Half term update.

Hi everyone,

I hope that you are enjoying your half-term break and playing your Autumn and Halloween pieces. Next week we are back to piano lessons and it's time to start the Christmas music! If you want to buy your child a Christmas music book it is best to get them one from the same series as the tutor book they are using: Piano Adventures or Hal Leonard. These and many others are available from www.musicroom.com

Susan Paradis also has several seasonal pieces for beginners: www.SusanParadis.com
I will also provide some music in piano lessons.

If you have exams or the Chelmsford Competitive Festival this term, keep playing and practising and especially remember to do some daily sight-reading. Also, look under the Guides and Reviews section of this blog for a guide to surviving exams and competitions. Nearer the date we will do a countdown and have a pre-exam play through to each other.

In the next couple of weeks I will also explain this year's incentive/reward scheme so keep your eyes peeled for that. The 30 Piece Challenge worked really well last year but it's good to mix things up and change things around so that's what I will do!

Things you can do to help your child learn the piano.

Hi everyone,

I don't often post links to other stuff but this is too good to ignore! I remember how interesting it was supporting my children in their piano and instrumental practice and wish l'd had something like this. Enjoy:

http://diaryofapianomama.com.au/2013/11/16/4-things-you-can-do-to-help-your-child-learn-piano/

Dear new piano pupil parents,

I have had a great time teaching your children their first piano lessons. They were excited, keen, chatty and itching to play! I will do my best to maintain this enthusiasm!

Could you:

Read their Piano Practice Diaries.

Remind them to practice.

Send them with their music and diary to every lesson.

Encourage them to perform.

It also helps to:

Get a piano bag ( available from Dace's or Allegro or just use a folder or bag from home)

Have a piano: keyboards are just about ok for the first term but after that they will only progress if they have a piano. A digital or an acoustic one is fine and Allegro have a good selection.

So: get involved, get organised, keep in contact, and enjoy this fabulous journey that they ( and you) are embarking on,

Fiona Lau.

Meeting Lang Lang.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting the international concert pianist Lang Lang. Lang Lang was in the UK to launch his new series of technique books " Mastering the Piano" in partnership with Faber Music, and as a reviewer for Music Teacher magazine, I was invited to this launch at the 1901 Arts Club, London.

Lang Lang is very involved with piano education and keen to help every young pianist improve and during his launch of the Mastering the Piano books, he explained how he practised, what helped him when he was a young beginner and what is in this series of 5 books. Here are some of his top tips for mastering the piano:

1. Start with the basics and make sure that your hand is in a "holding the apple" position.

2. "Scales are so important to me. I play them at the start of every practice and always begin slowly!"

3. You can then go on to practise them for an hour or an hour and a half, using different rhythms and "demon turns."

4.The left hand is so much weaker and so needs more work.

5. I think about different moods to help me play different dynamics."

6. " I also think of different paintings and sculpture to help me capture the mood and feel of pieces."

7. " Legato playing is about keeping your fingers really connected to the keys- think about the suckers on a gecko's feet and imagine them on your fingers."

8. " To play a great staccato you need to think about a beautiful, very light, very naughtly cat!"

9. " It's so important to learn pieces hand separately- when l was a kid l never played pieces straight away with both hands."

10.  If you play Bach every week everything becomes natural.

My review of Book One of Mastering the Piano is in September's edition of Music Teacher and an article on the whole series will be in the November piano special edition.

Lang Lang says that " To me, the piano is like a musical world- it takes me to a place beyond reality. You too, will find that it extends your mind, heart, creativity and communication skills. You don't need a concert hall; you don't need a big grand piano: any piano is enough- and the world will be yours to embrace." Here's a link to a Youtube video where I talk about Lang Lang's Tipsmfor Masteringnthe Piano: http://youtu.be/13WaPWj2zgM

Here we go again!

So here we are, the start of another exciting piano year! First of all I would like to say a huge thank you for all the cards, presents, flowers and notes that you gave me at the end of last term. It means a lot to receive your thoughts and thanks and, for those who have left, it helps me to remember you.

