August 31, 2011 – 1:27 PM
I’m a pussy cat dad, a long way from being a Tiger Dad, but I have amped up my discipline on piano lessons, keeping my kids at the keyboard for up to an hour. … So when I got a chance to try the Time Tracker Mini from Learning Resources, I was glad to look at a new option. … However, there is no way to see how much time is left as the clock wears down, other than having a warning at some point in the practice. In some cases, it might be best not to let users know how much time is left (fidgety kids who check the time every 30 seconds), but most people like to know how much time is left to allocate time to different parts of a lesson.
… I’m a pussy cat dad, a long way from being a Tiger Dad, but I have amped up my discipline on piano lessons, keeping my kids at the keyboard for up to an hour.
October 29, 2010 – 4:25 AM
Looking for an interesting alternative to traditional birthday parties? DadLabs suggests hosting a kids birthday party at a teppanyaki Japanese restaurant, which can make for a memorable outing for your family.
October 15, 2010 – 4:21 AM
Forming a musical group is great activity for both parents and kids. DadLabs offers a few suggestions on how to make a great family rock band.
December 2, 2009 – 4:35 PM
At nine, she already plays more easily than I do, but we have a great time playing the piano together, learning new music, and singing along. … I’ve always loved jazz, especially standards, and knew the freedom would give me a lot more pleasure than repeating Minuet in G Minor over and over to a metronome. In my hunt with my teacher for easy music to play and improvise from, we stumbled on The Piano Guy and his series of music all transcribed to the Key of C. … While this isn’t my favorite of holiday songs, I’ve really gotten a lot out of this approach and you might find this song motivating if you want to learn a jazzy rendition of a Christmas classic for this season. I’m going to give it a try, but right now I’m working on God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Chestnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire.
Though I’m not a big country fan and I find “Let them be Little” by Billy Dean a little sugary sweet, it’s hard not to get a little teary listening to the lyrics that talk about how short childhood is. … LongMayYou Run by Neil Young – If you like the raspy voice of a young Neil Young, and also edit out a few lyrics, (“back in ’62 when I last saw you alive”) this has a good beat and mood.
…Crawling Babies La Donna e Mobile – You’ll instantly recognize La donna è mobile (“Woman is fickle”) as the misogynistic song from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto (1851), Though you don’t need to consider that last part.
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