Simpedia

Karen Tucker

I have three main things I want to say today about the Accompaniment 1 program:

1. Pre-introduction conversations………

2. beginning the special program with an overview

3. keeping it moving and alive, while keeping it small and manageable.

First, I want to talk about the conversations that lead up to starting the Acc. program. We have several opportunities to de-mystify, and justify, the accomps. for our students and parents.  Accompaniment is a big word for the kids……..
and for a few of the parents as well.  I begin de-mystifying this word as soon as we reach Honey Dew.

One of my main pre-introduction conversations is about the meaning of the word, but I do not at that time go into the three layers of music as outlined in the program itself.  I just discuss and clarify the meaning of the word, then proceed to show them how it works by playing H.Dew without the audio recording, then with the recording.  It only takes a few seconds really, to de-mystify this word.

marilyn  So you’re playing it first without a vocalist, and then with?

Karen Tucker   yes, to show the difference between how an accompaniment sounds not quite the same at all without the melody

Kelly C  why do you leave out the three layers of music?

Karen Tucker  I leave out the three layers because that is too technical for this stage of the game, and they don’t need to know it yet.

Okay, along with this conversation, I will just mention to the parents that there is a whole book called the Accomp. program, and later when the students are more skilled at playing they will be able to begin this book as well.  It is a way of preparing them for the fact that there is another book to be purchased, but it is somewhere down the road in the future. It also gives everyone a goal and expectation for getting ‘good enough’ to get the new book.

marilyn  sounds good

Karen Tucker  I call this the Building Up conversation. Are there any questions about this part of the approach?

Carol B  No

kathy  not yet…

Karen Tucker
Okay, so for the time being, I will just go on with learning H.Dew and not mention any more about the other program. When we reach A.Grace I take the opportunity to talk some more about it. I explain again that this is an accomp. and ask who remembers what that means. Some will remember, some won’t, and this just takes a second to review.

As we proceed through the next couple weeks, or however long it takes to get them really comfortable with A.Grace, I watch for an opportunity to say that they will soon be ready to begin the accomp. program. I will tell the parents the cost and say that I expect it will be in the next 3 – 6 weeks. Through all of this, I have justified the cost of another book by the advancing progress of the students. And by then I have also mentioned how fun it is to sing along at home, or play the piano with another instrument if you know someone in band………

Those are my pre-introduction conversations, prior to actually introducing the program and how I prepare the way for the students and the parents.

Tim – USA  Do you always begin the program in Level 1?

Karen Tucker  I haven’t actually discussed WHEN I introduce the program, because it varies.  Someone also wanted to know more about the WHEN, and this is a good time to address it.

Carol, how young did you mean when you said ‘young children’?

Carol B  Like 6, 7 years old.

Karen Tucker  Okay, thanks. Those young ones are going to have quite a while to gain experience through Level 1 and some arrangements and the variations, but I have found that they are usually ready by the time they have learned the first song in Level 2 and they are full of success and accomplishment.  They feel like they have crossed a barrier by graduating into book 2, and they and their parents are very willing to believe they can handle the new program.

As for always starting it in Level 1 for older students…..Yes, I do try to do that right along the time of Fur Elise or Alma.

Are there any questions at all about when to start this Accomp. Program?

Carol B  It is always an add on to what they are doing, right?

Karen Tucker  Yes

Kelly C  I often started it in Level 3 or so, when the Accompaniment pieces stop showing up in the Foundation levels.

Karen Tucker  One reason I would not wait that long is because of the # of special programs that are lined up to follow the accomp. program.

Kelly C  oh, good point

Karen Tucker  Okay, we have discussed how to lead up to the program, and when to start the program. Now let’s move on to HOW to start the program.

It is very important to take your time in starting this program, and not rush to learning the first song. I sometimes just start the process of understanding accomps. and chords, and not even start the first song until next week. You will get a feel for this by learning to read your students and seeing if they are feeling overwhelmed or not.

This is the time I do cover the three layers of music, and it is easily understood by them because of their prior experience and conversations. Then we begin understanding that there are 12 main chords we will be learning how to use.  This is more technical than they are used to, and it is easy to overwhelm them, but it is also easy not to.

I don’t dwell on lengthy explanations.  I just show them the page and say these are the 12 main chords we will be learning, then I follow the basic instuctions on the teacher training video. I have someone play a C chord and explain that this sort of makes a straight line, so I draw a straight line under C on the board and tell them to draw it in their book.

I do all the straights on the bottom line first, then I go to triangles starting with D.  I have someone show us how to put thumb on D, 5 over 5, then I just put finger 3 on the black note, and say this makes a triangle, and D is a triangle.  I take the initiative to draw all the shapes in the bottom row, as they are demonstrated one at a time, nice and slowly but not dwelling on lenghty explanations. Then I move to the top line, but the right hand side………

vwalth  In the bottom row of what?

Karen Tucker  (the page in the accomp. book that names all 12 keys)

I take the initiative of demonstrating this chord also, and pointing out that this one is upside down from the one below it.  Then, when I go to the next one I ask them to see what the one below it is, and what do they think this one is……..
in this way they are generating answers based on what they have already learned. While this will be quite tentative at first, they are quickly feeling like they have a grip on this new information.

