By Dr. Julie Knerr Hague

In our Lesson Planning Webinar, I referenced a series of five paintings my mom made to highlight the phases it takes to bring a painting from sketch to beautiful work of visual art. This mirrors the phases student pass through when learning a complicated piece, from learning the notes and rhythms to refining and polishing all the details of articulation, dynamics, pedal, and style, leading to the creation of a beautiful work of sound art.

I commissioned my mom to create this series of paintings to explain this process to my students, especially those entering the intermediate phase of study, when their pieces become longer and more complicated.

This was my first week of teaching for the new school year, and I explained the painting progression to my students this week. They immediately grasped the concept of working to polish and perfect their pieces, creating beautiful works of sound art. Please feel free to download and use this series of five paintings to to explain this transition from beginning stages of study to intermediate and advanced phases of study. I hope your students enjoy them as well.

Sunflower Pictures

We are so excited about the launch of our latest release, Piano Safari Friends! This book is a piano method for our youngest students, ages four to six. Students who complete Piano Safari Friends are well set up to continue into Piano Safari Level 1. In case you missed our recent webinar exploring Piano Safari Friends, below is the replay video. As you will see described in the video, some highlights of this innovative series include:

Follow the Leader Pieces. This innovative new type of piece allows our youngest students to be successful at their first attempts at playing the piano in great sounding pieces!

Rote Pieces. In keeping with our philosophy of the importance of Rote Pieces for beginning students, newly composed Rote Pieces are included in each unit of the book.

Technique. Four Technique Exercises from Piano Safari Level 1 are presented in simplified format to prepare students for Level 1.

Reading notation is not a primary focus of this book, as we feel it is more age appropriate to focus on playing and listening at this young age. However, two reading exercises are presented in each unit to prepare students for the more extensive reading instruction they will encounter in Level 1.

Listening pages acquaint students with Classical music.

Activities and Songs allow for off the bench fun!

Improvisation Pieces provide students with a creative way to explore sounds at the piano.

I taught a 4-year-old student this summer (you will see her featured in the webinar videos), and she loved Piano Safari Friends! We hope you and your students will too!

 

By Dr. Julie Knerr Hague

Hello! I wanted to share an idea for using the Sight Reading Cards that has had great success in my studio this semester. I noticed that many of my students have phones, and they LOVE THEIR PHONES!

So I decided to offer them the option to audio or video record their Sight Reading Cards at home and text them to me throughout the week. I listen to the text and either text back “Pass” (sometimes with confetti or a smiley face) or give them instructions on how to improve and ask them to text me again. I only do this with students who are competent to work on their Sight Reading Cards at home on their own or have a parent to help them, usually when they are working on Sight Reading Cards Levels 2 and 3.

The benefits of having students text me cards are:

  1. It saves me so much time in the lesson! It takes me literally 5 seconds to listen to the texts and send them a “Pass.” They tend to practice extra to perfect the card, because they want to pass it the first time!
  2. If I assign four cards for them to learn for the week, they can pass a card by text one at a time, rather than practicing all four cards for the entire week to have them all ready for the lesson. They pass a card and move on to the next one.
  3. They love anything that involves their phones!
  4. I get to see and hear their practice situation at home and sometimes say, “Can you ask your parents to get your piano tuned?” or “Can you find a book to sit on that will raise your sitting position by 2 inches?”

Click on the link below to see a recent video of one of the recent Sight Reading Videos I received. My student is playing Card M.4 from Sight Reading Cards Level 3.

Sight Reading Card M.3

By Dr. Julie Knerr

At the beginning of the new school year, I realized that some of my students who are in Piano Safari Level 3 were a bit rusty after the summer with their technical patterns. Level 3 works through the keys of C, Am, G, Em, F, and Dm. But since students can spend a year or longer in Piano Safari Level 3, it is easy to forget the earlier keys as they progress through Technique Book 3 if they are not reviewed. I devised a beginning of the year technical review that worked really well for my students who are nearing the middle to end of Piano Safari Level 3 that I thought I would share with you.

It is simple, but something about gray blobs you fill with cat stickers is really exciting. Here is what the review pages look like.



 


 

I assigned a page to the student for the week. They practiced it and played all the technical patterns for me. As they played each item correctly, I put a cat sticker (or dog) in the gray blobs. For some students, I gave them a small piece of chocolate for completing each page. This was highly motivating for many of my students, who practiced furiously to get a chocolate each week. I was shocked when one of my students who has some learning challenges and tends to have his mind wandering off to thinking about airplanes and helicopters at multiple times during the lesson turned out to be the fastest one to play through his technique. He was completely focused as I dispensed cats as he played each technical skill!

