Our studio recently completed a silent movie project inspired by the brilliant Nicola Cantan over at Colourful Keys and the Vibrant Music Teaching Library. Over the course of about 3 weeks, students created and recorded a piano soundtrack for an old Popeye cartoon with the sound removed. After watching the full cartoon, each child was assigned a 2-8 second scene from the cartoon, and we worked together at their lesson and during their home practice to compose music that fit with their scene. In the process, we explored theory concepts, compositional techniques, and built musicianship skills. But shh, don’t tell the kids all of that! As far as they are concerned, we just had a lot of fun!
Read MoreDoes this sound familiar? You ask a child to try a new section of their piano piece, and they freeze up, or get silly and wiggly, or worse, say no outright. You scold them for not following directions or for not paying attention, or perhaps you assume they don’t understand what to do and need remedial work. Before you know it, you’re caught up in a power struggle, you’re both frustrated, and any actual learning of the new piece has gone completely out the window.
What to do instead?
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