Category Archives: administrative

Supernova Launching Soon

Posted on by

Let’s say you’ve got a teen at home who is super interested in music – takes lessons privately, does band or choir at school, listens to music all the time, maybe they’re in their own rock band or write their own music.  Maybe they’re even considering majoring in music in college some day!  At MAMS, we are coming up with a super cool program just for kids like yours.

Our Supernova program is a special set of both monthly and weekly classes for kids who want to go deep with their music.  Some of the classes are more class-like, some are more ensemble-like.  Some will be monthly lectures you might even want to attend, and some of the classes will be focused strictly on building performance skills.  All of these classes will work together to provide your child a well-rounded music education while they’re still in high school, and will also help them connect with like-minded teen musicians they can grow and maybe even collaborate with!

We are now starting to organize our first classes, starting in October and November.  I’ll add the schedule to the end of this post, but I’m sure first you’re wondering, how much is this going to cost me?  I’ll tell you – not a lot.

For a flat fee of $99 a month, your child can come to as many or as few classes as they want to, or that their schedule allows.  The only “catch” is that they do have to commit to coming to one class regularly every week, and then everything else they can attend when the mood strikes them.

Having said that – here are the classes we will be starting in October and November…

Starting in October:
Secondary Voice – Mondays @ 7:45 (45 minutes)
Music Theory Study Group – EITHER Thursdays @ 7:30 OR Fridays at 5:30 (60 minutes)
Performance Workshop – Saturdays @ 1:30 (monthly – 45 minute class)

Starting in November: 
Latin Jazz Combo – Tuesdays @ 7:30 (30 minutes)
Secondary Ukulele – Wednesdays @ 7:00 (30 minutes)
Rock Combo – Thursdays @ 6:30 OR 7:30 (30 minutes)
Recording Class – Saturday afternoons (time and duration TBD)

Some questions you may have: 

Can my child commit to more than one weekly class?  Absolutely!  The monthly fee will still be only $99.

How can my child come to an optional class?  There will be sign up sheets put up in the office for the current month and the upcoming month, students may sign up for as many or as few classes as they would like.

Does my child need to bring an instrument?  Yes (but sometimes no).
For Latin Jazz or Rock Combo, Performance Workshop and Recording class, students do need to provide their own instruments.
For Secondary Ukulele, studio ukes will be available during class, but if they would like to practice inbetween, you will need to purchase your own.
For the Music Theory Studio Group, no instruments are necessary.
If a student is a piano player, they will be able to use the piano at the studio.

What if my teen wants to attend a class but is unavailable when you plan on offering it? Please let us know, and we would be happy to work with your child – maybe no one will be able to come to the proposed time – lol – so we’ll find a time that works for everyone.

For any other questions, please email us at missannasmusicschool@gmail.com

To sign up for the Supernova program, please email us to get the ball rolling, and we will either sign you up for your class via email or your teen can sign up in the office the next time they come in.

Dive deep into the musical world with Lab Lessons

Posted on by

The school year is right around the corner and we here at MAMS are looking forward to a return to a somewhat normal school year. *fingers crossed*

With that, we are continuing to offer online lessons for all who are more comfortable with that option, but we are also happy to announce the return of our Lab lessons, which we, unfortunately, had to halt because of the pandemic.

Lab lessons are triple the fun of a regular private lesson at the exact same price.  Here’s how they work.

  1. Three students sign up for the same 60-minute spot.
  2. At Lab, students cycle through three workstations, which includes their lesson time.
  3. Students gain a deeper understanding of music and have a ton of fun in the process through hands-on activities and educational games.

From the teacher’s perspective, the lab lesson (formerly called 20/20/20 lessons) encapsulates everything we love most about one on one teaching.  In a regular private lesson, the teacher is able to tailor their teaching style to the student’s needs and interests.  The lab lesson goes a step further by incorporating hands-on activities that play into a child’s learning style.  Through written and listening activities, plus games and projects students can engage with on the iPad, we can improve their weaknesses, solidify their strengths, and explore their interests.  The world of music is vast and wide, and the Lab lesson gives us the opportunity to explore more of it.

From the parent’s perspective, the lab lesson simply gives you a better return on investment.  Studies have shown that students just learn better when they’re having fun.  Now, we work very hard to create a welcoming environment where we offer fun lessons here at Miss Anna’s Music School, but the Lab Lesson is one of the best ways to accomplish that.  Lab lessons also give students the opportunity to meet other children their age with the same interest in music that they have.  One of the things I didn’t like about lessons as a child was the way that practicing took me away from my neighborhood friends, none of whom played any kind of musical instrument.  But when I met kids in high school that were singers and piano players and guitarists, boy did my outlook change!  We may all love music, but years of experience have told me that it’s always more fun with friends, and more fun when you make friends through music.

