Phantastic Phelps- Elite Eight

In the spirit of the Olympics, I am using a practice incentive with an Olympic theme for my piano students.
For everyday that you practice for 30 minutes, you can place a sticker on your Progress chart. Keep practicing!
Summer Olympics Motivational Chart.pdf

http://sites.google.com/a/wendyspianostudio.com/wendys-piano-studio/teaching-resources/motivational-charts

Phelps won 7th Gold of Beijing Olympics by .01 Second
In a crazy and exciting finish, Michael Phelps made history by winning the Men’s 100m butterfly race in Beijing on Friday. By winning this race Phelps tied Mark Spitz for the most gold medals ever won in a single Olympics. Spitz won seven golds in 1972 in Munich, Germany. Phelps then won his eighth medal on Sunday morning. His win did break Spitz’ record. Wow, the elite eight! Congratulations!

So, the question is, are you one step closer to your goal? Do you have a winning attitude towards your approach to piano practice?

There are four main ATTITUDES that hinder musicians from progressing in their abilities to play gospel music by ear. Let me explain... Attitude #1: "Learning songs by myself is too difficult so I'd rather just get the chords from someone else..." Relying on others to show us chords and progressions is one of the leading causes why we don't move to the next level in our playing. While we might sound, look, and play beautifully, the reality is that we don't understand anything we're playing. Sure enough, we might be playing some of the prettiest "2-5-1" progressions ever heard, but we lack substance ... knowledge ... and the know-how to advance to the next level. Attitude #2: "Ok... I'll learn the song in 'Ab' major but I'd rather transpose it to all of the other keys..." This is one of the biggest hindrances known not only to gospel musicians --- but to musicians in general. Why? Because every chord has multiple roles. By just playing in the key of "Ab" or "Eb", you've only used "Abmin9" or "Ebmin11" chords as it relates to those particular keys. But did you know that "Ebmin11" also has a role in the key of "Gb" or even the key of "B" major? It's not that you have to learn a whole new way of playing --- YOU JUST HAVE TO TRANSFORM YOUR MIND TO THINK IN PATTERNS ... that's all. Attitude #3: "I'll just learn new songs by pressing different notes and chords on my piano until it sounds right..." "Guessing" may or may not work for you but I can say that it is far from the best method of learning new songs. And while it may sound funny, tons of musicians rely on this very technique to "play by ear" --- though I wouldn't call it exactly that. It is the absolute opposite of learning music theory and patterns and ultimately leads to frustration and exhaustion. In other words, you simply get tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Attitude #4: "I'm a trained sight reader so I can survive in a church setting by getting the sheet music to all of the songs..." This may work until there's either no sheet music for a particular song or until someone ends up improvising on a song without giving you prior notice. I would honestly say that in most church settings, the ability to play by ear is absolutely a must! To be quite frank with you, reading sheet music will only go so far --- especially if you're playing piano or organ in an uptempo, charismatic church. Rather, developing your ear and being on alert for sudden changes in a song will assure your "survivability" in a church setting.

Here are more printable certificates to use and print, whether you're a teacher, home school Mom or a perpetual learning piano player who wants to chart ones progress.

http://makingmusicfun.net/htm/printit-oliver-sticker-practice-chart.htm
You're in the game and everyone who tries and applies himself is a winner in my book! Go for the gold!

http://www.LadyDpiano.com