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 December 21 Lessons – Erin P
Have the best holiday season ever! Once again our Winter Break BINGO is happening! I sent you each a BINGO sheet home and if you complete a line of 5 (vertical, horizontal or diagonal) or go crazy and do a full board “blackout”, you will receive a prize in the new year :) Take a picture of the completed sheet or bring it back to the lesson to submit it! HAPPY HOLIDAYSSS!
Katarina
Keep your C scales playable :)
Read as many notes as you can and identify them by name and on the keyboard.
I will find Mary Poppins pieces for us to play in the new year.
Marita
I gave you a simple jazzy groove (#12) to play around with for the holidays if you like.
Play some scales and triads at the keyboard every few days to keep them in your fingers. Keys for your level are G, F and Bb MAJOR, and E, D, G minor.
If there is any music (pop/movie etc) that you would like to learn, just let me know :)
Liam
I printed out Lightsaber Dance for you. It is simple note wise, but will need to be even and precise to work as a duet. Don’t go for speed, go for accuracy if you tackle this. Use the written fingering.
If you want to maintain one of your pieces, make it Walk the Talk. I have drawn arrows where syncopated notes come “between” the bass notes. Listen here.
In the New Year, we will restart the Piano Pronto Russian pieces :)
Jadon
Endgame Portals theme – We are looking at this arrangement. See below:
The chord progression is usually E minor / E minor / A Major / C C D D / as a 4 bar cycle. If you count to the 19th measure of this excerpt, you will see it goes to B Major unexpectedly rather than C and D.
You will notice that certain notes are doubled in a chord to make a thicker orchestral sound, you can omit certain notes for ease if the sound created is still strong enough :)
Sara
Keep your technical requirements alive and in your fingers.
I printed out Jupiter for you. It is by Gustav Holst and is by far one of my favourite melodies ever, it is so beautiful. The arrangement has each phrase having its own line which is convenient. Have fun with it and add pedal :)
Marco
Play some C, G and F major scales and triads every so often. And some A, E and D harmonic minor scales and minor triads. Hands seperate. Just to keep them in your fingers.
I printed out On Your Mark! and here you can watch the composer himself play it. Both hands are in G minor position.
Daniel
Play some scales and triads at the keyboard every few days to keep them in your fingers. Keys for your level are G, F and Bb Major, and E, D, G minor.
I printed out Home Run for you. This piece is super fun and relies on off beat notes. The opening groove can be practiced without any pitches, simply by drumming with the hands. The accents above the RH notes are super helpful in showing you what sticks out and what we want to draw attention to. L R R L R *R* R is the groove of the first measure. The bold RH note is the only quarter note in the measure and it is the accented note too, E! The 2nd measure is much easier because both the last RH notes are quarter notes (3 4), less syncopated. LISTEN HERE, though this is the composer performing, I think it sounds more happy-go-lucky slightly slower.
Blink 182 I Miss You – primarily uses the B major 5 note scale.
Greta
Play some scales and C triads at the keyboard every few days to keep them in your fingers. Keys for your level are C, F and G Major. Fingering is RH 123 12345 (exception F major 1234 1234). LH fingering is 54321 321.
C Major triad pattern can be played solid or broken (one note at a time). CEG EGC GCE CEG. Always finger 1 and 5, and then 2 or 3 whichever makes most sense.
I printed out Swan Lake themefor you. Try and keep the LH quieter than the RH so the melody isn’t overshadowed. Today we tried one hand playing softer than the other on a simple repetitive set of notes. We did the same thing with staccato and legato sounds. Try this at home.
Saturday Nov 25 Lessons – Erin
Hello everyone! Glad you were all here today :)
Hakim, Shakira and Noreet – the below chart shows the C Major scale fingering. The below image is the RH fingering, remember going down is the exact same fingering on the same notes. Watch this.
The below image is the LH fingering. Going up – finger 3 crosses over. Going down – thumb tucks underneath hand.
Hakim
C Major scale hands together. Go very slowly and look at whichever hand is doing the harder fingering at the moment. Refer to above chart if needed. Watch this.
Going Undercover – this piece is in C minor. That is normal C position but with Eb instead of E. The RH uses a repetitive pattern, and I have circled the special notes that break the pattern. The first half of the piece, the LH has finger 1 on C and moves downwards in slow legato notes. Then, you put finger 5 on C (so it’s in the same position as the RH) and it moves upwards in staccato quarter notes. Spend the first weekish learning the hands seperate, and then in week 2 you can put it hands together slowly and steadily.
Good King Wenceslas – this piece is in C minor also. Where I have drawn lines above the notes it’s so show you the shape of the melody. For example, D C D so I drew a line that looks like a V because the melody goes from D – down to C – and back up to D again.
Keep working on Team Fortress music, I’m always very excited to hear what you’ve got going on!
Maria
Arctic Voices – Nice work! You can start adding in dynamics to the opening lines that you know well, or experimenting with pedal. The middle line is almost entirely 5ths, except for one. At the end of line 2 with the tricky fingering, it is like that so you can play it legato, so make sure those 3 chords are connected smoothly. Trust yourself and rely on all that we’ve written on the page to help you!
Witches and Wizards – 6/8 is felt in 2 big beats 123456, here the accents do all the work! This piece is in D minor. Keep going through the whole piece.
Tattoo – work on the groove in 2 bar chunks very slowly. Accent the offbeat note and you can exaggerate it with your body as well by leaning in. I drew on the sticky note that the offbeat note goes in between beats 2 and 3 (so in between the 2nd and 3rd quarter note your LH plays). In order for this to work you must choose a tempo that you can play the LH quarter notes without stopping or hesitating. You did it in lesson and I KNOW you will get this :)
Shakira
We Three Kings – great work! Let’s put it hands together this week. The LH 2-note chord is C, and the lonely notes are F.
C major scale – RH and LH seperately. Refer to fingering diagram at top of this post. Slow and steady, play it upwards and downwards.
Keep Doing What You’re Doing Bryson Tiller – This will not happen overnight, but slowly but surely it will! Familiarize yourself with one of the chord voicings at a time. Once you know two fairly well, practice going back and forth between them. You can also do the voicings one hand at time to build muscle memory.
Note Naming worksheet – please complete and return next week.
Noreet
Young Hunter – we presevered through this whole thing in lesson today! Great work. This piece sounds so mature because it combines staccato sounds and legato sounds as well as using contrasting dynamics. Pay close attention to the details on the page. To practice it, play each line hands seperate twice correctly in a row. Then play each line hands together twice correctly in a row. Near the end of the week you can start playing from beginning to end, but not until you know you can play each line very well. PLAY ALONG TRACKS FOUND HERE (#16 and 17).
C major scale – RH and LH seperately. Refer to fingering diagram at top of this post. Slow and steady, play it upwards and downwards.
Jingle Bells – first 2 lines. This piece is in shared middle C position (both thumbs on middle C). You totally have all the skills needed for this piece, and an ear to guide you! Trust yourself :)
Christmas worksheet double sided – please complete and RETURN to lesson next week :)
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.