Archive for June, 2009

Lucas has now successfully completed his last certification requirement and has earned all 9 Habits bands. To recognize this milestone Lucas also received the Peery leather band.

Congratulations on your graduation from Habits Lucas and welcome to Players!

Congratulations to the following students who recently earned their Peery Certification!!

Sam J. – Sam has successfully passed all 9 evaluations in the Habits program and has earned his Habits master band!

Talia J. – Level 1 Practical and Musical
Mikayla B. – Level 1 Muscular

Please check the Students Progress section of the blog and notify info@peerymusic.com if anything is incorrect or missing. We want to be sure to keep this posting as accurate as possible.

You may have heard the recent buzz about 10,000 hours being the magic number to achieving mastery in any given area. This definitely holds true to achieving mastery of an instrument – especially piano.

The ‘Practice Hours to Mastery’ chart below can be found in the Program Info category of the blog under ‘Mastery Program’.

PRACTICE HOURS TO PIANO MASTERY
Follow this practice chart and you will achieve mastery by the time you graduate from high school. It is assumed that students practice 5 days per week, 52 weeks per year.

If you practice more than the daily amounts listed or more than 5 days per week you will achieve mastery sooner.

Kindergarten 45 minutes

1st Grade – 1 hour

2nd Grade – 1 hour 15 minutes

3rd Grade – 1 hour 30 minutes

4th Grade – 2 hours

5th Grade – 2 hours 30 minutes

6th Grade – 3 hours

7th Grade – 3 hours 30 minutes

8th Grade – 4 hours

9th Grade – 4 hours 30 minutes

10th-12th Grades – 5 hours

Interestingly, the number that predicts a basic fluency is less than 1/2 that required for Mastery. Indeed, the studies show a dramatic consistency at ca. 3,000 hours.

Think 1 hr/ day from 1st grade through 10th grade.

The following students participated in National Music Certificate examinations held this spring and successfully passed!

Passing with First Class Honors with Distinction:
- Iris Kwok Grade 1 Piano (Iris has achieved the highest score ever received in Grade 1 in PPA history and is now in the PPA Hall of Fame!)
- Jessica Kur Grade 7 Piano
- Joshua Chiang Grade 7 Piano and Beginning Theory Rudiments

Passing with First Class Honors:
- Nicole Leyfman Prep B Piano
- Charles Smolen Grade 2 Piano
- Jiliane Saputra Grade 4 Piano

Passing with Honors:
- Jessica Kur Advanced Theory Rudiments

As the national standard follows just behind the Peery curriculum, all Peery students should be prepared to participate in these National Evaluations. Click here for more information about NMC.

Talk to your teacher if you are interested in participating in the next exam and keep on the lookout for application deadlines on the PPA calendar.

Sam just completed his level 3 Theory test and achieved the highest score ever in Peery history – including all students taking Peery at the San Francisco Conservatory.

Sam got every single question correct AND all of the bonus questions correct.

Way to go Sam!

It’s not too late to join the Guide Training class. The start date has been moved back to June 17.

Please go to the Guide Training section of the blog (in the Programs category at the top of the page) for more info.

Remember, one of the requirements is that you have your own student to teach during the training program. You must be able to teach the first lesson between June 18 and 23.

If you need help finding a student you can email Thomas at tskousen@peerymusic.com.

Jenna just completed her last certification requirement and has now earned all 9 Habits bands. To recognize this milestone Jenna will also receive the Peery leather band.

Congratulations on your graduation from Habits Jenna and welcome to Players!

Congratulations Jamie C. She just won second place in the 14th Annual Chopin Competition for Young Pianists held at the San Francisco Conservatory. Way to go Jamie!

Practice charts for Players and Mastery students will now be posted in the ‘Policies and Documents’ page at the top of the blog.

Just posted – the Summer Chart. All Players and Mastery students need to print this chart, fill it out each week and bring to your lesson.

Coming soon – Basic Full Chart, Advanced Full Chart, Learning Chart

In this Post:
Habits calendar info
Scheduling with Mrs Skousen

Still to come:
1) password protect the blog
2) post class schedules and rosters

The Habits Swap calendar is in full swing. We are excited that so many of you are using it. Thanks for your patience as we transition into this new system. We think you will agree it is worth the few bumps along the road.

Please be sure to read ‘How to use the Habits Swap calendar’ before you post. If there are errors in your entry your post will be removed and you will be sent an email on how to correct the errors. We just have to make sure we all are entering in a standard format so there aren’t mixups in the scheduling.

Vacant spots will now be posted only when they can be taken. So you won’t see them on the calendar until they are available. They will be posted approximately 48 hours before the spot. We save these vacancies until the last few days for new students. Posting them later will save you the trouble of having your spot canceled if a new student ends up taking that spot. So now when you see them, you can take them with no fear of your spot being canceled.

The calendar will be of the most use if all absences are reported leaving more spots available for swaps. So even if you aren’t planning on swapping, please post your absence.

Scheduling with Mrs Skousen
Mrs Skousen’s schedule is now posted on the blog. To learn how to schedule in time with Mrs Skousen go to How to Schedule with Mrs Skousen. Her schedule is posted at the top of the blog in the ‘Schedules and Rosters’ section.