Student Achievement Award

Here are a few extra things for students!

Student Achievement Award

Each year students receive stickers for passing various musical milestones, participating in the various performances, and for successful practicing at home. The students that earn the most stickers by the end of the year receive the "Student Achievement Award" for that year.

Here are ways that your child can earn stickers:

• Passing their assigned scales and cadences
• Memorizing a piece (in addition to their required memory work)
• Composing a piece (in addition to their required composition)
• Passing method books
• Passing their sight reading
• Transposing a piece into a new key
• Performing a piece at an event outside of the studio (School/Church/Other)
• Play at Piano Festival (2 stickers)
• Play at Piano Guild (one sticker per song played)
• Perform at any additional competition (SDMTA/High School Music Contest)
• Perform at any additional studio performance
• Earn 20 practice points (One point earned for every day that a child practices the required amount of time. Students that practice more than the required amount of time are eligible to receive more points.)
• Practice 7 days a week
• Attend a concert outside of the studio
• Complete a music project

Students may choose (none are required) to complete any music project to receive a sticker. The projects include:

Studio Projects

• Composer research:
• Pick a composer and research all you can about him/her. Have fun telling me about his/her life, their compositions, their family, etc. Tell me in your own words what you like or didn't like about this composer. Tell me all you can in a one page hand written or typed, double spaced paper.
• Piece research:
• Research a piece of music and tell me all you can about it. Who wrote the piece? Why was it written? Who was it written for? If you have access to the internet, try to look up the piece on YouTube and listen to it. What is your opinion of the piece and why? Tell me all you can in a one page hand written or typed, double spaced paper.
• Perform a concert for your family:
• Have fun making up a concert for your family! Pick three to four pieces to sing/play for your family. Make a program for them to look at and follow along. Set up chairs and get dressed up and play! Turn in at least one review of your performance from a family member.
• Listening:
• Choose any song and listen to it on YouTube. It can be of any musical genre. Listen to the piece three times. Tell me about your feelings toward the piece and who you liked/didn't like about it. Tell me about its form (how it is written) and anything that musically makes the piece stand out (key changes, rhythms, harmonies). Tell me all you can in a one page hand written or typed, double spaced paper.
• Create a warm-up:
• Pick a challenging spot in a piece of your music. Use that as a guide to compose a warm-up that you can easily memorize. You can start slowly and gradually push the tempo. You can use variations of scales, transpositions, hands separate/together, changing rhythms, etc. Play it at the beginning of your lesson to receive credit.
• Plan a lesson to teach to me:
• Choose any piece and study it from beginning to end. Take note of the key, time signature, notes, and its musical form. Look for key changes, the emotions of the piece, and anything that might be technically challenging. Write out how you would teach me the piece. Turn in your plan with your critique of the piece at the beginning of your lesson to receive credit.

Creative Projects

• Create games:
• Make a board game, game show, or physical activity to help you learn a concept you are working on in lessons, It can be for notes, rhythms, composers, etc. Turn in game and rules at the beginning of you lesson to receive credit.
• Draw pictures:
• Choose a piece of music and listen to it. While you are listening, color, paint or draw a picture. The picture should represent what you hear or feel while you listen. Turn in your creation with your signature on it.
• Write a story or poem:
• Choose a piece of music and listen to it. Write a story or poem that could represent the song you are listening to. Turn in your creation with your signature on it.
• Critique a live performance:
• Attend a concert or recital that you DO NOT perform in and write a one page article about it. Pretend you are a critic for a newspaper and tell me why I should attend. Turn in your critique with your name on it.
• Make puzzles for me to solve:
• Create a cross-word puzzle, trivia questions, a matching puzzle, a multiple choice or true/false test, etc. for me to complete. Use terms or concepts you are learning in your lessons. Make sure you have answers to correct my work. Turn in puzzle along with your answer sheet to receive credit.
• Choreograph a dance:
• Choose a song that you would love to dance to! Play the piece a few times and then try to make up dance moves to go along with the beat of the music. Write down the dance moves on a piece of paper so that I know you worked it out ahead of time. Perform dance at the beginning of your lesson to receive credit.
• Make your own musical instrument:
• Use ordinary objects from your house (anything with do!!) and create a musical instrument. Use your instrument to play along to a piece of music. Preform your piece at the beginning of your lesson to receive credit.
• Write lyrics:
• Choose any instrumental piece that you could add words to. Write your own words, find a poem, or choose a psalm and set it to the music. Turn in your completed lyrics as well as the title and composer of the piece to me at the beginning of your lesson to receive credit.

Advanced Theory

• Scale modes:
• Learn a scale of one of the different modes in any key. Play scale at beginning of your lesson to receive credit.
• Chordal analysis:
• Take an assigned piece and analyze its chord progression. Identify the chord changes with either a Roman Numeral Analysis or by using guitar symbols. Please request this assignment a week in advance. Turn in a copy of the piece with the analysis written on the piece at your lesson to receive credit.
• Form analysis:
• Take an assigned piece and analyze its form. Look for repetitions, returning themes, question and answer themes, the general key of the different sections, and details like phrasing and accidentals. Please request this assignment a week in advance. Turn in assigned sheet at the beginning of your lesson to receive credit.

*Credit for a majority of the music project ideas goes out to my friend and colleague Katie Miller.