Father’s Day is June 21, 2015!
Here’s a fun song for Father’s Day! Get your creative juices flowing! Use with the letters on poster boards to spell out DADDY or make into a skit!
If you have an over-abundance of kids, you can use additional words on poster board with the kids saying the words while the music plays. (For example: Diligent, Awesome, Debonair, Dedicated, Young at Heart) You get the idea!
by Ashley Blankenship
In talking with some local piano teachers about the “summer slump” I was given the idea of a piano camp. Sometimes it is difficult to keep a regular schedule in summer, especially with vacationing families and busy kids. I loved the idea and decided to organize my own piano camp this year. I have worked as a substitute teacher in a public school setting so I was very comfortable with the concept. If you are not used to working with groups of children, getting together with another teacher or assembling a team would be a great way to start a camp.
First, I assembled a team of capable people to help me. Jessica is a current student of mine who has many years of piano background by note and by ear with me and another teacher. She beautifully plays classical music and is learning to chord church music by ear. Rachel is currently my longest-running student. She is sixteen years old and has been in lessons with me for nine years. She is extremely talented and can read music as well as she can read the newspaper. Paul is another of my current students who is also exceptional at reading music as well as composing his own compositions. He is an incredibly talented young man with a passion for music. Micah is a newer musician with a natural talent. Things come easily to him and he has quickly learned to play by ear.
The planning began in April with work on a brochure, choosing a location, assembling the team, advertising to the public (as well as my current students), and of course, lesson plans! I decided to hold camp at my church in a multi-purpose room with lots of space and of course, a piano! Camps were scheduled for the first Monday of each summer month from 9:00 am to Noon. We had great attendance at each camp. My current students under the age of ten were all in attendance, as well as students who enrolled through the public advertising.
Each camp built upon the last but a student could easily join the camp if they missed the month before. Camps were simple enough for those with absolutely no music experience but also challenging to the student with a musical foundation. This is why the team is so important! We did lots of breaking into groups by age and ability level. Here was our general schedule:
The goals for the students with little to no musical background included topography (not technique), associating that each finger has a number and a purpose, beginning rhythms, and playing simple songs on the black keys and the music alphabet. No staff work was introduced. For students with more than a year of piano instruction, the goals included all of the basic goals listed above, as well as reinforcement of musical vocabulary, rhythm, finger technique and sight reading skills.
Because there is a wealth of games, activities, crafts and even music themed snacks available on the internet and Pinterest, the team developed and collected ideas to form our curriculum. I held the main responsibility of giving one-on-one instruction to each student during our Individual Keyboard time. I developed a basic curriculum and set goals for each student each month. My team did a great job of developing crafts, music themed snacks, fun books to read at circle time, games to get them moving and counting rhythms, and much more! I purchased all supplies with the money from Piano Camp Tuition and my team was there on a volunteer basis.
For tuition I was able to charge half of my usual monthly tuition cost. This made parents very happy since there were no weekly lessons this summer. They were able to save a little bit of money but still receiving great piano instruction for their students. I was able to cover all expenses of our camp as well as feed my staff lunch at the close of our day. Of course, I also walked away with an income comparable to what I would have made if I had continued weekly lessons all summer.
I received great feedback from my summer piano camps and I hope to only build on this concept in future summers. I also signed on two new full-time students this fall who were introduced to me through the community advertising I did for these camps. Summer Piano Camp was a great asset to my local piano teaching business. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about starting a successful summer piano camp.
For more information feel free to contact us.
Behind the scenes preparation is vital! Think about it—everything we do requires preparation. For example, kitchen prep is the life blood of any restaurant. We sort and pre-treat our clothing before we do laundry. Before we go on vacation, we service our cars and prepare our homes to be away.
Likewise, we MUST do “prep” our music talents—learning new chords, voicings, new chord progressions and
..well you get the picture!!!! So GET INSPIRED and choose ONE THING that will enhance your music skills and GET STARTED TODAY! Remember
.even the man with the ONE talent could have doubled his if he had just worked with what he had!
How do you know if your piano tuner has done a good job? Sit down and play some heavy handed (fff) pieces for 20-30 minutes after he leaves. If the piano stays in tune, then he’s done a good job.
After that, it’s all up to temperature and humidity fluctuations. That’s why pianos are tuned right before a concert and not several days before – you never know what fluctuations will occur in the concert hall.
I had to have my piano tuned three times in 2014 due to temperature and humidity fluctuations. In October, 2013 we replaced our furnace and right about the same time our dehumidifier bit the dust. With the new furnace we thought the humidity problems had been taken care of but that was not the case!
An interesting note–my tuner told me if a piano goes “sharp” your humidity is too high. If a piano goes “flat” the humidity is too low.
Always try to keep instruments made of wood in a fairly consistent environment (heat & humidity), otherwise you risk structural defects and an instrument constantly in need of adjustment.
The definition of Gospel is “good news” so it is only natural that Christian and Gospel music contains the good news of Jesus Christ!
So what are the benefits of listening to Christian and Gospel music versus listening to secular music? The Bible says in Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Good Gospel music is still abundantly available for our listening pleasure today—these are songs which will encourage, lift us up and testify what God has done and what He can do. Non-Christian music truly does affect our relationship with the Lord! While not all non-Christian music is bad or sends a negative or evil message ask yourself if you as a Christian would to play that song if the Lord was physically in the room with you. Probably not—even if it isn’t bad!
Why? Because a true Christian knows deep inside that if something doesn’t glorify God, it probably does not please Him. With songs of hope and promise available why would a Christian who loves the Lord choose to listen to songs that drag us down emotionally and spiritually? There is an old joke about what you get when you play secular country music backwards. You get your wife back; you get your dog back. Why would anyone choose to listen to junk that promotes finding peace in a bottle of alcohol or talks about cheating on your spouse. What kinds of Gospel music do we listen to and sing? There are horizontal songs which testify to others about God’s goodness and what He can do. Then there are vertical songs which we sing as praise directly to the Lord. It doesn’t matter whether the song is old school or new if it has the Gospel message!
Lift Up the Name of Jesus Songs that lift up the name of Jesus Christ affect the lives of everyone you meet. Jesus said “if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32) Listen to music that lifts Jesus up!
Scripture Songs Scripture songs which “bless the Lord” and “exalt” God’s greatness can stir your heart and bring revival! Listen to Scripture songs because Scripture is anointed!
Hope and Victory More than ever, in today’s world, people need hope! We must know in our heart that Jesus is the Answer and that it’s possible to live victoriously in Jesus Christ!
The Blood of Jesus Songs about the blood brings great conviction and excitement and reminds us how Jesus shed His blood on Calvary to redeem us! This is the central foundation of our salvation!
Good Sound Doctrine Make sure the songs you sing reflect good SOUND DOCTRINE! When in doubt—don’t! You’ve heard the old saying “You are what you eat!” In today’s world we need to “digest” and hide as much of God’s Word in our hearts as we can!!!