My apologies for ignoring this little blog for awhile; I blame whoever decided that, in order to be handed a piece of paper that says “Master’s” on it, one must write a massively long paper (more on that paper soon). I further blame whoever decided that students at my particular institution should be forced to do so in less than two months! But, I digress…
I start my piano students off with 5-finger scales, and have found Susan Paradis’s Fish Scales to be 
very motivating for students to keep track as they work towards memorizing them. It seemed rather anticlimactic, however, for students to just memorize all of their scales, write them on the fish, and then move on. I wanted more motivation, and another chance to be sure that they really knew their scales.
So, I decided to create a “Fish Bowl of Fame,” where students’ names and scaley achievements could be posted. In order to get their name to rise to fame status, students have to memorize a certain set of scales (major, minor, etc.) and play them all for me from memory in a brief scale quiz. As soon as I announced that The Fishbowl of Fame would soon be making its appearance, I knew that I had lit the fire. Suddenly I had siblings racing each other to memorize their major scales!
The only problem was where to put The Fishbowl of Fame. No spare wall space was to be had for a lovely fish bowl such as Leah’s (and I could hardly see my parents appreciating fish being taped to their walls anyway…)
So I acquired a piece of foam board, some markers, glue, and these adorable cardboard fish bowls and fish in various colors found at the local Parent Teacher Store. The fish are just taped on with masking tape, so when all of the bowls fill up with fish students can take home their fish that have been up for a while.
The beauty of this being on foam board is that it can hide between the piano and the wall, perfectly out of the way until it is needed.
So far, Katelynn is the only one with her name up for learning her major scales, but a few other students, including her brother, are not far behind! They are all looking forward to taking their quizzes so they can pick out a fish and see their name go on The Fishbowl of Fame, too!
I’m planning to use various categories so that kids can get their name up for more than one achievement – such as major 5 finger scales, minor 5 finger scales, scales with both hands together, and arpeggios & triads.
Maybe the studio needs a REAL fish… what should it’s name be? 
