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Welcome to NPF's new site for information about Recreational Music Making. The objective of this site is to inform readers about RMM as it relates to piano. The piano community of PMAI, MTNA, PTG and RPMDA are working on a joint RMM initiative and this site will report on these activities.
For information about RMM as it relates to all music making in addition to piano, visit NAMM's new site – rmm.namm.org. This site is easy to navigate and has a wealth of information in six sections: News, Lifestyles, Community, Research, Learning Center, and Facilitator Corner. New information is posted on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis so it's beneficial to access the site regularly.
Click here to access the NAMM RMM website.
The RMM sessions at MTNA’s 2008 conference were filmed and will be produced as DVDs. After they are ready for purchase (summer, 2008), clips of them will be placed on MTNA’s website with a link to NPF’s website for purchase. We will update all teachers who are registered on NPF’s group piano site when they are available for viewing and for purchasing.
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NPF will be accepting proposals on or before June 1, 2008, for those who are interested in presenting an RMM session at MTNA’s 2009 conference in Atlanta, GA. Please read the information below for proposal submission details.
Music Teachers National Association
2009 National Conference
Atlanta, Georgia
March 28 – April 1, 2009
The RMM planning committee requests the submission of proposals for MTNA’s 2009 conference in Atlanta, Georgia. There will be four RMM sessions and each session will be shared by two presenters with a time limit of 25 minutes each.
Suggested Topics:
Proposals may include more than one of these topics but consideration should be given to the time limit of 25 minutes.
- How to recruit students
- How to group students in appropriate skill levels
- How to partner with a retailer
- How to work with a variety of skill levels in the same class
- How to maintain a relaxed environment
- How to market RMM programs
- How to work with adults who are overly critical of themselves
- How to select materials appropriate for RMM classes
- How to take the temperature of a class and avoid dropouts
- How to determine compensation for RMM teachers
- How to work with special needs adults
- Other RMM-related topics
Guidelines for Submitting Proposals:
Send a 250 word proposal and a resume of no more than one-page to Brenda Dillon (Brenda@dondillon.com). Or mail proposals to the National Piano Foundation, 5960 W. Parker Rd., Suite 278, #233, Plano, TX 75093.
Deadline for Submitting Proposals:
Deadline by mail and e-mail is June 1, 2008. Proposals by mail must be postmarked on or before June 1, 2008. The deadline will be strictly enforced.
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The Piano Manufacturers Association International sponsored a documentary DVD of the Dallas-area Recreational Music Making piano programs. During the filming last December at a senior center in Plano, TX, students and teachers commented on the RMM experience and what it had meant to them personally.
The 10-minute DVD not only includes testimonials about learning to play piano in RMM programs, but also gives information about the background of RMM and lists advantages of these programs to retailers and teachers as well as students. Although there are short examples of student playing, the goal of the DVD was to illustrate attitudes of the participants in these programs.
Click here to view the DVD.
Click here to order the DVD.
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The Summer, 2006, issue of PianoNotes reported that NAMM, the trade association of the international music products industry, would sponsor a test in the fall for an experimental RMM piano teaching program. At the conclusion of the test, nine of the 10 selected teachers indicated a desire to continue teaching RMM-type classes. The response from students was equally promising:
- 69 percent of the students said they definitely wanted to continue lessons.
- 19 percent indicated they would consider continuing their lessons.
- 75 percent of the students would not have taken piano lessons if Recreational Music Making classes had not been offered.
- 47 percent of the students were familiar with research about the proven benefits of music making for children and/or adults.
- 47 percent of the students had previously taken piano lessons, and even when they considered those lessons non-successful, they still wanted to try again.
The test was coordinated by Brenda Dillon, a local RMM piano teacher who has been teaching adult beginners at the Plano Senior Center. "The 58 students of the ten teachers were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about learning in a group," said Dillon. "And the teachers enjoyed the new method of teaching and observed that teaching this way was not 'dumbing down' piano lessons." The test included eight-week classes, one hour per week, six students seated in a semi-circle facing two pianos. Solo playing was voluntary and the primary emphasis was on enjoyment. These teachers and their students, as well as the Plano Senior Center students, were the focus of a new documentary film of RMM piano classes in the Dallas area.
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