Gay Slade Piano Studio

The new school year is almost here, time to get schedules on paper (or on the fridge, bulletin board, or smart phone). The schedule for lessons, group classes and recitals is listed below. It is also listed on the Calendar page of my website, sladepiano.com, should you need to check it in the future. And I do send out reminders of upcoming scheduling items.

Please note that I am following the Poudre R-1 calendar for school start/end days and vacations. I realize that for students who are homeschooled, in other districts or attending a charter school the actual school calendar may be somewhat different.

Also note that there are only 4 weeks of Group Classes scheduled and 2 large group Recitals. Group Classes will include performance, as well as some theory, improvisation, etc. In my visits with the students, they all expressed enjoying the group classes and liking the break in the regular routine and the social aspect of the groups. Only students who are just beginning their piano lessons will NOT be participating in Group Classes. Those who began last year WILL be doing Group Classes this year.

I encourage you to use the swap list to reschedule lessons when conflicts arise. I just don’t have the flexibility during the school year to reschedule lessons or do “makeup” lessons. If in doubt, please reread the attendance procedures explained in my policy statement.

When helping your children to plan their school time schedule, please encourage them to include regular practice time. Try to make it part of their routine so that it really gets done. Students enjoy coming to their lessons when they are prepared, plus they enjoy making progress and feeling like they are playing well. Even for the most talented students there is no short cut to piano proficiency. The magic is in the practicing.

In recent months I have had some concerns about my piano teaching. The first has been how
to help my students improve in note/rhythm reading. In 30-min lessons there just isn’t
enough time for extra sightreading drills, and students are less than anxious to do such
things at home.

I have also been concerned with the large number of rescheduling requests I get, up to 10
a week during the school year, which is so difficult to arrange with everyone’s busy
schedules. Then, if I am able to find a time to reschedule a lesson, I am allotting twice
the time to that student, and I end up with very little personal time. It makes me
frazzled.

Finally, there is not space in our new home for the recitals I was able to hold in past
years. So my new concern is providing regular performance opportunities for my students.

With these concerns in mind, I have been considering various teaching strategies,
studying other music studios’ policies, as well as analyzing what has been working well
in my own teaching. The result is a program for school age students that combines private
piano and group lessons. It addresses all the concerns outlined above. I will get more
teaching time with students, and they will have more opportunity to interact with each
other. There will also be time for performance and activities to increase music skills.

Please read about the program carefully. I am convinced that this revised program will
greatly enhance what I am offering as a piano teacher, but I want you to be convinced as
well. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

This program will go into effect in September. I have updated my website to reflect these changes so you can look there as well, especially on the Programs and Incentives pages. I’m excited about the changes!

Bunch of important details, so please take note.

Recitals

Our last mini recital of the school year is this coming Saturday, 4pm at my house. Student who have not yet performed in a recital in 2011 should attend this one. I believe those students are: Kalee, Spencer, EmmaO, Joanna, Mathew, Felicity, Julian, Brooklin, Bailie, Lael, Kyle, Abby, and Emily. Please bring a treat to share.

The Spring Recital will be Saturday, May 14, at my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the corner of Swallow and Stover. There will be two sessions, 1pm for MT students and 2:30pm for WThF students. If you need to switch sessions, let me know and we’ll try to make it work. All students are expected to participate. They should play a favorite memorized piece, whether it is a recently learned piece or not. It does not matter if the piece has been performed before.

Out of town

I will attending the BYU graduation of our youngest son and his wife Easter weekend. There will be no lessons Thurs Apr 20-Mon morning Apr 25. I will be teaching Mon pm lessons. I will try to make up lessons that are missed.

As in past years I will also be out of town Jun 11-25 while I am working at the Durango Performing Arts Camp (which is a WONDEFUL, MAGICAL place and some of you ought to go!). I will not be making up lessons missed those two weeks but the piano fee for June will be lowered to $50 for 30-min lessons or $65 for 45-min lessons.

Grandbaby #21 is due sometime in July so I will be taking some days off to help my daughter. I’m not sure yet when that will be. Again, I will do what I can to make up those lessons so the monthly fee for July and August will be the usual.

Summer lessons

I do expect students to continue their lessons during the summer months in order for them to continue progressing instead of backsliding and also in order for me to hold their spot for fall. Lesson times are much more flexible without having school or my CSU commitments to work around. Just let me know if you want to change times for the summer. It will not affect your lesson time when school starts.

