MusicExamHQ.com for students and teachers of the RCM and NMCP Piano Exams

Just before Christmas 2010, I launched a new website called MusicExamHQ.com

I created this music exam resource website to meet the needs of music students, teachers and parents who are involved in the piano and music theory exams organized by the Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada) as well as the National Music Certificate Program (USA). To read more about the RCM and NMCP exams, click here.

Born Out of Need

As a piano instructor who is in full support of these systematic music examinations, I found that it was difficult to find information online regarding the material required to prepare for these piano and music theory examinations. I wanted a one-stop-shop where piano students, teachers and parents could visit to gain information about the piano, music theory and music history materials involved in these graded exams.

And so, I started compiling information about these exams, together with a directory of resources that would help both piano teachers and students locate the relevant examination books. I categorized the directory to display both piano exam resources as well as music theory exam resources as required by either the RCM or NMCP exam syllabus.

Free is Good

I also included a section on free music resources which includes:

• a customized set of manuscript paper for easy download and printing
• helpful music charts including the Circle of Fifths, and Piano Keyboard Templates
• scale sheets
• music flashcards

Free eBook by Alex Thio

I worked for weeks on a free ebook called Distinction: An Essential Guide to Doing Remarkably Well in Your Piano Exam which I wrote offering anyone who downloaded it (free) a wealth of tips on preparing for the piano examinations by the RCM and NMCP. You can download the free eBook here.

Spread the Word!

I welcome you to come visit the MusicExamHQ.com website. And if you know any student or teacher involved in the piano and music theory exams organized by the RCM or NMCP, I’d be so appreciative if you told them about the website!

The Evolution of Repertoire

For most of the performances during this tour, we will be featuring (and performing) selections from the acclaimed SymbiosisDuo CD. It’s always interesting to observe how these pieces have evolved ever since the time we recorded them. We find ourselves discovering new and creative ways to make each piece more three-dimensional. Gail even introduced to us some of her new arrangements that we hope to read through, learn and eventually perform for our next tour in March, which includes our performance at SERTEC 2011 (Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference) in Chattanooga, TN.

Food, Glorious Food!

It’s always a highlight of our tours to experience the many different culinary stops on our journeys. For lunch, the Indian restaurant just a block from our hotel served the best Indian cuisine (buffet style) I have ever tasted. And last night, we treated ourselves to a great time at Tallahassee’s Tomahawk Sports Bar and Grill.

I was initiated to the art of answering trivia at the dinner table by the electronic gaming system called Buzztime. Good fun – but I found myself losing to the gals.

What’s more, Tomahawk served fried alligator. Yes, FRIED ALLIGATOR. I chose to stick to the fried calamari.

Thorn among the Roses

People ask me how I survive traveling with three beautiful and talented ladies for weeks at a time. Being the thorn among the roses isn’t as challenging as you think! In fact, when you’re in the company of friends who love music, people (and food!), it’s EASY to bond! And no, we don’t talk about music ALL the time. In fact, we find ourselves chatting about everything ELSE under the sun. These are friends I’ve come to love and respect – and it is such an honor to be on the performance stage with them!

Now, before you go running to the store and picking up a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People, you should know that some of these interpersonal relationship tips I’m about to share merely stem from being an accompanist for these past 26 years and from working with numerous musicians, young and old – amateur and professional. My 2 cents worth.

The Accompanist's Plea

PLEASE communicate with me

• If you’re meeting us for the first time, be friendly. We don’t bite.
• After introducing yourself, let’s share contact information and decide how best to get in touch with each other.
• Let’s talk about scheduling rehearsals. Be flexible – and we’ll try to do the same.

PLEASE respect my time

• Respect my time, and I’ll respect yours.
• Let’s schedule rehearsals in advance. Decide on specific times and venues.
• Need to rehearse in that auditorium or classroom? Please book the venue in advance.
• I’ll pencil you into my schedule, if you promise to do the same.
• If you’re running late for a rehearsal, a call or text message would be appreciated. I promise to do the same.
• If you’re calling to cancel a rehearsal, 24-hours’ notice would be so welcomed.