Then comes the most important part…….they need to know right away that they are NOT expected to remember all of this……..they need to know that those shapes are drawn there for them to refer to, and that it is not cheating to look at it.  You will notice a visible relief in everyone at this point.

And that’s how I make it easy to begin with an overview, and make sure it is just an overview, not an overwhelming body of new knowledge.

Okay, we have discussed how to lead up to the program, and how to begin the program…..now let’s discuss how to keep it moving while keeping it small and manageable.

As we all know, there is a great deal of variety in how quickly the students learn the Foundation Program. I have found that the accomp. program will have an even greater amount of variety in this area.  You well get surprised if you base expectations on prior experience with the Foundation songs.

I have broken the learning process down into several steps so they can be learned as quickly or a slowly as needed, and the student will still feel like they are making progress.

1. go through the song with just the right hand on the chords, no ratio…just learn how the chords feel and what they look like

2. add the ratio (and with Auld Lang Syne, you can’t spend too much time explaining that it happens twice per measure……. you just explain it, then show it, then have them try the first measure, then the second measure, then both measures…..and they are on their way.)

3. add the left hand…….they have experience with this and they will catch on quickly

4. Try hands together for a measure or two, or a line, or a page…….depending on the student.

At any time, any one of these steps can be a take home assignment.  I usually don’t assign them to do anything with the audio recording the first week.

Then comes the audio recording, which I have broken down into 2 steps:  audio ‘training’  and audio ‘playing’

5. Audio training means start the audio and begin playing with it.  If you get lost or can’t continue to keep up for any reason, stop, then begin again at the beginning.  The students will find that they will get farther each time they try this.   I will caution them not to beat it to death…….it takes some time to get all the way through a song – a day or a month – you never know, and it doesn’t matter.  After a time, they are making it all the way through, and I change the assignment to audio playing.

6. Audio playing – I train them NOT to stop if they make a mistake, and I train them that they will never catch up with the singer by TRYING to catch up!  nI show them how to stop and let her keep singing, and jump their eyes ahead to the next line or the bottom line or whatever they need to jump to, and get their hands ready and WAIT for her.

They love this part, and they find it quite fun to learn this skill.  They get very comfortable with the little accidents that sometimes happen while you are playing, and their ‘jump’ time gets smaller.  So you can see that keeping the process moving, while keeping it small and manageable, is not to difficult when you break it down like this.

Are there any questions about how to keep it moving before I share one other way of keeping it alive and going forward?  The other way of course, is to get them started playing other accompaniments outside the program.

Kelly C  How do you manage teaching the Accompaniment Program with groups…and the variance involved in the students?

Karen Tucker  Good question. You manage this the same way you do in the Foundation Program….. some will finish sooner than others, but it is usually not so far apart as to be a problem. The early birds wait a bit, keeping it alive; the slow pokes work harder with the parents help, and if the slowness is chronic, you need to consider if they need to move to another class.

This is pretty much all I had to share today, and I am willing to take any and all questions now.

Carol B  So, with a “typical” group, would you expect it to take several months to get through the book?

Karen Tucker  Oh yes, it will.

kathy  I’m anxious to get to that place. Thanks so much!

Carol B  Do your students take a long time on the last ones with all the chords?

Karen Tucker  Carol, the steps remain small because there are so many other things happening in the lesson. Yes, they take a VERY long time, but because of the small steps, they feel progress as it happens.

marilyn  When do you introduce outside books? How do you handle this in a shared lesson?

Karen Tucker  I let students pick their own songs and learn them on their own after they have covered the white key triads. I tell them to bring in questions or difficulties and tell them that we want to hear their song when they have learned it, and we will sing it with them playing.

vwalth  If we haven’t yet started the Accompaniment Program and we’re almost at the end of L2, should we slow down our foundation learning and focus on Accomp to “catch up”?

Karen Tucker  There is a little bit of that, yes, to create a balanced lesson, but the student will hardly notice that you are managing things in this way.

kathy  So, are the students going through this (Accomp.) book while they continue going through the foundation levels, as supplemental material?

Karen Tucker  Yes, that is correct.  Only, Kathy, it is not exactly supplemental……..it is a vital part of the program.

Kelly C  How do you handle it when a student brings in a piece that you don’t know and can’t sing along to?

 

Karen Tucker  Kelly, they have to sing it. Or the parents do…… or they have to tell me they played it with so-and-so and it went just fine.

kathy  OK. I guess I’m wanting to understand that the progress occurs “in tandem”… we weave in the Accomp. program while continuing through the Foundation levels?

Karen Tucker  Yes. Along with all the other special programs as well.  They move along in a specific order, after the Accomp. program.

marilyn  This has been excellent, Karen! Thanks for your insight.

vwalth  Is there an order listed somewhere

Karen Tucker  Yes, the curriculum overview shows it

Karen Tucker  Thank you all for coming! You made it a great session!

vwalth  Thanks, Karen

Dixie C. Thanks, Karen. I’m actually glad I haven’t started this yet, as this has been so helpful. Bye, now!