Summer Creativity and Autumn Goals

It is finally October!  Everyone is solidly in the swing of things and it is time to start making some musical goals.  Some ideas:  Suzuki Book Graduations, Music Development Program Assessments, Chicago Festivals (Sonatina Festival perhaps?).  Let's discuss this in lessons!

Here are a couple of videos of creativity in recent lessons:

Katie and Mary, performing one of Bach's Minuet on two ukuleles, August, 2014.

Fish-Eye-Evan, playing a very solid Happy Farmer, August 2014.

Technology allows me to play both parts of a bit of Rachmaninoff for Two Pianos.

Which Musical Era Best Suits You?

Congratulations to the Advanced Suzuki Group Class at Sherwood for creating a Musical Era Personality Quiz to demonstrate their knowledge of music history!  You can take the quiz here: 

Which Musical Era Best Suits You?

Summer Quarter Begins with APPLAUSE!

Welcome to the Summer Quarter!  Schedules are looking a little bit different, so you might want to download the newest swap list if you need to make a swap (see website).  Office Hours are now offered every Monday from 6:45 to 7:15pm.  I will be available via Skype, Twitter, Facebook and phone for piano help, scheduling discussions, and parent conferences.

Congratulations to Declan, for winning a half-scholarship and an iPad at Sherwood's annual 

Scholarship Competition this past month!

Newest Videos from FaithSlaker Music Studio

Katie, performing with the Sherwood Suzuki orchestra as the winner of the concerto competition, May 2014

Chamber Music Fun!  May, 2014

Newest Pictures from FaithSlaker Music Studio

Twinkle Group Learning Steps and Skips, May 2014

Chamber Music from the Sherwood Faculty Recital, May 2014.

Click HERE to listen to a movement of a Chopin Sonata.

Cellist Amber Walton-Amar

Pianist Aubrey Faith-Slaker

Studio Recital, February 2014

Everyone played so beautifully and it is nice to know that while the winter was harsh, everyone made such great progress and getting together for our winter recital was well worth the trek out of doors and the fancy shoes!  Congratulations to all performers!

For performances by Whitney, Valentina, Pauline, Kabir and Declan F., click below:




For performances by Chloe, Diego, Aidan and Mary, click below:



For performances by Leyla, Katie, Declan H., Colin, Evan and the Copycat Duet, click below:




For performances by Anjali, Graham, Jimena, Fiona and the Dragon Dance Trio, click below:



For Debussy's Pagodes, click below:

Piano Media Music Challenge

Who plays video games?  Watches movies?  TV?  Listens to the radio?  Are there any recognizable tunes from these games/moves/etc. that you think you can play on the piano?

Bring me an idea and we'll figure it out!  All media performances will be posted as a challenge for anyone else to try!  Here is Declan's media performance of some of the music from Minecraft:

He's pretty excited about it.  What can you play??

Summer Contest Results - 2013

Congratulations this summer to Katie, the winner of this year's performance contest!  She demonstrated that she has the skills, the patience, and the mental discipline to learn a new piece entirely on her own and get it to be performance-quality!

The piece is called Serenade, by August Muller - A German-born Classical Era composer.  Notice the careful articulation and repetitive Classical-era nature of the piece.

Katie's prize will be an exciting collection of new piano music.  If you see Katie in the hallways of Sherwood or at a soiree, please congratulate her on her hard work!  Thank you to everyone who participated this year in the summer contest.  I'm so pleased to see what everyone is able to do on their own.  See you in lessons this week!

(There were no qualified entires for the composition competition this year.)

Summer Studio Recital Video

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend!

For your viewing and sharing pleasure, the following videos are from the most recent studio recital:

To view the performances of Mary, Chloe and Keli, Jerecho, Kabir, Diego, Declan H., and Evan play the following clip.



To view the performances of Jimena, Fiona, Criss, Erica, Declan F., and Graham play the following clip.



To view the duet performance of Graham and Mary as well as the Chopin Prelude, view the following clip.


Congratulations to everyone and I look forward to working with each of you in the coming weeks to help you reach your summer goals!  Happy practicing!

Summer Contest 2012 - Results!

Wow - you guys are creative!  I had a lot of fun watching everyone's entries into this summer's contests.  There is a winner and a runner up for each one.

I'm pleased to announce that the winner of the COMPOSITION contest is Mary, who demonstrated with her composition (titled "composition2013") great understanding of musical structure and style.

The runner up of the COMPOSITION contest is Jerecho, who used the steady beat, performance poise, dynamics and technique that he learned during his last year of piano study to play us "Thunder-Clap."

While composing is a noble skill, sometimes you just have to be goofy.  There was a contest this summer to showcase the goofy side I get to see of all of you in lessons on a weekly basis!  I'm pleased to announce that the winner of the CIRCUS CONTEST this year is Pauline.  Her humorous use of a balancing routine while still incorporating beauty and accuracy in her performance won her first prize.




And the runner up of the CIRCUS CONTEST is Anne Marie, who chose a very difficult skill to demonstrate her daring abilities at the piano!

Congratulations to all of you!

I must say that it was difficult to choose winners in these competitions, and I couldn't have done it alone.  Everyone's entries were worth sharing multiple times and each time I watched, I was reminded of why I teach piano.  Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who participated, and let's goof around with composition and circus tricks more in lessons this fall!  Deal?

Summer Recital Video 2012

Congratulations everyone on a beautiful job the other night!  Below are the performance videos for you to share with your grandparents, friends, parents' friends, dentist, etc!  Enjoy!