PLEASE give me music in advance

• Some of us sight read brilliantly; some of us, not so much. Please give us our piano score ahead of time.
• If we have our own copy of the score, we’ll let you know.
• We’d appreciate an original piano score, not copies. Besides, you could be hunted down by the Copyright Police. And we ain’t gonna bail you out.
• If it’s alright with you, we’d like to pencil in (lightly) markings that will help us do a bang-up job for your performance. We’ll be glad to erase ‘the evidence’ after, but if you’d prefer us to leave our pencil markings in there for your future reference, we’ll be glad to do that too.
• Could you secure a reliable person to turn our pages if needed? That would be nice.

PLEASE be my musical partner

• Let’s chat about musical details and interpretation. I’d love to know how best you plan to deliver your performance.
• I’m a collaborative pianist: one who performs beside you – not for you. Let’s share musical ideas with each other.
• Let’s both mark in our scores the musical details we’ve decided upon. This helps in securing a consistent and cohesive interpretation of the piece. Let’s not ‘wing it’.
• I’d love to know what interesting information you’ve dug up about the piece – its musical form, performance style, composer’s biography and background. Anything that might throw more light on the piece.
• I’ll commit to knowing your solo part well, and hope you’ll know my piano part too.

PLEASE be prepared for our rehearsals

• Let’s be efficient in our use of time at our rehearsals. Come knowing your part well, and I’ll do the same for mine.
• I don’t think teaching each other notes and rhythms is a good use of our time – although I’ll be glad to help.
• I have my pencil. Do you have yours?
• Come refreshed and ready to make some music with me. I’ll bring coffee if you want.

Like I said, life’s good when you and your accompanist are mutually respectful of each others’ time and talent. Build a strong, supportive, positive relationship with your accompanist – and you won’t regret it one bit.

Hi! My name is Alex Thio and I am webmaster of this website. Thanks for dropping by!

Besides my life’s calling as a pianist and instrumental/vocal accompanist, I also busy myself with web design and current technology. I know those are very different hats to wear – but those are my passions. In a small way, I have shared both those passions with others – as a piano teacher to my students, collaborative pianist to musicians, web designer to clients, and web geek to my family.

I decided sometime this past month to begin a blog series on DIY Websites for the independent music teacher. In one time or another, you might have considered starting your own music studio website. You’ve probably searched online for web design services that would help you stake a claim to a small piece of land on the Internet that you could call your very own. You’ve also probably seen or heard how much it costs – and hesitated to move forward with your dream to have a music studio website.

I beg of you: Don’t give up that dream!

You CAN have a website of your own.
You CAN build it and maintain it yourself.
You CAN do both with very little cost involved.

You CAN do it!

This DIY Website Blog Series is just what you need to get started. And it is yours absolutely for the wonderful price of FREE.

Why FREE? Well, I’ve enjoyed the process of building and maintaining websites myself. The website you’re on right now is just one of them. I’ve also found freedom and independence in being my own web designer. I’m free to tweak the site, add new content, post new pictures, write fresh blog articles – anytime I want, any chance I get. And you can too!

Benefits of having your own music studio online

Here are some of the benefits of having your own website and music studio online:

• A central place where students/parents can visit to view your teaching schedule, studio calendar, recital information, studio policies, and studio fee information
• A channel of communication for your studio through online newsletters or a blog
• A place where students can book or reschedule lessons with you online
• A body of resources that you can make available for download, including scale and arpeggio charts, practice logs, music theory worksheets, music history outlines and other educational material
• An opportunity for parents to pay for their tuition online

Those are just a few of the many other benefits you could experience by owning your own website and running it by yourself. I’m sure you can think of a few more ways a website could specifically help you – but essentially, a website of your own is going to help you save time and money.

Do you have $8000 to spare?

There’s a website design company called WebpageFX that has a website project quote calculator which helps you determine how much a website project may cost if you should hire them to build your website. I decided to try it (on your behalf) to see how much actually a basic website might cost these days. We’re talking ‘rough’ figures here – so don’t roll off your chair.

Number of pages: 1 – 10
Style of design: Simple yet attractive
Copywriting # of pages: None (assuming you’ll write all the content of the website yourself)
SEO w/ Placement Guarantee: Search Engine Optimization (how to get found on the Internet) – we’ll skip this for now
Flash or Multimedia: Simple Header
Database Integration: Basic (we won’t worry about this for now, either)
e-Commerce Functionality: None (assuming you won’t be selling stuff)
CMS: Standard
Total Estimated Quote: $ 8,000

If you’re gasping in shock, I won’t blame you.

