100 Day Challenge Continues! Keep up the great work. January 2014 is our goal! Christmas vacation will be from Tuesday Dec. 24th thru Wednesday, Jan 1st. Lessons resume Thursday, Jan.2nd, 2014.Please be reminded that no extra charge is made for the months when there are five lessons. Tuition remains the same each month. KinderKeys Registrations: We will be taking “in-house” registrations for the Spring 2014 Semester of KinderKeys during December, before we open it up to anyone outside our Studio. KinderKeys is our Pre-Piano Program for 3-5 year olds. If you would like more information, we have brochures available with costs and times.Keyboard Adventures Registration is now open. Keyboard Adventures is an introductory method for groups of young beginners, ages 5-7, and is an exciting, new alternative to private piano instruction. Lessons present a balance of singing, moving, drumming, writing, and reading activities-together with playing at the Clavinova keyboard. A 12 week semester of Keyboard Adventures starts in February and consists of twelve 60-minute group lessons. Please call or see Judy now for more details. November Competitions! Congratulations to everyone who participated in our Fall Piano Competition at Jacobs Music! Many medals and ribbons were awarded. The music was outstanding and everyone enjoyed it greatly. The performers were poised and well practiced. It was a great learning experience for all the students and the audiences were appreciative for the talent and hard work. The judges were also very impressed!Congratulations also to those who participated in the terrific Piano Performance Party and Junior Division Competition. The music was very lovely! We are so proud of you!Thank you again to all the parents and volunteers who worked so hard to make these events so successful. Holiday Musicals, etc. As we approach the holiday season, opportunities to attend musical presentations abound. “The Nutcracker” is one in particular that everyone should see, plus many choral groups present “The Messiah” and several churches in the area sing Christmas Cantatas or Musicals. Ask Judy for suggestions. (over) Please take advantage of as many of these opportunities as possible. Your family will be greatly enriched by these cultural experiences—and it will make Christmas more meaningful and special. Establish a family tradition of going to a specific event every year. The children look forward to it and it can be viewed as part of their Christmas gift. Enjoy the holidays but please try to maintain your practice schedule as much as possible. Students regress if daily practice is not encouraged. A great idea is to organize a family concert and carol sing starring your young person. An “open house” with background music by the pianist(s) in your home is nice. Showcase their talent and hard work. Shoppers--A piano is a lifetime investment and a great Christmas gift! Ask Judy for discount coupons at Jacobs Music. Piano Tuning Time It’s important to have your Piano tuned now that it’s heating season. We can refer you to local tuners. For the common things of every day, God gave man speech in a common way; For the deeper things man thinks and feels, God gave the poet words to reveal; But for the heights and depths that know no reach, God gave music, the soul’s own speech. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! We want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy holiday season as we thank God for His most precious gift to us, His Son, Jesus; and as we look forward to the New Year, we wish all of you God’s Blessings. We love teaching your children! Judy and the Staff GrandStaff PIANO STUDIO December 2013 Keyboard Adventures NEWS Merry Christmas and a Happy “Harmonious New Year! Please take time to enjoy the fun and blessings of the holiday season. Try to attend a holiday musical performance with your young person (Cantatas, symphonies, Nutcracker Suite, etc.) Our semester will conclude on Thursday Dec. 5th. All classes will have completed our 12-week semester. • Please see Judy to sign your young person up for one-on-one piano lessons. Openings are limited. Some students will benefit from another semester of KBA. Let us know if you are considering this. This month we are continuing to learn rhythm and notation-as well as many music symbols, time signatures, note values and lines and spaces. We are finishing our Christmas books. The recital and lesson books can be continued at One-on-One piano lessons. Piano Purchase: Many of you have asked us about buying a piano. Please be careful about buying pianos from the classifieds. We will always refer you to a good reputable dealer and encourage the purchase of a good instrument. Wow-what a great Christmas present for the family! Thank you so much for your faithful attendance and enthusiasm and for allowing us the privilege of teaching music to your children! They have responded so readily to all the music and concepts presented this semester. Again, may we wish all of you a Merry Christmas and peace and prosperity in 2014! Sincerely, Judith Kay Clark, MTNA, PMTA, Director KBA Jordanna Keller, Bryan Griffith, Maddie Neiman Instructional Assistants Kadence Clark, Student Assistant GrandStaff Piano Studio www.grandstaffpiano.com December 2013 KinderKeys NEWS Our Fall semester is rapidly drawing to a close. The last day for our Thursday class is Dec. 5th. We’ve had a great time learning so much! Spring Semester: We offer 5 different semesters of KinderKeys. Be sure to enroll in our Spring Semester! Our Spring semester begins the first full week of February Reminder: We are enclosing a re-registration form. Openings are limited. We hope your child will return to our program. Music education is so important! Give your little one the confidence and joy that comes from learning piano and violin. If you need extra brochures and folders for friends, let us know. For the children who are already 5 yrs. old, please ask us about our exciting Keyboard Adventures program! This month we will be studying the story of “The Nutcracker” with hands on our real German nutcrackers. We have a banjo as well and each student has held it and played the strings. The MerryMusicMaker Harp continues to be a favorite for ear training. Shoppers--A piano is a lifetime investment and a wonderful Christmas gift! Ask Judy for discount coupons at Jacobs Music. Thank you so much for your faithful attendance and enthusiasm as we train your children. They have responded so readily to all the music and concepts presented this semester. May we wish all of you a Merry Christmas and peace and prosperity in 2014! We love teaching your children! Judy Clark, MTNA, Director Jordanna Keller, Bryan Griffith, Mikayla Dunn Instructional Assistants