Sunday, September 1, 2019 by Nicole Judy | Announcements

Just a quick update on lessons this week...

I will still be holding lessons Monday as usual. Since it is a holiday, if you need to cancel, please let me know in advance.

I will keep watching the track of the storm for Tuesday and Wednesday. If Dorian continues to stay offshore, then depending on rain/wind we can continue with lessons as usual. If the track continues to move back to the west, or if Manatee county cancels school, then I will also cancel lessons at that time.

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Monday, July 29, 2019 by Nicole Judy | Announcements

It's almost time for the new school year to begin!

Please confirm with me as soon as possible if you would like to keep your current time or if you need to switch to a different day/time starting the first week of school. 

Also, if you need to cancel lessons during the first week back to school, please let me know.

Thanks,

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Monday, July 1, 2019 by Nicole Judy | Announcements

Announcing this round's winners!

This time around I have two groups of winners to announce

Most Points Earned

The first group of students earned the most points. They went above and beyond and their hard work paid off. The student's who earned the most practice points from January through June are...

Enjoy your goodie bag and gift card to Pomegranate Frozen Yogurt!

Honorable Mention

This second groups of students didn't earn the most points, but they worked hard to practice every week. Great job!

Congrats to Mikayla L., Remi W., and Trinity P.! 

Enjoy your goodie bag!

Keep up the hard work. The next round starts now and ends in December...Good Luck!

Don't forget to keep track of your practice in your notebooks in order to earn points.  

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Monday, April 29, 2019 by Nicole Judy | Announcements

We are having the roof replaced this week.

For the next few days starting today, please park on the street and use caution. Look out for nails and other debris as you walk up the driveway.

Thanks, Nicole

Image by Christine JAMIN from Pixabay

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Wednesday, January 2, 2019 by Nicole Judy | Announcements

Some exciting announcements for the new year!

As many of you already know, I love including technology into the lessons when possible. I often use my iPad for practice games and quizzes at the end of our lessons. However, in 2019 I want to make a larger effort to do more with technology and make practicing more interactive and fun. Recently, I have been researching different options that I can use during our lessons and more importantly, for the students to have fun practicing at home using an iPad, laptop, or even a smartphone. 

I have narrowed down my list to two great options that I am planning on testing out this month. I would love to incorporate one or both of these apps into our future lessons and home practice. Please take a moment to read through and let me know what you think!

Piano Marvel

Website: https://www.pianomarvel.com/about-us

Piano Marvel works on computers (using Google Chrome) and iPads. The songs can be printed out or saved to your device, which is very convenient. I really like what this app offers, and I would love to be able to include the exercises and songs into the lessons. 

The only drawback with this software is that it currently only works with keyboards and digital pianos. It requires a midi connection from your piano to your laptop/iPad. However, these cables are relatively cheap and easy to find (like the one here: )

This application offers a free 30-day trial (no credit card information required to create an account). After I sign up with a teacher account, I will be able to offer you a discount code, so the price would be $12.99 per month (instead of $15.99 and I would receive a small commission). The subscription can be cancelled and reinstated at any time and it will save any progress.

Flowkey

Website: https://www.flowkey.com/en 

This second app is focused more around learning popular music from top 40 hits, movies, tv, video games etc... I think this would be a fun way to challenge students to learn a more difficult or longer song. The app shows a video of another person playing the song, so you can see what note to play if you get stuck. My goal for using this app would be to let the student choose a song at their level and then we can work on a new section each week. 

This app works on iPhone, iPad, Android, and PC/Mac. It can use the microphone in your device to listen to the notes you play. However, it works best when using a midi connection. 

I found this app to be the most expensive (about $20 a month). However, you can sign in to the same account on multiple devices, so I can set up a group account and share login information (and overall cost) with you all. 

What are the benefits of these apps?

• Interactive practice – the apps will guide students to find the right notes when they practice, and encourage them to “beat” their score
• Large library of songs to choose from. Not only will I be able to access hundreds of new books that I don’t currently own, students can also choose songs they want to learn, which will encourage them to practice more. 
• Reduced costs of purchasing physical books. Instead of purchasing a set of 4 books, we would only need maybe 2 out of the 4. The apps will take the place of the other books.
• Compatible across multiple platforms.Students can practice on almost any device, making these apps super accessible. 
• They are affordable. Cost for using these apps will only add a few dollars to the price of each lesson. And subscriptions can be cancelled or paused at any time. 
• Set up is relatively simple. Once the software is downloaded, account is created, etc. You can plug in your keyboard and start using the app. We can schedule a time to set everything up if needed. 😊

Help me test these apps

For the month of January (and maybe February if needed), I want to begin using these apps and get your feedback along the way. It will 100% free to test these out during this period. And, if I do decide to continue using these apps after this test period, purchasing them will be completely optional as well.

If you are interested in being a guinea pig for 30 days, please reply to this email and let me know and I can start setting things up! 😊

♪ Oh, and as a thank you for helping out and providing feedback, I am offering $15 off for the month of February. ♪

What will the prices be for these apps?

• Access to Flowkey - $5 per month (or about $1.25 more per lesson).  
  • or $15 for 4 months.
• Piano Marvel - $12.99 per month (or about $3.25 more per lesson) + access to Flowkey included for free 
  • I believe they have a yearly option for about $110 (or about $9.99 per month). Choosing this option instead of the monthly would save you $45.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this email. I appreciate your thoughts and would love to hear your initial reactions, comments, questions, and suggestions about these apps.

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