What’s on your music stand? (In the voice of the Capital One credit card commercial actor)12/18/2020 By: Renee Bordner NWE Music Studio Director No really, what is on your music stand? If you are a musician or the parent of a musician, this is an important question. A musician should be working on at least one piece of music that the musician selected to work on. Yes it is very important for student musicians to work on warm ups, scales, method books, technique drills, etc.. If a musician has a recital, audition or competition then of course the musician should be working on preparing for the pieces specific to the event. However, if a musician is not preparing for a major event it is also important for a student musician to explore a wide variety of music that is interesting to him or her! There should be a balance for every music student of what is interesting, motivating and appealing to the student AND what the instructor believes will help the student continue to progress as a well rounded musician. IF you believe that there is not a balance in your student musician's assignments, talk to your instructor and or myself. I am always willing to help find new and creative ways to inspire a student musician. In fact, here are a few of the piano pieces I have learned recently in order to prepare for my students' lessons... A Medley from the Halo 3 Video Games, The theme from the television show The Office, multiple pieces from Frozen 2 and "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns & Roses. These pieces were very fun to learn since my students were excited by them.
So, ask yourself and your musician "What's on your music stand?" and consider adding more music that is appealing to your student musician.
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By: Jim Lansing The Rascal Flatts song “My Wish” is one of my wife’s favorite songs. The chorus goes:
“My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to, Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, You never need to carry more than you can hold, And while you're out there getting where you're getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too, Yeah, this, is my wish.” This became her anthem, a song she would sing to my boys. It resonated so much with my eldest son, now a college junior, that he and my wife got matching tattoos of the phrase “Dreams stay big, Worries stay small.” As a piano teacher, I have dreams for each of my students: I wish that they will play piano for the rest of their lives. We begin this musical adventure by learning how to hold their hands/fingers, how to sit on the bench, and how the mechanisms work inside the piano. We also learn musical concepts like note values, names of spaces/lines, and playing loudly/softly. Through practice and recitals, students build up their skills and confidence. My wish for each student is that they lead “Happy Birthday” from the bench when their families gather to celebrate milestones. Maybe they’ll accompany a song by their school choir. Perhaps they’ll play a piece at a family wedding. Once they’ve done that, they might make a musical offering during a worship service at their house of worship. Their path might lead them to play keyboard in a garage band with their friends, audition for their school jazz band, or even earn a few bucks playing in a church worship band. Some of these activities could take six, eight, even ten years of study to achieve. A few students will become that proficient; many will not. When a student announces their “retirement” from piano lessons, it often coincides with their move to middle school and a shift to playing a band or orchestra instrument. At this point, my wish for them being lifelong pianists shifts to a dream they will be lifelong musicians. When they are “out there getting where [they’re] getting to,” maybe they’ll join a drum & bugle corps, a church choir, or a community orchestra and continue to make music! Should they quit their musical endeavors, my final wish is that become lifelong consumers of music. For the musical arts to survive, we need people to purchase tickets to concerts, buy recordings, and otherwise make it possible for musicians to make a living at their craft. While I don’t have lyrics tattooed on my body, “My Wish” resonates with me just the same. As a piano teacher, I hope that each student will become a lifelong pianist. I wish this for every student because you can never predict what each will achieve! Jim Lansing is a piano teacher in Bloomington, MN. You can find out more about him at www.jimthepianoguy.com or follow him at www.facebook.com/JimThePianoGuy. |
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About UsNote-worthy Experiences Music Studio LLC, located at 75 Witherell Drive Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776, provides private in-home and online/virtual lessons at the Boston MetroWest. We also provide private lessons at Nashoba Brooks School. Contact Renee Bordner at 978.443.0480 or rbordner@note-worthyexperiences.com.
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