Tag: summer lessons

Schedule a Summer Recital

Posted on by Heather Brunner

This weekend is Memorial Day.  The start of summer.  Many students around the country are already out of school and those who aren’t are counting the days.  As teachers we encourage our students to take summer lessons.  Try scheduling a summer patriotic recital to give your students a goal to work towards.  After those spring recitals we run the risk of losing focus.  A fun filled relaxed recital of patriotic music just about fits the bill.  Brunner Studios offers summer piano, voice and oboe lessons.

 

Here are a few ideas for your patriotic recital

1.  Picnic Style-  If you have the space, have everyone bring blankets and snacks.  Have the audience sit on the floor.  Encourage the families to sing along if they know the song.  Have your older students practice their accompanying and host a sing along.

2.  Red, White and Blue-  Have your students dress in their patriotic best.  Nothing like a theme to bring out that creativity.

3.  Duets and Trios-  If your students have time, let them learn a duet.  There are some great patriotic arrangements out there for 4 hands.

 

Enjoy your holiday week!

Prizes and Awards

Posted on by Heather Brunner

 

It is that time of year again.  The school year is just about over and it is time to hand out those achievement awards.  Every year I struggle to find just the right balance between well-earned and well-deserved awards and recognition for students who didn’t accomplish a major feat but stuck it out another year. 

 

Certificates go a long way for many students.  Almost everyone completed a book this year or participated in a festival or concert.  So I’ll head to Lakeshore Learning www.lakeshorelearning.com and purchase a bunch of certificates and those nice shiny gold seals.  I’ll do certificates for book completion, festival participation, practice records, and attendance.  It does take a really long time to fill these out, but most of the time the kids are happy to receive them.

 

Composer Busts.  A few years ago my mom was at the Dollar Tree and they had black and gold composer busts for….you guessed it….a dollar.  She bought them out and I am still giving them away.  My students with perfect attendance and those who met a minimum number of practice minutes for the year will receive a bust. 

 

I am not giving these out at a program this year because I ran out of time and the kids are about concertized out.  So at their last lesson they will get their prizes.  It doesn’t take much to make most students happy so this is a way to end the year on a high notes and to motive the students to keep practice during their summer lessons.