chester chills out

I am finding the variation on Family Tree a challenge, even after leaving it for a time and coming back to it. Can someone give me some tips please? (Or should I just leave that one out?) It is challenging, indeed, in a very similar…

• Last updated 2 years ago
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I personally have experienced the power of a casual question, like “Did you write any music this week?” Last week one of my students casually asked me, “Are we going to have any songs for Halloween?” When I started looking for songs, I didn’t come…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• changing lyrics, Chester, chester chills out, creating lyrics, Dog, Dreams in Dm, dreams on d, Dreams variation on d, Halloween, lyrics, making lyrics, making up lyrics, Night Storm, She'll Be Comin, writing lyrics

I just wanted to share how much fun my students are having with the classic “In the Hall of the Mountain King” song. I had forgotten how much repetition it involves until I found it in my Halloween music folder and could instantly see the…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• Chester, chester chills out, fun, fun in lessons, Halloween, In the Hall of the Mountain King, rhythm

Here’s a contribution from one of my 67-year-old students (sung to the tune of “Chester Chills Out”): Walking in the forest on a stormy night. Could not see the moon or stars. Oh, what a fright! Everywhere I looked I saw a scary sight. Then…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• changing lyrics, Chester, chester chills out, creating lyrics, Halloween, lyrics

I have been through the library of ECL posts on the topic of duets and gleaned the following ideas: Honey Dew with Melody on top Jackson Blues (or any other blues song) with blues scale improv on top Amazing Grace with melody on top Chester…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• Amazing Grace, Australian Waterfall, blues, blues scale, Chester, chester chills out, Christmas, Christmas Carols, Christmas songs, Duet Ideas, duets, fluff pie, foundation duets, Honey Dew, honey dew melody, Jackson Blues, Jingle Bell Blues, Jingle Bells, melody for Amazing Grace, melody for Honey Dew, songs for children, Tear for a Friend

As I am getting students ready for the end of year recital I thought I would share this simple level one idea with you for a duet. While one student plays Chester in the normal position, another student can play Jackson Blues with changes on…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• blues, Chester, chester chills out, Duet Ideas, duets, foundation duets, Jackson Blues

Can someone recommend to me how they teach their students the Minor Scales? I teach major scales in the order of the circle of fifths. Then, I usually start with natural minor, and show the relationship with the relative major, since they have the same…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• Ballade, Chester, chester chills out, Dog, harmonic minor scale, Laurie Richards, major scale, major vs. minor, melodic minor scale, minor chords, minor keys, minor scales, natural minor scale, pentascale, relative major, relative minor, scale, scale fingering, scale formula, scale theory, scales, teaching scale, tetrascale, transposing minor keys

Improv duet ideas (student/teacher): 3-note improv with any blues song (G-A-Bb, G-Bb-C, C-Eb-F). Choose any of these combinations for the student to improv on while you play a blues song. 5/5, 1 on A with Night Storm Accompaniment arrangement 5/5, 1 on C with Dreams…

• Last updated 7 years ago
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Some of my students struggle with hand positions (remembering where to put their hands) and others have no problem with it. I’m usually pretty good at self-diagnosis but not this time. What is this? For many of my students, the ones who practice consistently have…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• chester chills out, Fur Elise, hand positions, Laurie Richards, learning clues, Night Storm, practicing, self-generation, starting positions

My 8-year-old came up with a cute but lovely variation of Chester Chills Out: LH the same but play RH “backwards” (top to bottom to top, then bottom-top for tailpiece). It makes excellent harmony. A few of my students caught on really well and love…

• Last updated 8 years ago
• 5 steps of sound, 5SS, chester chills out, F1, foundation 1, variations