Simpedia

Unmani U., Australia

A recent post elicited a good solution to managing group classes with more duet stimulation. I just contacted Elizabeth Gaikwad to tease it out a bit more. She said I could post the following in case it helps anyone else. It was a good reminder for me as I am deep in learning newer programs.

If a student is ahead in the class:

A teacher sent a note telling me that the “Duets” were a “life saver” for her in a seniors class. One student was way faster in everything that she presented each week, but he was really happy in the class and didn’t want to change classes. So he would work through the Duet book, and then started playing duets at the beginning and end of the class with other members. The instructions are playing based, so students can learn how to play without reading skills. Having said that, if they are at  the reading stage they can also use these as exercises in reading.

Give to older siblings/parents/coaches to help keep playlists alive at home:

If the parent/grandparent/coach/sibling are pianists, or had lessons when they were younger, I ask them to purchase the Duets book and play along with the student at home. 10 times out of 10 this motivates the student to keep the playlist alive! They love the interaction and feeling of companionship with their coach. Sometimes they come back with their own variation on it.