If you follow a schedule similar to my own, then your new teaching year probably begins in August or September.
These months are exciting and busy. Your piano students are probably quite inspired during these months and are happy to to be back with you at the piano.
By the time you are eight to ten weeks into lessons (or possibly earlier) you may very well be starting to prep for those all-important holiday recitals.
So, if you’re keeping track, this leaves you with four to six weeks sandwiched between “starting lessons” and “starting holiday pieces” for fabulous theme months to happen… theme months that will keep your piano students inspired, excited, and motivated.
And the resource we’re sharing with you today is the perfect tool for creating one of those inspiring, exciting, and motivating theme months!
The “No Sweat Solution” For Composing Theme Months
Composing Months are always my most successful theme months. My students and their parents absolutely eat them up. It is pure magic when a student realizes that they have the power to make music.
July’s Piano Book of the Month from Teach Piano Today is the perfect “no sweat” composing package to bring this excitement to your studio.
If you have never taught composing before, Brave Sage And The Magical Motives does the heavy lifting with a kooky and imaginative story that guides you and your elementary level students through the composing process and has them creating their own music immediately.
And, if you have taught composing before, the incredibly unique approach we take in this quest-based resource is bound to be wonderfully fresh and exciting.
We’re sharing a preview of Brave Sage and the Magical Motives below, but before we get to that… check out just a few of the emails we have received from teachers who are already using Brave Sage:
You have done it again!!!! I can’t wait to show this book to my students 🙂 You guys are absolutely AWESOME!!! Thank you!
WOW, Andrea, this month’s piano book is amazing! I’m totally going to use it this coming year as a huge studio activity — my mind’s churning with ideas as I looked through this composition activity book. Last year I had a composition week in my studio and the kids really enjoyed it. I think using this Brave Sage material will be even more fun!
I just wanted to tell you that this month’s book of the month IS GENIUS!!!! 🙂
Check Out Brave Sage and the Magical Motives
Brave Sage and the Magical Motives was July 2017’s Book of the Month from PianoBookClub. To see this month’s book visit PianoBookClub.com.
Libby says
A student and I started in on Brave Sage last week, and she loved it! I’ve also got kids using Muttzart and that’s a hit, too. Thank you for the great resources!
Andrea says
So glad to hear you are adding composing to your lessons Libby – it has SO many positive spin-offs 🙂 Glad she’s enjoying Brave Sage and that Muttzart and Ratmaninoff are being well-used too!
Elaine says
I can’t wait for my copy to arrive…it looks amazing. I have been printing games this week ready for laminating and have had kids look at the pile and say ‘when can we play the duck one?’ and (because we’re British) ‘what’s a hydrant?’! Thank you so much…
Andrea says
Okay – what’s a hydrant called in the UK? I must know now!! 🙂 So happy to hear you are having fun with the books and games Elaine!
Linnea Good says
How would you make actual use of these pages for multiple students, Andrea? I don’t see myself printing out every single coloured page of this (fantastic) book for every student. Do you print it out once to have on hand and then print out each activity page for each student, week by week or..?
Krista says
I have used muttzart. This looks great! At what level of piano would you suggest using these? I tried with a very beginning student and they were a little lost. But with my students who have learned the staff they were fine. How would you use this with a very beginning student who can’t read music, or would you wait until they can?
Andrea says
Hi Krista – this book needs “on the staff readers” – or you could have them improve the motive and play it as a duet with you (you play the measures where the motive isn’t… they play their created motive by rote in the measures where it is required.