Color In My Piano

Celebrating 12 Years of Blogging (and a Special GIVEAWAY!)

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 19:15:56 GMT

Hello readers,

Guess what! This Saturday, February 28, 2021, marks the twelve-year anniversary of Color In My Piano! Can you believe this blog has been around for TWELVE years now?

In this post, I will share a bit about ColorInMyPiano’s history, my own story, a celebratory sale, and finally a giveaway. (Have you ever wondered how ColorInMyPiano got its name? You’ll find out if you keep reading!)

The Beginnings

It was back in 2009 when I first considered writing my own blog. At that time, I was running a successful piano studio of about 20 students out of my parents’ home and finishing up my Bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Hope College. I was finding helpful resources and much inspiration for my teaching from other blogs, including Natalie Wickham’s Music Matters Blog and Susan Paradis’s Piano Teacher Resources, and had even begun creating some of my own worksheets and other printables. I felt I wanted to give back and share in the same way, and so on February 28, 2009, I wrote my first blog post: a welcome and brief statement of purpose.

[Blast from the past: Here’s a photo of me with some students back in 2009!]

On J uly 9, 2009, I decided that I was enjoying blogging enough to go full swing: I came up with the name “Color In My Piano,” purchased the ColorInMyPiano.com domain name and a year’s worth of web hosting, and gave the site a new look.

The name “Color In My Piano” was coined thanks to an essay I wrote during my senior year at Hope College. The class assignment required that I reflect upon my life and summarize my worldview. Not surprisingly, much of my essay centered around my beliefs regarding music and the role of the piano and teaching in my life. One of the themes that arose as I wrote the essay was my commitment to never allow music-making and teaching from ever feeling like merely a job or a requirement. I strive to keep “color in my piano” for both my students and myself.

[Here’s how my blog looked back in 2011!]

This is still an important life goal for me and helps provide a framework for what I share about on this blog. Personally, I find that I am able to keep myself invigorated in my work when I am open to learning new things, improving as a teacher, and striving towards excellent piano teaching for my students.

That summer, I moved with my husband (whom I married between our junior and senior years) to attend graduate school at Central Michigan University. Despite my responsibilities as a Graduate Assistant accompanying fellow music majors and teaching Class Piano, I made it a priority to teach between 5-10 private students each week. Teaching has always my primary motivation! I kept the blog going during those two years, too.

Years of Growth

After graduating with my Masters in Piano Pedagogy in May of 2011, my husband and I moved to Northwest Ohio (so he could begin another Master’s program in English), where I started my studio again from scratch. We rented a charming little house with a dining room that worked perfectly for my studio and I bought a piano. Sometimes, I missed being in the academic environment of college, but most of the time I felt thrilled to be “living the dream” and running my own piano studio!

Because it took a couple of years to build up my student roster, I found I had plenty of time for blogging. I continued sharing ideas and free printables — usually publishing new blog posts five days per week. Color In My Piano grew a lot during these years. I even added a shop to sell digital resources, such as my new-at-the-time music history lapbooking curriculum.

[A screenshot of the new shop!]

My studio eventually grew to 35 students, which I considered “full”! My husband finished his Master’s degree and was hired as the Public Relations & Communications Coordinator at a science museum for kids in Toledo, Ohio.

[Speaking at the 2014 Ohio Music Teachers Association conference — one of my first “big talks!”]

Gradually, I started giving presentations for local music teachers associations. I never expected to pursue public speaking, but I discovered it’s an incredibly fun way to share ideas and research with others. Now, I give at least a handful of presentations for local, state, or national-level events each year. (Curious to see my calendar and session topics? Learn more here.)

[Here’s how my blog looked back in 2015.]

In 2014, I started a new endeavor: offering online courses for piano teachers under the name Piano Teacher Institute with Joy Morin. Creating the curriculum for my flagship piano pedagogy course, “Excellence in Piano Teaching”, was a tremendous investment of time and energy. My goal was to combine the best of what I learned during my pedagogy classes in college while also including many practical aspects of piano teaching not typically covered. To date, my six-week course has been offered over ten times to small cohorts of teachers (over a hundred teachers total). I find it so rewarding to interact with and mentor other piano teachers in this way. (Learn more about my course and join the email list here.)

