ARCT • Teachers’ Diploma (RCM) in-progress
Trained Music Together Teacher
Erin Plank (they/he) is a passionate young piano teacher. For their professional development, Erin received the highest exam scores in all of Canada last year for “Teaching Elementary Piano” with the RCM.
Erin’s main goal is to turn students into lifelong music lovers, not just pianists. I seek to provide them with the tools to practice efficiently at home, sight read a song at their friend’s piano, learn the melody to a song off the radio by ear, and nurture a technical foundation that lasts a lifetime so it’s “just like riding a bike” to play the piano. And even better, they’ll want to.
Get to know Erin…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Piano, weightlifting, playing with my cat, and hanging out with friends
Musical influences: Ben Folds, Brad Mehldau, Edvard Grieg
Favourite food: Fried chicken sandwich
Least favourite food: snap peas, because I ate too many as a kid one time and threw up and now I dislike the smell
Favourite music: Romantic era piano music, Beach Boys and similar era music, math rock
Favourite song: “How Dare You Want More” by Bleachers
Favourite movie: Sing Street
Favouirite movie music: main theme for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” or anything Star Wars
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Wozzeck
Best quote from your teacher: “Don’t show the audience you messed up, they won’t know! Keep going!”
Favourite quote: “That’s what life is, Happy Sad”
Favourite book: Recursion by Blake Crouch
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Getting to reach and connect with so many lovely people!
Latest Homework from Erin
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Thursday February 29 Lessons – Erin P
Everyone is sounding awesome! Great, great job everyone! Way to put in the work!
Liam
At Night at the River – hands together. The 4 bars that I underlined need isolation. When playing any left hand line, think long-short-long -short. Be sure to disconnect the line and move your hand, rather than stretch the octave between the F#s.
Beethoven in Piano Pronto – All. Really great job with the accents and articulation! Your details are bang on. The bridge goes through multiple key centres so read your accidentals carefully.
Give your scales some more hands seperate love with attention to the fingering specifically.
Katarina
Laundry Limbo – all 4 pieces. This unit is about playing the notes D, E and F in both hands, sometimes in unison, sometimes taking turns. Use the finger number clues over the first notes to find your starting position and keep your hands there. We want to make sure all our fingers get to play.
Today we played a few pieces from the level 1 Piano Adventures Lesson book including Firefly, some of Ferris Wheel, and Young Hunter.
Sara
Maple Leaf Rag – love the accents you’re adding in to the LH.
*New* Desafinado – Listen here. This is a Bossa Nova which is Brazilian in heritage! No swing feel.
Warsaw Session – wow ,nice job with all the counting details! Add in pedal now.
https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/ear-interval/afrdyyngneyyyyyy
Marco
Superman Theme – add LH. When I drew lines it means the hands play together, when I drew an arrow, the RH comes in between the bass line. Go slow and be sure you are getting the beats in the right places.
Song of the Dark Woods – all. Very accurate fingering! Great work! The next line uses many accidentals, but fingering enables a very smooth LH line:
*New* Cranky Cat – m1-8. Listen here. We circled triads that appear and labeled them. Be sure to bounce staccato, it will help with the leaps too.
Keep all technique prepared.
Daniel
Pierrot Skipping – All. Practice in 4 bar chunks. Use the phrase line markings as a guide.
Keep all technique skills prepared. Formula sounded nice today.
River Dance – All. Very nice job. Be careful not to rush the 2nd bar of the pattern, just quarter notes.
Greta – teacher code #130747
*New* Song of the Dark Woods – 2 lines. This piece is in D minor, watch your fingering and Bbs. Similar to the Snake, shape and grow to the top of each phrase.
Angelfish – All. Great job keeping it even. Now do the written fingering to get the melody line legato.
Great job on the technique.
Saturday February 10 Lessons – Erin P
Hi everyone! Hope you have a nice Valentine’s Day this week with some yummy treats!
Hakim
*New* The Juggler – all. This piece the RH is in treble C position, while LH thumb is on middle C. Count the rests carefully and have fun bunching around all 3 Cs.
*New* Barefoot on the Beach – m1-9. The > symbols are accents that mean you can make those notes slightly louder than the rest. Be sure to bounce and play the staccato notes like a chicken pecking at their food.
G major scale – Nice job! Keep warming up with this hands seperate, and your C scale hands together.
Maria
Tattoo – Let’s record this soon to remember it.
Viva La Vida – Play the upper violin line where there is lyrics, when there isn’t lyrics, you can play the opening 4 bar cycle with both hands. The notes are the same in this version just there is minimal use of rests, and more tied notes. We colour coded the harmonic progression so you can see what chord goes with which lyrics.
Shakira
Contrary motion C Major scale – you crushed this today! Both thumbs start on C and you perform your standard scale fingering going outwards, finishing with your pinkies and then come back. The hands mirror each other.
Ode to Joy – Next week we will play page 2.
Noreet
*New* Paper Airplane – This piece is very similar to something you mightve played in the primer level However it is in treble C position instead of middle C position. Though it is easy to play, it is new for you to be reading these notes, so keep your head up and eyes on the page :)
C Major Contrary motion scale – great work! Keep it up.
*New* Love at First Bite piano part – You aced the drumming part of this today in lesson. Next week we will switch roles, you will play the piano part, and I will be your drummer!
Preferred Books for Erin Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
BOOK TITLE
COMING SOON
Faber Piano Adventures
The 2nd Edition Level 1 Lesson Book introduces all the notes of the grand staff, elementary chord playing, and the concept of tonic and dominant notes. Students play in varied positions, reinforcing reading skills and recognizing intervals through the 5th. Musicianship is built with the introduction of legato and staccato touches. This level continues the interval orientation to reading across the full range of the Grand Staff. The 5-finger approach is presented here in a fresh, musically appealing way.
Piano Safari