You see, a professional website design firm has within its company trained and talented web designers, web developers and graphic artists required to run a profitable business. They deserve every bit of the income they earn because website design and maintenance is time-consuming and an art in itself.

Don’t let me scare you, though. There ARE website design firms that will offer you a well-designed and functional website that will meet your music studio needs for MUCH less ($2000 – $4000) for a basic website.

But here’s the deal: do you know that you can build and maintain your own website (based on a wonderful and free platform called WordPress) for under $150 or less .. a year?

Again… If you’re gasping in shock, I won’t blame you.

Be Your Own Web Designer

And before you think you’d rather pay someone else to build your music studio website, STOP!

I want to encourage you that you can be your own web designer. I did it, and you can too.

Here’s what you will need:

1. A computer (Windows or Mac)
2. An internet connection (preferably high-speed broadband internet access)
3. A domain name* (example, www.MyVeryOwnMusicStudioOnline.com)
4. A web hosting service* (a company offering ‘space’ for you to build your website and have it accessible to all)
5. A basic knowledge of word processing
6. A basic knowledge of WordPress

*Price of a domain name these days: $8 – $10 a year. Price of a web hosting package: $6 to $9 per month

What do you think? Can you handle this so far?

If not, don’t sweat it! At the risk of putting myself out of business, I want to point you to a wonderful service online called Music Teacher’s Helper (www.musicteachershelper.com). Designed for music teachers, this service offers you an all-in-one package including professionally designed themes for your new website, automatic invoicing (accept credit card payments), a studio calendar and many more features you would need to run an online music studio.

If you want to take the challenge of being your own web designer, then I encourage you to continue reading this blog series on DIY Website for the independent music teacher!

Well, that’s going to be your address on the internet.

The examples of domain names I’ve chosen for a few of my websites are:

• www.TheMusiciansCoach.com : this is the website you’re on now, thank you!
• www.WeddingKeys.com : this is a website I created to advertise my wedding piano services
• www.Lexographix.com : and this website advertises my web design services

As you can see, domain names can be a string of characters and numbers that YOU get to choose to identify your website. Choose carefully.

Why Choosing a Good Domain Name is Important

Choosing a good domain name is important because:

1. You want your music studio to be found on the Internet when people search for it
2. You want your domain name to be easily remembered by your students/parents/friends/family

There is a matter of search engine optimization (SEO) that I will deal with later – but for now, suffice it to say that choosing a good domain name will increase the success of your music studio.

Tips on Choosing a Good, or GREAT Domain Name

Here’s some homework for you to help you choose a great domain name for your music studio.

Take a blank sheet of paper (or start a new Excel sheet on your computer) and without being distracted, list words and phrases that you would like your music studio to be identified with. The following questions might help:

• Do I want my first and/or last names to included within my domain name? (example, AndersonTrumpetStudio.com)
• Do I want to have the instrument I teach within the domain name?
• Do I want to have the area/region in which I teach within the domain name? (example, FinneyTownPianoStudio.com)
• Do I want something related to my area of expertise but still catchy? (example, IWorkForMusic.com)

Now, with those words and phrases you’ve listed, try to mix and match them, and ‘toy around’ with some domain names that are both easy to remember and that ‘roll off the tongue’ easily.

Tip: Click on this link for an online Domain Name Search by Hover.com that will easily help you check whether the domain name you’ve chosen or want is available or taken. If the domain name you want is unavailable, it will suggest other domain names that might be alternatives you would like.

More Tips on Choosing a Great Domain Name

Stick to .com

Let me share with your my preferences when choosing a domain name.

