About The Method
Parental non-disclosure of special needs
I’m in a bit of a teacher valley. A brand new 11-year-old student (just one month of lessons) has quit, though we had lots of good Foundation talks and relationship talks. He was progressing slowly but surely with the Basics and RH/LH of Dreams. He…
Value of group vs private lessons
I am starting to get a few inquiries for piano lessons, but I have a hard time expressing the value found in group lessons versus private ones. I know what they are, but I get flustered when that call comes in and I lose my…
Questions about how to run an FIS
FIS questions: I still haven’t had my first one, but I’m working on preparing for it. I’m more nervous about trying to effectively explain the Simply Music program than I am to actually teach with it. I’m wondering if most of you do them for…
Ideas for Halloween
Any other fun ideas for Halloween – like the spooky blues song? Or how you might use Halloween treats as incentives this week or next? An oldie but a goodie – having students write spooky lyrics to Chester. Honey Dew progression is Monster Mash. Just…
Understanding Chord Structure – Laurie Richards (Webinar)
In this interactive teacher webinar, Laurie walks through the ‘rules’ of how chords are built. Using slides for visual reinforcement of the concepts, the following topics are clearly covered: Major Scale How Triads are Built Other Chord Tones 7th Chords Extended Chords Chord Voicing Chord…
Using music books starting in Level 7
Do your students who are Level 7 and above use the music books often to help them learn the pieces? They see Neil has the music book open in the videos, and Neil also approves that for rhythm tracking in the teacher training videos. I…
Difficulty with Minuet in G LH patterns
One of my adult students is very dedicated and his playlist is in good shape overall, except he has quite a hard time with Minuet in G, especially the LH finger patterns. I have asked him to think about how to define those patterns in…
Parents anxious to start reading
I’ve lost a few students recently (starting Level 3) because the parents are taking them to a traditional teacher to learn to read notes, even though the kids were doing well and I told them that we were moving toward note reading soon. They compared…
Applying SM principles to life
It’s back to school time here! My students will be making a poster this week of Simply Music skills that will be helpful in school. Would you like to brainstorm together? Here are a few to get it going: Improvise Single thought process – focus…
Keeping the playing-based component with reading students
I have some students finishing level 9 and when I look at all the streams they will continue, almost all of them involve reading: Level 10 and up, Jazz Clues (clue 1 and 2), reading project of own choice. If they do composition, I may…