In 2017, I came up with the idea to host a summer Piano Teacher Retreat at my home. Thirteen teachers attended — I was thrilled! The theme we explored was “piano method books”. In the summers that followed I held two more retreats, each centered around a different theme. My retreats are currently on hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but I plan to offer them again when it becomes feasible. (Join the email list if you’d like to receive information when the time comes.)

[2017 retreat attendees]

Recent Years

In December of 2019, my husband and I moved from Bowling Green, Ohio to Saline, Michigan, just outside Ann Arbor (see a tour of my piano studio here). We always wanted to move back closer to our families in Michigan, and my husband was already commuting to Ann Arbor for his job in marketing at University of Michigan. Part of the impetus for this move was also the expectation of our first baby’s birth in February, 2020!

After my daughter’s birth and a six-week maternity leave, the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns hit in March 2020. I started up my students’ lessons all online, and remain so at the present! It’s been an interesting ride so far, and I’m doing my best to see this time as a learning experience. I’ve definitely had to get creative in certain respects during lessons, which has made my teaching stronger in ways.

Being a new mom has been a highlight of my days over the past year. I’m finding that my teaching is informing my parenting, and my parenting is informing my teaching. It’s fun being a parent, and my daughter brings so much joy to our household.

[Aria, now one year old.]

Since moving to Michigan, I became a dual member of OhioMTA and MichiganMTA and joined the Ann Arbor Area Piano Teachers Guild. I’ve been helping with their website redesign project, and also recently accepted a position with MichiganMTA as the Teacher Education Chair. We are currently working on the possibility of launching a new webinar series as part of our ongoing offerings for our members in Michigan. (If anyone has any experience or advice to share, please reach out to me! I’d love to hear about it.)

Today, I am still as dedicated as ever to Color In My Piano. I am never at a shortage of ideas to write about, and try to find time to put up 1-3 posts per week. True to its original intent back in 2009, I still think of my blog as a way to journal my piano teaching adventures, writing for myself to clarify my thoughts and to document things I was learning and doing. Twelve years later, I find that my blog has also become a platform for helping other piano teachers like me teach effectively, organize their businesses, and have fun in the process. I never could have imagined the outgrowth of projects and opportunities that resulted, thanks to writing a blog and gaining a wonderful readership base.

So, many thanks to you, my dear readers! I appreciate you coming along for the ride, and for your kind attention and interactions. I am deeply grateful for the things I’ve learned over the past twelve years of blogging and for the wonderful lessons and friendships that have resulted.

Here’s to a wonderful twelve years, and to many more to come. Thanks for celebrating with me!

–Joy

Giveaway & 20% Off Sale

To celebrate our twelve years, I’m running a giveaway and a sale! Use the promo code 12YEARS to receive 20% off any item in the shop. If you’ve been eyeing my favorite Ice Cream Intervals game, rhythm cards, composer lapbooks, or are thinking ahead to music camp curriculums for this summer, now’s a great time to buy! The sale runs between now and through March 31, 2021. Browse the shop now here.

Here’s the details about the giveaway: TWELVE randomly-chosen winners will receive ANY single item of your choosing from my shop! To enter, leave a comment below on this blog post telling us how long you’ve been following my blog and something you appreciate about ColorInMyPiano (a favorite printable, things you’ve learned, etc.). On Monday, March 1, 2021, the twelve lucky winners will be randomly selected and notified.

Good luck, and I look forward to reading your comments!

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:13:00 GMT

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”
Anthony J. D’Angelo

A love of learning will carry you far in life! And learning keeps us young, happy, and growing. Do you agree?

Question for thought: What can we teachers do to help our students develop a passion for learning?

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:02:00 GMT

“Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.”
Chinese proverb

With whom does the responsibility for learning lie: the teacher, or the student?

The answer: both. The question presents a false dichotomy. (As my pastor growing up used to say: When you ask the wrong question, you get the wrong answer!)

The reality is that both parties share responsibility in the process of education. This Chinese proverb points to that truth.

But teachers, let’s focus on ourselves for a moment: How can we open the door for our students? But further, what can we do to help empower our students to enter by themselves?

And now considering our teacher selves as the lifelong learners we are, and putting ourselves in the shoes of the students in our care: How can we help ourselves enter the doorways of learning?

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 12:47:00 GMT

“Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”
Abigail Adams

Learning requires a little skin in the game. It’s not likely to happen just by chance. Learning comes around thanks to passion for the subject matter and a zeal for learning. Plus, a healthy amount of some good ole’ elbow grease.

How do you help YOUR students fully apply and invest themselves in learning?

