Welcome to Melody Piano

we have come through this stage and the key points is to make the piano lessons fun and interesting in order to keep the young kids stay focus and attentive. Every student is unique and their learning pace can be very different;

While some students can learn very fast, there will also be some who will have a problem coping and need a longer time to catch up.

My main advice on this is to always pay attention to this sensitive matter. To always pay attention to the things that may not be so obvious. I have always noticed that the factor of intimidation can always hinder a persons learning experience. It may not necessarily be that a student “Just won’t get it”, 9 times out of 10, it is probably because they are not comfortable enough to ask the questions they need to fully understand the material that is being presented to them.

I myself am a “question asker”. What does this mean? I need to know almost everything and anything that I can about something in order to understand it. I know that if I was intimidated by the fact that I wasn’t picking up on something as fast as the next person, I would feel as if I wasn’t keeping ‘up to par’. Also, as a teacher and acting role of a mentor, we should never be afraid to ask our students questions. I have learned very much from what my students retain and understand by merely asking them how things are going, and to describe to me what they do not get. This way we can try to take a different approach to how they pick up on the new material.

Is this actually the case though? NO. Everyone learns differently. I think that it is our job as educators to have a keen sense on these types of things. I can’t stress enough; If a student is more comfortable with their surroundings in a learning environment, the more inclined they will be to focus, and ask questions. I always strive to give my students this feeling. To let them know that we are on the learning journey together. Not that I am pulling them along.

Introducing New Material to Your Students 03/14/2011

There are many times when we know that our students have really grasped a concept that we have introduced to them.
With this being said, how do we as music educators know when it is time to move into the next step?
Ask the student, Place review

Make sure that what you are introducing next is in coordination with what they are currently learning.

I have found that it is important to find the similarity's and common grounds from one thing to the next. This way, your student has something to build on. If they are confident in what they know, they will be that much more confident to build on their knowledge of it.

What is your teaching style and phylosophy? 01/15/2011

I had recently asked a question amongst my fellow teachers; "Your teaching style; What would you say is the most important element in teaching?"

Not only is this a very large part of who you are as a teacher, but it is most importantly a very large roll in how your student will progress into their own style of musicianship.

I feel that as an instructor of music, we must be a constant judge and evaluator of ourselves. I have found that in my own manner, I try to be as open as possible with my students. I want them to be able to feel comfortable to ask me anything. I want them to feel comfortable enough to know that they can ask me the same question 19 times without having to worry about how many times that they asked me. Until they get it, I will answer anything that they need me to answer.

I have found, the most rewarding moment in my career has been when a student, "gets it". I must say, it is so amazing how the human mind works. The other day, I was working on ear training, and composure with a student. She was having trouble understanding a certain rhythm. Although she may have been frustrated for weeks, about this; I knew that she would get it. I made sure to let her know this frequently.

She got it last week. She turned to me and said; "Man you are a great teacher." Immediately, without a thought, I responded; " no, you are extremely smart, you have all of the capabilities of getting what you need composure wise in the end. I am just here to help you figure out how to get there."

Right and Left hand on the piano 01/11/2011

It is very hard to train your mind to get used to ‘right’ and ‘left’ on the piano. It is important that early on, the individual is easily able to decipher the difference. One of the most common things that happens with this is in young children.
When starting out, just knowing the difference between your right and left hand can be a hassle. Once this sense of unknowing is broken, it can open up a students mind to build confidence in playing at ease with both hands simultaneously.
A fellow teacher was kind enough to share an exercise with me to help my younger students in knowing how to associate their right hand with the treble clef, and their left hand with the bass clef.

Materials: Red felt tip marker

Procedure:

1. On the back of the student’s right hand, draw a large capital “R with the red

Pen.

2. The student puts out both arms straight in front at eye level. The back of both

hands should be facing the patient with fingers pointing up.

3. Starting on the right hand, the student should look back and forth at each

hand counting from one and stopping on nine.

4. Student lowers the left arm, and while continuing to stare at the red letter R

Says, “This is my right hand.”

5. This ten‐second procedure should be repeated frequently throughout the day

in exactly the same sequence.

6. After several days/weeks, the red letter can be removed, but continue the

procedure in the same way with the same frequency throughout the day. If

there is any hesitation or confusion, the red letter should be reintroduced.

7. If the student is left handed, the procedure can be done with a letter L on the

left hand and the exercise started with the left side instead of the right.

This is a particularly good exercise for piano students where left and right hand

identification is key to reading on the grand staff.

I highly reccomend these music books! 12/29/2010

I had the privelage of receiving these amazing music books from published Composer, and musician Dror Perl recently.

When new material is placed in front of my students, it is very normal for them to take the time to get acquainted with the score, and adjust to playing what I have provided them.

As an instructor, I am constantly working to find new ways to engage my students, and keep it interesting for them.

