the music he is working on includes:

• Halloween Treats, Level 1, by Jane and Lisa Bastien
• More Mini Sonatinas, by Jane Bastien
• Piano Party Series, Books C and D by Jane, Lisa and Lori Bastien
• Halloween Witches, sheet music, by Jane Bastien

~Lori

Getting Ready for Halloween!

I love to celebrate any holiday with my students! Elementary-age students seem to really love Halloween and I am getting my students ready now for upcoming parties which we will have during the last week of October. Pictured here are two Primer-level students working on pieces  and theory pages out of the series, Halloween Treats, by Jane and Lisa Bastien.

~Lori

Teaching How to Teach...

My high school students seem to be enjoying their pedagogy class! I am enjoying it as well! This past week we went over what a typical lesson plan could be for the first two private lessons in working with a beginning piano student. We are using the primer level of the Bastien Piano Basics series as our curriculm for teaching an average-age beginner. The series has four books at each level and I am taking my students through the books, page by page, talking about different concepts which are presented.

As part of this pedagogy class, I have requested that each of my students find their own private student(s) to teach. A fun assignment which has been completed was to design a flyer or brochure in order to help obtain prospective students. Click on this link to see a sample brochure designed by a 17-year-old student!Download pianoad1by_james_gu.doc

Back to Teaching!

I had my first regular day back to teaching yesterday and I was so excited to see my students again! I have three group lessons on Mondays, and seeing the students work together is one of my favorite parts of teaching. I will tell you a little about my high school class this year, which consists of two juniors and two seniors. I decided to spend the first part of the year teaching them a little bit about how to teach piano. It is the first time I have taught a pedagogy class, especially to students so young. I was so pleased with their interest level and will be curious to see how this class goes! Yesterday my focus on the class was how to get started with a beginning piano student. I mainly talked about meeting a student and his parents for the first time and what kinds of information should be discussed at this first meeting. I am using two books to help my students get started with this subject matter:

• How To Teach Piano Successfully, by James Bastien
• Teachers' Guide to Piano Party Book A, by Jane, Lisa and Lori Bastien

I am looking forward to another wonderful year of teaching!

~Lori

News from The Road!

I spent the last two weeks traveling to different cities around the country to give workshops on the latest Bastien piano books. I so enjoy meeting other piano teachers who have the same love for teaching that I do! My favorite part of doing a tour is being able to spend time with music dealers and piano teachers who give me so much input into what they like and need to make their jobs more successful. I thank the following dealers for having me these past weeks and also a big thank you goes out to those teachers who made time in their days to come out and see me!

• The Music Store--Garland Texas
• Ron's Music--Grand Island, Nebraska
• Piano Works--Duluth, Georgia
• Asheville Music & Arts--Asheville, North Carolina
• Dori's Music Studio--Spencerport, New York
• The Music Library--Jacksonville, Florida

A final word of thanks goes to my 10-year-old daughter, who traveled with me the second week and helped me demonstrate some of the music.       ~Lori

A Word from Shannon

I have written a lot about how much I have enjoyed working with young students over the summers in a camp setting. I have also really loved to work with high school and college-age students as they try out teaching for the first time. Having had this opportunity has inspired me to try teaching my first pedagogy course to my high school students in the fall, which I will write about soon!

The words below were written by Shannon, who will be a senior in high school this September. She has been a student of my mom's for many years, and she has been a teaching assistant in my piano camp for four years. Her dedication to the camp and the students has been an incredible blessing to me! She has developed wonderful relationships with the students over the years and they have admired and adored her for who she is!

"When I started teaching piano camp, I hoped that I would be a role model for children like myself with a love of music.  I even imagined that perhaps a student or two might look up to me as a talented musician, or find some bit of inspiration from my guidance.  I was not prepared to be honorably christened as 'Shanny-Cuckoo-Head!'  I found more in this name though, than some funny jokes with campers and a silly new alias.  I realized that the kids came to admire me for my personality, and in turn were inspired to pursue their musical and artistic goals and potentials as I grew closer and closer to them with every day.  Now, I can't think of a more noble title than 'Shanny-Cuckoo-Head!'

