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Celestite

You might also try The Incorporated Society of Musicians' website:
www.ism.org.

Celestite

The "Me and my piano" series by good old Fanny Waterman is also very good and popular with kids. There's new stuff coming out all the time so I really would recommend you take yourself off to your local music shop and see what appeals to you. Your own personal teaching style may also influ...

Celestite

Oh Dame Flo! My all time heroine. If ever you stop to wonder if it's all worth it, listen to her - if she made it big, anyone can! Go for your feather boa, Dave! Incidentally, Margherita P is on You Tube - priceless! I'd forgotten just how truly awesome she is.

Celestite

If I fill it full of musos then I suppose I'd have to call it a conservatoire!

Celestite

Well, I don't mind volunteering as a virtual teacher if it means a virtual party when that distinction certificate lands on the mat. No pressure, Dave!

Celestite

That's me all over, always at least one step behind, sorry

Celestite

Or "Accidentals"?

Celestite

I haven't seen the film, Gill but I can relate to it! It's when I get to the point where I open the oven door and stick my head in it that I shall decide to retire! (Probably just as well we have an electric oven!)

Celestite

Hi Guys! Thanks for all your responses. I'd like to think I'm getting near the mark on most of them, although I'd need to check with my pupils as to just what they think of my sense of humour http://www.whiskybembel.de/A/4.gif I have been known to excuse myself from a lesson on a pretext so that I c...

Celestite

Hi Dave It is actually possible to buy an ABRSM book of specimen aural tests for grades 1-5 so that you can have a look at exactly what is required for each grade. It might make it seem a little less daunting than just reading the syllabus in black and white! You should be able to get it from most g...

Celestite

I will certainly go have a look! The thing to bear in mind at whatever level you play is that certain bad habits will definitely hamper your progress and therefore ulitmately frustrate you later on. What might seem easier now will almost certainly end up causing you difficulties later and then you'l...

Celestite

Evening all! A thought has just occurred to me and I thought I'd ask you all your valued opinions. Having read about what we're all looking for in our pianos, tuners and retailers, what about teachers? What do you look for in a piano teacher? What do we get right, what do we get wrong? I'd love to k...

Celestite

Rest assured, Dave, the art of successful teaching (a bit like the secret of a happy marriage) is to make sure the injuries don't show!!

Celestite

Where did you come across this information? I've never heard of it, never known any of my colleagues to suffer from it and, after 40 years of playing (at least 25 of them involving a fair amount of rapid movement and, oddly enough, a fair few arpeggios) I'm still waiting to be afflicted!

Celestite

Greetings Gill and Dave
Do I have to give back marks if it's my blood that's spilt?

Celestite

Absolutely. I have often been accused of being naive when I say I honestly cannot understand why we can't all just be nice to each other. The world would be a much better place if we just spent a nanno second thinking about the well being of the people around us. (Sorry, one of my soap box issues :o...

Celestite

I hope my tuner appreciates the calibre of his customers then - he gets offered Earl Grey, Lady Grey (with cows milk or lemon) or builders tea, large or small mug, bone china on a really good day!

Celestite

Does blood on the keyboard count?

Celestite

Absolutely. I wonder if I'm Teaching Music Effectively?

Celestite

They're frustrated bus travellers seeking revenge on their piano tuners

Celestite

Perhaps it's time I considered a career change!

Celestite

Either option A or B would suit me but absolutely NOT C. I would be looking for as wide a variety of instruments as possible but since I would be looking in the £5-£10k price range (would love it to be more, but have to be realistic) I can appreciate that this would require a con...

Celestite

Ah, that explains it. I thought it might have been the little people trying to mess with my mind again. They poison my tea you know. I never get adverts or anything else I didn't ask for when I log in. If your theory is right, they obviously took one look at my mind and decided they couldn't do any...

Celestite

Hi Jabarr How long have you been playing and at what level do you play? What concerns me most about your fingering is the amount of tension these sorts of stretches will be subjecting your hands to. It's difficult to tell without seeing your hands on the keyboard, but I suspect you would be better w...

Celestite

Encouraging them to play duets might help, not only with you but with each other. How about an end of term recital so they have something to aim for and the motivation of wanting to perform their best? There is a wealth of jazz and blues music available for the age group you describe. If you have a ...

Celestite

One of my former school pupils is destined to spend the rest of his life looking like a shrivelled up walnut because of the look he got from me after he had the misfortune to underestimate my warning to the whole class at the begining of term that I have hearing like radar and would hear whatever th...