Moving

Looks like the sale of our house is really going to happen and we’ll be moving some time in May. The exact date is yet to be determined but we’re closing the end of May, so before then. The new house is at 4230 Wolf Creek Ct: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=4230+Wolf+Creek+Court&city=Fort+Collins&state=CO&country=us&zoom=8 My west side students will be pleased that we will be closer, but it will be further for those coming from the east side of town. It is 10 min from my current house. From Horsetooth, turn south on Manhattan, west on Troutman Parkway, south on Table Mountain, west on Bear Creek. It is on the corner of Bear Creek and Wolf Creek Ct.

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 will be a musical one, especially in learning and performing enjoyable new piano pieces.

Piano lessons for 2011 begin next week. Please put staff paper in a folder and bring it to each lesson. We will not use it every week, but most. Don’t forget to bring your assignment notebook too! If you have special music that you would like to learn, perhaps music that you received for Christmas, please let me know. I know lots of piano music, but am not very good at staying current with the latest pop hits, songs from movies or TV shows, and the like. Such music is fun for students to play so encourage them to think about what they would enjoy learning. A visit to the music store to browse for new music ideas would be a good idea.

Mini recitals, all at my house, are scheduled (at least tentatively) on the following dates:

Saturday, Feb 5 at 4pm

Saturday, Mar 5 at 4pm

Saturday, Apr 9 at 4pm

The Spring Recital will probably be held on Saturday, May 14, with sessions at 1pm and 3pm. I will have to verify the details later.

Are you so excited that it is almost time for school to start?!!!

In preparation, let’s make sure that your piano lesson time is scheduled. I will assume that you are keeping the lesson time you had last spring unless we have made other arrangements.

The fall schedule will begin the week of August 16. Mini recitals are tentatively scheduled on the following Saturdays at my house at 4pm: Sep 25, Oct 9, Nov 13, and Dec 11. All students should plan to attend at least one of these recitals. If there aren’t at least 6 students signed up for a recital it will be canceled. Let me know which recital you plan to attend. Sorry, but you can’t sign up online yourself.  (I’m not savvy enough to know how to make that happen.)

As a reminder, I do not teach Thanksgiving Week (Nov 22-27), Christmas vacation (Dec 20-Jan1) or Spring Break (Mar 14-19). I do plan to teach other days here and there when many of the schools are out, including the Mondays following Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.

To get in touch with me the easiest way is via email. I check it multiple times a day, at my computer or via my cell phone. You can also call, 970-493-8682 (home) or 801-717-5571 (cell), or send a text message. However, I do not respond to my phones while I am teaching or accompanying.

Enjoy the last couple week of summer vacation!

Dear J S Bach,

This letter is to inform you that Yamaha has recalled 20,000 pianos due to a problem with the pedal sticking, causing pianists to play faster than they normally would, resulting in a dangerous number of accidentals.

The sticky pedal may also make it more difficult for pianists to come to a complete stop at the end of a piece, posing a health hazard for audiences.

Although there have been a number of unintended accidentals, we are not aware of any deafs. Analysts are debating whether this will put a damper on their bass market and if they will be able to sustain sales.

Congress is considering questioning the President of Yamaha in an effort to learn when the company may have become aware of this treble.

Here’s an update on that Yamaha piano recall: Congressional inquiries brought a sharp response from president Mitsuru Umemura of Yamaha, who quickly played down the scale of the problem before taking the fifth. “Only a few modal years are affected by what is a relative minor problem,” he replied tiercely.

With no progression towards a resolution, sales of Yamaha pianos have gone flat, and market analysts predict an interval of diminished revenue for the company. The president announced that Yamaha would triadvertising more and fine tune their marketing strategies in order to augment sales.”

In the past I have handed or sent out paper statements to families owing for books or with a past due balance. Knowing that such statements don’t always get put into parental hands, I am going paperless. I will send statements as an email attachment. The one I have prepared is a simple Word document that you shouldn’t have trouble opening. I hope this works and makes things easier.

Now to scheduling. Our final mini recital will be Saturday, April 17, my house at 4pm. Students who have not yet played in a mini recital in 2010 ought to try to attend then. Please bring treats to share.

Spring Recitals will be held on Saturday, May 15, at my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the corner of Swallow and Stover. Park on the north side and enter from the back. There will be recital sessions at 2:00 and 4:00 pm. Mon/Wed/Fri students should attend the 2:00 session and T/Th students come to the 4:00 pm session. If that assignment does not work for you, please contact me.

