Eva Martin Hollaus Piano Studio Piano Guild Results May through July 13, 2011

I am so glad the majority of guild auditions are over. Only a few students who could not test earlier will be testing at the end of July and in August.
I must admit everyone played beautifully and the hard work paid off.  All I can tell you as a teacher is: I wish I had had this opportunity in my childhood and teens. But out of my struggles came the answers and I am very grateful for my journey. My focus is on sharing my knowledge and get it distributed to whomever wishes to listen.

Here are our results; so far 20 gold medals (that is 10 - 15 pieces performed) and a total of 244 pieces prepared and judged. Still more pieces to get ready -- and my reward? It is hearing my students perform beautifully; that is very rewarding to me. A gigantic thank you, to the parents who needed to make certain practice happened. Even the most responsible talents still require a parental coaxing and sometimes greater push to stay motivated and practice.

If you are wondering how I can get so many students prepared, please take a look at Play Piano In All Keys Complete Workbook that greatly facilitates all teaching and learning of scales chords/cadences and arpeggios and that is the core tool to help students progress so quickly and accomplish so much in a short time. All students except Elementary A students tested on scales, chords/cadences and everyone performing 10 - 15 pieces also performed arpeggios, except my Elementary C student. I was happy that he managed the scales; next year we will add the arpeggios for the white keys.

When I was little, on the contrary no teacher could really explain to me the importance of practicing scales, chords/cadences and arpeggios. Now, that I am teaching, it is all starting to make sense. I am very grateful to the piano guild program that requires scales and cadences and also scales, chords/cadences and arpeggios in lieu of pieces. These skills are easy to master using the book Play Piano In All Keys Complete Workbook, available at: http://playpianoinallkeys.com/complete-workbook/

Here are the results:

Eva Martin Hollaus Piano Studio 2011 Guild audition results May through July 13, 2011
No years   National Winner Gold Medal			Classification		# pieces
	Judge: Sylvia Barton	Temecula, CA May 13, 2011
6	Chloe Lovato	Intermediate C	IC	National	10
5	Cynthia Nguyen Phan	Intermediate Special	IS	National	10
5	Kathleen Nguyen Phan	Intermediate C	IC	National	10
5	Stacey Nguyen Phan	Elementary Special	ES	National	10
	Judge: Rita E. Fendrick	Clearwater, FL May 19, 2011
1	Geroge Bostan II	Elementary C	EC	National	10
3	Cassiopea A. Bostan	Intermediate Special	IS	International	15
	Judge: Jean Shackleton	Riverside, CA May 21, 2011
6	Ranen Unger Hicks	Intermediate Special	IS	National	10
	Judge: Sylvia Barton	Monterey Park, CA June 12, 2011
0	Vishakh Pillai	Intermediate B	IB	District	5
1	Vinayak Pillai	Intermediate E	IE	District	5
	Judge: Valerie Vaughan	San Diego - Escondido, CA July 8, July 13 2011
2	Patrick Xu	Preparatory Special	PS	International	15
1	Charys Hong	Elementary A	EA	National	10
1	Rachel Hong	Elementary A	EA	National	10
1	Juliette Beucler	Preparatory B	PB	National	10
5	Andrew Vu	Preparatory B	PB	National	10
5	Nessa Vu	Intermediate C	IC	National	10
4	Victoria Vu	Intermediate C	IC	State	9
5	Kelly Rausch	Intermediate A	IA	National	10
6	Thulasi Yogarajah	Intermediate B	IB	National	10
1	Adam Ghilarducci	Intermediate C	IC	National	10
3	Brittany Durgiah	Intermediate A	IA	District	5
8	Bret Paddock	Preparatory C	PC	International	15
6	Mitchell Johnson	Preparatory A	PA	National	10
3	Anais Perkins	Intermediate B	IB	National	10
9	Sai Sivapalan	Preparatory Special	PS	International	15
			total pieces performed		244

