Things are going well. Everybody chose Christmas music this week and we will be ready to hit the ground running next week. I know it seems early to start Christmas music the first week of October, but we have a fall break, a Thanksgiving Break and then a recital the first week of December, so we actually only have 6 or so lessons until then. Each child will be playing a duet and a solo. Duets do not need to be memorized. Solos do, so we want to be sure to give everybody enough time to feel really comfortable with their songs.
Everyone is sounding really good on their Halloween songs. A couple of little guys are just getting started, but I'm not worried about them. Generally speaking we want to feel pretty secure with Halloween songs before we dive into Christmas, so if your students are sounding great and only in the polishing or maintaining stage with their Halloween songs, then we will start Christmas music next week.
For the duets, you may play with your students or I can play with them. Let me know your preference. Stevens, Christian chose a trio, so he would like BOTH of you to play with him. Fun!
Lessons were short this week because we had to spend time selecting Christmas music. We weren't able to listen to all of everybody's music due to time constraints. Based on practice records and generally how things were, I usually gave the student the next lesson in their books without much discussion or prep. I am confident they can figure it out this week and that they will do great. I don't want them to be slowed in their progression, so I just went ahead and moved them aheadl
It's about the time of year to begin thinking about federation music festival as well. For those of you who may be new. Last year we participated in a Utah federation of music festival. The kids have a required song they need to play and then one free choice song. They play for 2-3 judges who give them a rating and feedback. They earn points based on their rating and can earn a gold cup after a few years of participation. It is not a competition so they are not being compared to other students. The judging situation isn't perfect. Other teachers are the judges. They sometimes say silly things or not that useful things. They also sometimes say really useful things and usually they just say the same things I say over and over to them every lesson. Mostly I think it's a valuable experience for the kids because they get feedback from somebody other than me, they get to see themselves move up a level every year which is motivating, they have a goal with a little bit of pressure to work towards, but not too much pressure. When they have a goal with a little bit of pressure, they work a little bit harder, improve a little bit more, learn to polish and play in front of people and even when they feel a little bit nervous. Those are good skills to learn.
The festival is in February. I kind of hate the timing, but I can't do anything about that part. I will need to know if your student wants to participate in festival this year by the end of October because we will need to choose music and get started by November. Something to think about and discuss. They can also shoot to be in an honors recital. If they get perfect marks from all three judges they get to participate in a special recital for the top performers in festival. That's a neat opportunity.
You may send me a message or comment on this post if you would like to participate this year. The fee is $10 per student.
Last thing is that the whole note on the sticky pad and the lesson sheet is making me crazy. I can only keep track of writing things down in one place at a time, so I have decided to stop trying to re-invent the wheel. I'm just going to write stuff in their notebook and you and I will have to train them to actually look in it! :) That is sort of the point of the whole thing. I will try to speak with you directly about their progress or send home notes when needed.
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