"I've taught piano camp for four years, but working with young students each making their own exciting discoveries makes each day special. The true inspiration for me at piano camp is the kids. Every year I have come back to teach piano camp because it is a wonderful opportunity to share my love of music with younger budding musicians and to learn from them in a wonderful environment.  The variety of activities, sports, games, and of course the music keeps everyone entertained and excited.There is nothing better than seeing a young student come to you, ready to be taught, with an expectant look upon his or her face."

"I believe I've learned just as much as the campers have at piano camp.  Sitting down and helping a student grow really makes me look at my own development as a musician.  Coming home from a day at camp filled with 'good work, now try it slower, and with the metronome' makes me take that second to remember to count slowly as I begin to play.  Teaching kids at piano camp always reminds me that playing the piano takes a lot of hard work, hours of practice, and above all else, a desire to have fun and enjoy music!"

~Shannon

Favorite Art Projects

Art projects from this session's Piano Camp included:

• painting t-shirts
• painting wooden frames
• painting terra-cotta pots
• painting old canning jars to be used as vases
• lanyard projects and bracelet/jewelery-making
• And my favorite: painting a mural on my studio wall!

~Lori

• 

Beethoven's Wig

I love this children's book and cd! I had the younger students in my camp listen to a portion of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, a piano minuet in G Major, and the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata, recorded along with hilarious lyrics which the children will never forget! It was a wonderful introduction to Beethoven's music, and this new book which goes along with the cd was a big hit. More information about the book and recording can be found at: www.beethovenswig.com.

~Lori

Piano Camp 2007--The Second Session

We had a blast last week with eight kids, ages 7-12, for a 4-day session of Piano Camp! The class broke down into two groups, with six kids at the early-intermediate level and two kids at the early-elementary level.

I had four assistants who helped me this summer and today you are hearing from Sanaz, a 22-year-old graduate student (piano major) who was a student of my mom's from age 10-17. She helped me with the camp last summer for the first time, but this year, I really put her to work!

"I had the wonderful opportunity to be one of Lori’s assistants for her summer music camp.  It was extremely rewarding and provided me with great teaching experience.

My preparation for the camp usually began the night before.  I found pieces which I worked on or loved as a child and the next morning performed them for about thirty minutes as the parents dropped of their children. 

Then, I presented a mini history lesson for fifteen to twenty minutes to the older students on the different music time eras. Each day was based on one specific music period and I would relate similarities among the paintings, architecture, and music of the time.  I explained how the keyboard developed throughout the time periods and how music of the time was shaped according to the possibilities of the piano.  On the last day we reviewed the characteristics and looked at scores and listened to recordings with various instrumentations and guessed what period the piece came from. 

The group broke into smaller groups and I practiced individually with some of the students. For fifteen, twenty, or thirty minutes, the students and I worked on new repertoire such as a concerto or a duet as well as other pieces that Lori assigned daily. I tried to reinforce counting aloud, slow practice, and maintaining eye contact with the music.

I think my favorite part of the day came after lunch! On the first day of camp, Lori’s children taught me an amazing game: DDR (Dance Dance Revolution).  At the end of the day, I looked forward to a dance-off with the children!"   ~Sanaz 

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Convention in Santa Clara

Mom and I attended the MTAC Convention in Santa Clara last week. It was a great time to meet with other piano teachers and gather new ideas. The exhibit hall was full of new teaching materials from all publishers and many composers presented new works at showcase sessions. I enjoyed Bradley Sowash's presentation on his new Jazz method, as well as the TCW Resources presentation where many fun theory games were presented. As a branch, the San Diego members were proud of our friend and member, Lee Galloway, who was inaugurated as the incoming state president for the new term. We wish him all the best! Both the student concerto competition and the solo performance given by Menahem Pressler were fabulous concerts which I was thrilled to have had the opportunity to hear.

~Lori

Piano Camp 2007...Organizing the Day

One of the most challenging parts of planning for a 4-day week of camp is trying to organize each day well. Every camp session is different, because the ages and levels of the students is varied. Below I list a schedule that has worked well for me:

• 9:15-9:30  Students arrive, listen to live music being played and work on simple crafts.
• 9:30-9:50  Music history lesson--often split into two groups, depending on students' ages
• 9:50-10:45  Piano practice sessions, individually, or in a group setting, computer time, or free time scheduled for students to work on individual assignments.
• 10:45-11:15  RECESS--play outside, eat snack, often play kick-ball, whiffle ball, or some other group game.
• 11:15-11:45  Piano practice sessions, individually, or in a group setting, computer time, or free time scheduled for students to work on individual assignments.
• 11:45-12:00  Games. Sessions split up into small groups depending on age and levels.
• 12:00-1:00  Lunch, art, recess.

