Musical Life at 75 years old

Ms. Emily's mother, Alma Hahn, was interviewed for the local newspaper in Kentucky.  My parents are very musical with singing, dancing, and playing instruments!  They are in their 70s now and still going strong!  They have traveled the world (spending years in other countries, instead of weeks).  In Brazil & Taiwan, they taught piano lessons.

You can read the full story here and watch a video of her playing the piano at the end.  I'm a proud daughter, so I had to give her a "shout out" on my blog:  Way to Go, Mom!!!

http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/active-life-keeps-radcliff-septuagenarian-young

Recital 2013

It has been a wonderful musical year!  I am blessed by sweet & smart students, fantastic families, and a fun curriculum to teach.  We had all 3 years represented in the Recital.  Watch the videos with your kids!

First Years!  Wed class (above)

Thursday class (below) 

First Year Video (7:34 minutes)

Second Year Students

Second Year Video (5:57 minutes)

Fort Collins had its "first-ever" graduates from Let's Play Music on May 3, 2013. 

Third Years:  Tues 4pm Class (above)

Tuesday 5pm Class (below)

Best wishes to these graduates!  Of all the things we've learned in Let's Play Music...I hope "love of music" is the one that you will keep throughout your life.  

Third Year Original Compositions Video 

with Introductions (17:51 minutes)

http://youtu.be/Ngpt5ngElYA

Kit Kat Keyboard Cake

Enjoy the summer break!

How to Buy a Digital Piano

1st year students graduating to 2nd year will need a piano at home...or perhaps a DIGITAL PIANO. Here's a free guide to purchasing these marvels, with tests for finding out if your DP sounds as good as the real deal:  http://www.makingmusicmag.com/how-to-buy-a-digital-piano/

You should aim to get a piano that has "fully-weighted" or "heavy-weighted" keys to the touch.  Also to test for string resonance: Without making the notes sound, press and hold down middle C, the E, and G (a C Major chord). While holding down the C chord, play the C to the left of middle C firmly. You should be able to hear the C Major chord quietly, as if you actually played it.

2013 New Student Info

Fort Collins Music Lessons for Kids...

Classes begin in August!

Register now to ensure your child's spot in the class!

Call Emily at 970-207-0971 or email: Music@ecBaldwin.net for more information about sample classes and registration.

2013 Red Balloons

Weekly Classes: Wednesday at 4:45 pm OR Thurs at 10:00am

Duration: 45 minutes

Class size: 5-8 children
Age of Child: 4-6 years old

(Pre-K or Kindergarten)

Tuition amount: $50 a month ($400 a year)

Location: South Fort Collins, Colorado

Family Night

Research shows that Successful Families spend time together!  Since we have a young family...we are together a lot!  But we still do an "official" weekly Family Night.  Here is the Outline that my parents used when I was in their house and what Carl & I currently do with our kids.  

Lesson:  It ranges from "character building values" (like honesty & sharing) to Scripture Stories to Holidays.

Special Number:  When I was younger, my siblings usually did musical numbers.  Our kids used to do a summersault (and we CLAP!), then headstands or cartwheels, and now it has transitioned to a song on the piano!  (The child LOVES to hear the entire family clap for him/her!!)  

Activity:  This is a game!  Last night we played Sardines (one person hides and everyone seeks and then crawls in to hide with him).  While we were counting, Lydia started playing the piano keys (bottom to top) as a way to "count" or pass the time.   Next turn, we gathered around the piano while the next person hid and Cynthia (my 2nd year student) said all of the letter names of the white keys while we played bottom to top.  LOVED it..that was way more fun than counting to 50.  

Treat:  This is the kids favorite part!  (especially if it is their turn to make the dessert earlier in the day)

The entire Family Night takes about 30 minutes and is something that the kids look forward to!  We rotate each week with a Conductor for our 5th job, who tells everyone when to do their part (since we have 5 in our family).

I love that one of the vision statements for Let's Play Music is to "Bond parent to child."  I feel like Family Night helps us "bond together"...maybe you want to try it in your family.  Or at least gather around your LPM student as a family and CLAP for him/her after a song is performed!  

The Piano Guys

What does the inside of a piano look like?  (I grew up with a dad who tuned pianos...so I've seen inside many pianos.)  These 5 Piano Guys use the inside of the piano to play a song:


In 3rd year of LPM, students write their own composition.  This one was written by Jon Schmidt (the pianist) and co-written by Steven Sharp Nelson (the cellist).  Michael Meets Mozart:


The Piano Guys have many musical videos!  This is my son's favorite...Cello Wars!


Check out The Piano Guys website:  http://thepianoguys.com/ 

T-shirt Week