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Sue C., Australia

I am late in getting Christmas songs going this year, but I am under way at last. The 14 carols are great to play along with in CFG chords and a minor song.

I am adding an improvisation component for those who now find CFG chords a breeze. We will play improvisation with the Student Audio. Of course we will improvise using the chord given, with arpeggios and broken chords and runs and whatever. It’s going to be a great Christmas!

Elizabeth G., Australia

Hi Sue,

I’m so happy you are enjoying Songs for Christmas!

There are several of the arrangements that are manageable even for the less experienced players. Jingle Bells is a favourite, using the “She’ll be coming ’round the Mountain” accompaniment style or it can also be played with “Jackson Blues” or “Light Blue” LH styles.

Also, those with just a little more skill can learn “Joy to the World” Arrangement. It basically holds one hand shape the whole way through (My students love playing this one!)
Be sure to listen to the Teacher Training Audio for some tips on how to simplify teaching any of the arrangements!

Sue C.

I have started awarding the beautiful Songs for Christmas certificates to students.

After the “has learned all music selections and has successfully completed Songs for Christmas” I printed 1. That’s because they have done the first section of the book only and I may want to give them another certificate next year when they have done the middle section with extras like split chords and more advanced chords like minors and 7ths and suspended chords. When they get that certificate I will write ’2′ after the above quote. Or if they have done improvising with the songs I can write ‘with improvisation’. And finally if more advanced students can play songs in the final section (wonderful scores), I could write ‘advanced’ on certificate.

I wrote their names with metallic gold pen. They look fantastic!

With some students I got them to play along in the lesson with the Student Audio. This worked great in shared lessons as well. The beginners even qualified if they could play one hand only or a few just used their RH thumb and moved to the C, F or G. It is quite a challenge for the young ones and in some cases I turned off the audio and played the melody much slower for them.

A suggestion for future Student Audios is to have a much slower section at the end, so that beginners can play with it.

It is a great way to finish off the year and to give them an award is special. I want them all to get one, by adjusting the requirement to their level of playing, as I want to encourage them.