My 6 Favorite Office Supply Items as a Piano Teacher

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 21:54:22 GMT

Office supplies are always a teacher’s pleasure! I thought it would be fun to put together a post compiling my go-to pens, pencils, and other office items. Below, you’ll find a handy list with photos and links of the supplies I like to have near my fingertips while teaching piano lessons. (I’m currently still teaching my lessons online for now due to Covid-19 pandemic, but I keep these items on hand regardless and I bet you might like them, too!)

Please enjoy, and share your own favorite office supplies in the comments at the end of this post!

1. InkJoy Gel Pens

I once saw another teacher using these pens while at a conference, and I had to ask what they were. Now, these are my guilty pleasure. You can get these InkJoy Gel pens singly at OfficeMax, or buy a whole pack. The purple is my favorite.

I don’t use pen often while teaching, but I do use them all the time myself for to-do lists or anything else handwritten throughout the day.

Note: Just so you know, the links in the post are Amazon Affiliate links, which means you are supporting this blog if you decide to make a purchase using the links. Thanks!

2. Frixion Erasable Markers

My friend Susan Hong introduced me to these. They are Frixion erasable felt-tipped markers, and my students and I love them for making marks in our sheet music! Students are amazed at the way these erase using the friction of the rubber tips on the pen covers. Having color choices always makes for some extra fun in the lesson. We enjoy color-coding our dynamic markings, tracing slurs, circling notes, etc.

3. Post-it Sticky Notes

My students and I use Post-It sticky notes as bookmarks to mark the pages of pieces they are currently working on. No more guesswork! Even the littlest ones know what to practice each week. I always buy the 1.5”x2” sized ones for this purpose.

I also keep the larger 3”x3” sized sticky notes around for my own personal reminders and to-dos.

4. Bic Mechanical Pencils

I love using Bic mechanical pencils. They’re always sharp and ready-to-go, so that’s what I keep on my piano. My students love them, especially the young ones. I recommend buying the ones with 0.7mm or even 0.9mm sized lead, instead of 0.5mm, so they are less likely to break if students press hard. I love the smoothness of the thicker leads anyway!

5. Prismacolor Col-Erase Pencils

I’ve been using these Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils in my teaching for years. Color always makes everything more fun, and these are especially awesome colored pencils because they are erasable!

6. Sticky Page Markers (as an Alternative to Highlighter Tape)

My students and I enjoy using these translucent, colorful page markers to highlight certain areas of our sheet music. I like these as an alternative to highlighter tape, because they are essentially precut and it’s easy to keep lots of colors on hand.

These page markers are repositionable, and you can also write on them if desired. You can find them on Amazon or at any office supply store — or sometimes at the dollar store as well.

Your turn: Tell me your favorite office supplies in the comments below! I’d love to hear!

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 12:38:00 GMT

“Man can learn nothing except by going from the known to the unknown.”
Claude Bernard

Learning requires moving into the great unknown. It might be scary at times, but without making the risk we don’t have much to gain.

What’s an example of a time when YOU’ve made a move into the unknown?

12 Podcasts for Piano Teachers in 2021

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 12:10:00 GMT

Do you listen to podcasts? I enjoy listening to both to podcasts and audiobooks while driving, exercising, getting ready in the morning, or getting things done around the house. It’s like listening to the radio, except you have more control over exactly what you’re listening to!

There’s been a number of new podcasts for piano teachers popping up recently for piano teachers, which is exciting to see! In this blog post, I’ll share a list of some of the best podcasts, both new and not, for piano teachers.

1.

Beyond Measure with Christina Whitlock is a new podcast offering shout-outs of solidarity pertaining to independent music studio life. Christina, self-proclaimed as our “Anytime Piano Teacher Friend” (and also my friend in real life), is a great storyteller and has great tips and experience to share. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

2.

Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning with Ashley Danyew is a collection of creative ideas, practical strategies, and thoughtful observations from the field of music teaching and learning. Music educator Ashley Danyew dives into topics like how we learn, developing musicianship, time management, teaching sequence, planning tools and strategies, the art of teaching, practicing, and the creative process, and share personal stories from her own experiences and observations. You’ll find creative and pedagogically-sound teaching tips; fresh, new approaches you can use in your teaching; and insight into a few tried-and-true systems and creative processes designed to help you do you best work. A must listen! I’m really enjoying her podcast as well as her beautiful blog. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

3.

