One reason spring is my favorite season is because I know that all the hard work of the 3-year Let's Play Music curriculum is coming to fruition... and a huge group of students are bringing BRAND NEW music to the world! These students (now ages 7-9) write music full of expression, creativity, and skill...and they've only been using a piano for 2 years! Imagine where they will be in a few more years, now that they have such a strong foundation. In 2018, over 1700 students in the US and Canada composed music with us. We want to show you some of our favorites, as selected by our guest judge Dr. Kris Maloy (meet him here.)
Best Melody: By The River I go by Maya S From the Studio of: Tina Gosney Something special about this song is how nature and this music makes Maya feel calm. Maybe it will have that effect on you:
Best Use of Chords and BEST OVERALL: Picky, Picky's Day by Hunter F From the Studio of: Melissa Lunt Enjoy a tale of Picky, Picky the cat. When you listen to the music, you'll feel how frightening a trip to the store is... when you're a cat!
Best Use of ABA Form: Cats and Ducks by Aliyah M From the Studio of: Maggie Gambill In this song you'll hear how cats feel about storm clouds! Most Original: Robots are Good and Bad by Pax M From the Studio of: Celeste Stott Pax started thinking of the theme for this song when he was 2 years old and a Sound Beginnings student! Luckily he continued with music and finally learned how to take his idea and make it into a complete song. Can you hear the good robot theme and the bad robot theme? Best Story: Forest Dwellers by Sarah H From the Studio of: Jennifer Bigly This forest story has birds singing, deer prancing, and hunters marching. Can you hear each of them?
Honorable Mention: Liverpool Rules by Anden S From the Studio of: Rebecca Suelzle This fan attests that Liverpool RULES! His music describes the players walking to the field, running/kicking/scoring, and marching off the field to the cheers of adoring fans, including at least one that is an inspired composer!
Congratulations to these kids, families, and parents AND all who have successfully composed, published, and performed their very first piano piece! We'll be looking forward to another batch next Spring.
Music is a Language. We Must Read AND Write. Imagine the following scenario: a 17-year old with straight A's is ready to graduate from high school. You hand her a difficult piece of prose to read, which she does well.
Next, you ask to write something original in the next 5 minutes--a short essay on something of her choice. She stares blankly, then says "I've never written anything before." "OK," you say. "Well, I'll tell you a sentence or two, and you can write that down." You are met with a stare again as she says, "I can't do that." We'd be shocked if someone could graduate high school without ever having written anything before, or even being able to write down what someone says. But, in music, we're guilty of this ALL THE TIME. What's up with Writing Music? People with many years of lessons under their belts can read music fluently, but often have never written a note on paper, and can't even begin to write down the music they hear. In fact, I wonder whether a person ever actually does learn to read ANY language fluently if they don't have experience writing words and connecting the written word to the spoken one. We begin teaching this skill to students in preschool who are mastering English. We might ask if a student, like the high school student in the story above, even has a real understanding of the music she plays. Or, is she like the allegory of a monkey who can type Portugese--a monkey can be trained to look at the symbols and push the corresponding buttons on the typewriter but has no understanding of the meaning of what she types. Sadly, there are too many music students who are like this. How do we Train Musicians, not Typists? We can overcome the weak trend in music education. It starts with having students write music.
Just this week, one of my younger students, who is starting her third year of piano, started writing a short piece. When she started to write middle C, I pointed out that what she was playing was in fact a C but one octave higher, and should be written as such. She exclaimed, "Oh! That's why that C is at the third space!" And this was a student who has been reading and playing notes for 2 years and doing well for her age. The exercise of doing it the opposite way-- when you can see the keyboard and the note you want, and you can hear it, and then you have to figure out how to write it on the staff-- this registers differently in the brain. It registers is a way that is likely to stick and reinforce what we're teaching. Better Writers = Better Performers
Not every studio teacher will be comfortable or experienced in helping students write their own original music. Even allowing the space and time for students to do this for a few minutes' of lesson time can have great benefits and help them accelerate ALL of their learning and musicianship. I know when I began to compose, I found it not only fun and fulfilling, but the exercise made me a much better performer because I saw everything-- dynamics, phrase marks, articulations, repetitions-- in a new light. I knew, then, exactly why a composer would put those symbols in because I had put those same symbols in my music to gain a desired result. Shall we Transcribe? Even if the activity isn't truly composition, great results can be had from transcribing an easy piece or folk song. This can actually be a very effective way to help students learn key signatures: transcribing simple songs in keys with three or four sharps or flats to help students internalize what the key signature really means and why it is so important. Similar results can be had in the domain of rhythm. Most students, even at a beginning level can quickly develop a good sense of rhythm by clapping and tapping along with their favorite songs. Converting that clapping to written symbols is difficult for many students (and teachers). Of course, doing drills and working on the reading aspect will help, but don't overlook simply taking a student's favorite song and having them try to write out the rhythm themselves. I know this can be time-consuming and it is tempting to think, "I don't have time for that!" But it has been my experience that an hour or two devoted to doing this for even a few bars of a couple of songs comes back with many returns in the form of much quicker learning through rhythms in every piece a student attempts after having done it. Learn By Doing it YOUR Way Composing and transcribing is fun! All students, but especially kids of this generation, want to do things their own way. They enjoy being creative, whether that's in the form of improvisation or creating their own music or arranging their own way of playing a popular song. Students will enjoy lessons more and internalize more if they're creating their own way to play something they like. One of my favorite things about Let's Play Music is that it gets students writing and allows them to finish the curriculum with a short piece they invented themselves. All of us who help these students continue their studies, and especially those of us who have students who have never written music themselves, must take every opportunity to get students putting the music they make, see, hear, and play down on the page themselves. The rewards are always worth the time spent to both students and teachers.
