improvisation
Blues Scale Fingering
Is there anywhere in the program that explains how to count and play triplets? (of quarter, eighth or 16th notes)? When doing the blues improv in some keys, like Eb, the blues scale notes don’t seem to fit with I, IV, V. In other keys…
Promoting SM with promises of playing immediately
When promoting Simply Music Piano, do you use the phrases “Play right away” or “Play from the very first lesson”? I feel such statements may set the bar too high for the new student. I can think of no other discipline (physical or musical) where…
Siblings learning at different paces
I have a group of home schooled students. Three are siblings. The oldest one catches on much quicker, and the youngest one struggles, especially with blues pieces. There is one other student in that group from a different family. If they were all different families,…
Fun improvisation exercise
Today my mid-level 2 group came in and we started with a playlist check. I had them choose Level 4 songs and play something that sounded like the song name. One got Lullaby, so he played Night Storm in the upper register of the piano…
Ideas for a global makeup lesson
Seeking workshop ideas for a global makeup lesson. What things have you tried? In a workshop that includes a range of levels: Writing lyrics to a common song (students don’t know which song). Write the number of syllables they’ll need for each sentence. They choose…
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…
Mashing up blues songs
I did an activity with one of my teenage students today that was really great. I was encouraging him to use the different blues songs to get ideas, mash them up, etc. Then we jammed. I was on guitar and I gave him a few…
Stressed teenaged student
My sensitive teen cried last night at class and I know she has been struggling but her dad tells me she absolutely loves her lessons and playing piano. Here’s the problem, she will only work on songs she loves, only do the things she wants…