Simpedia

Terri P., Michigan

Chord inversions and scales are both addressed officially in Accompaniment 2, although they are used throughout the curriculum. I let the students know this at time, without making a big deal about it. A lot of students figure this out on their own.

Cheri S., Utah

I wouldn’t rush into more programs if I were you. I’d get more depth in what you’re already teaching and learning. It’s already a lot of different streams to integrate. There’s plenty for you and your students to master, and overall they’ll be getting so much more in these first couple of years than they would in traditional lessons.

Look at the Curriculum Overview, and stay just ahead of your students in every stream (that’s a SM word for all the different programs that run side by side). Instead of moving way ahead of where your students are, put time into getting better at teaching where you’re at–discover more ways to get beginning students composing (preset programs like Tune ToolKit or your own ideas), find more resources for practicing all the major chord shapes and also chords like 7ths that we learn in Foundation 2 (lead sheets online, Songs for Children/Everyone, fake books, etc), figure out how one decides which Accompaniment Variation to use with a given song (Accompaniment Variations is usually introduced during Foundation 3 I think–definitely long before Accompaniment 2).

Stephen R., California

Pentatonic scales start as early as Chester and full 8-note scales are incorporated in Sonata in C in Level 4. They’re also officially presented in Time for More Music with the scale journey and later in Accompaniment 2. Alma Mater Blues and the blues program get into blues scales.

Felicity E., Australia

I’ve been introducing them after Danny Boy in Eb. Just simple things like using a 2nd inversion in Star Spangled Banner or having students use Honey Dew to invert chords to practice smooth voicing. I don’t make a big deal of it. Some students want to play songs like “Lost Boy” that uses inversions and when they play the chords in root position, they know it sounds wrong. So for this kind of student, inverting a couple of chords is an eye opener. If time permits I may have a student “stack” a chord they are playing in a piece and see if they can work out what chord it is. This is more advanced, for a student who has completed the accompaniment programs and is reading and playing. E.g. Prelude in C by Bach. Great inversions/voicings in that piece.

Stacking a chord means playing it in thirds (or close to) to find its root position and therefore its name, e.g. bass- D and G, Treble- B and F. Stacked you’d have a G7. This is quite advanced after Accompaniment Variations.

Laurie Richards, Nebraska

Accompaniment 2 isn’t introduced until later in the Foundation Program. I typically introduce it during Level 8. As a general rule, don’t be in a hurry to introduce inversions just for the sake of introducing inversions. The next step after Accompaniment 1 to take it to the next level is Accompaniment Variations, which introduces different rhythms to use in accompaniment. This gives students the time to get really solid on a lot of chords in root position in every key.

Re: ‘officially’ introducing scale in Accompaniment 2, we teach how to build a major scale from any note. Then we get into knowing the key of a piece, relative minor, scale tone chords, transposing and embellishments. Also more advanced rhythm tracks for accompaniment.

I know it’s tempting for some teachers, especially those who have taught traditionally in the past, to want to rush this part – please resist the urge. Trust the process – there’s a reason for the order of things, even if it’s not immediately obvious!

Also, look at the Curriculum Overview section in your Library>Curriculum Support. There is a video and two PDFs that give you a guideline as to when all Special Programs are appropriate.

Cheri S., Utah

Just like we do with chords, scales are introduced in a natural way when they are relevant to a song. This process becomes more systematic as students become much more advanced in the program.

Speaking as someone with a college music degree, I can definitely say that my musical understanding is much greater now than ever before. It’s not just theory any more–for example, I actually know what to do with chords. With the combination of this practical, hands-on knowledge, plus immersing myself in comp/improv, I’ve been able to do things like create a new hymn arrangement for a Christmas program, or design a piano transition between two children’s songs to create a medley–things I wouldn’t have dreamed of before. My own playing is also much stronger, as I’ve learned to apply the playing-based tools we learn in Foundation songs to all my music, finding shapes and patterns in things that at first look really complicated on the page.

So rest assured, your students are getting plenty right now. They don’t need formal practice with scales and inversions for quite a while.

For inversions, we play a lot of them in Foundation songs, without worrying about their official name. When it’s relevant, I might point out to students that this is just a D chord with the D moved to the top. But that’s as far as I take it for now.