Foundation Songs

Can somebody tell me where I can read more on “fragmenting and positioning”. I tell my students it’s dividing the piece in small sections and that the position of the fingers help remember the sequence. But the fact that it is written in big letters…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• analogies, fragmenting, Gordon Harvey, hand position, Laurie Richards, Lullaby, positioning, self-generate

Are there any guidelines for teaching Fur Elise to a group? Neil Moore teaches it on the training videos right at the piano. I’m not sure how to transfer this for a group. This is for the very first portion from Foundation 1. I usually…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• F1, foundation 1, Fur Elise, key pads, keypads, level 1, playing-based strategies, round robin, teaching Fur Elise to a group

Does anyone else struggle teaching Canon in D? I feel like we’ve done “all the right things”, and yet it still seems SO hard for some of my students. Neil talks about several possible playing-based strategies throughout the TTMs for Canon. I use them all,…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• Canon in D, chords, F7, Foundation 7, Laurie Richards, Level 7, playing-based strategies, playing-based tools, self-generation

I started teaching the Dm variation of Dreams Come True and it ended up perfectly timed for Halloween. Many students renamed it “Spooky Dreams” or “Nightmares”. The end result was that I added the very beginning of Bach’s Toccata in Dm as an “intro”. Very…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• Dreams Come True, Dreams in Dm, Halloween, variations

I’m preparing to allow students to retire some pieces from their playlists. I’ve purchased TTMs through Level 9 so I’m familiar with the repertoire to that point. In the Development levels, are there any pieces that build on Foundation pieces? The Gaz and Fur Elise.…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• Deep River, Development songs, dropping songs off playlist, Fur Elise, Gordon Harvey, Minuet in G, retiring songs, The Gaz

Do you require your students to keep Church Song (level 7) alive? This seems to be a hard one to keep alive even for myself. I have had to relearn it many times because of its ‘details’. I have to admit that I have used…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• accompaniment, Church Song, dropping songs off playlist, F7, Foundation 7, keeping songs alive, Laurie Richards, managing the playlist, Time for More Music

I was going over Fluff Pie (Foundation 3) and then tried to find the rest of it because not all of it was taught in F3. Where is the rest of it? Also, is there an easy way to search for a particular song’s name…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• F3, fluff pie, Fluff Pie variation, Foundation 3, Laurie Richards, variations

Something came up while I was teaching Greensleeves today. For RH position 3, I have always said thumb is on B. I taught a student only the positions the first week, and she came back and said “No, the thumb is on A”. I wasn’t…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• Foundation 3, Greensleeves, identifying hand positions, Level 3, positions, SHM, TTM

My 8-year-old came up with a cute but lovely variation of Chester Chills Out: LH the same but play RH “backwards” (top to bottom to top, then bottom-top for tailpiece). It makes excellent harmony. A few of my students caught on really well and love…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• 5 steps of sound, 5SS, chester chills out, F1, foundation 1, variations

I have encountered a problem that is new for me. One of my students (8 years old) has trouble with the sets of two fingers in Night Storm. She can tell me which are the three sets of two and what to do with them…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• controlling the events, F1, foundation 1, Night Storm, playing-based, RH/LH, single thought processes