- Dr. Kris Maloy is an award-winning composer, arranger, and performer. He has served as a professor at several different universities and taught students of all ages through Gold Lantern Music, the studio he founded in Fort Collins, CO. In Spring 2018, we are happy to have Dr. Maloy as a guest judge for our own Let's Play Music composers. We have over 1500 3rd-year students in the USA and Canada, and each of them has written an original piece of music before graduating from our program. And, we are happy to tell Dr. Maloy, they still have ten years before they get to graduation.
Each year we have the glorious opportunity to hear AMAZING compositions from young students who've only been taking music classes for three years (and only been working on the piano for 2 years!) and we find them full of expression, creativity, and skill. These compositional highlights are nothing short of FANTASTIC, but what's even more amazing... this year over 500 compositions were created by third-year Let's Play Music students across the USA! A tiny little army of creative, musical composer-children has just been released into the world. Happy Day! Teachers had the opportunity to send us one student's work from their studios and a panel of judges chose these favorites to share with you today:
Best Melody: Mermaid Tales by Chloe D This is a story of a shark chasing mermaids!
Best Use of Chords: The Last at Bat by Jace C You'll hear the pitch, a strike-out, and a big finish!
Best Use of ABA Form: A Walk in the Forest by Carson B In this song you'll hear 4 animals: a fast and choppy chipmunk, a happy working beaver, a low and slow moose, and a bear.
Most Original: Rodeo Heart by Kassie C You can hear horses' hooves in this tune. Kassie loves horses!
Best Story: Tuki's Island by Bella B A toucan named Tuki has lots of adventures, including this one when she's chased by a leopard and is almost eaten! Want to see if she survives? Listen to the end to find out:
Best Overall: The Dark Wizard by Brady E This evil wizard casts evil spells and you can hear how mysterious he is: Congratulations to these kids AND all who have successfully composed, published, and performed their very first piano piece! We'll be looking forward to another batch next Spring.
Every year, more and more young musicians graduate from Let's Play Music and go on to further musical pursuits. We love checking in to see what these young people are up to and today we caught up with superstar Truman Walker, winner in the 2012 LPM Composition Contest.
Meet Truman Walker Truman took three years of Let's Play Music lessons with teacher Tina Gosney in Eagle, Idaho. After graduation, he continued to study piano lessons with local teachers Launette Shaw and then Suzy Clive. Truman says, "Suzy is a very accomplished pianist and an amazing teacher who has taught me a
lot. Let's Play Music helped me with the basics so that I could learn really quickly when I started with Suzy and started learning more classical music." Truman learned that when working on specific piano pieces, attending master classes with different experts like Brandon Stewart, Andrew von Oeyen, Dr. Renato Fabbro, and Jason Lyle Black really helped him master his work and prepare for competitions.
Truman's consistent work and training has led him to success in several fun and challenging venues, including:
2013 Apple Blossom Festival Music Competition, Payette,
Idaho - Junior Division, First Place. Original composition, Good King vs. Evil King.
Treasure Valley Music Teachers Association Sonatina Competition - 2014 - Level 4 - First Place - 2015 - Level 7 - First Place - 2016 - Level 10 - First Place 2016 Meridian Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition,
Junior Division (10-14 yrs), Second Place, performing Concerto No. 8 in
C Major by W.A. Mozart
2016 Spokane Piano Competition -Baroque/Classical Division - First Place, Performing Sonata in E Major by Domenico Scarlatti -Modern/Impressionist Division - First Place, Performing Bagatelle No. 10, Op No. 5 by Alexander Tcherepnin
Question and Answer with Truman
Gina: How do you imagine things might have turned out differently for you if
you did not do LPM, if you had just gone straight to your piano lessons?