Key Ideas with Leila Viss started up in August 2020. An outgrowth of her blog, Leila’s podcast is for piano teachers interested in innovation, self care, and thinking outside the box. The episodes, some of which are solo “flashbulb” episodes and others which are “spotlights interviews with guests, are intended to keep you current and encouraged. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

4.

Music Studio Startup with Andrea Miller is a podcast is about the business of teaching music. Learn how to brand, market, and grow your music studio. I admire Andrea’s skills as an interviewer and her willingness to share her perspective and skills in the field of entrepreneurship. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

5.

Teach Suzuki is a podcast by veteran Suzuki violin teacher Paul E. Bird. Although I am not a Suzuki teacher, I admire aspects of the philosophy and have been enjoying learning from Paula’s expertise and wisdom about teaching, practicing, running a studio, and communicating with students and parents. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

6.

Teach Music Online with Carly Walton is a new podcast about helping teachers use new technology, engaging teaching methods, and killer business tactics to build an online business that you love. Carly is a great interviewer and an encouraging, upbeat mentor. She runs a membership community dedicated to helping teachers teach online, which you can check out here. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

7.

The Piano Parent Podcast is a unique podcast dedicated to helping parents get the most out of their child’s piano lessons. Host Sheila Davis, a Texas-based piano teacher, does a fantastic job covering topics such as: choosing a piano/keyboard, helping students practice, the parent-teacher relationship, preparing students for performances, and encouraging a love of music in the house. This longtime podcast features both solo episodes and interviews with other teachers. It’s a great podcast to both recommend to your students’ parents and listen to yourself! Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

8.

The TopCast is a podcast for music teachers from Tim Topham’s topmusic.co team featuring interviews with composers, teachers, bloggers, and presenters as they share their ideas about music teaching in the 21st century. There are some really good episodes to check out! Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

9.

Vibrant Music Teaching with Nicola Cantan offers practical tips, idea, and advice for private music teachers. And outgrowth of her blog and membership community, Nicola shares her tips and recommendations for helping teachers improve their business and teaching. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

10.

Everyday Musicality is a music education podcast by Dr. Heather Nelson Shouldice that discusses Edwin E. Goron’s MLT (Music Learning Theory) and its applications to music teaching and learning. In these episodes, you’ll learn about the core tenants of MLT and also experience some helpful musicianship activities to build your audiation. Highly recommended, if you have even a slight interest in MLT or helping your student improve their ears/audiation skills! Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

11.

Keys to Music Learning is an MLT piano podcast by Krista Jadro and Hannah Mayo that is coming soon! The podcast will discuss common goals and challenges in the piano studio and offer research-based ideas and solutions to guide every one of your students to reach their full musical potential with audiation. Episodes to be released starting this month. I’m excited about this one! Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

12.

The Bulletproof Musician explores research-based “practice hacks” for beating anxiety, practicing more effectively, and playing up to your full abilities when it matters most. Host Noa Kageyama, performance psychologist and Juilliard alumnus/faculty, offers short episodes summarizing relevant research studies as well as longer-form guest interview episodes. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

That concludes my list of 12 podcasts for piano teachers in 2021, but now I’d like to share two bonus recommendations that are not music-related!

Bonus.

Akimbo is a podcast from marketing guru and thinker Seth Godin. I’ve been following Seth’s both for ages and enjoy his thought-provoking insights into marketing, business, service, culture, and change. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

The Newsworthy is podcast featuring the day’s news in a short, friendly 10-minute episodes. Host Erica Mandy covers politics, tech, business, and entertainment highlights in a fair and upbeat manner. This podcast is part of my morning routine! Subscribe at Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

Your turn: What did I miss? Do you have a favorite podcast to share? I would love to hear. Post it below in the comments!

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 19:24:00 GMT

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
Benjamin Franklin

Learning is truly an investment. It’s a sacrifice made in the hope that we will reap the benefits of knowledge many times over.

There are so many different ways to spend our time, energy, and resources. But in my experience, investing in knowledge tends to pay off and prove worthwhile to my quality of life…especially when it’s something I’m deeply interested in!

Do you agree? What have YOU invested to learn recently?

MTNA and NCKP: Two Virtual Conferences You Won’t Want to Miss in 2021!

