The GrandStaff Piano Studio 215-536-5147 www.grandstaffpiano.com MAY 2013 Piano News Piano Performance Party and Competitions: Piano Performance Party (Preschool through 2nd Grade) is Sat. May 4th at 11:00 AM at Souderton Mennonite Home Auditorium. Junior Division Competition (Grades 3-4-5) is Sat. May 4th at 12:00 noon at SMH. Senior Division Competition (Grades 6 thru 12) is Sat. May 11th at 1:00 PM. at Souderton Mennonite Home (see map). Be sure to join us and share this exciting day of beautiful music. Competition is a “dress-up” occasion. Shirts with collars for the young gentlemen (ties preferred); conservative dresses for the young ladies. (NO jeans or sneakers, please) Thank you for your cooperation. Each performer will need three copies of their songs with the measures numbered. Bring the copies to Competition. You give one copy to each judge. There is a $7.00 fee per song that helps to pay our judges. Please include with May tuition.Come early to warm up on the big piano and avoid the last second rush. Our Competitions are well attended but there will be seating for many visitors. So invite all your friends, neighbors, relatives—there will be lots of room and refreshments! We have maps with directions-ask Judy. IMPORTANT! No Group theory in May, June, July or August. It is difficult to schedule groups over the summer because of vacations, camps, etc. Group is an important component of your child’s music education and will resume in September. Memorial Day We will be CLOSED on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th to observe the holiday. Vacations: An important word about vacations: Please let us know when you will be away. The Studio is open all summer. Our tuition fee does not change, even if you are away for more than one week since we do not charge for extra lessons taught during the year on 5-lesson months. Our Saturday students will be scheduled during the week as soon as school is out. The Studio is not open on Saturdays in the summer. We will work with you to find convenient times for you to come to lessons. Fall Competitions Our Fall Competitions will be in November so selections of music should be taking place now. Be sure to participate in this exciting preparation process so your young person will be aware of your interest and encouragement of their efforts. Don’t miss out on the fun and excitement--be practicing diligently over the summer! Summer Piano practice! Summer is a great time to advance in Piano since homework and sports won’t be making demands on the student’s time. Morning practice is good, leaving the rest of the day for the pool, etc. Important things get done if they are scheduled. When you are at home, maintain a regular practice schedule. When you are away, take along a portable keyboard, flashcards and extra note-speller books. You can have fun and make a game out of using these things. Ask Judy for flashcards and speller books-- we have lots of them and we have books with Music games in them that we can copy. Show interest, be positive and enthusiastic. Offer to take your young person to the Music store and let them shop for Classical or Sacred music pieces, CD’s, or sheet music. It’s inexpensive and your young person will be thrilled. Also, take them to an outdoor band or orchestra concert over the summer. Music is such a wholesome and comforting interest for anyone. Take advantage of the lazy days of summer to experience some of these outings with your children! Thank You for your help and support in all of these matters. Music is exciting and fulfilling. Our goal is to enrich and beautify our student’s lives with the joy of music. We love teaching your children! Judy and The Grand Staff! GrandStaff Piano Studio Quakertown, Pa. grandstaffpiano.com Spring 2013 KinderKeys NEWS KinderKeys is off to a great start this semester! We have many little students who are eager to learn about piano and violin! We have been busy learning piano key names; high and low; listening skills; and hand positions as well as right and left hand concepts. We enjoy keeping the beat on the Omnichord strum pad and playing the MerryMakerMusic harp which ear trains and teaches rhythm. We are having fun coloring pictures of famous composers. Our workbooks are teaching us finger numbers and hand positions while each student receives a piano and violin lesson. Our Tempo Cat Chart teaches us the Italian terms for the speed in music. BigFoot (floor keyboard) makes us laugh and the Omnichord (autoharp) makes such beautiful music. During snack time we learn our music symbols on flashcards and we love to march during rhythm band. We are looking forward to more exciting learning experiences as the semester progresses. Encourage your little person to tell you all about the many experiences at each class. Perhaps they can demonstrate at your piano at home what they are learning about the keyboard and sing