Piano Camp 2007...Teaching Theory

Theory lessons are included each day of piano camp. I use computer games, activity books, and play theory games with small groups of students to teach different concepts. I plan for 20-30 minutes of theory activites in the day and most of the material being covered has been presented at some time throughout the year. I like to reinforce concepts and let students have the opportunity to apply and have fun with what they have learned throughout the year.

~Lori

Piano Camp 2007--Arts and Crafts

I always look forward to doing any type of arts and crafts projects! I set aside a craft area in my back yard and always have a few projects planned for each day of camp. A few that we did this past week included:

• hand painting music bags
• hand painting small wooden trays
• lanyard projects
• "Shrinky-Dinks"

~Lori

Piano Camp 2007...Sight Reading

One of my goals in a 4-day camp setting is to have students do a lot of sight reading, both individually, and as a group. Students who read at approximately the same level have short group lessons with me and play duets, trios or solo music as a group. Some of the music I use in the camp includes:

• Vacation Magic Series, various levels, by Jane, Lisa and Lori Bastien
• Duet Favorites, various levels, by Jane Bastien
• Patriotic Favorites, by Jane Bastien
• First Pops for Piano, by Jane Bastien

I view summer camp as a big block of extra time that I am fortunate to have with my students. I like to do things during these camps that I don't necessarily have time for during the school-year. Therefore, I like to assign pieces which are easy for students, so that they can learn the music quickly and have success playing with their peers. It is a great opportunity for me to observe students while they are sight reading and see where they need to improve. 

~Lori

Piano Camp 2007

The first week of piano camp ended today with a splash...literally! We started out our final party with a few (somewhat) calm relay races in the backyard, and ended up having a hilarious water fight which left us soaked from head to toe on a beautiful 85-degree San Diego day! With 10 kids enrolled, ages 6-13, and three fabulous assistants helping me, the week was terrific--full of all kinds of music, laughter, kick-ball, crafts, pizza and Popsicles!

I'll start by telling you a little about the music...we started off each day as the students rolled in, with one of my assistants playing music from different periods. As I greeted students or talked with parents, another assistant escorted students to a seat around the piano to hear the music being played. The first day, we heard Baroque music. The second day we heard music from the Classical period. The third day we heard Romantic music, and the fourth day, Contemporary music. We talked about the different time periods and also discussed characteristics which are typical of each period of music. While enjoying live music, students worked on simple crafts, such as "shrinky dinks" or lanyards.

~Lori

" Stop this Train"

I can't stop listening to this song, "Stop this Train" by John Mayer. I bought his album, Continuum, a few days ago, along with an old favorite that I happened to see, which was James Taylor's Greatest Hits. I listened to the James Taylor CD first, because I knew it was familiar and I couldn't wait to hear those favorite old tunes. A little later I put in the John Mayer CD, and I decided that Mayer sounds kind of like a modern-day James Taylor...anyway, I loved this song that got me with these lyrics:

Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
Dont think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly
We'll never stop this train...

It's a song about not wanting to grow older..."stop this train..." and the above lyrics are advice from his father. Every time I hear the song I think of how life always goes on, no matter what goes on around us, and we just have to enjoy the moment we're in. 

I had my last recital of the semester tonight, and a parent who I hadn't seen in a while said to me, "I haven't been to a studio recital in a while, and I don't recognize your students! They have all grown up and you have new beginners I've never seen before. I don't know where the time has gone. It must be fun for you to see students grow and get to know them over a long period of time." And that is what I love the most about teaching--enjoying the little moments that come along with each student that I teach, and then seeing all those little moments add up into a big part of our lives. 

~Lori

Informal Recital

My last recital of the semester is coming up soon, and for a change, I am holding it in my own home. I held a rehearsal for it and will type programs, etc., but am looking forward to a little more of an informal feel. I find that May and June are crazy, busy times for parents and students. For that reason, I like to keep things simple as they end another school-year and this recital will be a fun conclusion to our year with a reception following in the back yard. It will be the last get-together of the year for students and parents and it will help prepare my students for their up-coming Piano Guild auditons, as well.

