Foundation Songs

Greetings – I’ve got a 7 yr old student who is in week 12 or so of lessons, half way through Foundation 1, who has extreme difficulty playing finger 3 of a 3 note chord. He usually only plays a 2 note chord with finger…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• 3-note chord, alternate fingering for chords, building chords, challenge, challenges, chord, chord fingering, chords, fingering chords, forming chords, playing chords, triads

Tip for ya. I remember several teachers commenting a while back on how challenging it was to teach Sonata in C (Level 4) online. I have found that ‘preparatory learning’ has made this piece SO much easier to learn. Beginning a song or two before…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• broken chords, chord, chord strategies, chords, concertina, D-Part, Laurie Richards, learning chords, preparatory learning, seeing chords in songs, seeing songs chordally, Sonata in C

This past month, I started making a point of assigning students to both LISTEN to the audio tracks and practice playing along with audio tracks HANDS SEPARATELY. Specifically, I’ve started directing students to try playing one hand alone with the audio tracks on a routine…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• audio, audio materials, audio recording, Audio recordings, audio SHMs, BH, both hands, control the events, controlling the events, coordinating LH and RH, CTE, external speaker, external speakers, hands together, humming, humming along, humming while playing, listening to audio recordings, listening to the audio recordings, multiple thought processes, playing along with audio, playing with audio tracks, RH/LH, separate hands, SH, singing, singing along, singing while playing, singing while playing struggle, single thought process, single thought processes, speaking instructions out loud, STP, trouble with hands together, using audio recordings, using audio tracks, using the audio recordings to learn songs

My 7-year-old student and her Dad showed up today with these lyrics they wrote for Night Storm with plenty of copies for all, so all day my groups sang it. A little late for Halloween week but if you have students tomorrow have some fun…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• changing lyrics, creating lyrics, Halloween, lyrics, making lyrics, making up lyrics, Night Storm

I personally have experienced the power of a casual question, like “Did you write any music this week?” Last week one of my students casually asked me, “Are we going to have any songs for Halloween?” When I started looking for songs, I didn’t come…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• changing lyrics, Chester, chester chills out, creating lyrics, Dog, Dreams in Dm, dreams on d, Dreams variation on d, Halloween, lyrics, making lyrics, making up lyrics, Night Storm, She'll Be Comin, writing lyrics

Here’s a contribution from one of my 67-year-old students (sung to the tune of “Chester Chills Out”): Walking in the forest on a stormy night. Could not see the moon or stars. Oh, what a fright! Everywhere I looked I saw a scary sight. Then…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• changing lyrics, Chester, chester chills out, creating lyrics, Halloween, lyrics

I have an adult husband and wife team who are in upper SM levels and reading fairly well. I would love to find a book of duets of pieces that might be familiar to them. They love classical music and are in their early 70’s.…

• Last updated 1 year ago
• classical, classical music, Classical Pieces, Duet Ideas, duets, foundation duets, Foundation Duets and Variations, outside materials, outside music, outside pieces, outside reading pieces, outside repertoire, outside sheet music, pieces outside the program, reading outside Simply Music, songs outside the repertoire, teaching outside music

I have been through the library of ECL posts on the topic of duets and gleaned the following ideas: Honey Dew with Melody on top Jackson Blues (or any other blues song) with blues scale improv on top Amazing Grace with melody on top Chester…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• Amazing Grace, Australian Waterfall, blues, blues scale, Chester, chester chills out, Christmas, Christmas Carols, Christmas songs, Duet Ideas, duets, fluff pie, foundation duets, Honey Dew, honey dew melody, Jackson Blues, Jingle Bell Blues, Jingle Bells, melody for Amazing Grace, melody for Honey Dew, songs for children, Tear for a Friend

As I am getting students ready for the end of year recital I thought I would share this simple level one idea with you for a duet. While one student plays Chester in the normal position, another student can play Jackson Blues with changes on…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• blues, Chester, chester chills out, Duet Ideas, duets, foundation duets, Jackson Blues

I am very interested for myself and my students to create medleys. Inspired by Laurie Richards amazing SM Levels 1 through 4 medley. I’m wondering if there are special things to know besides what I already know. What I already know is that one can…

• Last updated 5 years ago
• changing keys, creating medleys, key, Laurie Richards, medley