http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/mom-the-piano-teacher-is-sleeping-again.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/music/mom-the-piano-teacher-is-sleeping-again.html Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0500
It was Tuesday evening and time for my weekly lesson. Mr. Delegato sat on the sofa directly behind me while I played some warm up exercises. I was ready to begin my lesson when I turned around. Mr. Delegato’s head was back up against the wall, his mouth wide open. At first, I thought he was dead, at least until he started snoring.

My mom was in the kitchen. I shouted out, “Mom, the piano teacher is sleeping”.
I must have shouted it out pretty loud because it Mr. Delegato shook his head a couple of times and woke up. At first, I think he didn’t know where we was but he quickly gathered his senses, stood up, walked over to me and sat by my side on the piano bench.

“Let’s begin”, he said. So we delved right into today’s lesson almost without missing a beat. I began playing some etude in C minor, don’t recall exactly what it was, but it wasn’t exactly my favorite song.

About 5 minutes had passed. I had been practicing this exercise so much I could play it with my eyes closed. In fact, I did just that. And that’s when I heard the thump. Mr. Delegato’s head hit the top front of the piano, and he was out cold again.

“Mom, the piano teacher is sleeping again”, I shouted.

This time, he didn’t wake up immediately. My mom came into the room and had to prod him a few times. When he finally awoke, which felt like about 20 minutes later, once again, he picked up right from where he left off.

Being young and naïve, I thought I was boring this guy to tears. Or maybe it was the music. It bored me too. Why couldn’t I play the songs that I wanted to play, like the Beatles? (it was the sixties after all).

This was my last lesson with Mr. Delegato. In fact, this my last lesson completely. I grew bored with the piano and just wanted to go out and play with my friends.

Thinking back, it must be even harder nowadays. I didn’t have the Xbox, Nintendo, Gameboy and computer options that the kids have today. Any of those things are more fun than learning to play piano. If only Mr. Delegato didn’t keep falling asleep on me maybe I would have survived piano boot camp and gone on to be an accomplished musician.

It wasn’t until about a few years later that I realized Mr. Delegato suffered from sleep apnea. Hey, I just thought it was me.


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Vincent J. Miele is an accomplished musician and consultant for Allegro Multimedia. To learn about the Piano Wizard, please visit www.piano-wizard.net

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/waking-up-the-sleeping-affiliate.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/waking-up-the-sleeping-affiliate.html Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0600
So why aren't you making any money?

The reason is simple --- and pretty obvious. Marketing is a never-ending tool.

Are you "marketing" the products yourself or just working as a super-affiliates? If you are not marketing the products, how can you expect someone else to?

If you are, have you been successful at it, and is what you are doing "replicatable?"

Now that you've found your sub-affiliates, are you marketing to THEM?
I've found that 1 out of 10 affiliates in any program will never do anything. A small percentage will take the ball and roll with it. Some will never do a thing. Others may just post an affiliate link somewhere and hope people click it.

Let's turn those odds in our favor. It's time to wake up those sleepers - and maybe you're one of them yourself! If that's the case, it all starts with you.

The Wake-Up Call

A lot of this is common sense. The problem is that common sense oftentimes goes out the window. Cyberspace is a large place and it's easy to get lost in it. We've got to make it easy for people to find us. So the first wake up call goes to YOU.

Ask yourself this: Why to people join affiliate programs? All other possibilities aside, the answer is to make money. So how do we make money? Through our own sales, and in a multi-tier program, on sub-affiliates sales. Easy enough. Unfortunately, all this doesn't happen by itself. Let's wake up.

1. You need to become successful at being an affiliate yourself. If you haven't reached that point yet, find people that are and follow their lead. If you are not successful at it, you have no right to believe - or expect that others will be. Yes, you might get lucky by finding a superstar, but odds are that you won't - unless you play the game. Learn how to sell the product online - and offline if appropriate. Learn what works, and what doesn't. Most affiliates have some kind of control center where you can find links and resources on promoting the product. How much time are you spending on this?

2. Once you've reached a level of success, you've got to market to your sub-affiliates. Let them know they are not alone and that what you are doing is easily replicatable. This means that you have to stay in touch with them.

3. Develop a weekly or monthly newsletter with tips, techniques and suggestion. The sleepers need to be repeatedly reminded that they registered as an affiliate. They also need to be repeatedly reminded that they want to make money. You do this through motivation. Make your newsletter upbeat. I avoid "rah-rah", but still try to get them excited about the opportunities that are there.

4. Let them know that you are there to help - and respond to their questions promptly.

The more you know, the more you valuable you become to others. That's the secret to replication. As a teacher to others, you can help others to avoid the mistakes, traps and pitfalls that perhaps you made in the past. This will reduce their frustration and increase their production.

It's time to wake up.


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Vincent J. Miele is a consultant for Allegro Multimedia. For more info, please visit http://www.pianowizardaffiliates.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/piano-lessons-failure-is-not-an-option.html http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/piano-lessons-failure-is-not-an-option.html Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0600
We are exposed to music from the day we are conceived. We can feel and hear it in the womb. Many of us on our day of birth can hear our Mother singing, "Rock-a-bye-baby." That turns to "Happy Birthday" every single year after that. Everyone has certain songs that invoke strong memories from the past. How about that special wedding song?

Music can make us laugh, and it can make us cry. Music is a part of our soul. Music education is important to our growth. It helps our brains process information better. Students involved in music get higher grades in Math and other subjects. They do better on their SAT scores. It improves self-esteem and social skills.

Everyone would love to play an instrument. Who wouldn't love to walk over to the piano at a party and be the life of the party?

Music is a birthright. We are all capable of learning and mastering it. So the question is: why don't we? Why are normal attrition rates at around 80%? The answer is simple: we do not fail the system; the system fails us.

Theory and Notation

Sheet music represents the universal language of music notation...a visual interpretation of what we call "Music Theory." It's a system of dots, dashes, circles, lines and other hieroglyphics that is richly layered with centuries of historical evolution and meaning.

The preferred method of teaching piano is to immediately introduce theory and notation, marking learning far more difficult than it needs to be. That is why there is such a high failure rate for most of us in learning to play. Focusing on the translation of notation as a first step is difficult for most of us and it is one of the contributing factors making practicing painful and un-enjoyable.

So how can we turn the odds in our favor at succeed at piano lessons?

Reverse the process

Music is a language, and like learning any second language, it is difficult. We learn to speak our own language naturally, not by going to school. Then, once we are in school we learn how to "read" that language. In music, we learn the "written language" first (notation) then learn how to play. This is contrary to the way we naturally learn our language, and that's what make it so hard.

Make it fun

First, make it fun and enjoyable. If it isn't fun, do you think a child would rather play their video games than practice?

Don't be pushy and let your child learn at his or her own pace. They'll tell you (either verbally or through results) when it's time to take the next step. Stick with it, and you can beat the odds.


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Vincent J. Miele is an accomplished musician and consultant for Allegro Multimedia. To learn about the Piano Wizard, please visit www.piano-wizard.net

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>