Curriculum
Blues Riffs
The blues riff of Light Blue that was taught in one of the recent Playground newsletters was FANTASTIC! I’m sorry I can’t find it again and I forget who taught it, but thanks! I’ve been playing it for my students and they love it. Where…
Blues Medley & Shakin’ Bishop
I’m trying to figure out what these two variations are and where I can learn about them. I’ve seen Blues Medley (V turnaround) listed by other teachers as an official SM variation. I assume this comes from the Lvl. 2 TTP when Neil teaches the…
Blues and Improv Program
The B&I training materials describe many of the projects, or groups of projects, as being able to be taught concurrently with earlier projects. It’s also mentioned that many or most of these should be done in different keys but not necessarily all keys. All of…
Chat – More Teaching Arrangements
Gordon H (Aus) Today we’re moving into some more specific strategies for the arrangements pieces. In arrangements, more of the “when & how” is left up to the teacher than in other parts of SM. It’s easy, when we’re given such clear, step-by-step instructions for the…
When to start Arrangements, Comp and Improv, Accompaniment
If you are a newly licensed teacher, you received specific instruction on your Licensing session on how and when to introduce Arrangements, Composition and Improvisation and Accompaniment. All of the information is also available via an audio recording in the Teacher Reference Library. I realize…
Comp & Improv on Playlist?
My son is in lessons with another Simply Music teacher. He continually improvises at home, but steadfastly refuses to like very many of his songs enough to put them on his playlist. Then they disappear, and only his family has heard them. I wonder if…
Variations and Arrangements
I’ve seen a number of related thoughts on this in Simpedia but I was curious to hear what the general consensus was: Better to introduce variations and arrangements as early as possible in order to keep students familiar with the idea that the program is not only about…
Using Arrangements to Slow Down
I am having trouble staying ahead of some students and have been advised by several wise teachers to use lots of arrangements to slow the pace down a bit. The problem for many students seems to be lack of any support materials. Many have expressed…
Unfolding Arrangements
I have a question about teaching arrangements. I find that the students love the sound of the arrangements and the idea of the arrangements, but are not always able to retain how they are played after the lesson. Since Neil recommends that there be little or no notes…
Teaching Arrangements Time-Frame
I think I have just realized that not all arrangements will ever get done – is that right? Most are hard, or if I shouldn’t use the work hard, they are at a much higher level than the foundation songs. If we’re only giving small…