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Cheryl W., Pennsylvania

It doesn’t matter that they haven’t yet had 7th chords in the Accompaniment program. Teach them the 7th chords in Amazing Grace Level 2 first.

In the past, I used to wait until students completed SSB before introducing the Accompaniment program. Now I believe that is too long to wait, so I teach them the basic chord shapes while they are still in Foundation Level 1. By the time they start the Accompaniment program (usually early level 2) they already know the basic chords and they have already transposed as many songs into as many keys as possible. When they learn Amazing Grace in C, D, and E (or any other keys) I add the 7th chords where they appeared in Amazing Grace Foundation Level 2.

Karolee G., Idaho

First, I will admit that I’m a newbie. That said, my first thought is that when teaching Amazing Grace 7th chords, or SSB, you are not explaining much about 7th chords or triangle chords or split chords and why they exist, which (I believe) is covered more deeply as they progress through the Accompaniment program. You are giving them “clues” to find specific chords, and exposing them to ideas that will be much more central later on, but not expecting mastery of those concepts yet. I don’t know if that makes any sense to anyone outside Karolee-world, but I have thought of Amazing Grace and SSB as “tastes” of the Accompaniment program material.

Mark M., New York

Generally speaking, teachers seem to start Acc 1 only sometime during the course of Foundation 2, some waiting even until Foundation 3 before starting Acc 1. I happen to introduce it partway through Foundation 2. The general recommendation is that it be started earlier than Foundation 2 only in cases where you have students who are coming to you with a certain amount of keyboard experience already, and this is a way to speed things up for them and get them more quickly to a wider variety of interesting things. It’s absolutely normal for most students to have Acc 1 introduced only later, and therefore for them to hit those Foundation 2 accompaniments prior to the Acc 1 program’s formal introduction of those elements.

It’s absolutely expected that students will get to Amazing Grace 7ths and Star-Spangled Banner before the Acc 1 introduces, respectively, 7ths chords and split chords. Proceed through Accompaniment at “their speed of Accompaniment,” absolutely. But realize that Amazing Grace 7ths and Star-Spangled Banner are not Accompaniment pieces with a capital A. They are Foundation pieces with a capital F, and only accompaniment pieces with a lowercase A. Teach Foundation pieces as Foundation pieces. All the instructions needed are there, not at all contingent on anything in any other stream. So don’t rush Acc 1 for the sake of these Foundation pieces, not at all.

Cindy B., Illinois

I called Neil on that years ago, and he told me that it’s intentional. Look at it as a preview. The student learns a technique/skill, like playing Amazing Grace with 7ths, long before they get to it in the ACC program. Then, the power of cross pollination can be experienced 1st hand.

Leisa B., Georgia

Karolee’s take on this is mine also. I found once I introduce ACC as the ‘new’ program we are adding to our Foundation lessons, they quickly and easily attach what they’ve learned previously to the new chord shapes and away we go!

Louise H., Michigan

I am probably unusual but I introduce Acc. 1 as soon as I can. I think it is such a fabulous program and I want my students to play LOTS of accompaniment style. If I see that a student can comfortably play the chords in Jackson Blues, there is no reason why they can’t go on to Amazing Grace right after. When we get to AG near the end of level 1, we say, “Yahoo” because we already learned it, and we are already playing it in other keys. The only time I wait is if I have a very young student or a student with learning difficulties. Even then, I find that they are many times so capable of playing accompaniment style.

I think children pick up on the chords very quickly and they like having more songs available to them. I take my time going through the foundation levels and the Acc. 1 helps me slow them down a bit. I find if I go too quickly though Levels 1-3 I pay for it in Level 4.

It’s no big deal to learn the 7th in level 2. Then we go back and add the 7th to AG in D and in E. We also find places to add it in Auld Lang Syne and Danny Boy. We learn that the I and the V can be a I7 and a V7, but it is important to make sure we do it in the right places and we discover that the V7 works best if it is followed by a I and that a I7 works best if it is followed by a IV. When we get to it in Acc. 1 we just say, “oh, here is another piece with 7th chords and this will be easy because I can already do it.” Same with split chords. I like to use accompaniment variations with “On My Way Back.” They work so beautifully with this piece. So you could add that as the new learning tool when learning this piece.

Star Spangled is always challenging because it not only has split chords, but it also has a shared ratio, so there are really two things happening in this piece. If I haven’t prepared my students well they struggle with SSB. Usually it is the shared ratio rather than the split chords that cause problems in executing the song. Shared ratios are all over in fake books, so it is important they understand how to do it. I am going to start introducing a few split chords in Danny Boy and AG and ALS to help them become familiar before we start SSB. Then the shared ratio is the only new thought process. There is no reason we can’t modify an already learned song with a few new things.

I think it is important when teaching to think about teaching concepts instead of teaching to the page. We can prepare our students well before they learn any song, especially if there are difficulties that we know about, and help them be successful even with the more difficult songs.