Stunning Studio Spaces!!

Although we were few in number, we were able to record this fabulous Zoom meeting.  I was amazed at the wonderful ideas and recommendations Christie gave that can improve and enhance ANY teaching space we may be working with.  Christie's attention to detail and teaching in such a way that we are encouraged rather than discouraged was remarkable!

Here are a few of the tips I appreciated:

• if possible, have two pianos side-by-side rather than different places in the room
• there are some great piano design things for the bathroom...shower curtain, bath mat, hand towels if you wanted your bathroom to have some piano flair!
• keep your instrument in tune
• pianos on an inside wall, if possible
• Open the lid of a grand piano away from the wall where possible
• Organize your shelves/closet with your music; magazine holders work great (Ikea)

It was a great presentation and we really appreciate Christie's time and talent!

 

Welcome 2022!!

 2021 was an interesting, but good, year!!  With most of our chapter meetings held online via zoom we had more teachers in attendance, but we missed our personal contact.  Our May Closing Social was so much enjoyed, meeting together at Vernon Worthen Park.  Who knew it would be our LAST chapter meeting with Dr. Dean present.  His death impacted our chapter and community deeply.  He is missed in so many ways!!

Our December chapter meeting was a gift of time to each of us.  No meeting was held.

And now we have ushered in 2022!!  Our first meeting was held on January 11th with Christopher Oill presenting on Interpretation.  He used Mary Had A Little Lamb as a very easy foundation piece to work with.  It was funny to think/hear how this well-known melody could change very quickly depending on the "performers" perspective.

Many of his recommendations made me think of different students and their varying attitudes depending on what is going on in their lives.  I can hardly wait to have a cranky student play their scales as a MONSTER...and then to play them as a PRINCESS.  Hopefully, they will start to recognize the difference in their playing depending on what they are feeling inside.  

It was a great presentation, and Christopher always has some "take-aways" that improve our teaching.

FEBRUARY's CHAPTER MEETING:  Due to the change in the Southern Utah Piano Pedagogy Conference date (moved from February, now is on April 9th) we WILL have a chapter meeting!!  

Dr. Christie Sowby will present on "Stunning Studio Spaces" (a presentation she has given several times, including at MTNA Conference!)  February 15, 2022 - Noon via zoom!!

2021 PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS

 Performance Evaluations will be held in-person at Dixie State University on October 8-9, 2021.

If you are a member of UMTA the cost is $10/solo K-12 or 412/solo Collegiate/Adult.  If you are not a member of UMTA the entry cost if $30/student.

If you need more information, please email Patrice Hunt at huntent@gmail.com

You can find more information on the UMTA website.

Holli Archer - "Registration to Recital: Tech Hacks for Your Studio and Life"

 It was great to be back for our 2021-22 UMTA chapter meetings!  We've decided to continue hosting them via Zoom so more members can attend.  

Holli presented a LOT of great ideas that we can implement in our studios to save us time and help us engage with our students, their parents, and the public.

October's meeting will feature Christopher Oill - Level Up with Left Hand Patterns

Left hand patterns easily turn “that was nice,” into “holy smokes!” Come hear how famous composers did it, and how you can, too.

Bonus: the handout has tons of patterns to try at home!

Christopher Oill composes piano pieces for The FJH Music Company, Inc., works for Faber Piano Adventures, and owns the Oill Piano Universe. He holds an M.M. in Piano Performance Pedagogy from Arizona State University.

Untimely Passing of Dr. Lynn Dean

 It was with very heavy hearts that we learned of the passing of our friend, mentor, colleague, and long-time member of our St. George Chapter/UMTA due to a three-week battle with Covid19.  His passing was on July 23, 2021 and his funeral took place on Friday, July 29, 2021.  His obituary can be found here.

His influence can't be overstated.  With a studio of private students reaching up to 99 at times, and teaching as an adjunct faculty member at Dixie State University, he still found time to serve as the UMTA State President, and in many other positions along the way.  

Our closing social in May was the last chapter meeting he attended.  And he was lots of fun, as usual.  Thank you, Lynn, for being of such good influence in so many of our lives!!  We miss you!!  

Closing Social at Vernon Worthen Park

 

After a very "strange:" year of wonderful Zoom meetings, it was delightful to meet together at the park and enjoy just being together.  (Sorry we took the picture after you left, McKayla and Mark!)  It was great getting to know some of our new members, and learning new things about our long-time members!!

We hope everyone enjoys their summer, sorry we missed a few of our members: Brandon, Christian, Tallie, Elouise, Debbie, Julia, Jacob, Brenda, & Lindsay.

We look forward to many more great chapter meetings starting in September!

Perfect Practice presented by Dr. Nancy Allred

 Wow!!  If you ever wanted some great ideas on how to help your students become much more ACCURATE with their practicing, stop right here!!  Watch the video!

Dr. Allred gave us this Perfect Practice handout that is full of great ideas.  One big take-away that is going up in MY studio is:

"It is important to practice

at the speed of

NO MISTAKES!"

*_*

Composing Within Your Studio - Part 2

 We were so excited to get "Part 2" of this great presentation by Denise Frost.  As one of our members put it so well, "I've never had composing taught so easily...that I'm actually now teaching composing in my studio."  (See video at the bottom)

This sentiment echos loud and clear.  We have been given EASY tool to use to help our students explore the world of creating their compositions.

Some great suggestions included:

Open Triad - use the middle note of the LH chord, and put it an octave higher in the RH melody.

Question & Answer:  Use Mary Had A Little Lamb as an easy example of this.

Start with a chord progression, using the "pie" of 6 chords.  

In this case:

C  F   G  and Am  Dm  and Em.   

These chords are great "friends" and work well together.  Pick 4 to work with.  

*  You can use any adjacent wedges of the pie to create a composition in any key.

LH Accompaniment Ideas:

Add a 5th interval note

"Enya" style with LH 1-5-8-10-13  or any combination of these

Use cadences - I  IV - V - V7 etc

Make up lyrics to add a rhythm.  We came up with:

"Such a beau-ti-ful warm spring-day.

I like chew-ing bub-ble-gum in the hay."

Don't forget that repeating patterns can be very nice.

THANK YOU, DENISE, for a delightful presentation!