Celestite

Oh absolutely. Everything they tell you at teacher training college counts for nothing until you realise the value of the "don't mess with me" look!One of the most phenomenal teachers I ever came across was in one of the roughest schools in the East End of London. She was 5 foot nothing, s...

Celestite

Oh most definitely! I find my self working my schedule and juggling all the different balls in my pond around making time to fit in piano time as near to daily as I can, whereas before it was only happening when I had to, eg if I knew I had some accompanying coming up. It felt very odd going back to...

Celestite

Hiya Everybody! Just an update on progress. I saw my mentor again today and came away truly inspired, as last time. It is so encouraging to hear a fellow pianist comment on just how (and I use her exact words) "bloody difficult" something is when I've been berating myself for not making be...

Celestite

I am sure I have no idea what you mean, Gill. I found it a great comfort to sit under my piano sucking my thumb and tugging my ear lobe long before I ever started teaching!

Celestite

Bummer

Tell you what though, Markymark, I bet we have more fun

Celestite

You obviously don't wind them up enough for their parents just before hometime!

Celestite

I have to admit, the kids in primary school do have something of the endearing about them which seem to vanish altogether when they reach the "Kevin and Perry" phase. Ok, I admit it, I am nearer to honoury membership of the house of nuts than you are, Markymark http://www.whiskybembel.de/A...

Celestite

Oh dear, I misread that as "spotty arsed teenagers"

Celestite

Well I suppose, taking afternoons into consideration, I also take Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 for music. Question is then, who is barmier: the primary school teacher or the secondary school teacher? :o Perhaps we should start a poll on that one! Hmm, that's a tough call! We need to look at the evidence, me...

Celestite

That would indeed explain a lot, dear boy! For my sins I used to teach years 7 to 11 and that was enough for me to leap off after Dagenham (several stops... Barking...etc). Now I just teach privately and live with a 2 and a 9 year old.(And dear old hubby, of course, so that makes three kids, aargh!)...

Celestite

Ah, Markymark, those who know me are always seriously worried when they think they are on the same wavelength as me - it casts aspersions on their sanity (never a bad thing in my book - this sensibility stuff is something I try to use in moderation!)

Celestite

For what it's worth, I bought a Roland F90 to practice on when the kids are asleep, having played every digital I could get my hands on. For me, it was the closest to an accoustic piano I could find in terms of touch, response and sound, although it still has something intangible missing in it. I pu...

Celestite

That's a new name for it!

Celestite

Mr Celestite wants their name and address, please

Celestite

Hi Sylvia
Please don't be embarrassed. If you feel so inclined, have a look at the thread *Motivation" on this forum. You may find it interesting and encouraging to read you are not alone

Celestite

Please, please don't buy anything off ebay (or anywhere else for that matter) unless it is close enough for you to be able to go an play it first. There are some truly dreadful heaps out there, and no matter how much effort you put into your children's musical development it will ulitmately be waste...

Celestite

Dave-go for it on the typing front! Touch typing is a brilliant form of finger exercise. When I was at college we all had to do a non musical module as part of our degrees (goodness only knows why, who were we mere mortals to argue with the hoy poloy of higher academia?) Without fail, all the pianis...

Celestite

Impressed!!
I'm now off to You Tube to find your version of Sparky - I'm intrigued!

Celestite

Dave, you're an inspiration! That one never occurred to me and my daughter loves it. Not sure how easy it is to get now but my copy came from either Amazon or Ebay, can't remeber which.

Celestite

It's still making me chuckle now! I am assuming you know what Celestite is, and that was an intentional pun?

Celestite

Glad to be of assistance but having read your latest posting I did have a good chuckle to myself- I meant they do the painting with their eyes open after they've listened to the music! I now have a wonderful mental image of what my music room would have looked like if I'd let half a dozen under 7s l...

Celestite

I find I get dreadful brain ache when I practice too (I use the term "brain" loosely, you understand. Jelly ache might be more appropriate!) So Marley obviously had some other method of remaining pain free, methinks

Celestite

Fingering can be pretty crucial with trills too. I echo Markymark and Gill's comments that they probably aren't the best thing to start off with. Out of interest, what standard did you play at before you stopped?

Celestite

Another thought for you is the old children's classic, Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals which uses the piano in it's orchestral role to great effect. You might also like to try something I used to do a lot with littlies in my music appreciation classes (posh sounding name for just getting them ex...

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