Category: Services

Summer Piano Party 2018

7/27/2018

Our 5th annual summer piano party was lots of fun despite the rain!

Summer Piano Party 2018 - Notes of Joy Piano Studio

Thankfully, we were still able to have the obstacle course, but we only played one inning of water balloon baseball before it was raining too hard. However, this year I was more prepared for the rain and planned games that could be modified to work in the garage: 'This or That', musical chairs (voted one of the children's favorite games), rhythm toss, and 'Name that Tune'.

To make things more interesting, I played music for the musical chairs using my glockenspiel. If a student 'got out', they were invited to play along with me on the next round. I also used my glockenspiel for 'Name that Tune'. This instrument proved to be ideal for the situation: small, portable, no electricity required, and my students can play it with me. :)

Check out my Music Games board on Pinterest:

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Tips for Hosting a Piano Party Part 2: The Food

8/4/2016

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One of most important elements to any party is the food. Whether you provide a meal or a light snack, detailed planning helps everything come together smoothly. Below are some tips from my experience hosting piano parties.

Tips for Hosting a Piano Party Part 2: The Food

1. Do NOT try to make all the food yourself; let others get involved. Try to find out what your guests prefer to bring; some enjoy making creative desserts while others like the simplicity of bringing bags of chips. Personally, I provide the main dish and one side dish when hosting a piano party. This way, if someone isn't able to attend the party at the last minute, you have the necessary food for a meal.

2. Have plenty of drinks (i.e. water, lemonade, soda, and fruit juice). This is especially important if you are hosting your party outside. During our summer piano party, there is drink table outside with a 5 gallon water cooler and a cooler underneath the table with fruit drinks and small water bottles. Later, I'll usually bring out a couple 2-liters (root beer, lemonade, etc.) for the meal.

3. Choose easy recipes you can make ahead of time. By choosing easy recipes, the food prep on the day of the party should be minimal. As an example, I make macaroni salad the night before, and right before the guests arrive, I place hotdogs in the crockpot.

4. Include at least one music-themed food item. This is a nice touch and will reinforce the "music" theme of your party. Check out my Pinterest board Recital Recipes featured below for some fun creative ideas.

Please share your food prep tips in the comments below!

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Tips for Hosting a Piano Party Part 1: The Games

7/27/2016

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Have you ever thought about hosting a piano party or similar event? Sometimes the task seems a little overwhelming, but detailed planning and preparation can help make the event enjoyable for both you and your students. In fact, I look forward to our piano party with as much anticipation as my students.

This year the studio held its third annual piano party, and over the years I have learned some dos and don'ts. I hope this post will be a help to you as you plan a fun-filled get-together for you students.

Tips for Hosting a Piano Party Part 1: The Games

1. Ask yourself: Who is the piano party going to be geared toward?
Choose one or two of the following age groups: adults, young people, or children. Defining who the party will be geared for helps you determine the kind of games that you will have at your party. Personally, I have found it works well to combine young people (ages 12-17) and children (ages 4-11) at my summer piano party where they enjoy outdoor games, and to host a separate winter/spring piano party for my adult students (ages 18+) where we play musical board games.

2. Plan, organize, and prep age-appropriate games. A successful piano party doesn't just happen, it is planned and organized. Since the games are a very important of the event, be sure to have the games (and the supplies they need like tape, balls, glue, buckets, markers, towels, water balloons, etc.) ready the day before. To accomplish this, I use an old-fashioned pen and paper, write down the title of each game, and list every little thing I need to play the game. As I get the materials, I check them off my list.

3. Alternate the kind of the games throughout the party. At summer piano party, I start with a music game such as What Note Am I? to introduce all the students to each other. Next, is an energetic game such as an obstacle course; I always have it soon after the party starts because it needs to be set up before they arrive and takes up most of the backyard. After the energetic game, switch to a more relaxing game like Musical Chairs, and so forth. By alternating your piano party games in this manner, you will ensure that your guests stay engaged during the party and do not get overheated (if it is hot outside).

4. Use at least one game with water balloons or a sprinkler, if you are having a summer piano party. This lets the guests get cooled off, and helps reduce the chances of guests overheating. However, make sure you do these games in the middle of your event so guests have time to dry off. :)

5. Use Pinterest to help spark your creativity when it comes finding group games. Remember, many group games can be adapted to be "musical".

6. Use a tote bag or small bin to gather all the "little" stuff for the games/crafts. The day before the party, begin placing all the "little" stuff you need (pens, paper, card games, craft supplies, etc.) into a tote bag or small bin. On the piano party day, I place the bin on a card table in a corner of the yard/room for easy access, and store larger items for the games (i.e. balls, pool noodles, hula-hoops, etc.) underneath the table. The more you plan ahead, the smoother the day will go.

7. Be flexible. Even though I spend hours planning everything in great detail, I have learned that some games are more successful than others. For my students, the obstacle course, musical chairs, and water balloon baseball are super fun games that we play every year; however, to keep things fresh, I do change up the obstacles of the course. This year, water balloon baseball lasted so long that we ran out of time for the other game I had planned, but I didn't mind because the students were all enjoying the water balloons (and so was I).

Join me next week as I share "Tips for Hosting a Piano Party Part 2: The Food".

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Classics for Kids - Classical Music Podcast

6/29/2016

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Have you ever tried finding age-appropriate music podcasts for young musicians? Look no further...Classics for Kids, a service of Cincinnati Public Radio, brings the classics to life for young musicians with bite-size podcasts full of educational and entertaining content.

From Ludwig van Beethoven to Leonard Bernstein, Classics for Kids covers a range of composers and continues to add new podcasts each week. Each music podcast is six minutes in length, with an average of four podcasts on each composer. Naomi Lewin does an excellent job writing each podcast and defining musical terms for younger musicians. Also, the podcasts are filled with beautiful samples of each composer's musical masterpieces.

My piano students love Classics for Kids, and one student asked what piece played during the introduction of every podcast. After contacting Classics of Kids, I discovered it was from Amilcare Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours. They sent me a link to this YouTube video, and the Classics for Kids theme song can be found approximately 7:40 into the video.

However, this piano student also wanted to play the sheet music, so I found a piano reduction of Dance of the Hours and wrote a simpler version for young musicians who enjoy listening to Classics for Kids. A digital copy of the sheet music is available for FREE and contains the theme song in both A Major and C Major.

Classics for Kids Theme Song
File Size:	247 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Piano Lesson Evaluations

5/28/2016

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Sometimes it is difficult for homeschool evaluators (especially if they don't have a musical background) to understand and correctly evaluate everything a student is learning in their piano studies. To solve this problem, I create piano lesson evaluations for my homeschooled piano students to put in their portfolios every May/June. Click for a Sample Piano Student Evaluation

A piano lesson evaluation is a summary of a piano student's accomplishments throughout the school year. It encourages piano teachers to evaluate the progress of each student and their strengths and weaknesses. One homeschool evaluator told me she loved the piano lesson summaries because they explained the musical concepts that the students had covered, which enabled her to write a more accurate description of the student's musical achievements in their evaluation.

This idea was inspired by my own piano lesson evaluation from my high school piano instructor. In my sophomore year in high school, my piano instructor wrote a summary of what I had accomplished in my music lessons that year for my PHAA evaluator. It was such a blessing, and I still treasure my piano teacher's summary.

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Summer Piano Party 2018

Tips for Hosting a Piano Party Part 2: The Food

Tips for Hosting a Piano Party Part 1: The Games

Classics for Kids - Classical Music Podcast

Piano Lesson Evaluations

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