You may notice that Chord Inversions are listed blocked and broken. Although we do not explicitly state this as an option in the Technique Book 3, I have added this, because I have found, strangely enough, that students absolutely love playing their chord inversions broken. It also is a required component for the early levels of the Royal Conservatory Exam curriculum here in the U.S., so has the extra benefit of preparing students to take exams if they desire.

After the the student reviews the keys learned last year using these review sheets, which are in all the keys found in their Technique Book 3 (C, Am, G, Em, F, Dm), we continue where we left off in Technique Book 3.

Perhaps your students would like to use these pages for review? Feel free to download, duplicate, and distribute the Level 3 Technique Review pages as you desire.

By Dr. Julie Knerr

I trust all of you have settled into your new school year routines with your students! I wanted to share with you some things I am doing this year with my students. It’s nothing fancy, but I find that new charts and organizational structures are very motivating for students, and help me to gauge how the student is progressing throughout the year.

Parent Teacher Conferences

I had Parent Teacher Conferences with all my students the second week of lessons. I have not done this before, but I thought it would be helpful to set expectations for the new school year and talk with each parent alone. During the first 15 minutes of the student’s lesson, I asked the student to practice in my studio while the parent and I sat at the dining room table. I had a progress report for with talking points for the four big topics of lessons we are focusing on: Repertoire, Sight Reading, Note Names, and Technique.

  Then we talked about the length of practice expected and when practice time is scheduled (before school, after school, how many days, etc.). It was very enlightening for both the parent and me to hear what goes on at home from the parent’s perspective (Me: “For your child’s age and level, they should be practicing at least 40 minutes 5 days a week.” Parent: “Really? She’s only been doing about 20 minutes. We will make it happen!”) If we don’t tell the parent, they don’t know, I discovered!

It was a great chance to reset expectations and to see what each student’s schedule looked like. The parents were very thankful to have the conferences. I think I will make this an annual event.

20 Piece Challenge

Last year I had a 30 Piece Challenge, but I decided to lower it this year to a 20 Piece Challenge, because I want to push the students a bit to play harder pieces (mixed with easier pieces, of course) and also to refine pieces more carefully. Most students learn far more than 20 pieces in a year (Level 1 students can learn 80 or more), but I thought it would be good to give them something attainable, and just give them a new 20 Piece sheet as they need it.

100 Sight Reading Challenge

Another reason I lowered the Piece Challenge was because of the 100 Sight Reading Challenge. This is a combination of Sight Reading Cards and very easy pieces from various books I lend out. I spent an embarrassing amount of money on stickers this summer, so I have cat and dog stickers to put on the chart. Some of the students are very particular about the color and type of dog and cat they use! So far I have more dog lovers than cat lovers in my studio. I am a cat person who is allergic to cats. Therefore, I like to watch cats and dogs on TV only.

Chocolate

For some students who need an extra motivation, I am offering chocolate rewards. As they finish each 20 Piece Challenge sheet, they receive a large candy bar of their choice. As they work on the 100 Sight Reading Challenge, I ask them if they would prefer to have a Big Chocolate Bar at the end of the 100, or Sporadic Chocolate. I tell them, “Under some of these white boxes are little chocolates. You don’t know which boxes they are under (hint, it is tied to how well you practice your Sight Reading).” So they can choose between the Big Chocolate at the end or the Sporadic Chocolate along the way.

I have also made charts for learning Note Names and for some aspects of Technique, depending on level, but that is for another blog post! Please share what you are doing in your studios in the Teaching Piano Safari Facebook Group or as a comment on this blog post. I hope your year is off to a great start!

By Dr. Julie Knerr

Happy New School Year!!!

My students begin Tuesday, and I am excited to see them again! As you begin your school year, we wanted to highlight the features of the Piano Safari Method for the Older Student.

Piano Safari for the Older Student is designed for what age student?

Ages 10 through Adult beginners. It would also work well with an adult student who took piano as a child but needs a refresher course. The books can be adapted for use in both private lessons and group classes.

What is included in the Older Student Pack?

The Older Student Pack is made up of two correlating books.

The Repertoire & Technique Book features pieces in a variety of styles and textures as well as the Animal Techniques from Piano Safari Level 1. However, we have changed the titles for the Technique Exercises rather than using animal names. For example, the Tall Giraffe Exercise is called the Non Legato Articulation in the Older Student Book.

The Sight Reading & Theory Book features Sight Reading Exercises similar to the Sight Reading & Rhythm Cards from the children’s method, but in book format. Theory pages provide written reinforcement for concepts presented in the Repertoire & Technique Book.

Is the pedagogical sequence the same as the main Piano Safari Method?