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:13:00 GMT

After getting my first taste of a national conference as a college student, I made a commitment early on in my career to always ensure I was making enough income to be able to afford professional development opportunities like these. There’s nothing like investing in yourself — you’re your greatest asset! Experiences like conferences can reap long-lasting benefits for improving your teaching, improving your business, and keeping yourself fresh and motivated in your career as a piano teacher.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic might still be putting a “pause” in larges in-person events, but we can still connect virtually! I am pretty excited about TWO upcoming music teacher conferences that are going virtual for 2021.

The first conference is the MTNA annual conference. I haven’t heard much buzz about this year’s conference yet, but I assume it will be as awesome as usual! The dates are March 13-17, 2021. You can read more and register for MTNA’s 2021 Virtual Conference here. Early bird registration rates are available until February 16, 2021.

The second conference opportunity is NCKP 2021: The Piano Conference Virtual. From what I hear, they’ll be using an innovative platform for the conference and they’ve expanded the Preconference activities (normally, a single day with multiple tracks to choose from) into a series of thirteen days. The Preconference will take place July 13-27, 2021 and the main Conference is July 28-31, 2021. I have a feeling this conference is not to be missed!

A proposal I submitted was accepted for NCKP’s conference — hooray! My presentation is titled Music is Child’s Play: Lessons Learned from My Youngest Student. I won’t spoil the presentation, but I’ll just say that yes, it’s about my daughter, Aria, and that I hope you’ll find it a fascinating session! My presentation is to take place on July 16, during the Preconference “Young Musicians: Birth to Age 9.”

[Don’t mind me…I tend to insert a cute baby photo whenever I can find an excuse!]

I will also appear as a panelist alongside a handful of colleagues on a session entitled, Teaching Students to Fish: Developing Independent Learners From the First Lesson. This session has not yet been scheduled, but it will occur at some point during the main conference. I’ll share more details as the dates grows nearer.

You can read more and register for NCKP 2021 here. Early bird registration rates are available until May 4, 2021.

I hope you’ll consider registering for one or both of these conferences! National-level conferences like these are so worthwhile!

Your turn: How have YOU invested in yourself recently?

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 12:40:00 GMT

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Aristotle

We aren’t teaching just young fingers, young bodies, young minds. We’re teaching young hearts. <3

So, let’s teach with heart!

Take a Tour of my Piano Studio! (2021)

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 16:23:41 GMT

After moving from Northwest Ohio to Southeast Michigan in December of 2020, I had promised to give you a tour of my new studio space. Somehow, a year has already passed…but I’m finally delivering on that promise! Below is a photo tour as well as a video tour (scroll down to the end). I think it’s always fun to see other teachers’ piano studios, so I hope you’ll enjoy!

My husband and I waited a long time for the right house to come along. Among the other items on our wishlist, we were looking for a house that had both a living room and a family room so I could claim one of them as my piano studio.

Here’s the front door where students enter (at least, eventually when the Covid-19 pandemic is over and I begin teaching in-person lessons once again!).

Students are invited to remove their shoes on the mat (read more about that friendly reminder decal sticker here).

When you look to the left, here’s the first look into the piano studio.

The card table you see in the photo above is not normally there, but these days I’m using it to keep myself organized for my online teaching. Each stack is for a student and marked with a sticky note. The stacks on the left are for Monday students, and as my teaching week goes on I work my way towards the right.

I also a have a special stack of books near the piano, for the books that multiple students are currently using.

Last weekend, I finally got around to putting artwork up on the wall! That’s what partly motivated me to take some photos. I still need to get to IKEA sometime to buy a third ledge shelf for the wall…for now, I taped up a strip of cardboard so you get the visual effect.

This is the waiting area of the room.

And here’s the other end of the room, where the piano is.

As you can see, I have a few digital instruments as well. My plan had previously been to experiment with teaching some group classes after my move to Michigan. The Covid-19 pandemic has put a delay on those plans for now.

My husband and I installed the turquoise sliding door to create privacy between the piano studio and the kitchen. We found the unfinished door on Facebook Marketplace and bought the hardware from Amazon. We love how it turned out!

Here’s the room from a different angle.

It might be tricky to get the sense for a room’s layout by looking at photos. So, you might enjoy checking out the video version of my tour!