Lab lessons also give you back a little something as the parent.  Thirty minutes is a great amount of time for a one on one lesson, but there’s not much you can get done while your child is enjoying their lesson.  In 60 minutes, however, you can grocery shop, do a Target run, or possibly even go back home and work there!  While we are always happy to see you hanging out at the studio while you wait  (the Keurig is just as much for you as it is for us teachers), we know that you are busy parents and may appreciate having the time to yourself to do what you need.

Music lessons work best when the child is interested and engaged in the content.  Whether that is through a traditional private lesson, through our Lab Lessons or through one of our group classes, our only goal is to ensure that your child is learning well and having fun doing it.  So…. what can we sign you up for today?

Are you up for a challenge?

Posted on by

A little healthy competition never hurt anybody… and that’s exactly what will be happening April 24 at Miss Anna’s Music School!

In the absence of the MAMTG Spring Festival for 2021, we wanted to keep our students in competition-shape by offering a little challenge of our own.

Students of all ages and abilities on all instruments are invited to participate in this studio-wide event.

The journey begins when your child and their teacher decide on a piece of music appropriate for their level.  Then it’s time to engage beast mode as your budding musician dives into preparing their piece.  When competition day comes around, it will be up to the student to perform the piece to the best of their ability.  All students will be evaluated and given a score out of 100.  The top 3 students in each group will earn a trophy!  The students in first place in each category will be invited to participate in a Winners’ Recital at a later date (following whatever Covid restrictions are in place at that time).

All students will receive their evaluation sheet from the judges once the competition is over.  In a way, the evaluation can be even more valuable than a trophy (though trophies are nice, too!) – it’s nice to hear what your strengths are and incredibly helpful to hear what your weaknesses may be.  Growth can only come if we know where to do the work, and while our students and their teachers work hard every week to improve, it can also be incredibly insightful to hear from an outside source.

So… are you up for the challenge?  Here are the details.

In the next few weeks, students and their teachers can discuss the competition material and where they might best fit.  Students can immediately start working on music without committing to participate yet.

When you are ready to say yes, please fill out a registration form and send in the registration fee.  All forms and fees must be received by March 1.  (Fees will go towards securing outside judges for the weekend and other costs).

Once all the registration forms are in, the schedule will be made.  For students participating in person, you will be assigned a time to come to the studio on either Saturday, April 24, or Sunday, April 25.  Please keep both dates open for now.  The schedule will be finalized by the end of March, which will still give you a month’s notice.

For students who would rather participate online, videos must be submitted by April 17.  Instructions on how to submit will be provided.

All winners will be announced in a Facebook Live from the Miss Anna’s Music School Facebook Page on the evening of Sunday, April 25.  Trophies will be available for pickup that week.

What if your child is not currently a student at Miss Anna’s Music School?  All students are welcome to participate!  Email us at missannasmusicschool (at) gmail (dot) com for more information.  And hey, if you aren’t currently taking lessons but would like to, we can talk about that, too!

And one last question probably on a lot of parents’ minds – what if this event can’t happen in person because of Covid?  

If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s to come up with a Plan B, and even a Plan C and D! (I think my Christmas program actually followed Plan E by the time we finally published it).

In the event that we face another shut down in New Jersey, all submissions will be made with pre-recorded videos and reviewed by our judges.  The winners will still be announced on April 25.

Any questions?  Ask in the comments!  And be sure to bring it up with your child.  If they’re ready for the challenge, they can let their teacher know and get started working on music immediately!

Our Store is Live!

Posted on by

2020 was a year to get cozy while doing the things you love, wasn’t it?  Well since it looks like we’re going to keep being cozy well into 2021, why not do it in super “support your local music school” style?

The MAMS Swag Store is open with plenty of designs to delight musicians and the parents who love them.  If you want to be loud about your support, there are the MAMS Circle logo designs – anyone within a block radius will know where you go for your music learning needs!  If you want to be more subtle, there are “MAMS parent” and “MAMS fam” designs that are much less overstated but still very cool.

The store also includes some seasonal offerings and an homage to legendary musicians that put New Jersey on the map.  We hope to add even more special designs as the year goes on, so check back occasionally!

