3 Themes, 2 Superheroes and 1 Talented Artist (Part 1)

Before the holiday season began last year, I asked some of my students if they’d be interested in combining piano music with other art forms that they liked. Many, including my student Giada (pictured), said yes. What prompted the idea? Well, I’d say two things. First, I felt pretty sure that the students’ level of engagement with their projects would be higher when they had a hand in creating part of the work. Sure enough, that proved to be the case. The other reason, I’ll admit, was a self-imposed challenge. I wanted to see if I could come up with some musical ideas that "best fit" the art form that my students and I were combining with piano. I found the process to be a great learning experience and a lot of fun too. Just as important, I know that many of my students came to feel the same way.

Giada rehearsing for our Student Showcase

And speaking of process, I thought we’d let you sample a bit of the work from the early stages of a project that's part of our "Piano Plus 1" series. Giada got us off to a great start by creating a story about two female superheroes: Coco and Mimi (see below). After the basic story was completed, I sifted through the text to locate words that might offer some clues to help me compose a few main themes. The three ideas I came up with underscore visuals from the storyboard that relate to: the heroes (the "Fanfare"theme), feelings of mystery (the "Stealthy" theme) and action/adventure (the “Driving beat” theme). Give them a listen!

First draft of Giada's story

StoryBoard Sketch

Click on the MP3 audio buttons below to hear a sample of each theme:

So what's next? In part 2 of this blog post, we'll be sharing some more detailed drawings of Giada's along with some video footage of us rehearsing the music as we get ready to record. Be sure to stay tuned for more adventures with Coco and Mimi!