Songwriting for Review – Free Printable

Many piano teaching methods have a “test” at the end of a level to make sure students have learned all that they are meant to.  Often, my students get nervous about all of the words on the page and get too caught up in all the terminology to do well on the questions.  This also only tests their memorization of terms and concepts instead of their application. To combat this and instead work on reviewing the application of these concepts, I’ve developed a songwriting review form that be used with students at ANY level!  Simply fill in the blanks and fill the box with what words and ideas you want the student to incorporate in your student’s song!! Download Songwriting Sheet HERE!     Read More

Freebie Friday – 2.7.14

This week I have shared two free resources on the Blog! Because they have to do with upcoming or current events, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss them.  So, here they are again. 1. Free Printable Valentines Tag  to go with the Heart-Shaped Crayon Valentines! 2. Free Printable Practice Olympics Chart!  Be sure to signup for free updates on our home page to get all of these great resources straight to your inbox! Read More

Practice Olymipics

Let’s be honest, the word practice usually isn’t a huge hit with most kids.  Many children dread practicing and often fight it.  That isn’t because music is a poor fit, it usually has something to do with the perception of practicing as sitting still in the same room for longer than they would like, playing the same notes over and over.  Practice sounds and awful lot like another dreaded word… homework. Now, the above is not my definition of practice.  I consider practice as any time spent bettering your grasp of what we have worked on in lessons.  That could mean doing flash cards, writing a song, watching a video on youtube about playing piano, reading about a composer, sitting at the piano for 5 minutes, playing a new strum pattern on guitar, talking about lessons, etc. So, with the Olympics starting TOMORROW I wanted to come up with a fun and engaging way to get my students practicing more!  I found my inspiration for this activity on http://averyranchmusic.com/winter-piano-olympics and adapted it to suite the needs of my students. Starting today, my Read More

Cute and Colorful Valentines

If your office is anything like mine, you have a ton of art supplies at your disposal.  That includes several dozen broken or duplicate crayons.  If you’ve been looking to slim down your crayon collection or get rid of the scrap pieces AND you’ve been wanting a cute and creative Valentine to give out, this is just the post for you! I saw this awesome idea on a friend’s facebook page and knew my kiddos would love them! Here is the simple recipe for these crayon hearts. Purchase heart shaped candy pan ($3.29 @ Walmart) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Unwrap and break apart unwanted crayons Place crayon pieces in pan Bake in oven until crayons are melted (5-10 minutes depending on size of pieces and hearts) place in freezer (or outside during these frigid temps) until hard Wrap as desired I wrapped my hearts in plastic wrap, tied it with a ribbon, and added tags saying: “You Make My World More Colorful!” I’ve even included a FREE PRINTABLE of the tags HERE! Happy February and Happy Crafting!   Read More

ABCs of Music Therapy – Wrap-up

As a part of Music Therapy Social Media Advocacy Month, I have been putting out a new post EVERY DAY with the ABCs of Music Therapy.  Each letter highlights a unique aspect of music therapy/music therapists.  I have so enjoyed completing this project and hope you will continue to follow my journey as I put out new resources, songs, stories, and information every week! If you want to check out the posts you missed, you can find them here! To wrap-up this month of advocacy, I’m providing everyone with a free printable poster of the ABC’s of Music Therapy! Click this link to download your free printout now! ABC’s of Music Therapy – Free Printable Read More