Piano Practice – Page 2 – Brunner Studios

Intermediate Madness

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Heather Brunner

Last week was the first week back from Christmas break for about half of my students. There were highs and lows. Trying to get everyone to focus was challenging since it had been the first day back at school. The kids were all excited to tell me how their break went and to let me know that they had practiced. I told everyone that practice was optional over the break. I’m happy they (or their parents) kept working.

It seems that many of these students are hitting the early intermediate music at the same time. It makes me a little nervous. It is wonderful that they are working so hard and have reach this level so quickly. The challenge is caused by that same dedication. Most of these kids still want to complete pieces in a single week. Their music has just gotten to the point that it just isn’t feasible for the most part. Trying to explain that they haven’t done anything wrong, but it is going to take more time doesn’t always go over very well. All they hear is that they didn’t get a sticker that week. The next thing I hear is that piano is hard, and they aren’t having fun. Trying to find the correct balance is a challenge. Learning to appreciate longer term goals is just part of growing up. Practicing dedication even when things get difficult and it doesn’t seem fun at the moment is part of growing up. Coaxing these students through these challenging levels is hard work for everyone. I just hope the growing pains aren’t too bad!

NFMC 2013

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Heather Brunner

Brunner Studios will be participating in the 2013 NMFC Piano Festival and Piano Scholarship Festival. As of now it looks like there will be 100% participation. Festivals are such a great opportunity for students to gain confidence in their playing and to get feedback from someone other than their teacher.

If you are interested in participating please contact a local teacher for more information.

Need More Christmas Music

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Heather Brunner

This whole new piano thing is leading to a lot of new music. As a teacher, I try to keep a good variety on hand for when a student needs some variation in the schedule. As a musician, I love to have music that sounds great and I am pretty much sit down and sight read. So yesterday it was back to the music store.

First up is Popular Christmas Hits by Dan Coates published by Alfred.

This book includes songs from Bethlehem Morning, Frosty the Snowman, and Growup Christmas List. It is very diverse. My favorite surprise is that it offers interesting key changes. When was the last time you saw 6 flats in a popular book?

For full disclosure on the next selection, I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan. I can’t wait until the Hobbit comes out next week. So when I saw The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy by Howard Shore for Piano and Voice, I knew it was for me.

Some of these songs are familiar right off the bat and others I had to search my memory for the correct scene. This book has interesting arrangements that are fairly close to the sound from the score.

I would recommend either one of these books to one my students of an advanced level.

That Was A Great Recital

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Heather Brunner

It’s been a few weeks since I managed to sit down and blog. First there was the recital, then Thanksgiving, and a few days away with friends.

Let’s start with the recital. The students all did a great job. Even the ones that I worried about all week. Never let it be said that I don’t have faith that a kid can pull it together when it counts. All the practice paid off.

We were missing a few student but everyone played 2 or 3 pieces so it was a very nice recital.

When I arrived at Miller Piano to make sure everything was set up a little something caught my eye. The conversation with Steve went a little like this:

“Is that a Baldwin Artist Series Piano?”- me

“Why yes it is.”- him

“Let me go call my husband.”- me

ring ring- “Are you going to be upset if I buy a grand piano today?”- me

“Go for it.”- husband

to Steve “I’ll take it.”- me

Say hello to my new piano. It is a Baldwin Artist series built in 1975. The sound is glorious.

Happy Birthday to me is all I can say.

The students are enjoying it and already commenting on how much better prepared they will be for festivals and recitals since they will have a chance to practice on a grand. Lessons the first week with the piano were quite fun and I am having a wonderful time playing all my favorite Christmas tunes.

Recital Deadlines

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Heather Brunner

The studio Halloween/Fall/Christmas recital is on Nov. 17 this year. Other than the anomaly of last week, the students are doing a good job of preparing well in advance. I try to impress upon them that having a whole week of leeway in memorization or learning a piece for a performance is a good idea. What if you get sick? What if there is a big school project? What if you go out of town? There are so many scenarios that if a student plans on learning music until the last minute can create the recipe for a poor performance. While some of the issues could be prevented sometimes things just come up.

To a young student a month is like forever. If you tell them they have a month you can guarantee procrastination. However, if I am very specific about what we need to accomplish each week to meet the goal then they understand that a month really isn’t so long.

Good luck to all those students and teachers out there preparing for a winter concert. Plan ahead and keep practicing.

