Summer Music Ideas That Motivate!

Lulls are a natural part of summer fun – but they don’t have to be a part of summer music lessons! So if you’re needing some inspiration to keep motivation up in the summertime, we’ve got some ideas for you below!

Fresh New Summer Music

We’ve published a lot of summer-themed music over the years, but here are some of the newer releases. From Short Sheets® for quick, one-page pieces about insects, to a late intermediate jazz piece that sizzles like the summer heat, we have summer music for everyone!

Little Fuzzy Clubs

Little Fuzzies have a mysterious way with students! Starting a Little Fuzzy Club this summer is a great way to bring community and camaraderie to your studio between private students, and stoke a newfound (or perhaps well-documented) interest in learning new summer music.

Little Fuzzies teach students to spot practice:

The Little Fuzzies make great piano companions, from “adjudicating” students’ playing to helping students learn! Read all about it in this blog post. The sky is the limit for your imagination as a teacher. Melissa Willis had this imaginative idea for encouraging targeted practice:

Little Fuzzies Summer Music:

The Little Fuzzies go on so many fun adventures in their piano pieces, from Barbecue Blunder, a summer music piece, to back-to-school pieces, holiday pieces, and other fun hijinks that resonate with kids! See all of the Little Fuzzies pieces here!

Short Sheets® are Quick Summer Wins

Who said that summer music had to push students to new heights of achievement? What about some FUN in lessons, quick wins AND music that pushes them to advance? If you’re doing a 30 or 40 Piece Challenge this year like me, or want to encourage rhythm or tuning up specific concepts, Short Sheets® and Tune Up Tunes® (and we now have Short Sheets® Achievement Cards!) are the perfect solution.

Remember that Short Sheets® and Tune Up Tunes® are sets of 3, one-page, pedagogically sound pieces that are engaging and fun for students to learn. They come in sets that appeal to the interests of children (or teens and adults if you choose the right sets) and are so much more engaging than method book pieces. The only difference between Short Sheets® and Tune Up Tunes® is that Tune Up Tunes® focuses on a particular piano skill to tune up!

Plus, we now have Short Sheets® and Tune Up Tunes® Achievement Cards available!

Shop all the Short Sheets® and Tune Up Tunes® here:

• See all Short Sheets®
• See all Tune Up Tunes®

Rhythm Cup Tapping Songs and Rhythm Achievement Cards for Summer Motivation!

As always, using Rhythm Cup Explorations® in the summer is a sure win and a great way to help your students be even more solid in rhythm when then start again in the fall! In addition to the usual fun of Rhythm Cup Explorations® 1 and 2 and My First Rhythm Cup Explorations®, we also have music with cup tapping accompaniments for students to learn entire choreography for a beautiful song!

And in case you missed it, we released Rhythm Achievement Cards for Rhythm Cup Explorations®, Rhythm Menagerie®, and Rhythm Manipulations®! With cool artwork and neat details on the backside, we’ve talked about Music Achievement Cards a lot, because they deeply appeal to music students. You can print out an unlimited amount and pick up a pack of “baseball card sleeves” to give to students!

What are your thoughts?

Do you have any fun and fuzzy summer habits with your piano students? Has using Rhythm Achievement Cards been a hit in your studio? Let us know! We love seeing your great ideas.

Related articles:

• Little Fuzzy Club Ideas

• Summer Music that Makes Practice Fun

• Access Streaming Tracks Faster + New Rhythm Achievement Cards!

• How to Use Little Fuzzies to Make Learning Music Fun!