1. Stick to .com and try to stay away from .net or .biz or .us: In my humble opinion, domain names that end with .com have a little better ‘ring’ than the others. No, it’s not that .com domain names have better credibility… well, yeah they do.
2. Try to stay away from hyphens: I chose themusicianscoach.com, rather than the-musicians-coach.com. It’s easier to type anyways.
3. The shorter, the better: Yes, in choosing your domain name, the shorter the better. Would you rather have RookwoodPianoStudio.com over RookwoodPianoStudioNearThatBridgeOverTheInterstate.com?
4. Use relevant words in your domain name – you won’t regret it: if you’re a piano teacher, try your best to have the word “piano” in your domain name. Unless you can successfully market your unique and catchy studio name like TwinkleFingerz.com, you’ll probably never attract to many visitors to your website.
5. Conventional spellings, please: Remember, part of marketing your website is by word of mouth. If your music studio website’s domain name is TwinkleFingerzStudio.com, can you imagine how troublesome (and ultimately time-consuming) it would be to explain to someone:

Yes, my website is TwinkleFingerz.com. That’s Fingerz, with a “Z”.

The Cost of a Domain Name

Don’t let me stop you from buying a domain name at the cheapest price. Generally, domain names can come as cheap as $1.99 and as hefty as $9.99. Use your favorite search engine and scour the Net for good buys. But make sure you read the fineprint.

I’ve used GoDaddy.com for years and haven’t had a problem with the services they provide. Recently, I’ve fallen in love with Hover.com because they make buying domain names SO much easier – and their user interface is simple, clean and efficient.

BUCK SAVING TIPS:

• Whenever I buy a domain name, I make sure I search the Internet for coupons or promotional codes I can use with my purchase. It usually knocks off a couple of bucks from the total amount due.
• If you’re really serious about your music website, and are totally satisfied with your domain name, it’s better to register your domain name for longer than one year. Most domain registrars (like GoDaddy and Hover) will cut you a better deal when you register your domain name for 2,3,4 or 5 years at a time. Save a buck now, why don’t you?

Now What?

Once you’ve secured yourself a great domain name for your future music studio website online, you’re ready to add to your basket a web hosting service. We’ll cover that in my next article on the DIY Website blog series. Stay Tuned!

Items I’ve mentioned on this page:

• Hover.com
• GoDaddy.com

]]> http://www.themusicianscoach.com/diy/diy-website-part-2/feed/ 0 http://www.themusicianscoach.com/technology/online-scheduling/ http://www.themusicianscoach.com/technology/online-scheduling/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:04:22 +0000 Alex Thio http://www.themusicianscoach.com/?p=708 I love it when technology comes to the rescue of us busy independent music teachers!

Scheduling appointments using online services is one of the ways you can save precious time by automating the sometimes tedious task of lesson scheduling.

Here is the criteria I used to find a dependable online scheduling service to use with my music studio:

1. It had to be free
2. It had to be user-friendly for me as the administrator, and for my students/parents as my clients
3. Clients should be able to login using a web browser to book lessons with me
4. Clients must be able to see what lesson slots I have available for their choosing
5. Once booked, clients and I should receive an automatic confirmation of their online booking
6. Clients should be able to opt for an email reminder of the appointment scheduled
7. Easy for clients and me to reschedule lessons

Thus far, I have successfully implemented online scheduling of lessons using the service by Clickbook.net. The service offers an online method for your students/parents to book lessons/appointments with you. Previously in its developmental stages, Clickbook.net was a free service to all businesses using its online appointment scheduling and booking software. Since early this year, they have shifted to a paid model though they still offer a free account which in my opinion is all you need if you need, especially if you teach lessons from one location only. You can view the comparison chart of the free account features, as well as additional features included in the paid accounts.

For your convenience, I’ve listed 5 online scheduling services that you might find useful for your music studio purposes as a independent music teacher. Each of them offer free as well as paid subscriptions to their service. Of all of them, I have found Clickbook.net and Bookfresh to be the most user-friendly.

Tip: Always sign up for a free account or free trial to assess the usability of the service offered. If you find yourself ADORING how it works, you can always upgrade it to a paid subscription, usually with more features added.

5 Online Scheduling Services for the Independent Music Teacher

1. Clickbook.net (free account available, with limitations)

2. Genbook.com (free trial available for 30-days)

3. Bookfresh.com (free account available, with limitations)

4. SuperSaaS.com (free account available, with limitations)

5. CheckAppointments.com (free account available, with limitations)

Have you found an online appointment scheduling service that you have found useful? Let me know and I’ll add it to the list!