Holiday Mayhem

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Heather Brunner

I’ve been bragging on my students significantly the past few weeks. It pretty much came back to haunt me last week. Holiday weeks are always hard for most of my students. They get so hyped up about whatever exciting is going on that they just can’t/don’t focus like they need to. I’m pretty sure they all put in their practice time, but the lack of focus during that time and during their lessons was obvious. With the recital so close this was a bad time to lose a week. It’s rare that I end up saying that lesson was bad to the student or parent but it ended up repeated endlessly last week.

So as we head into the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas how do other teachers keep the disruptions to a minimum? Festival season is just around the corner and we don’t want to lose too much preparation time.

I’ve found the most effective check point is to have the parents listen to the students practice more often during times of distraction. Even if you don’t read music or play an instrument you can hear if progress is being made or if it sounds sloppy or even if there are wrong notes. You don’t need to listen to the entire practice session but a quick drop in will keep them honest. If you aren’t home when a student practices have them record their final run through of each piece at the end of their daily practice and then compare it to the previous day. Does it sound better?

Everyone has an unfocused lesson once in a while, but if that lesson is preceded by a week of unfocused practice then it goes from unfocused to ill-prepared. Let’s try to keep ourselves in check during the upcoming mayhem of the holiday season and to continue to progress in our musical education.

October Competition and Prizes

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Heather Brunner

This month in the studio we have been having a competition of sorts. With the recital coming up, the students needed a little added incentive to work extra hard. So I purchased a few small prizes and then declared that the grand prize would be a hand knit scarf of the winner’s choosing. Pretty much saying Harry Potter scarf did the trick. Here were the ways to earn points:

1. Meet Your Practice Goal- 5 points

2. Exceed your practice goal by 30 minute increments – 15 points per 30 min. interval

3. Perfect Technique- 5 points

4. Pass Ear-Training Test- 20 points

5. Complete a Piece- 5 points per page

6. Theory Completed- 5 points

7. Theory Completed with no mistakes- 5 points per page

8. Memorization- 2 points per measure

9. Memorize an entire piece in 1 week- 20 points

10. Memorize a recital piece by Nov. 1- 50 points

The students did really well in earning their points and trying to beat each other. I can’t wait to tell them how they did at their lesson next week.

NFMC 2013

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Heather Brunner

This is just a reminder that Brunner Studios will be participating in NFMC Festival and Scholarship Festival in February of 2013. Piano, voice, and oboe students are welcome. This is a great festival to learn the ropes or to participate in a competition. Students will begin receiving music next week to reduce the stress of learning music over the winter holidays.

If you are interested in participating in this event or beginning music lessons please contact Brunner Studios. It is not unreasonable to think that a student could begin lessons now and participate in this event in February. National Federation of Music Clubs is a nationally recognized music organization.

For more information regarding piano, voice, or oboe lessons please contact Brunner Studios.

New Christmas Books

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Heather Brunner

As a piano teacher, I spend a lot of time playing music that isn’t mine. It’s rare that I get to play the piano for pure enjoyment of the music and it not be a project of some variety. Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for Christmas music! I love piano Christmas music. If you saw my music library you would probably think I’m a little crazy. So when I was at Music and Arts 2 weeks ago and saw new Christmas piano books, that was it. I had to have some new books.

First up is Simply Christmas by Jerry Ray. Now you have to understand. Christmas with Style by Jerry Ray is just about my favorite Christmas book to play from. The arrangements are great and not overly difficult. So when I was Simply Christmas it was meant to be. I was not disappointed. This is a great book.

The second book I picked up was O Come, Let Us Adore Him by the publisher Lillenas. Lillenas published my favorite hymn arrange book so I thought this was a pretty sure bet. This book was obviously made for church pianists. It includes transitions between every song. The arrangements are pretty and very playable.

So there you go, I am already playing and teaching Christmas piano music. The recital is only a month away. I should go practice.

Fall Recital

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Heather Brunner

Brunner Studios is happy to announce that our fall concert has been scheduled. We will be playing at Miller Piano on Independence Blvd on November 17 at 3:00.

Recitals provide an excellent opportunity for students to practice their performance skills and to show off what they have been working on. Students will be able to perform up to 3 pieces. Right now the studio is having a competition to help us memorize those recital pieces.

I would love to see community members and other teachers in the audience. The more the merrier!