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The Spring is quickly approaching, which means the busy time of contests and recitals is here. I thought it might be fun to share some of things I’m planning for my studio this month.

1. St. Patrick’s Day Worksheet

I have a fun set of St. Patrick’s Day worksheets to use with beginner students. The worksheets cover: The Musical Alphabet, rhythm, and steps/skips on the staff. I use pocket sleeves and washable dry erase markers so that I only have to print these worksheets one time. I plan to use these worksheets with my students the week of March 11, which is the week before St. Patrick’s Day.

2. Contest Prep

My students are participating in several contents this spring in addition to my annual studio recital. That means I have to be super organized about dates, deadlines, and my students’ preparation. Around this time, practice goals get even more specific.

3. Group Classes

To help prepare my students for performances, I have set up a few monthly group classes. My studio is mostly private lessons, but I always try to find a way to add in group opportunities. It’s important for the students to play for each other and get to know one other. Sometimes I have monthly group classes where the students play games and ensemble music together. As the busy spring approaches, the group classes will be more of a performance opportunity for students. I’ve planned a group class for the months of March, April, and May. (If you are wanting to add group classes to your studio, you can read about how I started that here.)

4. Happy Birthday Challenge

I’m also running a Happy Birthday challenge in my studio. I want all of my students to be able to play Happy Birthday on the piano. The Happy Birthday sheet music on my site includes 10 different versions, each of varying difficulty. To do the challenge:

• I make a list of all of my students and then select the version that I want them to learn.
• I then print the sheet music for each student.
• I print the birthday cake and hang it in my studio. I also put each of their names on a candle.
• Once they have learned and memorized the song, they can put their candle on the cake.
• I plan to also let my students pick out a piano vinyl sticker as a small prize.

Since I’ll be having group classes for the next few months, students can each share their version of Happy Birthday in the class. The Happy Birthday arrangements are available in C Major and F Major.