Playing-Based Methodology

Can somebody tell me where I can read more on “fragmenting and positioning”. I tell my students it’s dividing the piece in small sections and that the position of the fingers help remember the sequence. But the fact that it is written in big letters…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• analogies, fragmenting, Gordon Harvey, hand position, Laurie Richards, Lullaby, positioning, self-generate

How is Christmas music taught? I have a couple of level 2-3 students, not reading notes yet, and lots of level 1 students. The upper levels really want Christmas music. They’re kind of tired of accompaniment and want music with the melody line. I can…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• accompaniment, Christmas, Greensleeves, holiday songs, Jackson Blues, Music for Christmas and the New Year, white and blue christmas

Most people who inquire for lessons with me are not wanting the traditional approach, but this past week two mothers came to me who seem to want the best of both worlds – their child learns tons of songs and enjoys playing and has fun…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• comparing traditional to Simply Music, confidence as a teacher, Laurie Richards, SM vs traditional

Confessions here…with upper level pieces, I have often just used the music for learning them myself before teaching them, since reading is so easy for me. Thanks to Mark Meritt’s ‘words of wisdom’ this summer, I decided that I would try and learn them the…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• development, Development Levels, playing-based, teaching with integrity, upper level

Who makes active use of SM audio in teaching and/or assignments? I’ve been pretty weak on this and could use some ideas–not only what learning activities to do but how to routinize it, how to train students so they know how to regularly use the…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• accompaniment, audio, audio materials, audio SHMs, Gordon Harvey, playing along with audio, using audio tracks

I have an older (70ish) student who plays pretty well, but stumbles over what the diagrams mean. I’ve reviewed them countless times and of course, told her to watch the videos. When she’s playing at her lesson, she looks at her hands most of the…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• diagrams, Gordon Harvey, older students, playing-based, self-generation

I have encountered a problem that is new for me. One of my students (8 years old) has trouble with the sets of two fingers in Night Storm. She can tell me which are the three sets of two and what to do with them…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• controlling the events, F1, foundation 1, Night Storm, playing-based, RH/LH, single thought processes

I have a prospective student coming to an FIS. She has a woman from her church teaching her traditional lessons. The teacher told her Simply Music is “mostly memorization”. I’ve heard the objection twice from her already. How would you address this concern with a…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• comparing traditional to Simply Music, memorization, playing-based, SM vs traditional, talking about Simply Music, talking about SM

Has anyone got some tips for students whose fingers are so thick that they get stuck between the black notes, e.g. the IV chord of Bishop Street Blues? It is not an uncommon issue, and as you said, the reality of the situation is that…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• big fingers, Bishop St., bishop street blues, chords, finger adaptations, fingering, large fingers, large hands, thick fingers, wide fingers

I have a 12-year-old student in Foundation 8 who is especially interested in classical music. He recently brought in a crazy complicated Chopin piece (Revolutionary Etude) he wants to learn. I have the skills to help him dissect the piece and learn to play it,…

• Last updated 6 years ago
• applying PB strategies to music, chopin, classical music, cross pollination, cross-pollinate, Gordon Harvey, identifying patterns, Laurie Richards, teaching difficult music