Summertime, And The Livin' Is Easy
"Summertime, And the livin' is easy..."
George Gershwin wrote these lyrics to his brilliant opera, Porgy and Bess. And I think these are great words for my piano students to live by this summer. They worked so hard in the month of May to perform well at our piano party, and now they are officially all out of school. So let the fun begin!
As I am teaching this summer, I wanted to provide my piano families with a few tips and ideas on how to still practice in between family vacations, and how to stay motivated between lessons.
1. Go to the piano at least once a week.
It can be so difficult to pick up right where you left off if you stay away from the piano for a long time. So even a quick review of the previous lesson's music within a week's time will save the student a lot of time and frustration throughout the summer. The goal is to enjoy practicing and playing without making it seem like a drudgery. Practicing once a week will help.
2. Listen to classical music when practicing is unavailable
For students traveling and taking vacations with family, a good way to still get musically involved throughout the summer is to spend time listening to classical music. A good option is to have a classical playlist for travel time. Here is a link to a great list of summertime classical music to broaden and encourage classical listening:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/20-summertime-classical-pieces-maximum-chill/
3. When practicing this summer, take time to only play for fun and improvise.
For me, piano practicing was the hardest for me during the summer, and it seemed like such a drudgery to touch the piano and practice. What finally got me to turn the corner was that I spent the first 15 minutes at the piano not practicing. I just played and improvised. Allowing that free play and creativity at the very beginning of my practice time gave me the energy to finally open those pages of piano music.
Hopefully these tips will help throughout the dog days of summer!
(Blair as a HOT DOG)
Happy practicing!