Miss Anna herself has already test run a few different styles of tops and they’re all super comfy!  Finally, don’t be fooled by the images on the stores home page.  For clarity’s sake, we’ve only featured a few different styles for each design, but most of the designs are available on nearly a dozen different styles for children, men and women!  We even included a face mask and a pet hoodie (though unfortunately, the pet hoodie is out of stock at the moment, sorry to all our furry friends!).

Unlike our last sale, the MAMS Swag store is open indefinitely so there’s no deadline to order by….. but why wait?  Order today!

Red Hot Rockstar Classses!

Posted on by

Rockstar 101 is a program we’ve been running since the beginning of the pandemic, and we’ve been having a lot of fun!  This group class is for students ages 8 and up, and students can have any amount of experience on any instrument – piano, guitar, voice or ukulele – or maybe they’re a total beginner and haven’t done a single lesson yet!  It doesn’t matter – we can almost guarantee your child will have fun making new friends and learning about music.

Each week we learn musicianship skills that will round them out as players – things like ear training, sight-reading, learning solfege, and a little bit of rhythm and theory review.  All of these are important skills that musicians learn along the way – having a class devoted just to this work will give these kids an edge and make them TRUE rockstars!  At the end of class, we always do a bit of singing.  Right now we’re working on a few classic summer bops and we have a ton of fun with them!  It’s basically a party where we are also, oh yeah, learning how to be amazing musicians!  Rockstar 101 meets on Wednesdays at 6:00, online, and the monthly tuition is $40.  You will need a Skype account to join the class.

Why do we call it Rockstar 101?  When you think of all the cool things that rockstars can do – write a song, improvise a cool solo, read down a sheet of music, or start playing along with a song on the radio, they’re relying on a lot of basic musicianship skills that we sometimes don’t get to in our regular lessons.  Your teachers didn’t even develop some of these skills until they went to college!  Joining this class will definitely give your child a cool musical edge, and make them the well rounded rockstar they’ve always wanted to be.

Red Hot Facebook Live Classes!

Posted on by

Join us every Tuesday around lunch time for some musical fun!  Visit our Facebook Page to watch our free classes.

Sing-along at 11:00am – pre-k and kindergarten friendly songs that are a blast to sing. During this class, we sing a variety of super kid-friendly songs, from patriotic songs, songs that utilize hand-play and American Sign Language, and some fun pop songs like Three Little Birds and Yellow Submarine.  We’ve been doing this all pandemic and we’ve been having a blast.

Rock-along at 11:45am – This class features easy to play pop songs in keys like C Major or G Major.  Feel free to sing along or play along on your instrument.  Miss Anna plays the guitar as she sings along for class, and will give guitar playing pointers as necessary.  This is a fun class for students of all ages, whether you are currently taking lessons with us (or elsewhere, we won’t discriminate!) or maybe you are an adult who hasn’t had a lesson in more years than you’d like to admit.  This will be a fun way to get back into it.

Listen-along at 12:30pm – What’s a listen-a-long?  It’s a different set of songs each week for your enjoyment.  Sing along.. or don’t.  You don’t even have to pay attention to the video if you’d rather prop your phone or tablet somewhere and let Miss Anna play for you in the background as you enjoy your lunch or get some chores done around the house.  Miss Anna does try to honor requests when they come in, so don’t be afraid to make a suggestion.  Who doesn’t love a challenge??  (I’m still working on that KISS song, Markian! — Miss Anna)  Miss Anna plays a variety of music, so you never really know what she’ll play… until you tune in, of course.

Red Hot Virtual Summer!

Posted on by

We made it to the summer! You and your kids are probably psyched to not have to be in front of a screen for hours a day doing school work. It’s time to relax and enjoy the lazy days of summer – we’ve all earned it!

Miss Anna’s Music School is open for one on one lessons if you are comfortable coming in person for them. To help us maintain social distances, we have altered our schedule so that only one of our teachers is working at a time. While this does bring us some limitations when it comes to scheduling, it does also bring us some peace of mind as well. Now all of our teachers can take advantage of the spacious studio 1 and really spread out. We even have a see-through barrier as an extra level of protection for our voice students, and for the occasional buddy lesson or group activity. All of our teachers are available for in-person piano, guitar, voice, and ukulele lessons. So if you’re ready to sign up – visit our new student sign up page.

Maybe you’re not quite ready to come back to in-person activities yet, for whatever reason.  That’s fine.  WE’VE TOTALLY GOT YOU COVERED!

Our teachers are also available for online lessons throughout the week as well.  Many of our students really persevered and excelled with our online lessons, so we are eager to move forward with continued online education for anyone who is interested.  You don’t even have to live in New Jersey!

