Curriculum

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 2 weeks ago
• beat, clapping rhythm, complex rhythm, counting, counting rhythms, difficult rhythm, doubles, eighth notes, feeling rhythm, improving rhythm skills, introducing reading, Laurie Richards, learning note names, marching sdq, masters of the rhythm, note names, outside reading knowledge, physical beat, playing rhythm tracks, previous experience, previous reading knowledge, prior experience, prior reading experience, processing rhythm, processing rhythms, quarter notes, Read and Play, Read n play, reading outside Simply Music, reading process, reading program, Reading Repertoire, reading rhythm, reading terminology, reads rhythm, rhythm, rhythm streams, rhythm tracks, rhythm words, RR, SDQ, singles doubles quads, sixteenth notes, student with previous experience, students with previous experience, students with prior experience, substituting words in rhythm, tapping sdq, teaching reading, teaching rhythm, using words in rhythm learning, voicing rhythms with words, walking sdq

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 3 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 4 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 5 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 6 months 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 7 months 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 8 months ago
• blues variation, Dog, Halloween, Halloween Dog?, Jackson Blues, Laurie Richards, major vs. minor, minor chords, minor keys, Minuet in G, new variation, Nightmares, sleeping, Spooky Jackson, Spooky Minuet, variation, variations

(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 8 months ago
• Alma Mater Blues, BH, complex rhythm, control the events, controlling the events, coordinating LH and RH, coordination, counting, counting as lyric, counting rhythms, CTE, difficult rhythm, dosage, dose, doses, humpty, humpty dumpty, information processing, isolating rhythm, microdose, multiple thought processes, Neil Moore, Neil's Responses (YouTube Videos), physicality, processing, processing issues, processing rhythm, processing rhythms, rhythm diagram, rhythm diagrams, single thought process, single thought processes, small doses, smaller dose, smaller doses, STP, swing rhythm, swing rhythms

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 8 months ago
• location, location points, reading notes, RN

How would you explain to 12-14 year old kids why learning to improvise and compose songs is part of the simply music program? How does it help them learn to play songs, if that is their goal? Do you have the Tune Toolkit Program? The…

• Last updated 8 months ago
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