~Lori

Dance Dance Revolution!

For Mother's Day I received Dance Dance Revolution for the X-Box 360! I have been watching my husband and two kids play video games on this console for quite some time now, and never could see where the fun was in it...until my husband got me this new game! I actually find this to be a great game for working on rhythm and counting! My eight year old has been telling me all weekend, "Mom, you need to count out loud and feel the beat!" It has been a lot of fun and a great workout!

~Lori

Summer Piano Camp

Check back to my July 2006 archives to see an overview of four different days of last summer's piano camp.

This summer, I'm looking forward to hosting two weeks of half-day camps in my home studio. Teaching in a group setting with a variety of students at different ages and levels is challenging, but also fun! I eagerly anticipate organizing the camps at this time of year, and I start to see the weeks take shape as the camps fill.

~Lori

National Piano Guild

My students are preparing for their last performance event of the semester, which is the National Piano Guild Audition. This is my favorite event for students, especially young students, because it is a very positive, rewarding event. Students are heard individually by an adjudicator and can play as few as two pieces. Most of my students will play between 4-10 pieces, and they will also play scales and cadences. The adjudicator will write comments and students receive a pin and certificate/report card to take home. My students look forward to this event every year and can play in it at any age or level. More information on this event can be found at: www.pianoguild.com.

~Lori

Piano Camp--Preliminary Stages

I am getting excited for summer to be here! I have planned two one-week sessions of piano camp and have sent out fliers and hired counselors. As the enrollment starts to come in, I will begin to make lesson plans according to the students I will have. I am planning half-day sessions with emphasis on sight reading, ensemble playing, music history and music theory lessons. I take up to 10 students per session and incorporate arts and crafts and group sports activities. This will be my fourth summer to teach in a "camp" setting, and I look forward to the fun we will have!

~Lori

March Visit to Tokyo

My mom and I had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo recently. It was the second time for me to be in Japan, but 14 years had passed since I was there the first time. Tokyo is such a beautiful, clean city, and the people are so nice and friendly there. We had a wonderful visit with many piano teachers from all over Japan. It was truly a pleasure to be there. The first picture below is the view we had from our hotel, which was in downtown Tokyo. The second picture is of my mom and I with some friends from Japan!    ~Lori

Warm Wishes from New York!

Spring Break

My family is enjoying Spring Break together in New York City! It is 38 degrees here today, and lightly snowing! Even though it doesn't quite feel like spring, it is beautiful and fabulous to be in New York! We love going to Broadway musicals, and last night had the opportunity to see A Chorus Line, one of our favorites. After the show, the actors came on stage and for a question and answer session for any audience members who wished to stay and participate. Most of the questions came from students from a performing arts school in New York. One student asked the actors to talk about their various types of education. One of the performers (a female) said she had ridden horses all her life and then at age 18 decided to try dancing while in college! One actor said he had planned to go to Yale, but when he started to get work on Broadway, he went with that instead. He talked about the many different paths one can choose from in life. We loved hearing about the lives of the performers. The whole night was fun and the show was terrific!

~Lori

Practicing for a Semi-Private Lesson

My 8-year-old son has been taking a semi-private lesson with another little girl for two years with my mother as his teacher. Last night when he was practicing, he turned and said to me, "Mom, when I practice at home I always do fine, but at my lesson I have to play at the same time as my partner. Can you play on the other piano at the same time I'm playing so I can make it seem more like my lesson?" I thought that was a pretty good idea, so I set the metronome and we played through the pieces in his assignment. I noticed that if he made a mistake, it was difficult for him to keep going. We practiced how he would find where I was if he missed a note or got off somehow. I realized, again, the value of a semi-private lesson in the beginning stages of piano lessons! Students are really forced to learn the value of rhythm earlier, as they have to count in order to stay with another person.

~Lori

What's Worked for Me...

