Curriculum
Fingering with large hand span
To any with a very large hand span: what advice do you have for a young adult whose hands are so large that playing a chord with fingers 1, 3, 5 is as uncomfortable as playing C, E, E with those fingers would be for…
Question about dominant 7th chords
I have a question about the C7 chord: we drop our thumb down a whole step to Bb, but how does this make it a C7 chord, when Bb is not the 7th note that we count from C? Its full name is “dominant 7th”,…
Deep River – Using the sheet music as a rhythm diagram
I have a question about Deep River. In the SHM student video 4.4.7, about 1:10, Neil refers to looking at the page to see where events line up with the words. Is this the page of music? My Foundation 4 students aren’t reading music yet,…
Fun improvisation exercise
Today my mid-level 2 group came in and we started with a playlist check. I had them choose Level 4 songs and play something that sounded like the song name. One got Lullaby, so he played Night Storm in the upper register of the piano…
Question about Foundation Levels building on each other
I’m getting ready to have four students go into Level 4. I have that program but haven’t purchased 5 & 6. Will these levels build upon the lower like Levels 1, 2, 3 did? No. Levels 1-3 build upon each other but Level 4 introduces…
Fur Elise C section, LH fingering
Is there a significant advantage to using fingers 321 beginning with the 3 as opposed to beginning the first count with finger 1 (132132132) in the left hand of Fur Elise in Foundation Level 7? I just tried it. I find 321321 easier, particularly at…
Continuing Reading Rhythm projects
I have just finished Reading Rhythm. It felt to me like it wasn’t quite finished and I have a couple of questions: 1. The read, transcribe, and play exercises that we introduce during ties, should this be an ongoing thing even after they have finished…
LH position for Scarborough Fair
In Accompaniment 1, what is the LH fingering or placement for Scarborough Fair in A minor?] I have students put LH finger 3 on A – that keeps all the bass notes in the 5-finger position, with the thumb playing both C and reaching over…
CAGE chord question
I have a student who is asking regarding the CAGE chord: why is it called a IV and V chord when it’s not really in the position of IV and V? Maybe say they’re extensions of IV and V., Different shapes for the RH, but…
Pauly’s Patter tied notes
In Pauly’s Patter, measure 20, is there a reason why the third chord (on the beat of +3) is written as a tie instead of a quarter note, like the chords before and after it? It would seem that within a measure, it would simplify…