0:00 The front door, where students enter and remove their shoes.
0:30 The waiting area.
1:00 Wall decor, finally put up after a year of living in this house!
1:30 My fold-up table and system for keeping music books organized for online teaching.
2:10 My set-up near the piano for online teaching: desk, Macbook Pro, electric blanket, overhead camera.
3:00 Drawers for storing games, flashcards, and manipulatives (read more about my organizational system here).
3:25 My bookcases from IKEA. They are the KALLAX and BESTA shelf units (read more on this blog post from 2012).
3:50 Misc decor
5:00 The sliding “farm door” my husband and I put in to separate the piano studio from the kitchen.
6:00 More game storage, etc.

Thanks for taking the penny tour!

Your turn: Have questions about anything you see? Leave a comment!

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 12:03:00 GMT

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily.”
Muriel Spark

Learning is risky.

It means our self esteem might take a blow. It means our attempts might look inept. It means we might realize just how much we don’t know.

Young children don’t have this problem. They are accustomed to having to learn new things all the time. And as the quote points out, they have little awareness of their own self-importance. As a result, they generally aren’t shy about jumping in to try something new!

Maybe we can “stay young” and learn from kids. We can choose to not allow our pride to get hurt when we are in those awkward learning stages. Maybe we can try to recover quickly, laugh it off, and not allow those moments to get to us.

How can we help our students, as they grow up, stay open to risky learning experiences?

Because learning is worth the risk.

[Visit Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

TUTORIAL: Editing virtual recital videos using Canva + Adobe Premiere Rush

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 18:46:40 GMT

Hello, teachers!

As promised, here is a video tutorial about how I edited my students’ videos for our most recent virtual recital project, Countdown to the New Year. In particular, this video tutorial focuses on how to use Canva.com to design animated opening/ending screens and then how to use Adobe Premiere Rush to complete the video editing. I hope you’ll pick up some useful tips, no matter what video editing software you prefer!

This tutorial video ended up being 35 minutes long — much longer than I expected. But I hope you’ll find the tutorial thorough and complete, and the pacing of the video to feel just right.

0:30 An example of an edited student video with an animated and ending screen.
1:08 Browsing the templates at Canva.com and saving them to your “Likes” folder.
3:20 Selecting a template and using it as a starting point.
4:22 Getting the right dimensions for your video project (e.g., 1920×1080, 1080×1920 or 1080×1350). This step is the magic that allows you to use ANY template you find in Canva as a starting point for your project!
7:10 Opening a new custom project in Canva using your project’s dimensions.
8:30 Copying the template’s elements into your project.
10:57 Editing the template to suit your needs.
11:30 My Handdrawn Music Notes & Symbols set, used for my ending screen.
12:45 Resizing, recoloring, rotating, centering, adding text, etc.
17:00 Adding animation.
19:00 Downloading from Canva.
20:15 Keeping your files organized for your project.
22:30 Starting a new project in Adobe Premiere Rush.
23:50 Editing your video: moving things around on the timeline, trimming, layering the opening/ending screens, adding transitions, timing the applause track (I got mine from FreeSoundEffects.com), etc.
30:40 Downloading your finished video.
32:05 A peek at some of the different opening screens I designed for my student videos.

Questions? Any steps I should clarify? Or do you have additional tips to share? Leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for watching, and I hope this helps with your future virtual recitals or other video projects!

Related: If you are getting ready to do a virtual recital project with your students for the first time, you may want to also read this blog post: My Students’ 2020 Virtual Recital: How-To Steps and How It Turned Out.

[Visit TUTORIAL: Editing virtual recital videos using Canva + Adobe Premiere Rush to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

My online course is coming soon! (Winter 2021)

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 19:32:52 GMT

I’m sending out this quick email today to let you know that I am preparing to offer a session of my online course, Excellence in Piano Teaching, very soon!

I’ve offered this guided piano pedagogy course to small groups of teachers over a dozen times now, with a total of over a hundred teachers having participated. But it’s been a year-and-a-half since the last time it was offered. That’s what happens when you move, have a baby, and then Covid hits. I’m excited to be offering it again next month!

Here are the details for this session:

I won’t be talking about the course much here on my blog, so if you’re at all interested you’ll want to join the separate email list found at institute.joymorin.com. I’ll be sending more details about the course and registration info via email to those on the list next week.

PS: I received quite a few comments from you all, saying you’d to learn more about how I created my recent videos projects with my students. Stay tuned — I’m working on a video tutorial!

Happy Friday, friends!

[Visit My online course is coming soon! (Winter 2021) to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 06 Jan 2021 17:11:33 GMT

“Take the attitude of a student: never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.”
OG Mandino

This message is a GOOD ONE for us to keep in mind as we all become older and wiser. We are naturally good learners as children, but as we grow up sometimes we become less willing or less open to learning new things.

