improv
Adding new students to group
I have a fairly new student who has completed the Foundation session, the Basics, and Dreams Come True. His friend wants to join him in learning piano, and the mom called me today to say, “May we join the lesson today?”. I also have a…
Improv duet ideas
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…
The emotional impact of music
I wanted to share a teaching experience I had a few weeks ago. One of my adult students, Julie, is a delightful person and so excited about learning piano and LOVES Simply Music. A few weeks ago her classmates couldn’t make it to class so…
Webinar Series: 06/13/2017 – Piano – Fitting in All the Streams
In this webinar Neil talks about structuring lessons to include all required components of the Core Curriculum. Topics include: Importance of Following the Core Curriculum (00:08) Methodological or Behavioral Basis? (04:45) Circle-in-Square Concept (07:57) Timing of Streams (11:25) Introducing Comp & Improv, Arrangements and Accompaniment…
Adult student reluctant to improvise
I have a student in her 50s who has rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. She had to miss her last lesson as she had a sore wrist. She told me today at her lesson that her physiotherapist told her to give up piano. She doesn’t want…
Student in a valley
One of my students hit a valley this week and I am struggling to know how to navigate it with him. It is a very personal connection as my student is also my husband! He has been taking for about five years from me, and…
How to handle instrumental bridges in outside accompaniment pieces
When students start bringing in some of their own music, we inevitably run into selections that have extended instrumental bridge sections. What do you do with these? It doesn’t seem to make sense to just play the chords through this section, unless perhaps the chords…
Improvising on Night Storm
I’ve had some fun with students improvising on Night Storm. For the Lower Part we use Arrangement 1. For the Upper Part we firstly play the Night Storm melody followed by improvising on white notes. Rocking the Lower Part chords can add interest whilst the…
Improvisation in All Keys
A few questions have arisen from my previous post so I’ll try to elaborate and clarify. Firstly, the chord sequence is I V vi IV ( I made a typo in the first post – I think I must be a little dyslexic beginning with…
More Benefits of Learning with Others
I teach mainly adults, and I teach them all in groups. I have two small groups of only 5 adults, but most of my groups have between 8 – 12 students in them. Having a background in teaching personal and professional development courses in groups,…