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 January 12 Lessons – Erin P
Hello everyone! Today was an awesome day of lessons – here’s to an awesome week of practicing too! Also a reminder that I use they/them or he/him pronouns :)
Liam – It was amazing to meet you today!
You’re working on Saturday Night Boogie. This piece uses the 6th of each chord to make that “boogie” sound. We discussed how most of this piece follows the same patterns, but moving around the I, IV, and V keys. When you are playing think “C” and then think “F or IV” then “G or V”.
First practice the bar leading up to a position change, and practice arriving in the new position without missing a beat. Then you can add bars in on either side of the position change until you can do entire phrases with a steady pulse. Practice this in chunks – there is no need to play the piece back to front while practicing. I already love your habit to break something down to hands seperate when it is tricky – keep this up!
You can warmup with your C and G major, and A minor one octave scales hands seperate.
Fiona
You’re working on Runaway Rabbit. This piece has a melody that is first played in the RH, then in the LH with slightly different endings each time. Then the last line of the piece is something new that uses both hands. Pay special attention to the dynamics markings and also the legato/staccato markings.
Keep playing your C Major one octave hands seperate scales and next week I’ll teach you a new scale :)
Marita – So happy to have met you in person!
You’re working on Lunar Eclipse. For this piece I would begin each practice session with the last 8 bars. The LH intervals are 7ths each time so get used to how that feels. Play this section lots with a steady 1-2-3 pulse. Then you can play the beginning C minor triad part at the same steady speed.
You’re also working on Young Ludwig Exploring, the first 4 bars. The point of these “inventions” is to become used to how it feels when Both hands are playing melodic lines. Until now the pieces you’ve played have one hand doing the melody and the other hand just doing some accompanying notes – but in inventions, each hand copies the other and the melodies overlap. This week play the first 4 bars in steady time. Notice how each hand starts immediately after the other has finished – that’s why I wrote in 1 AND 2 and etc.
Keep warming up with your scales and triads. C, F, G major.
Sara
Harlequinade, awesome! Keep going with the rest of the piece now. Watch your Ds versus Dbs. Pay close attention to the RH articulation and when to disconnect the phrase. The LH, as a rule, is all detached, but not staccato. Still thick, just not connected.
Sonatina Mvt. 2. Think of the triads you are playing whenever they occur. I’ve written in several of the chords for you. Remember the concept of V or V7 ALWAYS resolving to 1. Great work reading this one – trust yourself even when it sounds crunchy! It’s still right, just dissonant on purpose.
Do your sightreading book each practice session :) I’ll hear your technique next week – awesome job staying on top of it.
Sina
Au Clair de la Lune. In this piece your RH has two positions to move between. The only phrase that is in a different position starts at measure 9. The LH thumb is on middle D for this whole piece. The most important thing about this piece is doing the crescendo and dimuendo (getting louder and getting softer). All the phrases (except the one at measure 9) start quiet, get louder in the middle, and then end quietly. The one at measure 9 starts quiet and gets louder right until the end. Play with a listening ear and make sure you’re changing the volume of your playing.
You are also working on C Major one octave scales hands seperate. RH fingering is 123 12345. LH is 54321 321. The thumb under motion is like a bunny (your thumb) running into a log (the rest of your fingers) to hide, and it shouldn’t be a big movement that involves your whole arm. Take this slow and steady.
Saturday December 3 Lessons – Erin P
Hi everyone! Happy December. I hope anyone who is opening an advent calendar is having fun; I sure am because I have a Nespresso one this year. <3 Thanks for everyone’s effort practicing and keep it up!
Isabella
You’re working on My Invention. It uses all 3 Landmark Notes – bass F, middle C and treble G. Be sure to use fingers 1 and 5 in the RH.
You also learnt the first few lines of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by rote. It starts on G and only uses white notes. Play it often to remember it and we’ll add more on next week. (Or challenge yourself to figure out more by ear! I believe in you!)
Keep playing your C Major one octave scales. Today we learnt the LH one too – its fingering goes (pinky)54321 321! RH fingering is (thumb)123 12345.
Jadon
You’re working on all of O Holy Night. Consider starting each phrase with the finger they suggest in the book, because it will enable you to play the melody smoothly. You shouldn’t be trying to play a smooth line by playing your pinky twice in a row. Work to add in the dynamics now too, it starts quiet and then grows much louder at the “fall on your knees” before reaching the climax at “Divine” and then fading away. Great work!
You can also play Rudolph by ear and experiment with LH patterns to accompany it. It starts on G in the right hand, and the chords to accompany will be C for a while, and then G. You’ll be able to hear when to change it.
Grace
We talked about a few exercises to help with your LH. Practice simple scales/triads/patterns hands together but play one hand way louder than the other. And then switch the hand’s roles. Sometimes it’s hard to assess yourself while playing, so record yourself doing this and listen back.
In Fantasia, work on voicing to top notes in chords by lining up your forearm to the pinky so that all your arm weight and energy will go directly into that finger.
This week please push yourself to try the LH of Sunset in Rio. It is so fun to play once you get the rhythms!
Marco
This week work to add the LH part to Away in a Manger. You also suggested that this week you can sing along as you play!
Your new song is We Three Kings of Orient Are from your Mom’s book. This week we are only working on the A section/everything before “star of wonder”. For both of these pieces, work to have the entirety of each singing phrase connected to each other and only “breathe” (on the piano) in between each phrase. Have fun with your first 6/8 piece, and feel it “in 2” like 123456.
Daniel
You’re continuing to work on all of Jingle Bells. Great work on this today, the first page was amazing – you didn’t miss a beat! I think another week with special attention to measures 21-25 will make it fantastic!
With Four Wheel Drive – you can put the hands together for the first 3 lines. Play the RH line 4 lots with accurate counting. Line 4 is the most tricky and impressive part of this piece, and it relies on your LH being on autopilot, and your RH knowing its counting really well. You could put line 4 hands together super slowlyyyyyyy, but that’s it because we don’t want to confuse our brain with mistakes. Great job on learning the LH pattern by the way!
Your new Christmas piece is I saw Three Ships from your Mom’s book. This melody is short so play hands together.
Shelton
Keep playing your C Major one octave scales. LH fingering is 54321 321! RH fingering is 123 12345. Also warmup with the “skipping” exercise where you play 1 3 5 or 5 3 1 beginning on notes like C, F and G.
You’re working on Russian Folk Song. This piece introduced two new LH notes: B and A. In this piece they are played by the LH pointer finger and thumb.
Your other piece is Midnight Ride. This piece only has 3 beats per measure. The < symbols mean to accent that note (play it louder than the other ones), and this way we can create a kind of horse galloping sound with the LH. The RH part that is marked p is like an echo through the canyon, so be sure to play it soft. Your soft playing is very impressive by the way.
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
