Accompaniment
Scale journey / Value of TFMM
I’m working through Touch of Jazz. Neil mentions using the scale journey to process the notes. Can someone remind me where the scale journey is introduced? Time for More Music? Accompaniment 2? Scale journey is first introduced in TFMM, then expanded on in Accompaniment 2.…
Chord Drill program
Two of my students emailed me asking about the new Chord Drills program before I had seen the SM email myself! I looked through my emails and the SM website and forum to see if there was info from the teachers’ perspective, but I couldn’t…
Inheriting C#m11 chord from C#m
“I Can Only Imagine” contains a C#m11 chord. Looks like C# in LH, and RH has G#, B, D#, F# in the music. Can y’all help me with how to inherit this chord from C#minor? The RH chord will most likely move down a whole step,…
Songs for Christmas chord inversions
The variations in Songs for Christmas use inversions that my Level 4 students have not yet learned. However, they’re beyond the basic C F & G chords of the simple versions. Should I teach the variations using root position chords, or find a way to…
Understanding Chord Structure – Laurie Richards (Webinar)
In this interactive teacher webinar, Laurie walks through the ‘rules’ of how chords are built. Using slides for visual reinforcement of the concepts, the following topics are clearly covered: Major Scale How Triads are Built Other Chord Tones 7th Chords Extended Chords Chord Voicing Chord…
Knowing where to look while playing
I welcome ideas and strategies for helping students “know where to look” when playing, especially if they are playing accompaniments. Some are struggling while trying to look at their left hand and right hand while following the page. I’ve suggested practicing each hand with eyes…
When to start Accompaniment 2
When is too early to incorporate Accompaniment 2? I have a student (my lead student) who has just finished Accompaniment 1. He has done a phenomenal job with it and has loved the challenge of the final Danny Boy. We have also done some Accompaniment…
Omitting components of the program
I’m just curious to know if anyone ever omits a part of the program if a student doesn’t like it. I have an older senior that doesn’t like accompaniment, wouldn’t sing for himself or know anyone else that would. He hasn’t been using the audio…
Accompaniment 1 Project 9
In Accompaniment 1 training video “Processing I, IV, V”, Neil refers to “Project 9” (as in “so Project 9 is to process I, IV, V at a practical level…”). I’ve gone through my notes, am rewatching videos, checked forums including Simpedia, checked the student materials,…
Ab13 chord in Danny Boy
Re: the last Danny Boy in Accompaniment 2 – one of my students pointed out to me that the first chord in the audio doesn’t sound like the Ab13 that I play on my piano. I have listened over and over and it seems that…