National Piano Guild Auditions coming up

I don't know how you feel as teacher, if you have students entered in the National Piano Guild auditions? I do, I have once again some 26 gold medal programs, that's once again 10 - 15 piece programs. Year after year, I say the same thing - why am I so crazy to go for 10 piece programs with so many students.
Well, I guess, it matters to me and when I see a student can manage, I feel obligated to make it happen. This is just my personality.
Several years ago, I talked to another teacher and he told me - why bother with learning so many pieces, why bring old pieces back, time is so short, just learn new pieces.
I can understand this point of view. However, I really feel that it is absolutely necessary to be able to bring "old pieces back", improve them. These are various skills that come in handy. Sometimes, it is necessary to be pressured to learn a piece in a very short time; it amazes me how able children are, nowadays. They do need to be challenged and each one is different; no-one learns quite alike. Adding a skill to learning quickly, learning to memorize quickly, visualizing pieces, learning a memorization routine that holds up, all are imperative skills.
The ones who never get ready, they will most likely not be ready later either; there's always something that comes in-between deadlines and busy schedules. As teachers, we are always challenged with these situations.
In all the playing requirements, I always insist on scales, chords, cadences and arpeggios. My students start these patterns in the very first lesson and after some short 3 or 4 lessons they show me how they manage to move their fingers running up and down the keyboard in scales patterns with accurate fingering. That always makes me very happy. They learn reading notes while learning to play. These early mechanical times are my GOLDEN TIMES with a student - they cannot yet play pieces and they are happy to move those fingers!
This is where I set my foundation for later on. Good habits, enjoyment of playing, moving the fingers nicely curved - oh wait - that's usually on my wish list and when I have parents who supervise I get nicely curved fingers. I always try to involve parent as much as possible.
So now, the Guild auditions are around the corner and we are on a strict schedule practicing diligently each piece entered a minimum of 5 times when very young and later on broken into sections with many more repetitions at various speeds, error-free. If an error is made the piece needs to be slowed down. The mind simply needs more time to think and it will be error-free if played slow enough.
That is the single most important habit to master that will take a student through any 10 - 15 piece program at any level.
And the second most important skill is scales, chords cadences and arpeggios - or maybe this is the very first utmost important skill to cultivate.
The book Play piano In All Keys Scales Chords Cadences Arpeggios Fingering Charts is the single most important book to have in any piano library. Without this book, I would not be able to take all my students through their large programs for their Guild auditions. And mind you, my students are regular honor students in school who also want to excel in piano.
Before Play Piano in All Keys Fingering Charts books, I would hand draw the scales fingering, now i just turn pages and the students love it, they can effortlessly master these skills time and time again.

The importance of teaching and learning piano in these times

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season:

Just came across this link and article about the decreasing creativity in American young children. Besides everything mentioned, I am certain that lack of nutrition and lack of purity of water have a tremendous contributing impact as well.

As a piano teacher I have felt an urgency to work extra hard to help students accomplish their goals. From very young and very early on, do I ask for creative ideas, creative ways of looking at music and decision making. Even in little ones, do I ask what they would like to play for me. I leave as much choices to my piano students, as possible.. However, once a program is decided, we work towards it and complete it. Piano playing, since it trains both sides of the brain equally it is a very important area in every student's life to continue to play piano despite so many distractions and school activities, especially nowadays.

I am also always looking for self expression. Music making is a fantastic way to accomplish that. In order to season a piece, the player's personality and feeling need to shine through. I always expect a student to practice humming or singing the tune of the piece during practice, so the individual emotions can shine through.

I am sure my Play Piano in All Keys finger charts books and work books are helping to bring out more personality by providing solid education in Major and Minor scales, chords/ cadences and arpeggios; important patterns that need to be rehearsed very well since most of classical music build on these patterns. These basic patterns are also a foundation for all creative people wanting to create music. If you can pay in all keys, you will be able to improvise and move easier from one key to another.

Here is the newspaper article that I quoted:

Britannica: What are some possible explanations for the recent decrease in creativity in American children?

Kim: The results of my study indicate that children in the U.S., especially kindergarten through third grade, are becoming less creative as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), the most respected, tested, and applied creativity test in the world. This is a new finding, so there is no research yet as to the causes for the effect. Still, we can speculate.

Creativity is decreasing for children and adults. For younger children, the decrease probably arises more significantly from their homes than from their schools, because research indicates personality development is most influenced by home environments. Research also indicates that more children are spending the majority of their time in front of televisions, computers, and video games, and less time engaging in what I would consider creative activities.

From: explanations for the decrease in creativity in American children?