The symbols on a music manuscript hitherto left silent come to life through the very instruments for which those symbols were written. To the bystander, it may just be beautiful music. Something entirely different happens between the musicians, though – a musical conversation is taking place; a special kind of language spoken between like mind and like spirit.

As a collaborative pianist, one of the joys of making music with other musicians is creating and maintaining a musical conversation.

A Musical Conversation: My Definition

Speaking as an accompanist, here is my definition of what a musical conversation is:

It is an audible exchange of musical phrases and ideas between my fellow musician and me, stemming from a solid and unified understanding of not only my piano part but that of my musical partener/s.

Musical Conversations

You see, when I perform in ensemble with other musicians, we not only nourish and enrich the souls of those who listen to our music – we nourish and enrich our own souls by the musical conversations that we create in the process.We come away from the experience fulfilled, even exhilarated – and almost always, happy! It’s a special bonding I wouldn’t exchange for anything in the world.

Why create a Musical Conversation?

The question is, why not? You’ve invested hours, days and maybe weeks in learning, refining and mastering a piece in preparation for an ensemble experience with another musician who has probably done the same. After the initial ‘working-out-the-kinks’ in the first few rehearsals (notes, rhythms, dynamics, phrasings etc), it is easy for any musician to halt the process of creativity by merely being satisfied with status quo.

Want to be a music conversationalist? Then, go the step further. Invest time in understanding not only your piano part, but that of your musical partner or partners. How many of us collaborative pianists can honestly say that we know the instrumental soloist’s score like the back of our hand? Better still, how many instrumentalists know our piano score on the back of theirs?

When both performing individuals are deeply familiar with each others’ musical part, then only can a truly fulfilling musical conversation take place.

Conversation Pieces

What ‘pieces’ are involved in a musical conversation? Here are some examples I can think of:

• Echoing: especially in Baroque pieces where terrace dynamics abound. Your instrumentalist states a musical phrase in forte; you respond in like (with a similar if not identical phrase) with piano. It’s like agreeing to what somebody says, with a gentle nod of affirmation, or an Amen to that!
• Setting Up: Crafting the introduction of a piece/movement musically and convincingly so that it sets up the soloist’s entry. Haven’t we all heard loving couples in conversation – where one sets up the story with a good introduction, and then passes it on to his wife by saying: “Go on, honey – tell them what happened next!”
• Interrupting (but in a good way): Musical opportunities to “cut into the conversation” abruptly (but musically). Crfeating a seamless transition of a musical statement between the piano and the soloist. Effective exchange of musical roles by deciding who’s in the background and who’s in the foreground. This is especially effective when both parties know each others’ music well!
• Speaking at the same time: Unison phrases between piano and soloist, flawlessly aligned. Presently, I’m working with Dr Stacy Baker (Professor of Tuba, Morehead State University) on her faculty recital and one of the pieces we are collaborating to perform is Barbara York’s Sonata for Tuba and Piano (Shamanic Journey). The 2nd movement is vivacious and whimsical in nature with several passages where tuba and piano parts are in absolute unison. It is always impressive when passages like these are worked to perfection, especially in faster tempi.

How to Enhance the Musical Conversation

1. Start by studying the scores – yours, and your musical partner’s.
2. Come to a unified understanding of the musical details and the general interpretation of the pieces as a whole, as well as it applies to the movement, passage and phrase
3. Find passages where both of you can apply some of the conversation ‘pieces’ listed above
4. Use that pencil of yours (you DO have one at rehearsals, don’t you?) to mark in your scores the passages/phrases where these conversations will occur
5. Be sensitive to each others’ phrases while performing by LISTENING
6. Rehearse till the musical conversation is audibly consistent and conveys what both of you have decided as effective.
7. Record yourselves or have someone sit in at the rehearsal to listen to the ‘conversation’. Critique yourselves.
8. Listen to other recordings of the same piece by other artists – and determine how effective the musical conversation is carried out in it. Determine to do better.

Conclusion

When you find yourself dreading the next rehearsal because you feel you are just going through the routine of rehearsing, why not start up a musical conversation with your fellow musician? It might breathe new life to the piece, and your collaborative efforts will amount to much when you finally perform the piece together in front of an audience.