I expect ALL K-12 students to perform at the recital. I would LOVE to have my adult students also perform but won’t twist their arms (very much). Students should perform a favorite piece learned this school year. It need not be the most recent one, and it should be memorized. The Spring Recital is more “formal” than the mini recitals. Students should dress nicely and present themselves more “formally”. Parents, please bring a plate of cookies or other non-messy treats (no chocolate cupcakes) to share following the recital. There will be lots of room so you are welcome to invite guests.

Our 20th grandchild is due in May so I will be out of town helping my daughter May 22-31. I will be available to schedule makeup lessons during the first two weeks of June. With school and CSU out, it shouldn’t be too hard to find times.

The summer schedule will begin Tues, Jun 1. Lesson times may remain as currently scheduled, but if you would prefer to change times for the summer months, please contact me. Lots of possibilities when school is not in session. Changing lesson times for the summer does not affect the regular lesson schedule that will resume when school starts again.

As in past years I will also be out of town, on staff at the Durango Performing Arts Camp, Jun 13-27. And consequently the monthly lesson fee for June will be lowered to $50 for 30-min lessons or $65 for 45-min lessons.

I do expect students to continue lessons through the summer, and the monthly fee July and August remains at $80 for 30-min lessons or $104 for 45-min lessons. Whenever possible I will reschedule lessons to work around camps, vacations, etc., even if that means having two lessons a week. Lessons that are essentially supervised practice sessions are very valuable.

The fall schedule will then resume Mon, Aug 16. With several high school seniors who will be off to college and a family moving out of state, I foresee several openings. Please pass the word to your friends who might be interested in piano lessons.

With school starting for most students in less than a month, it is time to think about the fall piano lesson schedule. I will begin teaching according to that schedule the week of August 17.

If the piano lesson time students had last spring still works, it is theirs for the fall. However, with some school start/end times changing, 6th graders going to middle school and 9th graders to high school, old lesson times may not be possible.

When thinking about a piano lesson time, consider coming before school – many fewer conflicts. I will teach as early as anyone wants to come I will also teach later in the evening although many more conflicts arise with school concerts and like events. I do not regularly schedule lessons on Saturdays because of the multitude of conflicts that arise on weekends.

In the meantime, enjoy the remainder of the summer sun!

Our youngest son is getting married in Utah later this month. Therefore, I will be out of town Tues Apr 21 through Sat Apr 25. I will try to make up missed lessons on Fri/Sat Apr 17/18 or Fri/Sat May 1/2.

Our Spring Recitals will be held on Sat May 16 at my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the corner of Swallow and Stover. Park on the north side and enter from the back. There will be recital sessions at 1:00 and 3:00 pm. Monday and Tuesday students should attend the 1:00 session and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday students come to the 3:00 pm session. If that assignment does not work for you, please contact me.

I do expect ALL K-12 students to perform at the recital. I would LOVE to have my adult students also perform but won’t twist their arms (very much). Students should perform a favorite piece learned this school year. It need not be a most recent one, and it should be memorized.

The Spring Recital is more “formal” than the mini recitals. Students should dress nicely and present themselves more “formally”. Parents, please bring a plate of cookies or other non-messy treats (no chocolate cupcakes) to share following the recital. There will be lots of room so you are welcome to invite guests.

In May I will be out of town Thurs afternoon May 21 through Mon morning May 25 for a granddaughter’s baptism. I would like to reschedule Thurs pm, Fri and Mon am lessons. By then the CSU semester will be over so my schedule will be somewhat more flexible.

The summer schedule will begin Mon Jun 1. Lesson times may remain as currently scheduled, but if you would prefer to change times for the summer months, please contact me. Lots of possibilities when school is not in session. Changing lesson times for the summer does not affect the regular lesson schedule that will resume when school starts again.

Mon Jun 15 through Sat Jun 23 I will be on staff again at the Durango Performing Arts Camp. Therefore the fee for June will be reduced to $50 for 30 min lessons and $65 for 45 min lessons.

I do expect students to continue lessons through the summer, and the monthly fee July and August remains at $80 for 30 min lessons or $104 for 45 min lessons. Whenever possible I will reschedule lessons to work around camps, vacations, etc., even if that means having two lessons a week. Lessons that are essentially supervised practice sessions are very valuable.

The fall schedule will then resume Mon Aug 17.

This house is a couple blocks from where our daughter lives in Utah. Pretty amazing!

And if you haven’t already listened to Straight Up No Chaser’s version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, it is worth a couple minutes to bring a smile to your face.