But it doesn’t have to be that way! We can assume the attitude of a student, no matter how old we are. We can be comfortable with the fact that we don’t know everything. We can be willing to ask questions. We can be EXCITED when there are opportunities to learn new things.

Moreover, we can MODEL this attitude for the young ones in our charge. Have your students witnessed your excitement to try out new piano literature with them? Have they seen you introduce new resources, teaching aids, or projects? Have they seen you perform in your studio recitals? Have they heard about your own practice strategies? Have they seen you embrace new technology? If so, that’s awesome!!

As teachers, let’s strive to not only be the best teachers we can be, but also the best learners we can be.

[Visit Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

My Piano Students Play the 12 Days of Christmas

Sat, 02 Jan 2021 11:52:00 GMT

As mentioned yesterday, my students collaborated to create a special video as the “grand finale” of our Countdown to the New Year project. Today, I’m sharing the video for you to see.

Please enjoy our take on The 12 Days of Christmas!

I hope you enjoy our fun little video. Credit goes to my student, Elijah, for the idea. Because it was a somewhat last-minute project, and we kept it simple — each student learned only the RH melody for their assigned day. But I think it turned out pretty great regardless!

I’m thinking about doing it again next year. I have some ideas for expanding it a bit.

If you are curious to hear more about the behind-the-scenes planning and video editing, could you let me know? If there’s enough interest, perhaps I’ll write up a blog post or even create a purchasable kit with everything you need!

Thanks for watching!

[Visit My Piano Students Play the 12 Days of Christmas to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

"Countdown to the New Year”– 2020 Video Project

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 16:02:34 GMT

2021 is here! Happy New Year!!

Over the past few weeks, my students and I have been working on a “Countdown to the New Year” video project. I don’t normally organize a Christmas recital, but some of my students were asking if we were going to do something this year. And so, I came up with a project for us.

Inspired by an Instagram post by Amber Kao, director of the Faber Piano Institute, I decided we would do a virtual recital (YouTube videos) that was spread out day-by-day leading up to the new year. Because we started somewhat last-minute, we chose pieces that were well within reach for students to videorecord in only 3-4 weeks. We kept it simple!

Normally, I loan out Christmas books to my students this time of year, but that wasn’t feasible due to my lessons being online right now due to the Covid-19 pandemic and many of my students being located an hour away. I did send new books to some of my more advanced students, but the majority of my students received studio licensed PDFs to print out — thanks to Carol Matz’s awesome PDF bundle of studio licensed Christmas arrangements. Just what I needed this year! The bundle even comes with backing tracks for students to play along with. This was an absolute LIFESAVER!

I edited each student video in a fashion similar to our past two virtual recitals: I trimmed the beginning and end, and added an applause track at the end.

But this time, I also added an opening and an ending screen. The opening screen states: “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” from [student name]. The ending screen states our “Countdown to the New Year project” and has our studio logo. I encouraged students to share their “virtual Christmas card” with friends and family.

Here is an example of one of my student’s videos, in case you’d like to see how it turned out. I love how Sonya decorated her piano with string lights!

If there is enough interest, perhaps I’ll create a video tutorial sharing how I created the opening and ending screens, and how to do the video editing in Adobe Premiere Rush. Does that sound interesting? If so, please let me know in the comments!

Stay tuned — tomorrow I’ll share the special collaboration video my students and I created as the “grand finale” for our project!

[Visit “Countdown to the New Year” – 2020 Video Project to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Best wishes for 2021!

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 14:57:00 GMT

The new year is nearly here, my friends! Sending love and all best wishes for 2021.

–Joy

[Visit Best wishes for 2021! to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:08:00 GMT

“Learning is not compulsory. Neither is survival.”

–W. Edwards Deming

Food for thought: What are your students learning from YOU, whether intentionally or non-intentionally?

[Visit Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Christmas Gifts for Students, 2011-2020

Mon, 21 Dec 2020 18:05:53 GMT

Hi there! Christmas Day is nearly upon us. Today, I thought I would make an update this flashback post to share what I gave my students this year. (You can skip down to the bottom of this post to see!)

Things to keep in mind: I don’t think it’s necessary to give your piano students gifts at Christmastime, but it’s a nice gesture if you feel so inspired! Some years, I’ve kept it pretty simple while other years I have felt inspired to take on a more time-intensive project. I hope you’ll enjoy browsing this post and perhaps gaining an idea or two to tuck away for the future!

