Green Turtle Shells Welcome!

MANDATORY ACTION ITEMS:

• Fill out Google Form
• Attend Parent Orientation
• Listen to new audio tracks
• Watch review video below with your child

Details below.

It’s almost time…

I’m excited for your Let’s Play Music journey to continue!

Classes for our Green Turtle Shells Semester will begin Thursday September 1st. Please see the list below to see the class day and time your child is registered for.

Class will now be 55 minutes. Unlike last year, parents only attend once a month, on Lessons 1, 5, 9, 13, and 15. Tuition payments are $60 a month and are due on lessons 1, 5, 9 and 13 OR you can pay the whole semester up front $240 to simplify.

There will be a mandatory parent orientation meeting on Saturday, August 27th at 10:30am at my house (1524 N. Seton Mesa, AZ 85205). This meeting is for parents only (the one that will be attending class with the child) and will last 20-30 min (if you’ve completed the google form).

In order to avoid an hour long firehose of information, I’ve created a google form that contains MOST of the information you really need before classes start. The remainder of parent orientation, materials distribution, and Q&A should only take 20-30 minutes tops. Click here to access the Google Form. Please read/complete this form when you have the chance to sit and process the info thoroughly.

We will be going over what to expect as your child continues to internalize and build upon their 1st Year foundation while developing piano skills; with our goal of creating a confident and complete musician! We will also discuss keyboards, practicing, plus our reward and classroom management system for the year. Please text me ASAP so I know you got this message and will be in attendance.

Thursday 3:30-4:25pm

1. Jackson Abbott
2. Kaleb Knudsen
3. Aaron Marcum
4. Pepper McGirr
5. Brigham Moody
6. Betty Shoemaker

Thursday 4:45-5:40pm

1. Lily Andersen
2. Leo Button
3. Eli Hancock
4. Roselyn Large
5. Peter Lewis
6. Eden Nicoll

Preparing for Class

When you registered for Green Turtle Shells you should have received an email with instructions to access your audio tracks through the LPM App. Please download that app and encourage your child to listen to it as much as possible. It will help in class if they are already familiar with the songs.

Watch this video to remind your child of some important musical skills we learned last semester. It’s a little glitchy, but only 2 minutes long – watch it many times with your child so they are really confident with these skills. (7 year old Olivia helped me make it – she’s a cutie pie.)

Pianos At Home

• If you own an acoustic piano, you really should get it tuned ASAP. You may think it is close enough, but we spend the majority of class training your child to develop perfect pitch and to recognize melodic patterns, intervals, and chords. It would be counterproductive and damaging for them to be hearing out-of-tune patterns, intervals, and chords at home all week long. I can refer a very inexpensive piano tuner if you need.
• If you own an electric keyboard, please consider purchasing a stand. They are very inexpensive used, or new on Amazon. Just placing the keyboard on a table will not place it at the proper height to reinforce the posture and flexibility habits we teach in class. Bad habits are hard to break!
• If your piano is broken in anyway (missing keys, glitchy sound) please get it repaired or replaced. Their fingers need the repetitive practice to develop muscle memory, but it is impossible if they are navigating missing keys.

If you haven’t already, you will need to acquire a piano at home for your child to practice on. It can be a full-sized acoustic piano, or an electric keyboard of any size. Click here for an article about your first piano. It can cost anywhere from $100-$10,000 but I have a few suggestions:

• I am selling the small keyboards and stands I used last year for $75 each.
• a small 66-key keyboard will do just fine for LPM year 2 and 3, but if your child continues in piano lessons, you’ll want an 88-key, or a traditional acoustic piano.
• check Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for used options. You might even find one for free! (must be tuned when you get it home)
• If you buy or own an acoustic piano, you really should get it tuned ASAP. You may think it is close enough, but we spend the majority of class training your child to develop perfect pitch and to recognize melodic patterns, intervals, and chords. It would be counterproductive and damaging for them to be hearing out-of-tune patterns, intervals, and chords at home all week long. I can refer a very inexpensive piano tuner if you need.
• If you buy or own an electric keyboard, please consider purchasing a stand. They are very inexpensive used, or new on Amazon. Just placing the keyboard on a table will not place it at the proper height to reinforce the posture and flexibility habits we teach in class. Bad habits are hard to break!

Small, low price, high quality electric piano

Full-sized, mid price, mid-high quality electric piano

Full-sized, mid/high price, high quality electric piano (same ones I have for my Bridge classes)

Piano stand, piano bench

Also check Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Walmart, Costco, etc.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I’ll see you in two weeks!!!!

Ms. Judie

P.S. I would be extremely grateful if you could share a post about my music classes on social media. If you shared your vote of confidence in my music classes it would really mean a lot. I do give a $25 tuition credit for every referral that registers.