Arrangements Teaching Pace
Found in: Arrangements & Variations
Darla H., Kansas
I know that there is not a definite prescribed order to teach the arrangements/variations and am fine with that. I have listened to both of Gordon’s workshop audio recordings on introducing arrangements and have found them very helpful. I’m wondering if there is a certain number or amount of arrangements/variations that should be taught by the end of each level. According to the guidelines given us, I have counted that there are 43 arrangements/variations that could be learned by the end of level 3 (according to the guidelines of what level it’s appropriate to teach them at). And this doesn’t include any of the other arrangements that teachers have shared like Chinese Dreams or Night Storm Inc., etc.
I have some students who pick up the arrangements very slowly and need much more time on each one. And I understand that giving small dosages is just great! But, does that mean that I need to really slow down on the foundation pieces then too? Or is it okay that some students finish level 3 knowing only 15 or 20 arrangements/variations and other students know 30 or more? Is there a time when a student must have finished all the arrangements through Arrangements 3 or is it not important where they are in the foundation levels before they get through them all?
I am giving arrangements/variations assignments every lesson, I’m just trying to discern what to do when a student learns the foundation pieces much more quickly and easily because of the support and needs much smaller dosages with the arrangements.
I would really appreciate hearing from some of you who are teaching higher levels and what your experience has been. Thanks so much for your responses.
Laurie R., Nebraska
I spread the arrangements out all the way through Level 9. I can’t even conceive of teaching all of them by Level 3! There is so much other material to learn, and as you said Darla, with no support materials, it just takes longer to get through arrangements.
Plus, I like having them continue to use that “muscle” of actively applying the playing-based tools and strategies in arrangements, all the way through the foundation program. They are going to be required to regularly apply those tools to written music in the development program.
Mark M., New York
My most advanced students are only just now completing Level 2, so I can’t say from experience what I’d do in the long run, but my approach so far is using Gordon’s workshop recommendations to inform the order in which I teach the arrangements but not the pace at which I teach them. I just think of the arrangements track as moving along in parallel to Foundation, Accompaniment, etc., and I generally try to be always working on an arrangements piece, but I’ve stopped worrying about how long any particular one takes. Especially ever since I’ve adopted the recommendations from the Time Efficiency workshop, it seems to make even more sense to just not be hung up on attaching any particular timeframe to arrangements, just keeping that as a small-dosage-at-a-time ongoing thing.