Whether you are a current student of ours or not, we have a number of online group programs to give you something fun to do over the summer.  We have programs for kids of all ages – even the adults out there in the crowd.  Read on…

Rockstar 101 is a program we’ve been running since the beginning of the pandemic, and we’ve been having a lot of fun!  This group class is for students ages 8 and up, and students can have any amount of experience on any instrument – piano, guitar, voice or ukulele – or maybe they’re a total beginner and haven’t done a single lesson yet!  It doesn’t matter – we can almost guarantee your child will have fun making new friends and learning about music.

Each week we learn musicianship skills that will round them out as players – things like ear training, sight-reading, learning solfege, and a little bit of rhythm and theory review.  All of these are important skills that musicians learn along the way – having a class devoted just to this work will give these kids an edge and make them TRUE rockstars!  At the end of class, we always do a bit of singing.  Right now we’re working on a few classic summer bops and we have a ton of fun with them!  It’s basically a party where we are also, oh yeah, learning how to be amazing musicians!  Rockstar 101 meets on Wednesdays at 6:00, online, and the monthly tuition is $40.  You will need a Skype account to join the class.

Our next group offering is for adults only!  Ukulele Sip ‘n’ Strum is strictly for the over 21 set.  Bring your ukulele and your favorite adult beverage while you kick back in a comfortable spot somewhere in your house.  To be perfectly honest, Miss Anna might be teaching the class from her own backyard!  This class meets once a month and will focus on learning one set of easy chords for a well-known song.  Students should have their own ukuleles already, but no previous experience is necessary!  Everything you will need to know to play the song will be covered in the class, and any materials you may need will be emailed to you a few days before.

Ok, you don’t have to be over 21 to attend this class in your own home.  You don’t even have to pour yourself an alcoholic beverage. But this is definitely a class we are gearing towards adults only, so please be over 18.  If you are a teen or still in high school and interested in a class like this, have your parent drop us a line!

Our first Sip ‘n’ Strum will be on Wednesday, July 29 at 7pm.  Class will last about an hour.   Tuition for this one-off class will be just $10.  To register, email us directly at missannasmusicschool@gmail.com to set up payment and to get the link to the Zoom meeting. If you need help purchasing a ukulele, there are many affordable options on Amazon.  We can point you in the right direction.

Finally, we have a trio of free Facebook Live classes you are welcome to join every Tuesday morning.  Each class is geared towards a different group of music lovers, but all are welcome to join in on any class you wish!  All classes are totally free to attend and last about 30 minutes.

First – Sing-a-long at 11am.  This is for our youngest set of students.  Think pre-k and kindergarten students.  First and second graders.  During this class, we sing a variety of super kid-friendly songs, from patriotic songs, songs that utilize hand-play and American Sign Language, and some fun pop songs like Three Little Birds and Yellow Submarine.  We’ve been doing this all pandemic and we’ve been having a blast.

Next at 11:45, a Rock-a-long.  This class features easy to play pop songs in keys like C Major or G Major.  Feel free to sing along or play along on your instrument.  Miss Anna plays the guitar as she sings along for class, and will give guitar playing pointers as necessary.  This is a fun class for students of all ages, whether you are currently taking lessons with us (or elsewhere, we won’t discriminate!) or maybe you are an adult who hasn’t had a lesson in more years than you’d like to admit.  This will be a fun way to get back into it.

Finally, at 12:30, a listen-a-long with Miss Anna.  What’s a listen-a-long?  It’s a different set of songs each week for your enjoyment.  Sing along.. or don’t.  You don’t even have to pay attention to the video if you’d rather prop your phone or tablet somewhere and let Miss Anna play for you in the background as you enjoy your lunch or get some chores done around the house.  Miss Anna does try to honor requests when they come in, so don’t be afraid to make a suggestion.  Who doesn’t love a challenge??  (I’m still working on that KISS song, Markian! — Miss Anna)  Miss Anna plays a variety of music, so you never really know what she’ll play… until you tune in, of course.

Whatever you’re interested in this summer, whether it’s one on one instruction, or some fun group experiences, we hope you’ll join us at MAMS!  See you soon!

We’re Reopening!

Posted on by

After three long months of quiet halls and a locked front door, Miss Anna’s Music School will finally be reopening as of July 6th.  All students who wish to return to in-person lessons may do so, and any students who would rather continue online may do that as well.

We’d like to outline the following steps we will be taking to ensure your health and safety.

We are adjusting our schedule so only one teacher can teach at a time.  This will help to limit the number of people in the building at one time.

All teachers will be teaching in Studio 1.  It is the bigger of our two studios and will allow teacher and student to be spread out.

