Just FYI I'm still here

I'm still here, haven't forgotten about this blog. I'm about 3 months away from posting more songs. I just haven't been able to the past year and a half because we had to get rid of our (spinet) piano (live on a 3rd floor of an apartment), but we are moving soon and I will be getting my baby grand piano delivered from my parents house to my new house! So excited to get groovin' again!

Not piano related, but still fun

I have an Etsy shop and I just wanted to share it with you. Here is the link:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CellPictureSwitchers

Right now, there is a blog hosting a GIVEAWAY for my shop until May 23rd. Here is the link to the Giveaway:

http://goforwardwithfaith.blogspot.com/2013/05/giveaway-from-cps.html

Also, sorry for the lack of piano posts, but like I mentioned before, when we moved, I had to sell my piano. That slows down the process of composing simplified music. But I have not forgotten this blog and will continue to sporadically post! 

Girls, Disney Music and fun!

Hello again!  It's been awhile since we posted.  Lisa has been busy moving and I've been busy with my other businesses and 4 rambunctious boys.  However, after 4 busy boys, lately I've been thinking.....PINK!  That's right!  Baby number 5 is on the way and it's a sweet (we hope!) little girl :)  As much as I love primary music, and I LOOOVE primary music, sometimes piano students want to switch it up.  I feel very strongly that piano lessons should be FUN, especially in the beginning stages.  Otherwise, the joy of playing gets lost in the difficulty.  Many of my students, but especially my girls, have loved playing Disney music.  Here's an arrangement that was requested by one of my students who loved the movie, Mulan.  The notes are very simple.  I have them place their left hand with thumb on middle c and right hand with thumb on d.  Then they don't have to move their hand position the entire song.  Since the notes are easy, it's a good opportunity to learn more complex timing.  Don't go into too much detail and overwhelm them, but practice the timing both on and off (tapping, clapping, stomping) the piano.  Enjoy!

True to Your Heart

No Piano :(

Hey Friends! 

I know I haven't posted in a long time and that is because we moved to Ohio. Not just anywhere in Ohio, but the 3rd floor of an apartment building. Because my husband and I are so brilliant and decided to move all our stuff by ourselves, we had to sell our piano. Sad stuff. I'm missing it tons. I loved being able to play whenever and I wanted. So I'm afraid that means I won't be posting simplified arrangements as often. Just a heads up! But feel free to leave comments or questions, I'll do the best I can. 

Got a question?

Do you have a question or problem on how to help a piano student that you would love some advice on? Feel free to email it to me and I will post it on here so other teachers can give suggestions.

lisagardner87@gmail.com

Help! Piano Teacher Question

One of my piano teacher friends wrote me a message. She is having a little bit of trouble with one of her students. So I thought what better way to get ideas to help her than to post it on here for you guys to make suggestions. This is what she wrote:

"I have a 10 yr old that is just starting lessons and for the life of me I can't figure out why she's not getting this one concept. I've tried several different ways to teach it, but it's not sticking. UGH! Basically, she's not seeing the notes on the page for what they are i.e. she's not memorizing where middle C is or any of the notes. We've been on the very basics for 2 months now! She's still having trouble with middle C. She's still not mastering the keyboard. Like today, she said "B" and played "A" and then stared at me like, "What? I'm playing the right note?" At first I thought she was cocky like, "I don't really have to pay attention because all the rest of this has been so easy." But then last week she says, "this is too hard I want to quit." She's bored and I'm frustrated. I'm doing flashcards at the end of each lesson and using several books so that she's getting the same concept in 6 different songs instead of 2. Any thoughts? She's driving me nuts with the attitude. It doesn't help that mom is sitting in the next room till the lesson is over."

So any thoughts for my friend on how to help her student? 

