Is it already August? No way. Are there any other summers out there that are flying by? Please tell me I’m not alone! 
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated… My planned music camp fell through — students had prior plans/vacations, and it just didn’t work out. I’ve put the idea out there about maybe doing a few music appreciation classes at the beginning of the school year (yeah, that’s next month!), so maybe that’ll work out. I was/am really excited about teaching music history/appreciation simply because I love it so much. The whole idea for a camp/classes came to me one day as I listened to a Mozart Piano Concerto. I was overcome with joy as the music filled my car and then this thought struck me: ”I wonder if any of my students would be as thrilled by this as I am?” After pondering this thought for a moment, and coming up with the answer being a resounding “No.”, my next thought was: “Should I be doing something about this?” And so began the idea of imparting the joy of the Greats — not only through performance, but also through listening (although it’s ALL about listening, isn’t it?). So, we’ll see what comes of it — and then I’ll have done my part to help with the next generation of Classical music lovers. :-)
For myself, I’ve been focusing on memorizing music this summer. Famous classical works that I’ve never gotten around to committing to memory (Gershwin Prelude 1, Haydn and Mozart Sonata movements, Fur Elise, etc.), and also some famous fun ones (Linus and Lucy, Pink Panther, etc). I always tell my students to keep a few memory pieces current and ready to roll in case the need arises…. and I found myself slipping in that area. It’s been fun and liberating to get off the page!
Other than that I’ve just been teaching away. A lot of my students are taking lessons over the summer. More than usual since I’m planning to take a break for a while after my daughter arrives. I only have 10 weeks to go! So excited to finally meet our little addition!
What have you been up to this summer?
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August 10, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Heidi N
Enjoy your sleep and practice time while you can. The sleepless nights will be here before you know it!
I saw that you asked for a few tips on a previous post about teaching once you have kids..
I’m so glad that I decided to stagger lesson times and take less students during the summer since our new little girl was born. Although she has older siblings who can help with her while I teach, I’ve also been grateful that I have a 30 minute lab incorporated with lessons. Normally I have 2 students come at the same time and one does their lab assignments (computer/theory book/music appreciation/ear training)while I teach the other – then they switch. But with a newborn it has been nice to have the flexibility of having just one student come at a time. That way I can have the student just do their lab first if the baby happens to have a blowout, spitup or need a feeding when lesson time comes. Babies can be so unpredictable!
Its also nice to train your baby to sleep through noise. With 4 other children in the house – there is plenty of noise around our house so my baby generally sleeps all the way through lessons, but my first baby didn’t learn to do that quite so easily.
August 11, 2010 at 11:01 am
campbellpianostudio
Thanks for the helpful information, Heidi! My due date is in Oct. and I’m planning to take a break from teaching for rest of the year. In Jan. I’ll evaluate how things are going and maybe incorporate a few students back into my schedule. Everything is so new to me that I’m planning to just play it by ear and see how things go!
August 11, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Jenny Boster
I love what you said about music appreciation – I feel the same way! I think we should be teaching our students to love classical music! I am planning on incorporating more music appreciation activities into my studio this year. Hope the pregnancy is going well!