Curriculum
Play it Forward technique by Mark Merritt
I am loving using this “Play It Forward” technique with my students. Thank you Mark – it serves to really help my students. I am teaching and utilizing it with my son and it works very well. We are using the original playlist where you…
Arrangements and Variations Level 2
Is there a suggested teaching order that is published anywhere for when to present the arrangements and variations within the Level 2 Foundation Songs? Hi Kristi No I don’t believe it is. At this stage, it has been left up to our judgment. I agree,…
Using Foundation Duets with student with prior experience
Hi all, I just watched the promo video for Foundation Duets & Variations. One of the suggestions mentioned was to use the Foundation Duets & Variations with a student who has prior experience to help give them some interest and challenge, especially when the other…
Warm-up Song
Using Chester Chills Out as an ongoing warm up exercise is appealing to me. One advantage is keeping the song alive over a long period of time. It can be played fast/slow, white/black notes. After level one, the next step is to take the advancing…
Time to allow for Pedal TTM?
Greetings – I am thinking about teaching the content of the Pedal TTM during summer lessons but have not taught it before. Can anybody comment on how much time would be needed to cover it? Would you devote an entire lesson to this as a…
Teaching students about composers
Hi fellow teachers, Just wondering whether any teachers set projects for their students to study composers, modern day and old? I remember when I learnt traditionally that I needed to know a little about the composer of the pieces I played. I often refer to…
Teaching creativity – the role of teachers in the future
I’ve been batting around an idea that occurred to me since watching the SMD video announcements earlier this week. Neil says this at one point near the end (thanks to Sue Lopez for the transcription!): “We have the opportunity to play a contributing role…
Sight Reading vs Reading Intervalically
I just finished watching the training materials for reading pitch. Three questions came up for me… At the beginning of the training, Neil mentions how developing sight-reading skills is a completely different ballgame to learning to read intervalically and deepen the generative skills. My question:…
Reading Rhythm and Reading Notes Expectations
The pacing question has come front and center in my studio as a parent of a private lesson student starting Level 4 (who will soon also begin Reading Rhythm) has continually worried about her son not reading music yet, despite how much she has loved…
Song “List”… Order to teach songs, variations, etc.
I am trying to compile my own, but would LOVE to see if anyone has a “list” of the order in which they teach foundation songs… add in variations, arrangements and the other streams! The further I get in to this AMAZING music… I’m needing…