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 1 Lessons – Erin P
You are all progressing amazing. I am a lucky teacher! If you need to register for exams, here’s the link.
Liam – please register for exam. Teacher code 130747
Harlequinade – excellent attention to detail this week!! Keep on keeping on. Your fingering seemed accurate too.
Practice solid triads by doing every inversion broken and then solid before before to the next inversion. For example, C E G CEG. Then the next inversion.
*New* Witches and Wizards – D minor. Notice the clef changes and the accidentals. The accents are very helpful to feel the pulse properly, remember in 6/8 we want to feel 2 main beats. Listen here.
Jadon
Canon x Beautiful in White – Yeah!! Nice progress. Today we made connections between the Beautiful in White melody, to the chord being played in the LH to notice that is alost entirely notes found in each triad.
Great reading today!!!
Katarina
Quarter Rest Rock – you CRUSHED this in lesson today! Next week I’m so excited to hear you play the RH while the LH drums again. I’m very impressed. Show your parents!
C major scales – Keep at it. Next week I will reach you a minor scale with the same fingering.
Sara
Think about adding dynamic shaping to all your technical requirements. Crescendo until the top, and then dimuendo back to the bottom, taking care not to “bump” the final note too loudly.
*New* Take the A Train – articulation will really help bring the playful nature alive. Listen to a few recordings of this tune so you can decide what instruments or voices you want to imitate in your version. Here is an amazing video by Randall Faber (the arranger of this piece, and creator of Piano Adventures) talking about this exact arrangement.
*New* March in D major by CPE Bach. Listen here. Prepare without trills this week. As this is Baroque, LH should be entirely detached. RH you can play the 8th notes that are moving by steps legato, but seperate everything else.
Ear training link for the specific intervals you need.
Maple Leaf Rag – I didn’t hear this today, but I want to record this soon.
Marco – please register for exam. Teacher code 130747
Minuet in C – all HT. I love the tempo you chose today. Keep it nice and slow and controlled like that.
Indiana Jones – now add on bridge chords to hands together. Same half note rhythm as before.
E minor natural and harmonic scale – the relative major is G.
Daniel – please register for exam. Teacher code 130747
*New* Pierrot Skipping – M1-8. Notice the mostly staccato articulation and carefully read the many accidentals. Listen here for the vibe, but obviously begin at a slow consistent tempo.
C and G major formulas. I didn’t hear these today, but I will first thing next week. Careful fingering is all I’m looking for.
Atacama Dessert – measures 1-16. Nice work. Remember that the RH mostly starts after an 8th beat rest. Beat 1 is usually not hands together. Great job with the tied LH notes.
Marita
River Dance – We played through everything but the final line today. Have fun with the syncopation and parallel harmonies, this song sounds so fun and is equally fun to play.
Arpeggios in C – this is an extended version of a triad. It has one big thumb under motion per two octaves. RH use fingers 1231235 and then come back down the same way. LH uses fingers 5321321 and goes down the same way.
Greta – please register for exam. Teacher code 130747.
Natural and Harmonic Minor scales – A, D and E. Natural Minor is only notes borrowed from the relative major. Harmonic minor is that PLUS a raised 7th.
Minuet in A minor – great work with rhythms! Your practice habits clearly paid off here. Be sure you are not rushing the quarter notes. Remember your 8th notes must be double the speed of your quarter notes. Keep it up!
*New* Red Satin Jazz – m1-12. This is based on a 12 bar blues form that uses the I, IV, and V chords from a particular key in a certain order. Count carefully to get that jazzy syncopation. Listen here.
Saturday January 13 Lessons – Erin P
Hakim
All My Fellas – top notes only for now. Go slow and steady and use the written finger numbers.
A Skating Waltz – In this piece the LH has the melody and should be the star. Play the RH light and bouncey. Listen here.
C Major Contrary Motion Scale – this means playing your C scale with hands going opposite directions. This way you will notice the fingers under and over mirror each other and happen at the same time.
Maria
Chinese Kite – first 2 lines. This entire piece is black keys, written as sharps. Steps up means RH, stems down means LH. Rhythm and articulation is most important here. Listen here.
Tattoo – up until star on second page. Great work!
E major scale – 4 black keys, F# G# C# D#. Standard fingering.
Shakira
Morning from Peer Gynt page 1 – When the 8th notes show up, a loose and floppy wrist is your best friend. Tension makes the fingers lock up and not work well.
C Major scale – both hands. RH fingering is 123 12345. LH is 54321 321. You’re really improving with these and I love how steady you play them!
Noreet
C major scale – both hands. I’ll hear these next week.
Lonely Pine – This piece has a position change for the RH in the middle of it. RH begins in treble C position, and then moves to middle F position. Remember to always create the echo effect by playing the RH Forte first, and then piano on the repeat. Be sure to hold the LH chord down for its full value. Listen here.
Grace
Sonatina Bureaucratique – sounds good. Your hands seperate work is amazing so now let’s pivot to slower HT work in chunks.
Rhythms is our big goal until the end of the year. Expect a handful of rhythms to sightread each lesson moving forward.
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