I love walking

Probably one of my favorite things about Florida is that I can walk out my front door (in bare feet) pretty much any time of the year and have a nice walk in the sunshine. It's wonderful. Since I'm originally from Utah, I especially appreciate this during Utah's winter months. Maybe it's a little overkill, but everyday when I take a walk or run in the sunshine, I look up at the sky and smile and say a prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father and our Savior for all the beautiful creations around me. It's amazing what They have given us. 

We had 54 votes from the poll last week and Teach Me to Walk in the Light received the most votes! Thanks to everyone that voted! I'm excited that this was the song that won because I have one student who is ready to start playing more than one flat or sharp in a song and this is the perfect song to have him start with.

Teaching Music Using Chords

Maybe it's because my dad was an amazing guitarist, but one of the ways I personally learned the piano was through chord progressions. I didn't learn this from my classical training, but rather from a WONDERFUL father who taught me that music is based on patterns and that once you learned some of those basic patterns (such as chords) you could mix and match the notes within those patterns to create great, simple music. My students love this because it makes music so much more simple. No need to memorize where 87 notes are on the Grand Staff!

I teach chords both as an exercise (see this post about how I approach technique exercises) and music theory combined in one. I begin by teaching them about the C-chord (how the first note, or root note, is a C and then you just add a 3rd and a 5th above that to make it a chord). I have them practice playing it as an arpeggio first (Using finger numbers 1, 3, 5, 1, 3, 5) and then as a chord (1,3 and 5 simultaneously). You'll be amazed how difficult it is for young students to play all 3 notes together. Have them practice hands separately first, then hands together. Then I make up a little exercise...simple enough they can practice it without any sight reading so that they can focus on technique (hearing all 3 of the notes equally and not rolling the chord), such as playing a C-chord right hand only for 2 whole notes, then 4 half notes, then 4 quarter notes. Or playing each C-chord on the entire piano 5 times.

Once they master the C-chord (usually over several lessons), I introduce the D chord, and point out that it has one sharp in the middle. Once they have the D-chord down in their technique practices (again, usually takes a week or two of practicing), then I teach them a song using the D-chord. Give Said the Little Stream is a great one for this! Plus, I love that it's been around since I was a primary kid.

Better Late Than Never

In December I had everyone vote on which Christmas song they would like me to simplify and almost everyone picked Away in a Manger. Today, I finally found time to write it! Hooray for Fridays! Although it's not Christmas time anymore, we can have the Christmas season in our hearts year round. Because what's better than remembering our Savior, his life, example, and sacrifice? Nothing.

Neglectful

I promise I'm not purposely neglecting this blog. It's just the holidays are nuts...aren't they? My husband and I have been visiting family for the last three weeks, so I haven't been home to arrange a new song. I'm going to though, I promise. Soon. In the meantime, does anyone know of a good/cool/fun/interesting way to teach kids about time signatures? I had a piano student ask me about it at our lesson yesterday and I felt like my explanation was totally confusing for him. I'd like to hear some better ideas!

Snow? What Snow?

Even though we don't have snow in Florida, our Primary kids still LOVE to sing this song, "Once There Was a Snowman". Excited for my students to start playing this song!

Bringing a Little Warmth

Yeah, I know it's Fall and soon it will be winter. But before most of you all in Utah get snow for 8 months I wanted to share a little warmth with you. Whenever I play, sing, hear this song my heart immediately feels warm. Little kids love it and so I had to arrange it. Popcorn Popping.

I really do love to see the temple

You see, I live in Panama City, FL where there isn't a temple for 6 hours in any direction. Birmingham, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Orlando temples are all about 6 hours away from us. It makes me sad. I grew up in Utah where almost everyone takes for granted that they have 5 temples within a 30 minute drive from their home. Well, we're taking a temple trip with some of our friends in a couple weeks and I also arranged this song for one of my piano students to play in my first recital for my students on Sept 29th (wish me luck!). Seeing the temple, being in the temple means more to me now than it ever has before. Hope you enjoy...I Love To See The Temple.

