Piano Camps

[MzrtMusic]

Has anyone out there ever tried a summer music camp? I was thinking about doing something for my students this summer. Just a day camp type of thing. Teach some music history, theory, and some intense practice/lesson times. End with a picnic and recital. I would love to hear your ideas about this, as well as any tips from people who have actually tried the "Music Camp" thing...

Thanks!

Sarah

[xpletus]

My friend has gone to one and he loved it. This one is very good, www.fau.edu/tops

[Lyndall]

Hi.  I'm going to try 2 summer piano camps - one for my beginners (I only have 3) & one for my 2 intermediates.  I bought "Piano Camp" by June C. Montogomery (published by Alfred).  It comes in 4 levels - early elementary to early intermediate & looks like it will be GREAT.  Full of games - crossword puzzles, boards games - music theory, symbols, listening, playing etc.

I'll try to borrow some keyboards so all the kids have something to play on & might put together an ensemble at the end of the week.

My biggest problem is I also work 8-5 Mon-Fri so I'm limited to having the kids over after work every day for a week, plus one Sat. morning.  Hope they won't be too tired by the end of the day!  The books recommend 10 hrs over a week e.g. 2 hrs/day which would be ideal if you are free during the day.

Good luck.  I'd be keen to see how you get on.

[Keynote_Players]

Lyndell, piano camp sounds interesting!  I've been thinking about doing this next summer.  How much are you going to charge per week?  Will this camp take the place of lessons for the month?  Just trying to get my ducks in a row before I tackle this one.
 

[lc3606]

I also teach evenings and weekends and I have discovered limitations related to the students' concentration and staying power.  I do not take students 10 years old or younger any later than a 6:30 pm lesson time (45 min).  I do not take students 11-13 any later than a 7:15 pm lesson time.  That leaves 8pm and later for high school or adults only.  

I based this partly on personal experience and partly on sports activities.  That is, Junior High students (12-13) have scheduled sports practices in the evening so why not lessons?

It is difficult to schedule the young students since my early evening times fill up quickly.  That leaves weekends for anyone who must reschedule.  I'm considering opening up another time slot which would mean I'd be leaving work earlier (working less than 40 hrs/week).  It's a bit scarey, but it's my ultimate goal.  To teach as a priority, and work outside the home part-time.

[musikgeek]

I just wrapped up a multi-instrument and dance camp in our area.  We ran it a week at my farm.  We had local instructors as well as three guest instructors.  We had 5 recitals including the grand finale concerts.  Some students camped in my yard and others were even day camp students.  We had students ranging from 4 years of age to 60 years....some were absolute beginners.  Parents took the initiative to fundraise etc. We has students coming from 2 provinces away.  It was a great success and everyone is looking forward to next year.
We will be upgrading the website in the next couple of weeks toreflect this past week at camp.  www.musikgeek.com/honeybee.html

[Lyndall]

Sarah, my camp went really well.  I only had the beginner camp with 3 kids (8-11 yrs).  The book was great but we also did an extra ensemble piece & presented it at a recital on the last day.  The kids really learned a lot, & 2 mths down the road, they've remembered stuff cause it's come up in the repertoire books & they've been able to sightread the new notes they learned as theory.  3 was a good number except that the older one caught on so much quicker than the others & tended to get bored so I had lots of old theory books for him to work in when he finished early.