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…
There is a section in the READING RHYTHM TTM videos where Neil discussed the efficacy of learning SDQ because in more advanced pieces the approach can be applied to the relationships of 8th, 16ths, and 32nds. This makes perfect sense to me but, I am wondering where the application of that happens. It wouldn't come up with most students during RR itself because the curriculum only progresses to 16ths. Is there further discussion of faster rhythms…
I have an adult, private student who came to me already reading. She is near the end of Foundation Level 6, has completed Reading Rhythm and Reading Notes, and is working her way through Read n Play. I'm realizing I've procrastinated on introducing Time for More Music because it's so much easier than the reading projects that she continues to work on outside of lessons. I know she would beieft from focusing on playing-based strategies with…
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…
Are the songs in Time for More Music meant to be added to their repertoire of memorized songs and the long term playlist? Or just used for learning to decipher the written music, and once they can play it well, they move on? I believe that once they have processed it and can play it, they move on. I tell my students that it doesn't need to stay on the playlist…
I have a student who is interested in improving his sight reading skills. Any advice other than lots of reading? It is recommended that sight reading be two levels down from the reading. We don't level reading in Simply Music, but just make sure it's significantly easier than music he is able to read/learn from the page. Help him find appropriate level sight reading pieces. Good sight readers do a quick…
I have a class of three students in Time for More Music. We are at Gray. Two students are comfortable taking on the reading in each step, and understanding scale journey, and I've kept the projects moving a bit at a time with discussions. One student, though, is "pretending" to get it all, and makes quite a few errors. He is very sensitive and competitive too. What would you do? I'm…
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.…
Is there a point in the reading notes process where you let the students use the music books from foundation levels that they already know, to practice reading notes/intervals? With each Location Point learned, you point students to Music Book examples that use the notes at and around those points. Many teachers also use the music books after students complete the whole reading program. Even…
I have an adult student who has been taking lessons with me for about 4+ years. We are still doing playing based instruction, but she is into the reading program and has reading projects. Her playing is very halting. Think of a first grader reading a book and stopping at every single work. She has very little fluidity in her playing. She seems to not be able to take a "snapshot" of the current measure…
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