Workshops & Masterclasses

Music Improv Games

Description: This is a fun workshop all about improvising with others! No improv experience necessary just a willingness to create new music. Students bring their own instrument, voice or piano fingers. We will bring all our instruments together into great sounding improv pieces while learning about the wealth of music making that can happen with just the inside and outside a piano. Families can participate by videotaping the experience!

Previous Hosts: Tom Lee Music Academy, Vancouver

Student Piano Master Class

Description: Frank can conduct a piano master class for students of any age or level offering insights into interpretation, technique and performance skills. Any genre and style is possible, including contemporary music.

Previous Hosts: The Community College of Baltimore County, Eastern University, ORMTA Kitchener-Waterloo Branch, Wilfrid Laurier University

Student Composer Master Class

Description: Frank conducts a master class in which students perform their own compositions in any genre, instrumentation, or style. Following each performance, Frank will talk with the student about their piece and give comments to enhance their musical ideas, both in a technical and aesthetic sense.

Previous Hosts: ORMTA Niagara Falls Branch, ORMTA Scarborough Branch

Workshop: Getting Your Students to Improvise
Easy suggestions to nurture creativity in the life of a music student.

Description: How to encourage students to be more creative at their instrument? How to help our students to overcome inhibitions about what sounds “right” or “wrong”? This workshop is designed for teachers who have no training in improvisation. The goal here is to have fun and feel a sense of accomplishment that there’s more ways to make music than from just reading a score. Not genre specific. Very hands-on…be prepared to participate!

 » Workshop Review – Ottawa (pdf)

An approved worksop of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association

Previous Hosts: Community Music Center of Boston, NBRMTA Moncton Branch, ORMTA Belleville Branch, ORMTA Chatham-Kent Branch, ORMTA Etobicoke-Mississauga Branch, ORMTA Hamilton-Halton Branch, ORMTA Hanover-Walkerton Branch, ORMTA Kitchener-Waterloo Branch, ORMTA Newmarket and Area Branch, ORMTA Niagara Falls Branch, ORMTA North Bay Branch, ORMTA Ottawa Region Branch, ORMTA Sault Ste. Marie Branch, SRMTA Saskatoon Branch, Wilfrid Laurier University

Workshop: Getting Your Students to Compose
Easy suggestions to nurture creativity in the life of a music student.

Description: Very step-by-step, this workshop will give concise suggestions that teachers can give to their students of any age or grade level within a traditionally structured lesson. Not genre specific. Connections will be made with performance, theory, and aural training. Specifically designed for the teacher with no formal training in composition. Student participation welcome and encouraged!

 » Workshop Review – Ottawa (pdf)

An approved worksop of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association

Previous Hosts: Community Music Center of Boston, NBRMTA Moncton Branch, ORMTA Belleville Branch, ORMTA Chatham-Kent Branch, ORMTA Etobicoke-Mississauga Branch, ORMTA Hamilton-Halton Branch, ORMTA Hanover-Walkerton Branch, ORMTA Kitchener-Waterloo Branch, ORMTA Newmarket and Area Branch, ORMTA Niagara Falls Branch, ORMTA North Bay Branch, ORMTA Ottawa Region Branch, ORMTA Sault Ste. Marie Branch, SRMTA Saskatoon Branch, Wilfrid Laurier University

Workshop: Progressive Theory Teaching
Tips to make theory more fun and improve exam results at the same time.

Description: Frank covers a number of important points in theory teaching including how to take theory exercises from paper & make them come to life through live performance, how to nurture creativity by expanding theory exercises into improvisation & composition, how to make it fun by creating a musical treasure hunt by using pieces that the student is playing to nurture theoretical understanding, and how to get the most out of practice exams leading up to the “real” thing.

An approved worksop by the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association

Previous Hosts: NSRMTA Dartmouth Chapter, ORMTA Hamilton-Halton Branch, ORMTA Kingston Branch

Workshop: Learning by Rote

Description: Is it possible for piano students to learn an entire Beethoven Sonata without ever seeing the score? The answer is most definitely yes…but it depends on the student. This workshop will help you enrich the lives of your students who struggle to read music. Perhaps they are impeded by a learning disability. Does that mean they should not feel the joy and sense of satisfaction to play works they love? In this workshop, Frank shares the teaching techniques he has utilized with students who fit this profile.

Making Beautiful Music with Lead Sheets

Description: Picture this…your piano student brings a print-out of a pop song they found on the internet. The sheet music only has a single line melody, some chords and lyrics…how are you going to help your student make this sound pianistic? In this workshop, Frank guides teachers through a step-by-step formula that you can apply to making any lead sheet sound like a cohesive piano composition. No past experience in composition, improvisation or keyboard harmony required.

These presentations can vary in length and be combined with a live concert.