Private lessons begin next week ( week beg Mon 8th Sept) unless you have heard otherwise from me.

Lessons at The Cathedral Scool and at Moulsham High School will begin the week after ( MHS Tues 16th, CS Wed 17th).

This term we have the Chelmsford Festival coming up in November and I will be discussing it with some of you in your first lessons. There are also grade exams, the joy of GCSE, AS and A levels and Christmas music!

Start to think now what you want to get out of your piano lessons this term and this year, so that we can chart a course together. Make a resolution to practise regularly and to bring your music to every lesson.

I look forward to hearing you all play!

Fiona.

Introducing Yohondo

Introducing Yohondo

You may have noticed my references to and recommendations for Yohondo and so I thought that I should explain my rationale for these and my involvement. Yohondo is a software start-up that produces apps to help piano practice. The apps are a fun way to learn pieces, just put your iPad on the piano and we take you step by step through a piece with professional recordings, playalongs, animated notation, tips, games and technique videos.

Learning via a Yohondo app makes practice fun and almost addictive. It can be used alongside your weekly lessons to securely support your practice and to keep you on the right track in a 21^st century way. You learn quickly, correctly and confidently. Here’s what some teachers and parents have said about us:

“Learning the grade 3 piece Blue Sky Blues through Yohondo was an abso­lute rev­el­a­tion. It seemed way out of reach but with Yohondo the speed increase and con­fid­ence boost made it like learn­ing on ster­oids. Your accur­acy improves too because you learn to play it cor­rectly right from the start”. Alex, father and student, Brighton

“My son found Yohondo incredibly useful, particularly the way the music was segmented into small pieces that he could both hear and see, so that he could really focus on the difficult bits.  The proof was in the exam result and he got distinction for all his pieces.” Najma, parent, London

"I have a piano studio with 35 students.  I have taught for 30 years and
recently discovered the Yohondo app.  What a brilliant idea!  I have several
students currently learning 'Super Duck' using the app.  It breaks the song
down into easy-to-learn steps which creates confidence quickly in my
students.  Because they gain confidence in each section quickly, they have
stuck with a song that they may have given up on with just sheet music.  The
background accompaniments are wonderful, providing them with a built in
metronome without realizing it!  I would love to have every song I teach on
Yohondo!!” Lorie Burningham, Piano Teacher and Owner of The Piano Practice

I am a co-founder of Yohondo with John Holcroft, the software genius behind the apps. I provide the teacher break downs for each app piece. This ensures that each one follows sound pedagogical pathways and methods and will support what will be covered in the lesson.

I became involved because I believe that Yohondo supports piano teaching, motivates pupils and makes learning exciting and fun, something all teachers, pupils and parents want. We have apps for jazzy pieces, grade exam pieces and core piano repertoire. Explore them all at:

www.yohondo.com

Welcome to Piano Lessons!

Dear Parents and Pupils,

Welcome to piano lessons!

Here are some ideas for getting the best out of your lessons:

·        Bring all your music etc to every lesson. A piano bag makes this easier- available from Daces and Allegro.

·        Regular practice is vital if improvement is to be made. Beginners need only do 10-15 mins a day but if you are preparing for an exam a minimum of 30 mins a day, rising to 1-3 hours for higher grade exams, recitals, competitions and diplomas. Parents, you will need to remind and encourage your children to practice- a practice chart with stickers really helps.

·        All music can be bought or ordered from Daces, Broomfield Rd, Allegro, High St, or online from www.musicroom.com

·        Please please please read the Practice Diary and use it to communicate with me especially if your child has lessons at school and we rarely meet.

·        Take every opportunity to play and perform ( at school, at home, at church, or to friends) and to listen to music (live or recorded).

·        As I have approx 60 pupils and do other work too, the best way to communicate with me is via the diary or email.  I also use Twitter and my blog to give out up-to-date information.

Contact details: fionavalerielau@hotmail.com

Blog: www.mrslaupiano.blogspot.com

My Twitter account is: fionavalerielau

 

I look forward to the new year and hearing everyone play and develop,

 

Fiona Lau

www.fionalau.com