Do you Tweet? If not you’ll probably want to start very soon.
Because if you don’t Tweet you can’t meet Stanley. And you’ll want to.
Stanley is every piano teacher’s dream. You simply send him a quick message… “@stanleypiano play (insert song title here)” and he does… perfectly!
Stanley is the player piano of the future. Not only does he accept requests from Twitter, but he also cues requests in a neat and tidy fashion and sends you a tweet when he’s about to play your heart’s desire. Check it out in the quick video below.
Stanley was featured at the Capitol Hill Block Party this past weekend – an event in Seattle featuring 100 up-and-coming bands.
Using Stanley in Your Studio
Your piano students are probably quite tuned in to technology and social media. I’m betting they’ll be quite inspired by the idea of a Tweeting Piano. Here’s a fun activity for you to do with your students after showing them the Stanley video.
Materials:
1) Your student’s current method book.
2) The Tweet Cards you can print here (1 set per student)
3) A hat or bucket
4) A plastic hockey card or business card page protector (like this)
How to Play:
After showing your student the video about Stanley, have them draw a random Tweet Card from your hat or bucket. Then, have them follow the directions on the card and write the name of the piece that fits the description into the speech bubble on the card.
This is an ongoing game for several weeks. Each lesson they draw one or two cards and complete the task as a “cool” form of repertoire review. As they complete each card, they collect them in their card collector plastic in their binder (or you can glue them onto a piece of card stock).
Fun Extensions to “Twitter Fever”:
- Have a studio-wide challenge to make it to a certain number of “Tweeted Pieces” that you display in your waiting area. You can display the Tweet Cards or have the Twitter bird (google it) move along a number line.
- Have piano students of similar level trade Tweet Cards – they then have to play their peer’s selections (this works if they all use the same method book series.)
- Host a mini recital where your students don’t know their repertoire selections in advance. The Tweet Cards are drawn as they come on stage with their book… can you imagine the preparation practice that would take place before this one?!!
Be the Coolest Teacher Around…
If you don’t have a Twitter account it is really simple and free. Once you have one, you can actually tweet your students’ piece selections using the hashtag #pianotweetgame (this will organize them all into one easy-to-find place). Each time your piano student completes a Twitter card send a Twitter shout-out such as the following: “Madison just did an awesome review of The Moonlight Session…a piece in a minor key! #pianotwitterfever” and be sure to let us in on the fun by adding @teachpianotoday at the end of each of your tweets 🙂 ou can add their own Twitter account or that of their friends and family so that they too can see the tweet by using the @ symbol before their Twitter name and including it in your tweet.
Lauri Bernet says
This is a genius idea, but I have a question. Do you have to list the composer/book author when you tweet it over? I know that I use multiple method books and some of them have duplicate titles. I just did a test tweet & am waiting on a response, but thought I would ask here as well.
Andrea says
Hi Lauri – to tell you the truth I don’t know! It can’t hurt – so I would. Composers deserve exposure 🙂
Lauri Bernet says
Sorry, I totally misunderstood your game when I first read it. I thought you were suggesting that the stanley piano could play the pieces from the book. I feel really stupid, but now I understand the game. I love it!
Leila Viss says
LOVE your ideas, thanks for sharing!