Vahl Piano Studio // Passion, Excellence, Artistry

I've done a lot of thinking during August about the shape lessons at my studio will take this year. I have a few students who are taking Piano Exams this fall in November, so we worked hard on keyboard skills and memory of repertoire pieces during the summer. Just thinking about all the work these piano exams entail made me focus on better ways to "hit the ground running." So I'm borrowing an idea from an internet colleague, Wendy Stevens. http://www.mvpianostudio.com/apps/documents/?&page=1

Smart Practice focuses immediately on the information the score has to tell you, so I'll be giving away an eraseable highlighter to students who can prove to me they are "Practicing Smart." The students will receive a list of what they need to do to practice smart. At the end of September I'll evaluate each student on how they are showing me they are practicing smart.

How To Start A New Piece and Practice Every Day is the title of a document I wrote for my students in 2005, and I worked on it again under the title Adventures in Practice.  http://www.mvpianostudio.com/apps/documents/

New Assignment Sheet is done, too.  Take a look and see what you think. This one is focused on the student creating goals for themselves each week and reporting on which goals were attained. There will still be a place to indicate on which days of the week significant practice occurred, but the main focus will be practicing smart to attain reachable goals. You can download it here. http://www.mvpianostudio.com/apps/documents

All 3 of these documents will be placed in the students' 2011-2012 Music Journal, coming soon!