We have a moveable clear partition to be used in some lessons.

We will be wiping down surfaces in between lessons and cleaning the entire studio every night.

When you arrive at the studio, please keep the following guidelines in mind:

Please only come to the studio if everyone in your home is well. If you or someone in your home has been sick or currently has a fever, please stay home, and let your teacher know so the lesson can happen online instead.
Anyone who enters the building must be wearing a mask.
When you arrive for your lesson, all students must use the front door.
Optional – make use of the hand sanitizer at the front door.
Please do not come in the building until it is your lesson time.  If you arrive early or if there is inclement weather, we ask that you wait right by the front door (do not come up the steps) until you are sure the previous student has exited Studio 1 and has walked down the hallway.
Parents – if you would feel more comfortable waiting for your child’s lesson to finish in the building, we ask that you wait on the black chairs in the hallway, otherwise, please wait in your car.
When it is time to leave, please exit through the back door.  Parents, if you have been waiting in your car, you can meet your child at the backdoor.

All of our protocols and guidelines will be posted by the front door as a reminder to all.

As you may know, we’ve never really been sticklers for what door to use as you enter or exit the building. But our hallway is narrow and having two-way traffic would make social distancing impossible.  If you’re someone who likes to use the back door (we know some of the kids think it’s cool to use that one instead of the “official” entrance), please do your best to remember to come around front.

If you are a totally new family interested in learning about our studio and would like to come for a tour, please call or email us first to set up a time.  With these new protocols in place, we would like to make sure you come by at a time when there are no lessons going on.

We thank you all for your understanding and continued support – and we can’t wait to see you in-person soon!

Visit us!

Posted on by

Back to school time is a perfect time to enroll in music lessons, and Miss Anna’s Music School has a lot to offer.

For the student who says “mom, dad, I want music lessons!” we offer one on one half hour sessions on the guitar, piano, ukulele and voice.  One on one lessons are great for a variety of reasons – for example, if you know your child is serious about wanting to learn an instrument.  Or maybe your child would benefit from having one on one time with a professional music educator.  One on one lessons are great for adults, too, whether it’s the mom, dad, or even grandparent who’s had the lifelong interest in music but hasn’t yet crossed music lessons off their bucket list.  We are happy to start lessons with any student whether they are 6 or 56 years old!

For the student who has an interest in music but you are unsure of where it’s going, we do group guitar classes on Saturday mornings.  Our beginner session is at 10 am, with classes for more advanced students later on.  Our classes are a lot of fun, and the social aspect is definitely a factor.  You may start out with a group class because you aren’t sure how serious your child is, but they may end up choosing to stay in the class because the timing is right, or they just really enjoy the group experience.  Either way, we are happy to have you!

For our youngest students, we are happy to offer the unique experience of Kidzrock.  Kidzrock is a special rock band experience for students as young as 4 and as old as 8.  No experience is necessary to start having fun immediately!  Students will gain experience playing the piano, the guitar and even the drums in this fun setting, learning original rock songs geared towards their age group (songs with titles like “Rollercoaster” and “Birthday Party” are catchy, fun to sing, and definitely fun to play).  To excel in Kidzrock, a student simply needs to show up – all the learning and practicing is done on class time – that means you don’t have to spend any extra money on buying an instrument, and there’s no hassle trying to get your pre-school or kindergarten-aged student to practice throughout the week.  Kidzrock is also a great experience for students who already have some experience on an instrument, but are looking to join a group to have fun, or would like to try out the other instruments Kidzrock has to offer.

If one of these options sounds interesting to you, give us a call!  We would be happy to set up a time for you to tour the studio, learn more about our lessons and classes, and sign up to get started!  If you don’t have an instrument yet and need one, we would can share some advice on purchasing a guitar, piano or keyboard.

Call us at 732-860-5846 or email missannasmusicschool@gmail.com.  If you know you are ready to get started, please fill out our New Student Info Form and we can get you on our schedule!

We are located at 517 New Brunswick Ave. in Fords, NJ.  We are diagonally across from Quick Chek, and share a parking lot with Seeman Chiropractic (the driveway is to the left of our building).  There is also street parking on New Brunswick Ave.

 

Progress Report Time

Posted on by

How are we doing?  No really – we want to know!

Sure, we are a passionate group of talented teachers, but we wouldn’t be in business if it weren’t for our wonderful students, and so we value your input.  We want to continue to provide new and exciting programs that interest you, and also want to make sure that you are getting the most out of your music lessons!  Please take a few moments to fill out this survey.  We would truly appreciate it.

Progress Report