I believe that if I want to teach something to a student, the student has to know and believe that what I am teaching is really important to me! The student has to know and believe that I care if he learns what I am teaching. With young students, I make my points in any way I can think of, to get through to them. Here are a few ideas which have helped me to motivate young students:

• I award "Music Money" which is play money, created by TCW Resources for almost anything...playing in recitals, practicing regularly, counting aloud, memorizing a piece, etc. Students save their money and spend it on items which I "sell" in my store.
• I use a practice chart. Students work towards a practice goal, and I award trophies in May for those who have achieved their goals.
• I ask that my students perform regularly! This usually gets the whole family involved and encourages regular practicing.
• I grade lessons weekly. It helps keep some focus on piano practice, especially for middle school and high school students who have a lot of homework!

~Lori

Technic from the Beginning

Pictured below are two of my beginners who take a semi-private lesson together, once a week for 30 minutes. They are doing great! They are both 6 years old, and are just about to learn to read music on the staff. We have spent the months since September learning to form a good hand position, learning to read in pre-reading format, which entails reading finger numbers while counting the rhythm aloud. We have used the course: Bastiens' Invitation to Music and we are just about through the "B" books.

The biggest advantage in starting young students is that I can teach them to do things correctly, from the very beginning. I am very particular about hand position, especially. Many teachers ask me, for example, "What do you do if you have a student who can't form a good hand position?", or "What do you do if you have a student who plays with a very stiff wrist?" or "What do you do if you have a student who always plays on flat fingers?" The list goes on and on...and the answers to those questions are never easy when trying to fix something that has been practiced incorrectly repeatedly!

The easy part, however, is teaching a student to do something correctly from the beginning, and insisting, over and over, that whatever goal I have in mind is being practiced a certain way. I instill the help of parents who supervise young students' practice at home, and I also try to motivate the students in any way I can! I am a believer in using any motivating factor that works!

~Lori

Keeping in Touch

I love to hear from former students, and I recently saw Chelsea, who was home visiting her parents. Chelsea is currently living in Taiwan where she is a Fulbright Scholar for the 2006-2007 academic year, and a very successful concert organist and composer. Her website can be found at: www.chelseachen.com.

~Lori

Do Something Different!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to vacation in Sonoma, California with a friend. Two days of relaxing in a beautiful, peaceful surrounding with gorgeous weather! We were out walking around the town square and saw this dog in a car and we both had to stop and check to see if it was real! This dog looks like he is driving the car! My guess is that this might be a "labradoodle" which I have heard of, but never seen. Anyway, taking the time to get away from an everyday routine, even if it is just to take a walk in a new place, does wonders for renewing one's spirit and sense of creativity. After two days away, I feel like a new person!

~Lori

Keeping Piano as a Priority...a Parent's View

My two children, ages 8 and 10, take piano lessons from my mother. They have regular weekly lesson times, and we try to practice daily. My 8-year-old is in second grade, and his goal is to practice 20-30 minutes a day. My 10-year-old is in fifth grade, and her goal is to practice 60 minutes a day. Accomplishing these goals takes a lot of effort, on all of our parts!

Here are a few things that help us achieve practice goals:

• We have set times for their practicing, and I try to help both of them for at least part of that time. For us, practicing in the early morning, before school, has been the best time.
• Practicing piano is one of their responsibilities. Part of their allowance is based on their practice efforts.
• We try to follow my mom's assignment, which is written down in an assignment book, and she grades them weekly, based on their efforts.
• They have to perform regularly, so we are motivated to practice regularly!
• My mom takes breaks during the school-year, and during the summer, so we do take weeks off here and there, which helps us all to relax and avoid burn-out.

Now, realistically, we don't always achieve weekly practice goals! My children are involved in other extra-curricular activities and have homework...both my husband and I work...etc., etc.! But we try, as a family, to stay committed to the activities we choose, and to evaluate all of our schedules regularly so that we don't get over-committed. However, it is a challenge! There are so many opportunities available to students today and it is hard to say "no" when a child wants to try something new, but sometimes it is necessary.

~Lori

By the way...

An email I received recently read: "By the way...I enjoy your blog...I, too, like to have kids work on three levels of music.  Perhaps my greatest frustration is all of the OTHER activities that seem to come before the piano practice...How do you deal with that?"

I can answer that question from both the perspective of a teacher, and a parent. Today, I will give you my perspective from the viewpoint of a teacher.

The first thing I have found to keep piano as a top priority among students and parents is to interview carefully before accepting new students. I like to meet with each family in person before agreeing to begin lessons, and ask both the student and parent how much time can be allotted for this activity. I like to let a family know what I expect from each student, regarding practice time at home, performances, attending lessons, etc.  I also have a strict make-up policy, which seems to deter the type of student who has many conflicting activities.