some of the songs they are singing about music. We love teaching your children and having a part in this very beginning of their Music Education. Judith Kay Clark, Director Bryan Griffith Student Assistant Jordanna Keller, Student Assistant Mikayla Dunn, Student Assistant GrandStaff Piano Studio 215-536-5147 MAY 2013 KinderKeys NEWS www.grandstaffpiano.com We have been very busy this past semester. We’ve learned a new composer every week, listened to his music as we colored his picture and learned interesting facts about him. We’ve seen great progress in key recognition, dynamic term memorization, ear-training and symbol learning. Everyone has been so eager to learn that we have accomplished a lot this term. Our little students are also enthusiastically learning many musical concepts on many various instruments and in many different ways We had lots of fun with our “cat” metronome, clapping fast when vivace and presto were the tempos—then clapping slower when the tempos were andante and moderato—and clapping very slowly when the tempos were grave, largo, and lento. We pronounced the Italian words for the tempos, dynamic levels and marched to them with our Rhythm Band. We trained our ears with the MerryMusicMaker Harp and Omnichord—and we practiced the names of the lines and spaces of the Bass and Treble clef on our floor staff. “Big Foot” is always a great favorite for learning the names of the keys. At every KinderKeys class, each student receives a piano lesson and a violin lesson. We read stories, listen to tapes, and watch videos that encourage our interest in music and musical instruments, terminology and technology. At snack-time we learn our flashcards and do our finger exercises. Please note: Our KinderKeys Program semester will conclude on Thursday May 2nd. Discounts for early Fall registration will be through Monday June 3rd. We do not offer a summer term because of vacations, etc. but our Fall Semester will begin Thursday, September 12th. Please mark your calendars. Important: Our enrollment is limited, so early registration is a must. We are enclosing a registration brochure for everyone. As always, if you pay for the semester in advance by June 3rd you save the registration & materials fee. The $195 semester fee is required to register for Fall. Thanks. We hope to see you back in the Fall. KinderKeys is one the most productive, beneficial programs anywhere for pre-piano study. Our best endorsement is “word-of-mouth”. Thank you for your confidence in us. Keyboard Adventures is our exciting introductory piano program for 5-6-7 year-olds featuring the Yamaha digital pianos. If you are interested for your child, please ask Judy for more info asap. We love teaching your children. Thank you for letting us have part in your child’s music education. Judith Kay Clark, Director, MTNA, PMTA GrandStaff PIANO STUDIO Spring 2013 Keyboard Adventures NEWS www.grandstaffpiano.com 215-536-5147 Welcome! We are off to a great start on our KBA Spring semester! We have lots of enthusiastic little students who love to learn music. We are learning rhythm and notation-as well as many music symbols, time signatures, note values and lines and spaces. We are progressing well in our Lessons and Recital books. Our workbooks are done together here at the Studio. Piano Purchase: Many of you have asked us about buying a piano. Please be careful about buying pianos from the classifieds. We will always refer you to a good reputable dealer and encourage the purchase of a good instrument. Wow-what a great gift for the whole family! We look forward to many more weeks of fun and excitement as we learn to read music and play the piano. Happy Springtime! Sincerely, Judith Kay Clark, Director, MTNA, PMTA Bryan Griffith, Student Assistant Jordanna Keller, Student Assistant GrandStaff PIANO STUDIO MAY 2013 Keyboard Adventures NEWS This has been such a productive semester for all our little Keyboard Adventure students. We’ve seen great progress in key recognition, dynamic term memorization, ear-training and symbol learning. Everyone has been so eager to learn that we have accomplished a lot this term. • Last Day It makes us sad to see the 12 week semester coming to a close. The last day for Keyboard Adventure Class on Thursday is May 2nd. • Important: Those wanting to enroll for regular piano lessons, please see Judy ASAP for openings. It is important to begin lessons before acquired skills and concepts that were recently learned are forgotten. • Lessons are $70 per month plus cost of books. • Keyboard Adventures is unique-fun-and is one the most productive, beneficial programs anywhere for pre-piano study. Our best endorsement is “word-of-mouth”. Thank you for your confidence in us. Thank you again for trusting us with part of your child’s education. We love teaching them! Sincerely, Judith Kay Clark, Director, MTNA, PMTA 215-536-5147 Grandstaffpiano.com