Summertime, and the living is…easy? I just hosted 6 elementary aged students at a Piano Pizza Party. Ha, I’m exhausted! But I think they enjoyed it. I typically host this particular event before the Sonatina Festival in late winter. And I usually have the older kids in attendance. I like to give the aspiring musicians a chance to play through their sonatinas, from memory, for an audience, before they have to face an adjudicator. It gives them a chance to spot any weaknesses in their grasp of the music, and together we have another few weeks to iron out the wrinkles. That particular event never came to pass this year, and the younger kids were itching for some pizza. So....
We reviewed the scales they each learned this year. Over the year, my younger students each made a "scale octopus", with 8 arms, for each of the 7 letters of the musical alphabet plus an additional A for the octave. They learned 5-finger scales and added beads to the octopus' arms to represent the scales they mastered. 
The older kids made longer chains, full octave scales with black and white beads to represent the key signature of each scale. It has become quite the competition to get the longest chain! (Sanna has played through the Circle of Fifths all the way to F#.) Yesterday, they quizzed each other on the scales they'd learned, the key signatures, and the proper finger technic for playing scales. (Seriously, they didn't want my input at all, but relied on each other for feedback!)
They also played a piano ensemble rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, (see Jennifer Boster, at theplayfulpiano.com) with the various themes building on each other. The Canon in D Piano Ensemble Strips contains 17 2-measure phrases from Pachelbel's Canon. Jennifer has 2 pianos, and in her video, I think she accommodates up to 8 kids at a time, each new theme adding to the mix. I divvied up the 17 phrases among my students, and had them each master just one phrase, not knowing who would attend the party and how we would handle 17 phrases on just one piano. The smaller party attendance was thus a plus. Those who were game spread out across the keyboard. Camille started with the opening phrase in the bass clef, Sanna then added the treble melody, and Sam filled in between them. Yes, we lacked some of the more intricate phrases, but it worked out well for all involved. They each played the same rhythm, all quarter notes, and they played well. They recognized the need to maintain a steady tempo and they now understand my admonition not to stop for mistakes. Sam said, "I had to listen just to myself, so I didn't get lost!" They also appreciated the joy of playing together, not something pianists get to do too often. I hope to try it again with more advanced students and see what we can create!
We finished the piano part of the party with a few solo performances. Eamon, my youngest student, played Flying, consisting of 2 notes set to a rhythm up the keyboard. He was very happy to show off his mastery! Alex played a piece he had composed himself. Sanna, also relatively new to the studio, attempted The Movie Thriller, from memory, and we were thrilled that she remembered most of it! And Hazel performed 3 pieces! Happy Birthday, which she is learning for her own birthday next week, and Cracker Jacks, which she had not mastered as of her last lesson but aced yesterday! She also gaver an encore performance of her recital version of Ode to Joy. Then we moved outside for pizza and lemonade. So happy the weather cooperated; 6 little kids was a lot for me in my little studio!
I love to provide performance opportunities for my students, the formal recitals and the very informal events. These latter events give the kids confidence that they can do it! And confidence that they can help each other as well. I had intended to finish out with a group production of Chopsticks, but alas, we ran out of time. That will have to be our summer project.
