What will May bring?

It's been a busy April and looks to be an even busier May!

First, I want to wish all of our students that are auditioning for the Piano Playing Auditions on April 25 through April 28 good luck!  I know how hard you've worked, and speaking for myself, I can say that it's been very exciting to see the progress each of the students have made from one week to the next.  This week is all about fine tuning your pieces, and if you are memorizing, try to play your program for your family.  Our guild adjudicator is Craig Morrow and you will be able to read his bio at the guild auditions.

Now, on to May!  The Robert Vandall recital workshop is on May 5 at 4:30 or 7:00, and May 6 at 12:00.  It looks like we may book this event which is exciting news for our area!  At this time there are still some openings on Saturday at 4:30 or 7:00 for performers!  I spoke to Mr. Vandall this past weekend, and he's super excited to come and meet our students.  He has written over 400 works for piano!  http://www.alfred.com/Company/Authors/RobertDVandall.aspx   We are opening this up to the public because we really feel strongly that this event would benefit any musician in our area!  Come to join the fun.

The end of year recitals will be on Sunday, May 20.  We are offering 4 recital times at 12:00, 1:45, 3:30 and 5:15. These recitals are always wonderful, including our piano and voice students!  The venue, Munson Williams Proctor Institute auditorium, is the perfect place to feature our students.

Summer Kindermusik will begin on May 21.  We have several offerings for all ages.  Details can be found at http://www.kindermusik.com/classes/

And, now for my fun time, I purchased an Ipad!  Wow, I found so many music apps.  Did you know that there are sight reading apps, note spelling apps, page turning apps (yes, believe it), and more.  If you get a chance, search for some great music apps to share with your child, and if you can, share them with me.  I'm sure there are many out there that I still haven't seen.

Happy May!

Summer happenings

I'm so excited about all of the great music opportunities The Piano Lab will be offering this year for the summer.  We have a great staff of teachers and they've all worked with me to develop quality music programs for our area.

To begin our summer adventure, we are hosting a field trip on June 9 to NYC to see the musical, "NEWSIES" and to participate in a music and movement workshop led by Disney artists.  We will also be sneaking into the back stage of the performance for a personal tour!  Tickets are booking quickly, which is thrilling to see!

In our piano/vocal school, we will be offering private lessons for piano, voice, and woodwind and brass! And, our class offerings will include Musical Workshop camps in which students of all ages will work on scenes and songs from musicals and operettas.   We will also be offering music theory classes, and duo/ensemble classes. 

In Kindermusik news, we are offering our Summer Adventures camps beginning in May/June and another 5 week semester in July/August.  http://www.kindermusik.com/legacy/Classes/ClassLocator.aspx

We are also excited to introduce something brand new to our community: The Autism Movement Therapy, Inc  Movement and Music Program autismmovementtherapy.com  I've always wanted a music program such as this, and local educator Pamela Weimer came to me as a certified teacher.  We are working out the details but hope to start the 2nd week in July.

And, we are now partnering with Evolve Discovery Center  to offer a summer camp for ages 4 to 7:  http://www.evolvediscoverycenter.com/camps-workshops/adventures-around-the-world-music-summer-camp-ages-4-7

It's going to be a busy summer!

A Tribute to our Kindermusik Village classes (ages newborn to 18 mo.)

In music, we talk a lot about timbre.  Timbre refers to quality of sound.   Most likely, your baby has already begun to differentiate the quality of your voice and your dad's voice.  In class, we explore a variety of musical instruments with different timbres or characteristic sound qualities, such as the scratching of the egg shakers, the ringing of the baby bells, and the resonant "boom" of the drum.  As your baby hears this variety of sounds, she is developing the listening vocabulary necessary for sound discrimination which precedes language. 
I hope you will delight at this video and see how the babies in our Saturday morning Kindermusik class explored the sounds of the drum.  Notice at the end how one baby is trying to imitate the "boom, boom, boom" with his lips! 
There's so much learning going on in our Kindermusik classes!  In this particular class, the mommies all joked that their children were all gifted and talented.  But, let's also give a huge shout out to all the parents that want to provide the very best experience for their child! 

Why We Love Kindermusik

One of the most precious letters I received was from a Kindermusik mom who has since moved out of the area:

"Dear Jeanette,

I thought I would write down our family experience with Kindermusik. I remember starting Tori when she was about 6 months old. I really enjoyed the program and would go home everyday and play the cd and do the activities with her so her dad could see how great it was. I remember she loved the activity of being pulled on a towel, laundry basket, or swinging in a blanket. We learned all the songs on all the cds because we listened in the car whenever we were going somewhere. We made good friends with the other moms in the class and their children. In fact, we started a playgroup and mom's night out and our group is still together and in Kindermusik. We've lost a few members due to moves and added siblings too. We still go to each others kids birthday parties and even have holiday get togethers and our oldest children are going to be turning 5 soon.

When Tori and I advanced to the Our time level, I wasn't sure if i was going to stay with it because Tori didn't seem to want to do some of the activities. I talked to you about it and you suggested that we continue and that she was getting alot out of it even though it doesn't look like it. Running around is normal for the toddler age. You were right.

Tori was almost 3 when she tried the Confetti Days over the summer and she did really well.

She graduated into the program where mom didn't go in, she was ready, I'm not sure i was. I missed it. She wasn't with her friends she was always with anymore but she made new ones. All our children develop at different times and in different ways. She has now been enrolled in the Young Child class and will soon be finishing Young child 2. She can actually read music and play the glockenspiel. She also recently started singing in the lollypop chorus as you suggested and she loves it. I wish there were more children in the chorus though. Next year she will take Young Child 3 & 4 during Kindergarten and will begin Piano lessons in 1st grade.

Tori's brother Christopher started Kindermusik when he was 6 months old and he used to sing to the music in class. He used to make all the mom's laugh because he would sing AHHHH to the words of the songs and stop singing when the song stopped. Christopher loves music. He is now 3 and ready to move up to the Imagine that level.

It's been great to watch the different children grow with the music. Some children start the class glued to mom or dad's lap crying and half way through the semester they will be smiling, laughing, and running around. Some children start out running around and end up settling down and participating in the different activities.

"What is important in our class is that you, the parent, are engaging with your child." Arriving on time is also very important. Coming into the class when everyone is seated and not being there to begin the hello song can cause a little anxiety for the child. Waiting until after the class to talk to the other parents or teacher is best and can build friendships.

We are very pleased with our experience with Kindermusik and can't imagine it not being a part of our daily lives. We still listen to the cds at home and in the car and know most of the words to all the songs. Thank you Miss Jeanette for making this such a wonderful time of sharing with our children and I know I speak for many parents.

Sincerely,

Gail S "

Welcome to The Piano Lab

Welcome to The Piano Lab!  Just who are we, and what do we do?  The Piano Lab has been in the Mohawk Valley area for almost 30 years.  Established in 1985, we started out as a small piano studio with 2 teachers; myself and Mrs. Wilcox!  We began teaching from my home on Roberts Rd. in Sauquoit, NY.  Those of you that remember our hill and the rough winters will understand why we quickly moved off the hill.  Over the years we grew and currently have 12 instructors. 

We began offering Kindermusik to the area almost 15 years ago and grew to be one of the largest Kindermusik programs in the world, reaching the top 5% of all educators! 

Why do we love teaching?  Because of all of you! On behalf of all of us at The Piano Lab, we want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to teach your children and share our love of music with all of you!