Dean Zimmer has become a bit of a phenomenon these days. He is a gifted drummer who plays with a great deal of passion and skill. Although those attributes are rare, what has set him apart is his ability to overcome his physical limitations. Dean is truly an inspiration! His hands are deformed and he uses a wheelchair to get around, but none of these things keep him from doing what he loves.

This video chronicles a reply to an ad for a drummer. Dean actually struggled up a flight of stairs to respond to the ad.

Ever thought about quitting? I think Dean Zimmer will motivate you to continue on in your passion

I've had lots of fun researching different musically educational theory games over the summer, and beginning to implement some of them in my studio. This evening, I introduced Over The Edge during a couple lessons...

Tonight, one of my students was having some trouble remembering the names of different notes (quarter notes, half notes, whole notes) and rests (quarter rests, half rests, and whole rests), so we pulled out Over The Edge, a game designed by Jennifer Fink and posted on her wonderful blog: www.pianimation.com!

Over The Edge uses the image of a river filled with rocks to introduce and reinforce common notes and rests - quarter notes/rests, half notes/rests, dotted half notes, and whole notes/rests. You draw a card, and get a gem for each count. I always ask my students for the name of each type of note/rest and how many counts it gets.

Tonight's student quickly began to be able to identify notes and rests by their full name rather than just, "that gets one count...", "that gets two counts...", etc. Plus, she had lots of fun filling her board before I filled mine - and she won the game!  :)

I've also had success using this game at the first piano lesson that we discuss quarter notes and half notes. Typically, quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes are introduced within a week or two of each other, so this is the perfect review game (just use the notes that your student already knows). At the end of the game, my students and I use the Over The Edge cards to create some extra rhythms or perform some quick ear training exercises.

It's been so much fun to watch my Little Mozarts - my 4-year-old and 5-year-old students - learn all the notes on the keyboard. Now, we're moving on to finding notes on the treble and bass clefs.

As I was looking for extra activities to help reinforce this new way of reading notes, I found these Search and Find worksheets created by Susan Paradis. I can't wait to try them out this week!

If you're little musician is getting bored of simply playing these new notes and doing flashcards (two great ways to learn notes, but the repetition can get a little tedious), these worksheets would be a great option to use. I will probably laminate my copies so I can use them over and over again!

And parents, if you choose to print a worksheet for your child, you can definitely count it toward their practice time!

If your kids are like mine, they love the educational programming provided on local PBS stations. Educator Stephanie Anderson works with KBYU TV Eleven in Provo, Utah to provide a variety of educational resources for parents and teachers. In this particular workshop, she highlights the effects of music on your child's developing brain and provides a variety of activities to incorporate music into a child's daily routine. Download the Music is a Must packet here, and view the video below:

At Jessica's Piano Studio, our goal is to provide you and your child with a rich variety of music-filled activities. From Kindermusik classes to individualized music instruction, we offer a plethora of tools to help you incorporate music into your child's world!