Harper Arts

Lots of new students started this week! Penny is ready to rock the ukulele!

Check out the list and let me know! I'll stick a mashup of my favs in the story a little later! :-) https://buff.ly/38s7DMF

April bdays in the house!

April Fools!!! Get it? Get it? B - minor?
The guitar students will get it... 😏

Newest pupil.

We love when parents tell us how their kiddos are doing… and we’re especially humbled when the parents are musicians themselves. :)

Teach is headed off to do some backup singing on the road! Don’t worry… I’ll be back in time for lessons on Sunday! I’m wearing my to keep my voice hydrated on the plane! Fact:I’ve been using this on planes since before the pandemic! :)

to Mrs. Harper's at University of Nebraska at Kearney! Can we talk about those 2003 gowns? University of Nebraska at Kearney

Happy messages from new parents!

It's today! Sydney started Harper Arts as a when she first began teaching in schools. Over the last 15 years, she has taught in various independent schools teaching everything from music to drama to social studies to Spanish to PE (yikes - haha!). The invitation to teach lessons after school at a nearby charter school started us on the path to change the way private music lessons look. Normally, music lessons happen after school with a commute and a limited time to get it all done before dinner! Now students can participate in before during and after school lessons right at school with no extra burden on their busy lives (cuz kids are busy!) and Harper Arts is accommodating over 70 students during the week with plans to expand into other schools!

Sydney has a BFA in music theatre and a BA in Spanish translation and interpretation as well as a MA in international studies. This diverse education came together to enlighten her to her life's passion and purpose - teaching music in a way that enriches kids' lives and awakens their own passions and potential.

I've been getting into reading other teacher's blogs...side note - I am constantly in awe of how many teachers find enough hours in the day to be amazing teachers and create content and curriculum for their students and then they also share about them in amazing and beautifully produced blogs!
Anyhoo.... I love this one about practice... My piano teachers through the years had different iterations of the classic "practice makes perfect" line...the one that stuck the most was "practice makes permanent"...if you practice it wrong, you learn it wrong. I could go on and on, right?
Leila uses the Eat The Frog idea to implement practice habits! I actually read that book back when I was doing some network marketing... it works here too! Check out the full article (link in the comments) or get the gist with this great video! :-)

How to Use Interleave Practice Between Piano Lessons It's not how much you practice that really counts, it's all about HOW and WHEN you practice!Learning something new is hard for your brain and the struggle to...

Discuss! 😄 Me? I'm honestly not into concerts...I don't love crowds... But I had the distinct honor to see Idena Menzel in concert at Red Rocks (conducted by Marvin Hamlish no less!!!). That was cool.

We are so happy to be in our 6th year teaching at Ben Franklin Academy and our 3rd teaching private music lessons within the context of their school day! Students can benefit in so many ways from music education and now they can have private lessons DURING SCHOOL! If you would like to see private music lessons integrated into your kiddos' school, have your school administrators reach out to us!⠀
🎹 Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons.⠀
🎼 Children with learning disabilities or dyslexia who tend to lose focus with more noise could benefit greatly from music lessons.⠀
🎻 Music programs are constantly in danger of being cut from shrinking school budgets even though they're proven to improve academics.⠀
🎸 Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.⠀
🎤 In the past, secondary students who participated in a music group at school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (to***co, alcohol, and illicit drugs).⠀
🥁 Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93.9% attendance rate compared to schools without music education, which average 72.9% graduation and 84.9% attendance.⠀
🎷Regardless of socioeconomic status or school district, students (3rd graders) who participate in high-quality music programs score higher on reading and spelling tests.⠀
🎹 A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory.⠀
🎺 Much like expert technical skills, mastery in arts and humanities is closely correlated to a greater understanding of language components.⠀
🎼 Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training.⠀
🎹 Schools that have music programs have an attendance rate of 93.3% compared to 84.9% in schools without music programs.

And she did have it too!

Nate the great showing off his “I’m great!” pose in his VERY FIRST piano lesson! 🎹He played his first song following directions to play on white keys and black keys. He played long and short sounds and soft and loud sounds! He even used the black keys to play and sing all the names of his family members. :)

First time for everything! just had our first zoom lesson from an airport! Can’t make it to your lesson? No problem… We will make it work! E got to squeeze in one last getaway before school starts... and she didn’t have to miss her weekly session.

Happy first day of school to all our amazing students at BFA!!! See you next week for music lessons... can’t wait to see/meet you all!

to when we first started doing virtual lessons! Here’s something you may not know... has been offering virtual lessons since 2017!! I know we’re all sick and tired of virtual everything... virtual music lessons offer a variety of advantages to young musicians including ear training, a different level of one on one attention and focus, home court advantage of playing your own instrument and an opportunity for your teacher to help you make your practice space better by being able to see into your home. Plus, pj lessons! :)

I would sing Blue Bayou with Linda Ronstadt... she’s been my favorite singer for a long time.