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…
I'm still young in the SM teacher world and I have students in levels 1, 2, and 3 right now. My question is, when do I start students on Accompaniment, and then when do I start them on Reading Rhythm? Should I start Accompaniment in level 2 and RR in level 3? For older students I start Accompaniment right away with level 1, and if they are younger, with level 2.…
Any suggestions on how to approach Amazing Grace being religiously offensive to a family? They are Jewish. AG is such a key component of the program, especially in Accompaniment 1. The mother of my new student is fine with him playing it, but politely insisted they would not be singing those words. My only thought is to have him write his own lyrics. Any other suggestions? I am using Happy Birthday…
As I begin to go deeper into the Accompaniment Variations, I wonder if you have recommendations for which songs to use for each generally, either within the SM program or outside. Have you found anything that works better than others? I have nearly finished Accompaniment Variations. I have done all except for the last page and I have finished Accompaniment 1. I have set myself a project to go through all…
Ratio question: I'm going to give my most basic explanation for a long-term excellent mum who told me the other day she doesn't get ratios. I promised I'd get back to her. "This is an accompaniment BH strategy that ensures the basic time signature for each measure is appropriate. Depending on the expression required in the piece it could be mathematically divided or doubled, e.g. three is divisible by itself and one, as in Scarborough Fair. Last,…
I'm confused on Accompaniment Variations 23 & 24. Do they only apply to second inversion chords? Neil uses Amazing Grace as an example, so would all the chords be in second inversion through the song, or only the first chord? I couldn't tell if he's using mostly second inversions or just on the opening chord. I think all second inversions, because that would require changing "shapes" for students since we haven't begun the inversion discussion officially…
I really like the Chord Drill program! One question, though: when the add9 chord is inverted, wouldn't the 9th be on the bottom? Is that not a particularly desirable voicing, because you jump to the 3rd of the chord? Is this because the 6th chords also keep the 3rd on the bottom for 1st inversion? This question also pertains to 9th chords. Traditionally, the root position chords obviously has the root…
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