Curriculum

A new adult student with a small amount of previous experience told me that it’s hard for her to watch her hands because she took a beginning piano class in college with a teacher who insisted that students never look at their hands and would…

• Last updated 3 months ago
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If a student already knows the names of the rhythm ingredients (whole through sixteenths) can we use those or should we actively use the informal terminology anyway before the note naming process? This comes up from time to time with students with prior experience! Personally,…

• Last updated 7 months ago
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Jazz Clues…doing clue one with Here to stay. The Bmin7-5 sounds bad with 1 and 5 LH because the 5 is supposed to be flatted. So do you have the students flat the 5th or stick to the clue? I don’t recall this being addressed…

• Last updated 9 months ago
• dim, diminished chord, diminished chords, Gordon Harvey, jazz, Jazz 1, jazz chords, jazz clue 1, jazz clues, jazz program, jazz program questions, JC, JC1

Just wondering if the sheet music for ‘Lament’ in the Jazz program is treated as a completely separate exercise to the improvisation in the reference book. Alternatively, do we work out what 4 note chords to use in the LH for the sheet music version…

• Last updated 10 months ago
• Gordon Harvey, improv, improvisation, jazz, Jazz 1, jazz clue 1, jazz clue 2, jazz clues, jazz program, jazz program questions, JC, Lament, modes, stride

I am finding the variation on Family Tree a challenge, even after leaving it for a time and coming back to it. Can someone give me some tips please? (Or should I just leave that one out?) It is challenging, indeed, in a very similar…

• Last updated 11 months ago
• administering the dosage, audio, audio materials, audio recording, Audio recordings, audio recordings for learning arrangements, audio SHMs, Chester, chester chills out, Chester Chills Out Variation, Chester Samba, Chester Variation, clapping rhythm, complex rhythm, control the events, controlling the events, counting rhythms, CTE, difficult rhythm, dosage, dosage of arrangements, family tree, Family Tree Variation, feeling rhythm, helping students feel rhythm, how to play, humming along, improving rhythm skills, isolating rhythm, lyrics, playing along with audio, playing with audio tracks, processing rhythm, processing rhythms, rhythm, rhythm difficulty, singing along, single thought process, single thought processes, STP, using audio recordings, using audio tracks, what to play

I have a student in her 70’s who is working on Walk at Eleven. We have been over all the clues many times (C to A to D to G, focusing on the notes a half step above or a half step below, etc.); despite…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• adult, adult lessons, adult student, adult students, adults, adults with memory problems, blues, blues songs, coaching adults, FL9, Foundation 9, foundation level 9, half steps, improvisation, improvising, it takes as long as it takes, Level 9, older student, older students, remember, remembering, remembering patterns, Robin Keehn, target notes, teaching adults, teaching half steps, Walk at 11, Walk at Eleven, walking bass

READING RHYTHM TIPS For students who struggle to play the MORs using 5SS – especially those who have trouble keeping the 3 ingredients even within a steady beat 1) Match a metronome playing only singles until smooth and even. Then only doubles until smooth and…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• 5SS, audio recording, Audio recordings, beat, clapping, clapping rhythm, clapping the beat, internal beat, internal metronome, internalizing beat, Laurie Richards, masters of the rhythm, metronome, mor, MORs, Music Speed Changer, play along, playing along with audio, reading rhythm, rhythm audio, RR, SDQ, singles doubles quads, using audio recordings, using audio tracks, voice

I just remembered a Jackson Blues variation I like to teach around Halloween that makes it sound a little creepy: RH – for each chord, move finger 3 down a 1/2 step (makes them minor chords – they don’t need to know that if they…

• Last updated 1 year ago
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(Over time, different teachers have faced situations in which a student finds it challenging to process the Alma Mater Blues rhythm. Here are Neil’s thoughts on how to handle such situations, video posted September 28, 2022. Below his video tip are two representative posts/questions within…

• Last updated 1 year ago
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Here ya go folks! There are 2 versions. One with and one without G and F. Scroll down to see the other one. (You may want to draw the C ledger lines a bit longer with a felt tip.) Keyboard-staff-landmark-notes Original discussion started October 4, 2022  

• Last updated 1 year ago
• location, location points, reading notes, RN