With the Sheer Piano collection, it was effortless. My first student was able to ease right into the BLUE edition book, and stay connected and fluently play straight through 3 SONGS!  My jaw almost hit the floor.

I think that I am mostly impressed with the quality of transitions and variety throughout these music books.

Melody Piano gives Sheer Music's compositions a huge A+! I would sincerely reccomend them to any musician that asked me. I am very comfident that my students would say the same thing considering the fun they are having working with each new song!

For more information about these great books, and to read up on Composer, Dror Perl;  visit www.sheerpiano.com

Teaching young children to sight read 12/14/2010

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There are many different methods for teaching sight reading. There are ways to teach a child to gradually get used to sight reading, there are ways to work with the piano, and bring the grand staff into the equation much later on, and there are ways to bring the grand staff directly into repertoire from the start.

I think that it is important to keep your standards high as a music educator. I do not believe that you should have unrealistic goals for your students, although, I think that it is very important to be aware of the capabilities of the human mind. All of my students are extremely unique in their own way, and also very intelligent individuals.

Out of all of the elements that are involved in learning how to play the piano, I think that sight reading is of the utmost importance. If a musician is able to sight read, they are able to adjust to any situation.

When starting with a young student; I like to bring the grand staff to their attention immediately. I feel that when I do this, it keeps the bar high and the student’s level of concentration right there with it. It is imperative that my students are well aware of how the grand staff correlates to the piano. If this is implemented straight away, I believe that it conditions the young mind to grow.

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Melody Piano's Holiday Recital was a success! 12/06/2010

Suzan Pleva of Melody Piano with Music Educator, Marlene Sheldrake of Lapeer Michigan

What an amazing night we all had. Out of all of the pre-show jitters, came a complete night of fun and a great show all around. Each student played a main piece, and a Christmas piece in honor of the holidays.

I had one of the most proud moments that I think I have ever had. It was such a privilege to have my own source of musical education there in support of my studio. My first piece was dedicated to her. Thank you so much to Marlene Sheldrake for honering Melody Piano with her presence!
I only hope that one day I receive a phone call from a student of mine telling me that they are now an educator of music. This is just yet another example of how rewarding my job is!

A Special Thank You To Musespeak Studio Today! 09/16/2010

I had a great favor handed to me from fellow music teacher, Rhona-Mae Arca the other day. I would like to let everyone know how great this teacher is. From my knowledge, she is respectably consistent with her students, and communication is favorably open; clearly a figure to follow. When I think of music educators, I think of individuals like Rhona-Mae.

Rhona-Mae has a wonderful website for her studio. www.musespeak.com . Rhona-Mae has given me the privilege to access the “student area” of her studio’s website. There, I found many things…….

Just fabulous! I like that there are not just a ‘few options’ within this great resource. She has an impressive amount of resources in her student area! I have seen a couple of other websites that have student’s areas, but none as resourceful as hers!

Rhona Mae’s studio calendar is SHARP; just amazing. Very thorough (just like the rest of her ‘student section’!) There is definitely no room for her students to question a certain date or time of an event.

When visiting, I especially liked the “Student Handout” portion of the student area of Rhona-Mae’s website. (www.musespeak.com) she has so many great forms for the students there. There are forms on practice tips, memorization tips, advice on dealing with nerves, and many more!

We all know that performance can be very nerve-racking! (All from our studio!) I have had these conversations with my kids so many times before! It is a very hard thing to get over the “pre-performance jitters”, Right guys?!

I teach my students their scales and chords by all majors, easiest to hardest, and then we move on to the minors. The way that Rhona-mae has her Practice sheets laid out for her scales and chords is very nice. She has all of her scales/chords laid out from easiest to hardest (like we do), along with the majors AND minors. Not only this, but she also has diagrams of where these keys are located on the keyboard.

I especially like her, “Note taking with Keyboard” sheet. I hope you don’t mind Rhona-Mae, I would like to steal this from you! When looking at this form, I had so many different things rolling through my head as to how I could use this form repeatedly with my students.

Thanks so much to Instructor Rhona-Mae Arca of Musespeak Studio from Melody Piano today!

Melody Piano's Christmas Recital 08/10/2010

We are very excited to announce Melody Piano's first ever Christmas recital. It will be on Friday December 3rd.

The recital will be at the newly renovated school house at 3130 county highway rd. (which is also known as Baldwin rd.) in Lapeer, Michigan.

Each student in the recital will be playing one main piece and a Christmas piece, which exceptions of some students playing extra pieces.

There will also be a feature performance from Steve Farley of piano and orchestra music. Steve is also Melody Piano's tuner and technician.

To find out more about his performance please visit www.pianoandorchestra.com.

Tickets for the recital will be on sale soon at www.melodypiano.net.