Poll Results

So last month I took a poll on which song you guys wanted me to arrange and everyone except for one person voted for Scripture Power. This song isn't in the Primary Children's Songbook, but kids LOVE it. Scripture Power

Love One Another

I gave a talk in church this week about expressions of love. I talked about three different ways we can express love to those in our families through spending time together, serving each other, and using words to express love.  Music can express many different types of feelings, but I think it is most powerful when we use it to express our love. So here is my beginning arrangement of Love One Another and if you haven't already today, tell someone in your family you love them :) Love One Another

Starting out? Here's some tips.

Over the past week, two of my friends have mentioned to me that they are starting to teach piano or will be soon. So I thought I would post especially for them. I remember my first lesson, I was confident until I actually sat down and thought about what I would teach them during the first lesson in a couple days. Man, I was blank. Where do I start? There is so much! Do I start teaching how to read notes right away? What exercises would be best? And heck, what piano books do I even have them start with?

I was completely lost and that's when I had the brilliant idea to call my sister-in-law Cathy, who was an old pro at teaching. She asked me if I was starting with true beginning students. I was. She then told me four simple things to do during the first lesson.

First, start by asking them about the physicality of the piano. Questions like, "How many colors are on the piano? Do you notice any patterns? Where are the high notes and low notes? How many notes are on the piano?" That last question will always trip them up, they will start guessing how many KEYS are on the piano not NOTES (there are 84 keys on the piano and 7 notes).

That last question will lead you into the second thing you want to introduce them to which is the SEVEN notes on the piano. Show them where middle C is and talk to them about the pattern of the notes and how they just keep repeating and repeating over and over. Then assign them to find (pick three notes) all the A, F, and D's on the keyboard every time they practice. Then the next week ask them to find the remaining four notes.

The third thing you want to talk to them about is the 5 finger pattern. Teach them that thumbs are always "1" and pinky's are always "5". Show them how to play a 5 finger scale with the right hand only and ask them to repeat it. You will be surprise at how many kids have a hard time playing a simple 5 finger scale and that's because their fingers aren't strong enough yet. Have them practice the 5 finger scale with each hand seperately throughout the week. (Obviously, talk to them about playing with curved fingers and playing smoothly etc.)

The last thing you want to do is assign them their very first song. Play it up. All my kids were SO excited they were going to learn a song already. I have them play just the right hand of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and I right out the 5 finger pattern for the song. (3-2-1-2-3-3-3-2-2-2-3-4-4-3-2-1-2-3-3-3-2-2-3-2-1).

You'll be surprised how much time all of that takes to explain. If you can't get through it all with one kid, don't worry about it just break into two lessons and explain the rest the next week. You don't want to overwhelm them during the first lesson.

Also, I wanted to mention that I had my students bring a three ring binder with them and page separators. I make five sections in the binder...Practice calendar, lesson plans, theory, exercises, and extra. Helps keep me, the parents, and the kids organized.

The books that Cathy recommend I have them start with was the Primer book from the Faber series (search on Amazon and you will find) and the first grade John Thompson book (I played from that when I was little, it's a classic). I'm on the lookout for a good finger exercise/scales book for my students anyone know of any?

Hope this helps, good luck!

Are you a Fool?

Here is the link to The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

It's funny. I live in Florida right now and my house is literally built on the sand. I guess that means I'm foolish even though I didn't choose to build it here. Who doesn't love this song? It's one of the kids favorites. One of my piano students chose to do this song as one of his recital pieces. It's a very easy piece for beginner students to learn.

I'm back!

I went out of town for my younger brother's wedding which was so much fun. Tomorrow I'll be sure to post a new song :)

Awesome Website

I was looking around for some flash cards to print to use with my students and I found this website http://www.susanparadis.com/. Susan has tons of ready to print games and activities to do with students. It's a great resource for teachers. Just thought I would share.

Introducing...

Introducing my sister-in-law, Cathy, she is going to be posting some songs on this blog too. Which I'm very excited about because she is a musical genius!