Curriculum

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 4 weeks 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 2 months 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 2 months 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

I have several students who are reading music and want to learn to play hymns from their church’s hymnal that is arranged for SATB singing (see photo for example). I’ve been reading a few related conversations in Simpedia about the process of teaching hymns (most…

• Last updated 6 months ago
• accompaniment, additional reading material, arrange, arranging, choir, choral, developing reading, different reading projects, hymn book, hymnal, hymns, lead sheets, outside accompanimnent pieces, outside materials, outside music, outside pieces, outside reading pieces, outside repertoire, outside sheet music, pieces outside the program, read, reading, reading music, reading outside Simply Music, reading pieces, SATB, selecting reading materials, songs outside the repertoire, teaching outside music

HI everybody – any tips for growing skills to line up fingers accurately to play fast passages like the beginning and end of Ballade? Of course – play slowly and gradually increase speed. That alone doesn’t seem adequate. I feel like all the things I…

• Last updated 10 months ago
• audio, audio materials, audio recording, Audio recordings, audio SHMs, Ballade, control the events, controlling the events, CTE, drills, exercises, external speaker, external speakers, fast playing, finger exercises, getting student to slow down, importance of playlist, keeping playlist alive, keeping playlists, keeping the playlist alive, learning slowly, Neil Moore, Neil's Responses (YouTube Videos), playing along with audio, playing fast vs slow, playing slowly, playing speed, playing with audio tracks, Playlist, practicing slowly, single thought process, single thought processes, slow practice, slow-steady-musical-even, slowing down, speaking instructions out loud, SSME, STP

I have an elderly student who can’t bend fingers 3 and 4 in his RH. We are adjusting songs accordingly. For Alma Mater Blues 3rd Section CAGE chord I, what would you suggest? C G E – fingers 5, 2, 1 – 100% C A…

• Last updated 11 months ago
• adapting, adapting fingering, adapting to student's needs, Alma Mater Blues, Alma Mater Blues 3rd Section, alternate fingering for chords, bending fingers, CAGE chords, changing finger, chord alterations, chord fingering, elderly students, finger adaptations, finger change, finger substitution, finger substitutions, finger switch, fingering, fingering chords, fingers, injured fingers, older student, older students, stiff fingers, switching finger, weak fingers

I’ve got a question for you. During each lesson, I have my students do an improvisation or play their composition. I just received a short composition in which the piece doesn’t end on a tonic key. I texted her mom about that, and she said…

• Last updated 10 months ago
• chord, chord theory, chords, comp, comp & improv, comp and improv, complex chords, composing, composing with chords, composition, compositions, deceptive cadence, ending, ending chord, final chord, imperfect cadence, last chord, Neil Moore, scale theory, student composition, theory, tonic, writing compositions

I’ve been working on I IV and V on accompaniment 1 programme with some students and was asked these questions which I couldn’t quite answer with confidence. Care to share your experience and thoughts please? So does the I IV and V only work for…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• acc 2, Acc Knacks, Acc Packs, Acc2, accomp 2, accompaniment, demonstrating ratios, developing I-IV-V, explaining ratios, finding I IV V in all keys, I-IV-V, I-IV-V chords, I-IV-V in minor key, Laurie Richards, processing I IV V, ratio, ratios, ratios and aesthetics, Shape Songs, time signature, transpose, transposing, transposing minor keys, transposition

If a younger student can’t yet manage the second chord of Dreams Arrangement 1, is there a preference in a three-note version? Fingers 123 (shifting 3) throughout or 135 (shifting 3 and 5) with the 9th omitted for now? I think they both work and…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• adapting, adapting fingering, adapting for young students, adapting the curriculum, adapting to student's needs, alternate fingering for chords, chord, chord alterations, chords, Dreams, dreams 1, Dreams Arrangement, Dreams Come True, family chords, finger adaptations, small hands, teaching very young students, teaching young children, teaching young students, young children, young students

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 2 years ago
• comparing traditional to Simply Music, eyes on hands, eyes on sheet music, eyes on the page, look at hands, look at sheet music, looking at hands, looking at page, looking at sheet music, looking at the page, outside reading knowledge, PB, playing-based, playing-based while reading, previous reading knowledge, prior reading experience, RB, reading, reading concerns, reading music, reading problems, reading process, reading program, reading-based, sight reading, SM vs traditional, source from the page, source instructions from the page, starting SM with traditional students, student wants only to read, students that already read music, students who already read, tracking the page, traditional, traditional background, traditional experience, traditional student, traditional students, traditional students to SM, traditional to Simply Music, traditional vs. Simply Music, traditional vs. simply music reading, traditionally trained, transitioning into SM, transitioning students, transitioning to SM, transitioning traditional students, using playing-based tools while reading, watch hands, watch sheet music, watching hands, watching page, watching sheet music, watching the page