What a fantastic time we had during our Spring Online Workshop week!
Our Spring Online June Workshop this past week included group coachings and three themed lectures. We had a special guest artist give an EXCELLENT session as well. Everyone received Zoom links to attend live workshops of their choice. There are three sessions everyday – morning, afternoon and evening, Monday through Thursday. Whew! All studio members received recordings of workshops to watch at their convenience.
We wrapped up the week with a lunch Zoom Studio Social on Friday. We enjoyed chatting about the week and our plans for the Summer!
Here are the Workshop Classes from our Online Spring Workshop:
Open Group Coaching
- Students had a chance to select a piece on which they were working to play for a small group. Everyone received tailored coaching and encouragement. Some prepared to play in a “Relaxed Recital” Thursday evening!
Goal-Oriented Practice: The Details of Overcoming Challenges (Part Two)
- We discussed how to achieve our practice goals at the piano – everything we want to accomplish when we consider a piece “polished”.
- This included everything from Theory knowledge to Musicality!
- We also looked at “The Path” or the way you can reach your goals. This includes studying the score and problem-solving.
- We also listened to common problem areas in specific music examples. Amy chose examples from our Studio Licensed repertoire library.
Theory & Technique: All About Scales
- We discussed the Circle of 5ths and how it relates to our key signatures and scales. We studied what makes music tonal and the many different types of scales in tonal (and atonal) music.
- We learned the technique for scales which includes finger numbers and how to cross the fingers correctly for seven note scales. We jammed out with our backing tracks – the next step is improvising!
Leveling Up Lead Sheets
- We studied how to make lead sheets (melody and chords) sound more sophisticated with four tunes.
- We looked at pieces for beginners to intermediate players: Kum-Ba-Yah, Brahms Lullaby, Greensleeves and (Somewhere) Over the Rainbow.
We also invited a wonderful guest artist to work with students — Rebecca Bellelo!
Rebecca shared three pieces in her session entitled, “Pieces Every Pianist Should Know.” We worked on the melody and chords to Happy Birthday, Amazing Grace and Fur Elise! We had a blast and were grateful for her fun, easy manner and expertise!
We also had a VERY successful “Relaxed Recital” Thursday evening!! It was casual. We don’t really like that “r” word after “relaxed”….we just get together to play for each other. Just for fun. Students from beginners to intermediate levels participated and did a fabulous job!
Everyone enjoyed the week. We especially enjoyed our “Relaxed Recital” and special guest artist session. Many thanks to Rebecca!!
We are looking forward to more upcoming workshops (our Summer Workshops are coming up!) as we embark on another piano playing adventure.
May music bring you joy and wellness. Always.
Interested in learning piano online?