Ear Training Memory

I came across this great game this morning. If you are working on your ear training (whether for an exam or with me in the studio) and you like the game Memory, then this game is for you. It's challenging but quite addictive, and it will really help your ear training memory.

Just click on the link to be taken to the game:

http://www.ababasoft.com/music/notepair.html

Good luck, and enjoy!

A musical challenge?

Everyone at the studio has been working so hard to prepare for our upcoming Christmas recital, so I thought I'd post a photo of the ultimate musical challenge: The Death Waltz.

Take a good look at it - and if you feel like you would like to spend the rest of your piano career trying to master it, let me know!

A Quiet End to the Summer

August has been a quiet month in the studio, and our blog has been fairly quiet as well as I prepare for the upcoming fall.

This is not an educational posting, but I thought I'd put up a photo we took of Miss Sophie yesterday; she's been enjoying the cooler weather and the slower pace of August! Here she is, dreaming of Bach.

Our classes will pick up pace again starting next week as we draw closer to our Composer's Workshop and as school starts up again.

Wishing you a lovely end to the summer!

Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land

As many of you know, music and math are intimately linked. Music involves counting, fractions, algebra....and we do all this math without even realizing it! This week in my teacher's education math class we had the pleasure of discovering Disney's contribution to math and music education - we watched the classic Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. For those of you who haven't seen it, it is well worth your time to watch it.

This is about a half-hour movie, and it covers many more concepts besides the connection between music and math. The narrator and Donald Duck start discussing music at 2:45, but if you have the time, I would encourage you to watch the whole thing for pure enjoyment.



Enjoy!

Introducing our new guest artist!

And here she is - Nora!

No, I'm just kidding. And unfortunately I haven't been able to teach Sophie to play the piano as yet. However, I thought this might bring a smile to your faces as you prepare for our Piano Party!

How Not to Play a Duet?

Victor Borge is one of my favourite pianists. He's incredibly talented and plays absolutely beautifully. However, he is not your typical performing pianist - he is also a musical comedian. He never fails to make me laugh. In his lifetime he made numerous CDs, performed in concert halls, and made a huge number of television appearances including a cameo on The Muppet Show.

This is one of my favourite videos of him playing a duet version of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody with another renowned pianist. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Piano Stairs?

October seems to be a good month for posting - I've come across all sorts of interesting things in the last few weeks to share with you all! Today I came across a great initiative by VW to combine an exercise incentive with music. What a neat way to get people moving!