2011: Personalized Glass Sheet Music Ornaments

Back in 2011, I created personalized glass sheet music ornaments for each student, with their name and the year written with a gold paint pen. They turned out so pretty! I love how they turned out, and would like to use this idea again in the future. Each student also received a chocolate Symphony bar. Read more here.

That year, I gave my adult students something else: a copy of the book “The A to Z of Foreign Musical Terms” by Christine Ammer. I learned about this book during grad school upon recommendation from a professor. Have you ever looked up a word in your music dictionary, only to find it wasn’t included?! Unlike others, this dictionary hasn’t let me down. It’s a nice slim volume, and a great price — I’d recommend it to any piano teacher or student! I use during lessons to have students look up the terms they encounter in their pieces.

2012: Iced Sugar Cookies

The following year, I baked sugar cut-out cookies using my music cookie cutters. I topped them with icing, and I think they turned out pretty cute!

The music cookie cutter set I own is no longer available on Amazon, but this set looks pretty similar!

I bagged them using treat sacks and a topper I designed in Microsoft Word. Read more here.

2013: A home-recorded CD of favorite student classical repertoire

The next year, I home-recorded a CD of a few favorite classical teaching pieces. This was quite a big project, but it turned out pretty neat! Read more here.

2014: A Printed Composition (or two)

This year, I composed two pieces (one mid-elementary level and one late intermediate level) and give them to my students for Christmas. This was a fun project! Learn more about the details of this project and download the elementary level piece for free here.

2015: Sheet Music Ornaments

This is one of my favorite gifts I’ve done! If you like doing crafty things, this idea might be for you. I recycled old, tattered sheet music to create these lovely sheet music ornaments. Learn more here.

2016: Iced Sugar Cookies (again)

In 2016, I made sugar cut-out cookies again! Making cut-out cookies is one of those things that I love doing around the holidays! I have good memories of making holiday cookies with my siblings growing up.

2017: Rice Crispy Treats in a Cookie Cutter

The next year, I tried something based on a picture I had seen (probably on Pinterest?) — with my own twist. I made Rice Crispy Treats, inserted music-shaped cookie cutters, and then decorated using red and green M&Ms.

I found out it was kinda tricky to remove the Rice Crispy Treats from the pan while keeping them inside the cookie cutters, but I think it turned out alright overall!

2018: Snowman Sheet Music Resin Ornament

Last year, I bought these adorable resin snowman ornaments on Amazon and added a ribbon scarf to each one (thanks goes to Sara Campbell for the recommendation!). I personalized them by writing each student name, the year, and a few music notes on the back using a permanent marker.

I paired each ornament with a bag of homemade cinnamon popcorn, made on the stovetop — a healthy snack I was really into that year!

2019: Pianist Gloves

Last year, I ordered black gloves from eBay (here) and used white 3D fabric paint to add a treble clef and bass clef on the RH and LH of each pair. I also made brownies. I think they turned out pretty cute! Read more about it here.

2020: Treble Clef Necklaces & Piano Ties

This year was a little different than usual (probably the understatement of the year…). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I am currently teaching all of my students online. Although I have a few local students here in Michigan, the majority of my students are longtime Ohio students from before my move. So, going about Christmas gifts the usual way wasn’t going to work!

I really enjoy gifting something to my students. I strongly considered making a trip to deliver gifts via porch drop-off. However, I decided against when I realized how much time that would require due to the commute and the scattered locations of my students.

So, next I considered sending gifts via mail. Taking into considering the fact that shipping would likely cost between $3-5/family, I decided I’d rather have that $3-5 expense go towards being able to give a slightly nicer gift to each student. And so, instead I selected gifts from Amazon.com and took advantage of Amazon Prime free shipping by having the items shipped directly to each student’s address.

To let students know to watch for a package to arrive, I mailed them Christmas cards a few days before making the Amazon order.

Here’s what I picked out: a treble clef necklace for the girls and a piano tie for the guys. I’ve gotten a few appreciative text messages so far, so hopefully they are all enjoying their gifts!

I enjoy doing something different each year, and this year was no exception!

Your turn: Let’s share more ideas! What have you given for Christmas gifts for your students in the past? Leave a comment below this post!

[Visit Christmas Gifts for Students, 2011-2020 to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]