And perhaps when someone asks you what you do for a living, you might add ‘music conversationalist’ to your job title.

[slickr-flickr tag=iwbc]

I’ve come to the realization that although it does take some amount of work to get a website started, it has become one of my personal joys and passions. There is a feeling of freedom and independence that comes from running your independent music studio website, without the need to hire a website designer!

I’d like to share this feeling of freedom and independence with you.

In the coming weeks, I plan to start blogging about the ways YOU can design and maintain your own music studio website. As an independent music teacher, you might already have a website. GOOD FOR YOU! But if you don’t, this free DIY Website e-course might be just what you’re looking for to start up your online music studio – a central HQ where your students and parents can visit to access the information you would like them to have.

Wouldn’t it be so cool to have your own website to:

• display your music teaching schedule, studio calendar, policies, fee information?
• have your music studio website accept online registrations for new or transfer students?
• be a resource to other music teachers by sharing your thoughts, advice and tips on teaching and performing?
• post audio, video and images of you and your students in performances, as learning tools?
• make scales and arpeggio charts as well as practice charts available for your students to download?

I can think of many practical reasons to have your own music studio website – and many MORE important reasons why you should run the website by yourself! If you have a working knowledge of how to use a word processor, you probably could handle this challenge!

What? For Free?

Wordpress: It will run your website - for free!

All my websites are built on an amazing publishing application called WordPress. While WordPress may have started out being an ‘engine’ for bloggers to use to create online blogs, it has successfully become one of the most important platforms on which major websites build their websites, including CNN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal,  Volkswagen, Ford and Sony – to name just a few.

And the good news is: this amazing publishing platform is FREE. Absolutely FREE.

Before I start this free e-course on DIY Websites for fellow independent music teachers, why not take some time to familiarize yourself with what WordPress is and what it can do for you?

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned on my blog, and join me on this exciting course on how to build your own music studio website – and experience the freedom I have!

Here’s to your future independent music studio website online!

Best Wishes,

Alex Thio

PS: If you have any suggestions on what I could include in this e-course that would benefit you in your aims to build your own website, let me know by including them as comments below! I’ll seriously consider them!

It was a privilege and honor to be invited as one of the official accompanist for the 2010 IWBC held in Toronto, Canada by the gracious hosts at Humber College.

The International Women’s Brass Conference (founded in 1990 by former principal trumpet, Susan Slaughter) aims to educate, develop, support & inspire all women brass musicians and organized its 6th conference this year.

William Hess (and friend): Grand Prize Winner

The conference featured many talented and internationally renowned solo brass artists, ensembles and bands. Solo brass competitors also gathered to compete for the prestigious Susan Slaughter Solo Brass Competition. I had the best of time learning up the competition pieces to collaborate and accompany some of the competitors, including William Hess (euphonium) of the Fountain City Brass. William executed his competition pieces with flair and mature musicianship – and grabbed the Grand Prize for his category!

It was a pleasure to work with the organizers and volunteers at the IWBC and Humber College. It was obvious that every individual was giving their best to make the Conference a success.

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Members of the Bella Tromba with Julie Angelis (percussionist) on my left

One of the highlights of being involved in conferences like these is the opportunity to collaborate and perform with excellent musicians. SymbiosisDuo (for which I am accompanist) performed two brief programs at the IWBC. I was also invited to collaborate with the youthful and talented Bella Tromba from across the pond in Britain. We performed the Khaldis by Hovhaness, the Op.91 Concerto for Piano, 4 Trumpets and Percussion in one of the evening concerts at the conference – a true treat to tackle!

Premiering new works is always fun. We have a chance to introduce a new musical masterpiece to excited listeners. Together with  Lin Foulk and Deanna Swoboda (hosts of the 2012 IWBC in Michigan), we premiered Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum‘s new work, Color Code. The 3-movement work for horn, tuba and piano depicts colors: Clash of Gold and Silver, Shifting and Shimmering Shades of Violet and Grey, and Champagne and Chocolate. VERY accessible for the collaborative pianist and certainly fun to perform!

With composer Elizabeth Raum, together with Lin Foulk and Deanna Swoboda

The 2012 International Women’s Brass Conference will be held at the Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I can’t wait to be a part of this gig again!

View more photos of the 2010 IWBC here