Truman: Music wouldn't be as fun. I wouldn't have been as excited for just
piano lessons. LPM helped me learn how to love music and express myself.
LPM helped me do things I wouldn't be able to do, like compose songs. Now I have composed five piano pieces and performed them at different recitals and events.
Gina: Do you ever get discouraged or bored or tired when you are practicing?
Truman: YES! But I get over it by thinking about why I love it and what I want
to accomplish. I also think about how practicing makes my pieces turn
out better, and that gives me motivation to keep trying. I practice 2.5
hours every day. I have to think about my goals a lot
so I can keep working hard.
Gina: Wow! 2.5 hours. What does that practice routine look like?
Truman: Ms. Clive has helped me break my practice sessions down
into 7 parts. First, I review my goals for the day and list what I want
to finish during that practice session. Second, I play through some of
my repertoire so I keep my pieces fresh. Third, I
work on technique by doing Hannon exercises or "power fingers" to
strengthen my fingers, hands and arms. Fourth, I do scales to learn and
memorize key signatures. Fifth, I play through LDS Hymns so I can help
with the music in my church congregation. Sixth,
I practice sight reading and work on musical theory workbooks.
Seventh, I get to work on memorizing and playing my major piano pieces
that I am preparing for performances, competitions or just for fun to
challenge myself.
Gina: How do you go about writing a song?
Truman: First I think of one main idea and the key signature I want to use.
Then I think of things that sound original and I piece them together and
smooth them out to make a song. I have written pieces about family trips we've taken
and other things. I have also written a song for my
older sister who accidentally hit a wrong chord in her piano practice
one day. She liked the chord and asked me to write a song using that
chord as the main idea. That was fun.
Now I have written 5 pieces. After the LPM composition, I
continued to build on that song and it helped me win $50 at the Apple
Blossom Festival. Here's a piece I composed called Living Water.
Gina:Can you tell me about one of your musical memories?
Truman: One Sunday night when I was 9 years-old, our family was
sitting together in the piano room listening to me play. They started
asking me about how I write songs and how the music comes to me. Then my
older brother, David, and sisters, Anna Mae & Katelyn,
started playing a game with me. They would give me an idea, like
'standing next to a waterfall' and I would play a mini-song for them
that created a feeling like they were experiencing the idea they came up
with. We did this for about an hour that night and
it was a fun memory for our family.
Let's Play Music studios have wrapped up with annual recitals, and for all of our third-year students, that meant a chance to play their very own compositions!
Students from across the continent had the opportunity to show just how far they've progressed as musicians by composing an original piece of music for piano and entering our 2016 Composition Contest.
We had many fabulous entries and want to share with you our eight fantastic winners, announced a few days ago at our 2016 Symposium. Best Use of ABA Form: Monster Trucks by Thomas. Teacher: Marnie Christensen
Most Original: The Skiers by Colton. Teacher: Karri Mickelson Colton says, "My song makes me feel like I want to go skiing. When you listen, you can hear people going up and down the hills, and people falling." Sounds like a perfect ski adventure!
Best Use of Chords: The Rattle Runnerby Jack. Teacher: Alicia Dansie Jack says, "I love to learn about animals, and there are two animals in this one. When you listen, you'll hear the hiker, the rattlesnake, and the roadrunner." Take a listen to the lively adventure they share. Chords, Honorable Mention: Quickest Racers by Kathryn Teacher: Annah Clark Kathryn describes her piece as magical. Take a listen and you'll hear why!
Chords, Honorable Mention: Keepers of the Sea by Cannon Teacher: Chandra Schmitt Did you know that dolphins can save people from sharks? Enjoy this lively musical saga that illustrates just such a tale! Best Melody: I'm The King of Everything by Ethan Teacher: Janalee Fish Take a listen and you'll agree, he's king of keyboard and vocals!
Melody, Honorable Mention: Egyptian Desert by Abigail Teacher: Nicci Lovell Enjoy being transported across the world to Egypt when you hear this piece!
BEST Composition, OVERALL: Ballerina Dancer by Julia Teacher: Lily Hight Julia says, "In the B section, you can hear the ballerina spinning around."
Nicely done, everyone! We love hearing ALL of the third-year compositions, and hope you'll keep writing new songs every year for years to come!
