I had a student with extensive prior experience ask the difference between a maj 7th and 7th today so I hope this question makes sense. Is Bb the dominant 7th in the key of F? Cmaj7 is C, E, G, B. C7 is C, E, G, Bb. So a dominant 7 chord includes a flatted 7th. Similarly, Fmaj7 would include E, and F7 would include Eb. …
Would it work, when there is a month-long break from teaching, to suggest that dedicated students (at the appropriate level) work through Tune Toolkit and The Chord Drill on their own? I have the vaguest recollection from the training on those that "students can work through this on their own", but don't have time to chase it down in the training materials. Suggestions, please? (Mark S. Meritt, Elizabeth Gaikwad) Any other suggestions for filling the…
Question about Acc Var (Accompaniment Variations). Is Var #6 intentionally duplicated to #18? Is this just because we're working within different song? It's not intentional but not necessarily an error; Neil just didn't realize it was a duplicate. Would the same be true for 16 and 19, 1 and 20, 2 and 21, which it appears, are also duplicates? Yup. …
Can anyone think of any well known songs that use the Honey Dew chord progression? I would like to demonstrate some to my students when teaching Honey Dew. Justin Beiber's "Baby Baby" song. Lame but it gets a response every time. Blue Moon "Brave" by Sara Bareilles 20 songs - same 4 chords on guitar C Am…
Is there any advantage or disadvantage to buying a "key of C" fake book vs. just a generic fake book? The one I am looking at is not the "easy" fake book series, it just says "for C instruments". For C instruments does not mean all the songs are in the key of C. It means it's for instruments whose sheet music is written in the standard way we're most…
I’m about to start Accomp 2 and just wondering how to approach it with a couple private students. Learn the pieces first as a reading (solo) project and then in the accompaniment style with the different rhythm variations? The songs don’t have lyrics and no audio is available, so I assume they should learn the melodies first. These two students have just finished Accomp variations. They are also a few songs into the Jazz Program using Jazz…
I am wondering if anyone here has experience with high school jazz bands. One of my student’s parents emailed me telling me her daughter wanted to try out. She is a very talented student, quick learner, hard worker, etc. But she has only just finished level two of simply music. Probably a bit soon for that. You might tell mom that the student will be much more prepared after getting through more…
How would you answer this question from a parent? "Why does the way we learn 7th chords only have 3 notes? To make a F#m7, isn't that an A chord?" I'm very comfortable with the practical application of the voicing idea between the notes over both hands, but I was surprised that they thought it was cheating. It's not cheating at all. The "whole" chord from a music theory standpoint is…
In many SM pieces, learning by the playing-based strategies, I very quickly see chords. For example, Dark Blue starts with an A flat chord plus G. Lullaby has C, F, and G chords all over the right hand part. It's almost like my brain sorts the music into groups of chords. I have a couple of questions: Is this (seeing the music in groups of chords) a common experience for SM teachers and students? Would it…
Please help me with what to say to this parent. Her son, age 7, doesn't like Honey Dew and came back not liking Amazing Grace. "He doesn't like the accompaniment ones", mom said. I asked her, "Why do you think that is?" Mom admitted she doesn't really like accompaniment either, as 'it doesn't sound like the song". So I'm pretty sure they are not singing along. I love the accompaniment program, but I'm not always good…
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