Making Summer Lessons More Fun

Students often need a change of pace during summer lessons-- you probably already have your list of favorite things to do, but here are a few ideas:

1. Have them pick a favorite living composer, and ask them to contact that composer via email. Composers love hearing from their fans, and are always happy to answer questions that students might have. It's fun for the students to feel that personal connection with a living composer!

2. Pair your student with another student in the studio and assign a couple of really fun duets for them to learn-- and if pairing them up with someone else is impossible, learn the duet part yourself and perform with your student. They love hearing you play too!

3. Students today are really into social media and the internet! Assign them 2 or 3 pieces either by master composers or educational composers and ask them to discover two or three performances of each piece on YouTube. They'll have fun exploring this music......and, they'll hear both good and not so good performances of many things! Ask them to do a brief "analysis" of each performance-- "What did you like about the performance?" "What could have been better?"

4. If you have access to a sequencing device in your studio (say, a Yamaha Clavinova), spend a few lessons teaching students how to sequence one of their favorite pieces. This is SO much fun for them and teaches them about sound, color, rhythm, and much more! It's motivational, fun, and rewarding for them to hear their piece through orchestral sounds.