Mozart’s Monthly Memos
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How Tonara Makes Practice Fun - Mozart’s Monthly Memo-Volume 29
This Memo includes
Feature Article: How Tonara Makes Practice Fun
Student Hall of Fame
Practice Tip
Sign up link for our 2023 Spring Recital
Parents Ask Pam - For the Spring Recital, which times will be in person and which times will be online?
Feature Article - How Tonara Makes Practice Fun
What makes a strong piano student? It is all about the practice time! You’ve heard the expression, 10% talent, 90% perspiration? That is so true with musicians as well! It really doesn’t matter how musically inclined your child is, what matters is how motivated and excited they are to play the piano. With Move Over Mozart, we are fortunate to have a practice app, Tonara, that helps motivate and inspire our students to practice. While this app is optional, those that use it practice an average of 30% more than those that do not use it! This is a claim I read before purchasing the app and was pretty skeptical about its actual effectiveness. However, after tracking my own private students’ practice that first week, I was pleasantly surprised to find that 30% was a conservative increase! So what is it that draws students to play more while using the Tonara app? Today’s article will explain and hopefully motivate you to fall in love with this app as much as I have.
There are several features within Tonara that children love. One is the points. . . .
Music That’s Out Of This World! - Mozart’s Monthly Memo-Volume 28
This Memo includes
Feature Article: Music That’s Out Of This World!
Student Hall of Fame
Practice Tip
Registration start dates for our in-person Crescendo Kids Classes
Sign up link for our 2023 Spring Recital
Parents Ask Pam - My child is 4 years old, but I think they are ready for 5 year old piano material. Can they be moved into the older class?
Feature Article - Music That’s Out Of This World!
Written by Sean Kenney, son of our piano teacher, Mr. Kevin.
There has been a great deal of music made over the course of human civilization; songs devised with thousands of miles separating them, and almost all of it created on earth. Almost.
Chris Hadfield is one of those people who seems to have pushed the limits of what a human can do in one lifetime. He is a writer, a mountain climber, an engineer, the first Canadian to walk in space, and a musician; he is perhaps most well known for that last one. Back in May of 2013 a music video was recorded - something Chris thought would be fun to do with his son - of Chris singing Space Oddity by David Bowie while on the International Space Station (ISS).
Fanny Mendelssohn - One Chromosome Away From Fame - Mozart’s Monthly Memo-Volume 27
New session of Crescendo Kids Online begins Tuesday, February 14!❤️
This Memo includes
Feature Article: Fanny Mendelssohn - One Chromosome Away From Fame
Student Hall of Fame
Practice Tip
Parents Ask Pam - Do you teach children under age 3.5 years old?
Feature Article - Fanny Mendelssohn - One Chromosome Away From Fame
You may be familiar with Felix Mendelssohn, who wrote "Wedding March," the song frequently played at weddings as the wedding party exits the ceremony. However, his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, was also a great performer and composer.
She was born in 1805, in Hamburg, Germany. Her mother claimed she had “Bach fugal fingers,” (Long, skinny fingers ready to easily to play a Bach Fugue.) correctly predicting her daughter’s talent and life ambition. By the age of 14, she had memorized all 24 preludes . . . .
Piano Lessons: How To Put Fun Into Practice Repetition - Volume 26
This Memo includes:
Feature Article: How To Put Fun Into Practice Repetition
Students Hall of Fame
Practice Tip
Parents Ask Pam - We very much enjoyed the fall session of piano lessons at the community center. Today I went to sign up for this winter session and was dismayed to see that there are no available openings for my child’s age. I will attempt to add us to a wait list if that is available.
What options can you offer for us to continue lessons? I don't want to lose momentum from the gains he has made so far in your course.
Feature Article - How To Put Fun Into Practice Repetition
It is January, the month of new beginnings and resolutions to do life better. For children, it is about getting back into their regular routine of school, home life, and early bedtimes. When a child is returning to their routine for learning piano, it can seem like they have forgotten everything and are starting all over. To parents and teachers, this is frustrating because it feels like the child is slacking and not very interested. However, from the child’s perspective, it can feel quite overwhelming with so many things changing all at once, even if the change is just going back to “normal.” After all the holiday excitement, “normal” may seem “boring” and so there is this additional lack of enthusiasm. Since practicing is about playing the same thing over and over, it is very easy to see why it seems so hard to get back to the routine that was established previously. Here are some ideas to help get back into the piano routine and maybe even look forward to it.