If you are Jerecho, Amber, Ioannis, Katie, Chloe, Fiona or Graham, you'll want to see this clip:



If you are Cole, Natalie, Kabir, Whitney, Tiffany, Evan, Declan H., or Mary, you'll want to look at this one:



If you are Adrian, Eddie, Maurice, Erica, Pauline or August, you'll find yourself here:




If you are Declan F., Maeve, Anne Marie, part of the Minuet Extravaganza or Criss, please check this out:



If you enjoyed the duet performed by Graham and Mary or the piece performed by Ms. Aubrey, you can find them here:




(I'm sorry about the lighting on this video!  Next time I'll get it right again!)

Sports

In case you're all caught up in the beginning of baseball season (go Cubs?) and think you don't have the right mindset for a symphony, think again.  And listen to this:

Canon in D - Declan's Version

A student of mine this week was proud to show me something he has been working on at home by ear on his own.  It was so beautifully done, that I thought I'd share it with you here.  What are YOU working on at home?

Well done, Declan!

(For a comedic version of Pachelbel's Canon, click here.)

Oh cool!  Amber figured one out on her own too!  Anybody else care to share?


 

Victor Borge - William Tell

If we talked about inverted themes in your lesson this week (ahem - Pauline.....) this video is for you!

(It is also for you if we've discussed fugues or counterpoint (hey Criss.....) or variations (that means you guys - Katie, Mary, Erica, Jimena and Whitney!)

Christmas Day Secrets

Anybody looking for a beautiful version of Christmas Day Secrets to aid them in their practice of Suzuki Book 1 should look no further!  Natalie has graciously supplied us with a thoughtful, carefully articulated and beautiful version.  Enjoy!

Billie Jean for Piano Duo

This is one of the reasons I love the piano.  As a pianist, one has such a great expanse of sounds truly at the fingertips.

Today I really enjoyed hearing a version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean done by the Anderson and Roe piano duo.  Below is a link to a duo concert they did.  Billie Jean comes in at about minute 41.  Check it out!!!

Billie Jean done by the Anderson and Roe piano duo.

Awesome, right?  Yeah!  Go practice!  :)

Recital - November 2011

Well done!  Here's the proof!

To view the performances of Natalie, Katie, Maeve, Declan F., Pauline and Erica:

To view the performances of Whitney, August, Ioannis, Anne Marie, Cole, Diego and Adrian:

To view the performances of Amber, Fiona, Evan, Kabir, Jimena, Eddie and Declan H:

To view the performances of Mary, Chloe, Jerecho, Graham and Criss:

To view Ms. Aubrey's performance:

Thank you so much everyone - this was a lot of fun!!  Let's meet back here in the spring so we can show off all the hard work we do this winter!

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Beethoven's Sixth Symphony; Last Movement

I'm glad everyone enjoyed listening to the Third Symphony a couple of weeks ago.   Here is the last movement of the 6th symphony, one of my favorites.

Some of you are working on beautiful melodies and recognizing instrumentation, some are working on creating a picture or a feeling with the music your play at the piano, and some are working on the intricacies of how a composer treats a melody (variations, etc).  Please listen to this recording with these things in mind and come prepared to discuss it in your next lesson!  And enjoy!

As if playing the piano weren't challenging enough.....

In case any of you out there are feeling especially brilliant this week, Pauline and I propose a challenge.  Can any of you play like this??



Try it, practice it, and let me know!!

Ohhhh..... IT'S ON!  October 20th, a student responded to Pauline's challenge:




Maeve says, "Oh yeah?  Watch THIS!"
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Summer CD 2011

The Summer CD is out! Check your child's bag or folder this coming week for the CD and enjoy supplementing your regular listening with this new variety over the next month!

The Playlist:

1. Brahms:  Hungarian Dance No. 10 - Tal and Groethuysen
2. Bach:  Fugue in A minor, BWV 895 -  Tureck
3. Beethoven:  Bagatelle Op. 119, No. 4 -  Brendel
4. Purcell:  Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas, Act 3
5. Bill Charlap Trio - In the Still of the Night
6. Bach:  Gigue from Suite in E Major, BWV 1006a - Williams
7. Schubert:  Impromptu Op. 90, No. 3 - O'Conor
8. Chopin:  Etude Op. 25 No. 1 - Pollini
9. Schoenberg:  Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23, No. 1 - Hill
10. Ravel:  Jeux d'eau - Richter
11. Mozart:  Piano Concerto No. 21, K.467, movement 3 - Ashkenazy
12. Milhaud:  Botafogo from Saudades do Brazil - Bolcom
13. Waltz from Songs without Words, Fred Hersch

Summer Recital Video

Congratulations to all the performers who played in last week's recital!  Everyone played beautifully, most everyone smiled beautifully, and we all did a pretty good job of polishing off those cupcakes!

To see the performances of Sean, Natalie, Fiamma, Megan, Amber, Max and Diego:




To see the performances of Pauline, Erica, Maeve, Jimena, Adrian and Anne Marie:




To view the performances of Evan, Gabriella, Cole, Sophia and Sarah:




To view the performances of Eddie, Katie, Graham and Declan:




To view Criss's performance, as well as my interpretation of some Schumann:



Thank you everyone for all your hard work. See you in lessons and definitely at the next recital! I'm thinking November.......
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You think you know the Baroque?!

Strong language.  Funny language.  Watch this before you let your children watch this.  It's old, but it's Pachelbel - it couldn't be that bad, right?

Pachelbel (1653 - 1706)'s Canon in D; you know it.