After agreeing to begin lessons, the first few years often seem easy, but several years later, I often begin to see a true time-struggle. Students are faced with decisions such as these: "Should I focus on homework, soccer, piano, science fair or maybe I should try out for the school musical?" At that point, my only solution to keeping piano as a top priority is to plan ahead. I hold parent/teacher conferences at the end of each school year where we talk about the up-coming year and seriously consider how much time a student will have to practice. I have several events in which students can participate and they commit to these in advance. Having these commitments seems to help keep piano as a priority when times get really busy.

~Lori

Randi's Corner

Randi is a high school student who has been teaching a theory class for me for over a year. From time to time, she gives us her insights into what she is learning as a young teacher.  ~Lori

Last year, when I taught my group theory class, I often assigned a page from a theory book for students to complete at their own pace during the lesson. I had planned for them to quietly work on the assignment until they completed it, however, I found that students would get distracted and had trouble finishing their work.  Upon discussing this situation with Lori, she suggested that instead of assigning work to be done independently during class, we could try working together, with everyone being involved in answering questions. I have had much more success with this strategy, working together as a group and having students answer questions aloud.  I have found that we get our work done in a quicker and more focused manner, and I can easily determine how much my students understand about the concepts we are studying. 

~Randi

Motivation Strategy: "Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back"

My second-grade-son just completed a group of spelling lists which was compiled by the director of his school. There were 74 lists he needed to pass, and we received one or two a week, beginning in first grade, depending on how quickly he mastered each list. The last 15 lists were hard, I thought, with words such as, parallel, or perpendicular. He was highly motivated to complete the 74 lists of words, because he knew he would then be given a spelling book. When he received the spelling book on Friday, he was really proud and excited! When we looked at the words in the first few units, his face lit up, because they were "easy" words, such as land, and thing. In this book, he has to do a lot more writing of paragraphs, and using the spelling words in sentences. His confidence level soared and he has been excited to do his spelling homework every night because he feels the work is easy.

I believe that students need to be challenged on many different levels. I see my daughter practicing The Merry Farmer hands separately for a few weeks before she can play it well hands together. At the same time, she loves having pieces to play that are "easy", which she can read immediately. I like to give assignments that contain three levels of music:

• challenge pieces, which will be mastered over about a month
• pieces which can be learned within a week
• pieces which can be sight-read immediately

I find that students learn different things from practicing three different levels of music and they also find more enjoyment in practicing when some things feel "easy."

~Lori

Concerto Time

Our local concerto contest is coming up on February 3. I am so proud of any young student who takes the time to learn a concerto movement and many students choose to learn one year after year. The competition is a good one, run by the same person for about 10 years, and students are highly motivated by the first prize award, which is to perform their piece with a youth orchestra.

My very favorite concerto for young students is the Youth Concerto by Kabalevsky. It is one that can be taught to any student who is willing to work, and it sounds harder than it actually is to play. I am excited to hear student performances in the upcoming week, at rehearsals and recitals, and I look forward to being there and hearing them play at the competition!

~Lori

Happy Valentine's

One of my favorite holidays to celebrate with young students is Valentine's Day. I like to plan a party where students of approximately the same age and level are invited to come and share a piece and a treat.

My favorite piece in Jane Bastien's book, Happy Valentine's is called "The Secret Valentine." My daughter's classroom teachers at school have often planned for students to share cards or candy with a "Secret Valentine" whose name they draw out of a hat. My daughter has always loved the idea of surprising someone with a special gift from the heart! The piece, "The Secret Valentine" is a Level 2 piece in the key of D Major, written in A-B-A form, easy to learn and memorize.

~Lori

Games in Randi's class

We have played many games during our group lessons, but my students’ all-time favorite game is called Musical Spoons. (Check out this game at: tcwresources.com.) This game is like a timed matching game where students sit in a circle and pass a deck of music cards to each other. When a student gets three cards that have the same note or key signature on them, they grab a spoon in the middle of the circle.  Then, everyone tries to grab the remaining spoons in the center, but one person ends up without a spoon.  My students always laugh whenever they play this game, and I like that it is a great game for reinforcing note and key signature recognition.