Yes. We believe that the same process of teaching Rote Pieces alongside intervallic Reading Pieces is pedagogically sound for students at all ages. The pace is quite a bit faster than in the children’s method, but the reading approach is the same:

  • Unit 1. A short Pre-Staff Unit on Black and White Keys
  • Unit 2. 2nds and Unisons
  • Unit 3. 3rds
  • Unit 4. 2nds & 3rds combined beginning on Landmark Notes
  • Unit 5. 2nds & 3rds beginning off Landmark. Note Names on the Staff
what makes these books different from other older beginner methods?

Unique features of the Older Student books include:

  • Rote Pieces to develop aural literacy
  • Reading Pieces alongside learning Rote Pieces to develop visual literacy
  • Systematic and sequential intervallic reading approach
  • Improvisation Pieces
  • Technique based on my dissertation research
  • Early introduction of syncopated pedal. Older students can reach the pedal easily, and adding pedal opens new worlds of sound.
  • Eighth notes from the beginning
  • Audio Tracks for Rote Pieces (see the code on the title page)
  • Reminder Videos for home practice of Rote Pieces and Technique Exercises.
  • Pieces with a variety of textures and sounds that will appeal to older students.
  • Variations for some pieces allow for different ability levels in group classes and for ensemble possibilities. This makes the books versatile and useful for private lessons and group classes.
How much of the book overlaps with the children’s method?

We have chosen the pieces that will appeal to older beginnings from the regular Piano Safari Method Levels 1 and 2 and then added 44% new pieces. So, for example, if you have an older beginner (age 11) and a younger sibling (age 7), you could use the Older Student Pack with the 11-year-old and the regular Level 1 Pack with the 7-year-old. There will be some overlap, but the pacing and order of pieces is considerably different.

Why pre-staff with Older Students? Can’t they just start right on the staff?

Some older students will be just fine beginning on the staff. But have you ever had an adult student who was timid, had a negative experience learning music when young, or who views reading music as an impossibly indecipherable task? I know I have! Often the adult students are much more self-conscious than 6-year-olds. So while many older beginners would be just fine beginning on the staff, we believe that the basics of reading should be presented carefully and sequentially to allow every student to feel successful at their first attempts at reading notation and to build confidence. A short pre-staff segment of study allows students to build the cognitive, rhythmic, technical, and visual skills necessary to read well. No need to rush the beginning stages! When it comes to reading, slow and steady wins the race!

Can I see sample pages?

Yes, you can. On each product page, there is a slideshow to view sample pages.

Older Student Repertoire & Technique Book

Older Student Sight Reading & Theory Book

Is there a teacher guide?

Yes. It is here.

Will there be more levels?

Yes! We are working on Older Student Level 2 and plan to release it in January, 2019. Older Student Level 3 will follow.

Julie and I kicked off the new academic year with a trip to the eastern coast of Maine! We began every day with a Piano Safari planning meeting in the most idyllic coffee shop one can imagine, Sea Folk Coffee. In addition to perfect coffee and pastries, we had a wonderful view of Rockport Harbour from our table. The windows were open and we always had a wonderful sea breeze. Who could not be inspired at a place like this? My husband, Chris, and our two children also joined us.

We were able to finish planning Piano Safari for the Older Student Level 2, and have many exciting new ideas to implement in 2018-2019! It seems that several new projects grow out of every completed project.

The afternoons were spent exploring!

We hope you have a wonderful start to your academic year! We look forward to sharing more about our  new ideas with you in the coming months.

 

By Dr. Julie Knerr

This week in my studio is the last week of lessons (aside from some snow makeups) and the week before the recital (which is this Saturday). What to do during this last lesson? Have a piano zip line!

It’s easy to do. It took me about 10 minutes to set up. I strung yarn around my dining room and clothes pinned directions to the yarn. The children follow the yarn with their finger and do what each sign says.

Here is what my dining room looks like now. Haha. I don’t think I’ll be eating dinner in here this week. It is adjacent to the living room (to the right), which is adjacent to my piano room.

After the first sign said they had to play their recital pieces three times for Emily (my video camera), they came to the Interval Sorting Station.

Note Names. I just used teaching aids I had already had in my studio.

 

I could tailor each station to the level of the child, especially this one, “Draw ?” I just had them write symbols they knew on a whiteboard.

Sort the dynamics and put them in order.

Draw Notes

I really didn’t know how long this maze would take, and it was different for every student. So the last sign was “Go to the Fish Pond.” What is the fish pond?

This is the fish pond. It is the floor. The Sight Reading Cards are the fish. The “hand of goo,” is sticky, and it is the fishing pole. The students cast the fishing pole to try to catch a fish. Then they play that card on the piano. The kids love this. They could do Sight Reading Cards their entire lesson in this way! So we just used up the rest of the lesson fishing and playing cards!

