Curriculum

Hello Circle of 5ths fans. This is a ‘naming’ thing I have mulled on for years since lessons with Gordon. He used to say (to me at least) it should be called the Circle of 5ths & 4ths because of course the 4ths go round…

• Last updated 3 weeks ago
• alternative perspective of scale, circle of 4ths, circle of 5ths, circle of fifths, circle of fourths, clockwise, consonance, consonant, counter-clockwise, counterclockwise, dominant, interval, intervals, key, key signature, Laurie Richards, major intervals, pendulum, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, perfect fifth, perfect fourth, scale, scale theory, subdominant

I have a question from Jazz Clues. For clue 4 with High Five the rhythms are written in 4 counts, but the song is 12/8 time. The best way to reconcile this is obviously divide groups of 3 eighth notes into 4 sets and it…

• Last updated 3 weeks ago
• 12/8, 12/8 time signature, beat, complex rhythm, difficult rhythm, dropping in, eighth notes, High Five, jazz clues, JC, JC4, Laurie Richards, physical beat, rhythm, rhythm diagram, rhythm diagrams, rhythm difficulty, rules for writing rhythms, swing rhythm, swing rhythms, time signature, triplet, triplets

Several years ago, I started having students expand on the She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain Variation by suggesting that any of the four “Bottom-Right-Top-Right” moments could be doubled as a “berry” the way the 2nd of those moments is doubled in the formal “Blueberry…

• Last updated 2 months ago
• accomp, accompaniment, accompaniment pieces, FL3, foundation level 3, Laurie Richards, Level 3, new variation, She'll Be Comin, She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain, variation, variations

I’m really interested in everyone’s perspective. Multiple studies over decades report that roughly 50–70% of musicians (including pianists) experience playing-related musculoskeletal pain or injury during their training or careers. Given that traditional piano pedagogy relies heavily on standardised posture rules, prescribed hand positions, and visual…

• Last updated 3 months ago
• addressing poor technique, classical, classically trained, comparing traditional to Simply Music, competing methods, hand position, hand positioning, hand positions, hurt, hurts, injuries, injury, method, method comparisons, methodology, methods, other methods, pain, painful, pedagogy, poor technique, posture, SM vs traditional, technique, technique questions, traditional, traditional background, traditional experience, traditional lessons, traditional student, traditional students, traditional students to SM, traditional studio, traditional teacher, traditional teachers

Subsequent to Unmani M.’s post regarding “Shoo-fly” arrangement from Arrangements 3 (originally taught in Level 5), I thought I’d take a moment to revive a discussion from more than a DECADE ago about the fact that Shoo-fly is a BLUES piece 😎. For reference you…

• Last updated 6 months ago
• 12 Bar blues, alternate ending, arr, arrangement, arrangement names, arrangements, arrangements 3, blues, blues chords, blues harmony, blues songs, blues turnaround, ending, FL5, Foundation 5, foundation level 5, Foundation levels, foundation pieces, Foundation sheet music, Foundation songs, learning arrangements, reading arrangements, remembering arrangements, retaining arrangements, shoo-fly, structure, teacher preparation for arrangements, Teaching Arrangements, tips on remembering arrangements, unfolding arrangements in class, using music in learning arrangements

Jazz Clue 2 questions. 😊 What to play in “Here to Stay”, measure 4, LH? Playing A7 on every beat sounds too ‘vanilla’. Also, any voicing suggestions for the final measure? Ok, here’s my response: Neil’s Video Answer It is basically the Fly Me To…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• A Touch of Jazz, chord voicings, Here to Stay, jazz, Jazz 1, jazz clue 1, jazz clue 2, jazz clues, jazz program, jazz program questions, JC, JC1, JC2, Laurie Richards, Neil Moore, Neil's Responses (YouTube Videos), touch of jazz, voicing, voicing chords, voicing jazz chords

If using Jazz Clue 2 in “High Five”, what do you have students do in meas. 15 with the “C” chord? An open 5th sounds odd to me. Here ya go Ruth! Neil’s Video Answer As a general rule with JC2, one can pretend Major…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• A Touch of Jazz, chord voicings, High Five, jazz, Jazz 1, jazz clue 1, jazz clue 2, jazz clues, jazz program, jazz program questions, JC, JC1, JC2, Neil Moore, Neil's Responses (YouTube Videos), touch of jazz, voicing, voicing chords, voicing jazz chords

I find that my students who don’t like to sing often shorten the ends of phrases in Dreams, Dog, Sleeping, Fur Elise, etc. so they have to work at unlearning, then learning the correct rhythm by singing with me, reviewing the audio, playing with the…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• active listening, audio, audio recording, Audio recordings, complex rhythm, counting, counting as lyric, difficult rhythm, Dog, Dreams, Dreams Come True, external speaker, external speakers, feeling rhythm, Fur Elise, Fur Elise tempo, getting an even rhythm, helping students feel rhythm, how to play, improving rhythm skills, isolating rhythm, listen, listening, listening to audio recordings, listening to the audio recordings, managing singing, natural rhythm, play SH along with audio, play SH with audio, playing along with audio, playing with audio tracks, practice SH along with audio, practice SH with audio, processing rhythm, processing rhythms, rhythm, rhythm difficulty, rhythmically challenged, singing, singing along, singing in class, singing off key, singing off pitch, singing while playing, singing while playing struggle, single thought process, single thought processes, sleeping, speaking instructions out loud, STP, student lacks rhythm, teaching rhythm, using audio recordings, using audio tracks, using the audio recordings to learn songs, using the audio recordings to move ahead, voice, what to play

Late in TFMM, I’ve begun assigning my students to write a few bars from Foundation pieces they’ve learned long ago. All kinds of interesting issues have been coming up – how to add articulation, how to figure out the time signature, stem directions, etc. I…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• accidentals, developing reading, different reading projects, enharmonic, flats, key signature, Laurie Richards, reading, sharps, sharps and flats, tfmm, Time for More Music, transcribing, transcribing composition, transcription, writing, writing intervals, writing notes

Here’s a project I’ve done which incorporates different strategies and programs, step by step (one of my favorite things to do): 1. Preparatory Learning: Teach the 4 LH positions of Greensleeves (before we get to Greensleeves). That’s the whole assignment. 2. Comp & Improv: Once…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• arrangement, arranging, C & I, comp & improv, comp and improv, comp/improv, Greensleeves, ideas for improvisation, improv, improv ideas, improvisation, improvisation ideas, improvising, Laurie Richards, preparatory learning