~Randi

Games for Group Lessons

Getting students together on a regular basis to study theory, perform for each other, play ensemble music or practice ear training really enhances regular private lessons! I teach weekly group lessons, and we focus on the above aspects throughout the year. Currently, our main focus is on theory and ear training, as our state theory and ear training exam will be held on Feb. 17-18.

A fun game to play in a group setting is Jeopardy. I write out a board with different categories, depending on what the class is studying. Here is an example of categories:

Scales...Chords...Key Signatures
500...... 500 ........500
300...... 300.........300
100.......100.........100

We divide into two teams and everyone has a piece of staff paper. Students play the game, just like on t.v.! For example, one team says, "I'll try Scales for 500." I give a question, based on their level, and everyone has to write down the answer. The only difference I use from the real game is that the teams take turns. If one team answers correctly, they receive $500. If they answer incorrectly, the other team gets to try, and so on. Students look forward to playing this game and it gives me a good idea of what they know or don't know.

~Lori

Randi's Class

For the past two years, I have been fortunate enough to have a high school sophomore teaching a beginning theory class for me. Randi has been mature, responsible and dedicated to teaching this class and it has been a pleasure for me to mentor her in this endeavor. She has been the sole teacher for the class which has 3 boys and 2 girls, ages 9-10. She is currently preparing the class for a California State program, Certificate of Merit, and the class will be taking the Level 2 exam. I will be posting some of Randi's experiences here from time to time as she lets us in on her first "real" teaching experiences!  ~Lori

Hi, my name is Randi. I have been a student of Lori's since the 4th grade. This is my second year teaching a beginning group theory class, and every day I learn more about how to be a better teacher.

One of my biggest challenges this year has been getting my students to play as an ensemble.  In Lori’s studio, there are several electronic pianos, and they are great for practicing piano together.  Every week, I assign two pages from A Line A Day, Level 1,a sight reading book by Jane Bastien. When we meet in class each week, everyone sits at a piano and plays the short pieces they have learned. When I first started doing this, it was not very successful!  Basically, it was one loud commotion with all of the students playing at once and I had no control over them!  However, Lori came to my rescue to help me gain back some control so we now play together successfully! Here are the guidelines which have helped me to better teach my students to play together:

• Whenever I am talking, everyone must have their arms folded and may not be touching the keyboard or any buttons! 
• Everyone must count aloud while they playing and I count the students in with one measure.
• The electronic pianos must be set only to the “Grand Piano” setting at this early stage of ensemble playing.

These ideas worked great!  Now, whenever I work with my group at the pianos, it is much more relaxing and enjoyable for all of us.

~Randi

Next Holiday: Valentine's Day!

As I perused the grocery store yesterday, I realized that by now there is only a tiny pile of left-over Christmas items, all marked down to 50% off. In the former Christmas aisle are all the new Valentine's cards, candy, stuffed animals, looking new and shiny on display. I find that my studio works in the same way as the retail stores...I start getting ready for each new holiday or event early. I know that I will have Valentine's parties for my group lessons, so I begin to buy little things as I see them, such as plates and napkins, but I am also reminded to start planning what music I will need. Here are some of my favorite Valentine's pieces which I will be using this year:

• Happy Valentine's, By Jane Bastien, WP 406--an elementary solo book with 10 pieces written in either Primer level, Level 1 or Level 2. This book can be used for 2 or 3 Valentine's seasons.
• Heart Breaker, by Jane Bastien, WP 1072--a Level 2 sheet music.
• Hearts from Heaven, and Dancing in my Dreams by Lisa Bastien, from the solo collection A Debut for You, Book 3, WP 267--Level 3 solos.
• Whistling Pine Trees, by Lori Bastien, from the solo collection, Bastiens' Collage of Solos, Book 4, WP 404--a Level 4 solo.
• Misty Moon, by Jane Bastien, from Performance, Level 4 of the Bastien Piano Basics series, WP 214--a Level 4 solo.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Pictured are Lisa, Jane and Lori bundled up in Park City, Utah. It was beautiful and cold and we had plenty of time to ski and relax! We also had time to catch up on reading, and I read a great article in the January issue of the Oprah magazine about getting rid of clutter in the house. I am determined to spend time this week organizing my house and studio before I start teaching on Monday!

All best wishes for 2007!

~Lori