I have my Sight Reading Cards laminated and in a box, so I could pull the levels I wanted for each student. I use this box constantly. (Although the kids each have their own stacks of cards also, I like to have my sets laminated.) I just love looking at this box because it is full of well organized, shiny, colorful cards! (FYI, the hand of goo sticks to non laminated cards also. And you can wash your hand of goo with dish soap and hang it to dry, and it will return to its sticky self.

Sometimes I’m not quite sure what to do with the last lesson before a vacation, but this piano zip line was so much fun! Please post if you have any creative ideas for end of the year lessons!

By Dr. Julie Knerr

We have released new editions of the books in Levels 1 and 2, and we have updated the Piece Cards for Level 1 and Level 2 to match the new artwork in the books.

What are Piece Cards?

They are a motivational supplement for Piano Safari Levels 1 and 2 that have the name for each piece on a card.

Piece Cards are available for purchase, and you may affix them to the free downloadable Unit Maps. The Unit Maps are also available on the Teacher Guide Pages.

The new version of Piece Cards are in black and white to allow students to color the cards as they are assigned and to highlight Elisa Lara Campos’ beautiful artwork.

Because art is important to life (as is music), and children love to color!

Benefits of the Piece Cards

  • Students play all their pieces, without distinction between new pieces and review pieces.
  • Completing each unit is a cause for celebration, almost like passing a book. Students do not have to wait to celebrate until the end of the book. The Unit Maps make it seem like there are six books in one (six units, Introduction through Unit 5 in Level 1) (six units in Level 2).
  • The Unit Map becomes the Assignment Sheet. Students have a visual assignment that is easy to see.
  • I also mark the pages in the book with page marking tabs to help the student find them easily.
  • By the end of each unit, students have a mini recital of pieces they can play well.

Five Ways to Use the Piece Cards

1

Affix the Piece Cards to Unit Maps, as mentioned above. The student can track his or her progress through each unit in this way. Pieces within a unit can be assigned in the order that is best for the student. For example, at one lesson the student may need a new Rote Piece, and at another lesson, the student may need a new Reading Piece. Students continue playing all the pieces on their Unit Map until the entire unit is completed. They then graduate to the next Unit Map!

2

Reward a student for mastering a piece by taping the completed Piece Cards together in a long line. A completed Book 1 chain lasts almost the length of my living room!

3

Put the completed Piece Cards for the unit in a bowl and have the student choose a piece from the bowl to play.

4

Put the Piece Cards the student is working on in a zipper pouch. This is their Assignment Pouch. You can have a separate pouch for pieces that are completed.

For one of my students, we have drawn circles on the back of each card for the repetitions she should complete each week. She colors a circle each time she plays the piece.

5

Hide the cards around the room. The student finds a card and plays the piece. This is great for wiggly little children!

If you have other ways you like to use the Piece Cards, please comment and let us know, or post it in the Teaching Piano Safari Facebook Group.

 

By Katherine Fisher

We are excited to release the 2nd Editions of Repertoire Book 1, Repertoire Book 2, and Technique Book 2! One important things to note is that the Sight Reading & Rhythm Cards and Theory Books remain unchanged.

Here is a list of what is new in each book:

Repertoire Book 1:

  • The inclusion of Improvisation Pieces to accompany each animal technique (these are currently contained in Animal Adventures as well).
  • Contains several new Rote Pieces (taken from Pattern Pieces 1)
  • Contains a few new Reading Pieces
  • Slightly different order of pieces
  • Beautiful new interior illustrations
  • Updated fonts and layout
  • Larger size: 9 x 12 in. instead of 8.5 x 11 in.
  • Length increased to 133 pages

Repertoire Book 2:

  • Contains several new Rote Pieces (taken from Pattern Pieces 2)
  • Practice and analysis suggestions are added for many of the pieces
  • Slightly different order of pieces
  • Portrait orientation (upright) instead of Landscape orientation
  • Beautiful new interior illustrations
  • Updated fonts and layout
  • Larger size: 9 x 12 in. instead of 8.5 x 11 in.

Technique Book 2:

  • Teacher accompaniments are added to support the student rhythmically and technically
  • Portrait orientation (upright) instead of Landscape orientation
  • Beautiful new interior illustrations
  • Updated fonts and layout
  • Larger size: 9 x 12 in. instead of 8.5 x 11 in.
  • Extra Pentascale review pages added

Other changes:

  • Piece Cards 1 and Piece Cards 2 were updated to reflect the new illustrations and order of pages in the Repertoire Books.
  • The Digital Audio Tracks have been updated to include the new pieces in the Repertoire Books. A code for the tracks is on the cover page in the Repertoire Books.

We hope you and your students enjoy the new books!