Where is the best place to nap during my child's piano lesson?

Here is a brief tutorial on parental napping during piano lessons.

Q: Should I nap during my child's piano lesson?
A: Sure!

Q: Should I nap in your piano studio?
A: No.

Q: Where is a tired parent to nap then?
A: In your car, your home, or perhaps the coffee shop?

Q: Why can't I just catch a few z's in your piano studio?
A: Are you really asking me this?

Q: Yes.
A: Because the studio policy states that parents must not nap in the piano studio. Because sometimes people snore when they nap. Because I don't like it when people sleep a few feet away from me while I am delivering world-class piano instruction. Because when my husband comes home from work and sees men sleeping on his sofa, he feels creepy. Because it's rude. Because I don't come to your workplace and take naps beside you while you're working. Because it undermines your child's study environment. Because it's inappropriate. Because you have to be awakened when it's time to go. Because it's gross. Because I told you up front that I didn't want you to nap in my studio.

Q: Don't you think you're being harsh?
A: Would you rather nap in another piano teacher's studio? Because maybe I can email my colleagues and ask if any of them are good with parental napping in their studios.

Q: Are you mad at me?
A: No. I just don't want you to take your nap in my piano studio.

And this concludes today's tutorial on parental napping during piano lessons.

Don't forget to vote for The Piano School (question 48) in the 2013 Best of Salem poll! Thank you! Here is the link: Best of Salem 2013 Poll

Fun Music Programs for Your iPad: Flashnote Derby and Note Squish

This morning, I did a workshop for our local music teachers' group about using iPads in our music studios. We looked at lots of neat apps, and I'm going to show you two of them here.

Flashnote Derby, $.99

Flashnote Derby

One of my favorite note-reading games is Flashnote Derby. It is a horse race format that is fully customizable to any reading level. If a student is just learning his/her first notes, you can limit the scope of the questions to just those few. If you have an advanced student who needs more of a challenge, you can adjust the settings to include note reading above and below each staff with several ledger lines.

In the screenshot above, you can see that some notes are yellow and some are black. The yellow notes are the ones that you have selected for drill in the student's game. I use this app with as little as two notes for my earliest readers, and it really seems to help them remember what they are learning in their method books.

Note Squish, $.99

Note Squish for iPhone/iPad

Note Squish is another note-reading game that many students love. It is actually an iPhone app, but you can easily use it on an iPad and enlarge the image size to fit. It is basically a musical version of the old arcade game, Whac-a-Mole. The object is to name the displayed note as fast as you can by tapping on the critter that has the correct note atop his head. You can get bonus points by also tapping the worms and rabbits that pop up through the mole holes.

Like Flashnote Derby, Note Squish is fully customizable to suit your student's reading level. You can limit the scope to as few as two notes on one staff or expand it to include all of the notes on both staves, reaching out to ledger lines above and below as well.

Note Squish settings

Each of these games costs 99 cents in the App store. You should get them!

Don't forget to vote for The Piano School (question 48) in the 2013 Best of Salem poll! Thank you!
Here is the link: Best of Salem Reader's Poll

The Piano School's Fifth Annual Masterclass is March 16

The Piano School's annual masterclass for middle and high school students will take place on Saturday morning, March 16, from 10:00 to 11:30. Last year, students voted on the theme for this year's class, and the winner was "Disney Music."

Our guest teacher will be Brooke Dezio. Brooke holds a doctorate in piano performance and is a fun and energetic teacher. She will give us lots of good ideas to try out with our music.

There will be prizes at the masterclass! After each student plays his/her piece (only a few students will play...the rest will listen), we will draw a name for a prize.

Don't forget to vote for The Piano School (question 48) in the 2013 Best of Salem poll! Thank you!
Here is the link: Best of Salem Reader's Poll