playing-based strategies

I have a super fast learning adult student. In 4 lessons he’s done Foundation up to and including Ode to Joy; composed a short song, improvised on black notes, learned the C blues scale, done an arrangement of Dreams, learned different rhythms for Jackson Blues,…

• Last updated 6 years ago
• arrangements, comp & improv, fast moving student, learning a new way of learning, learning strategies, playing-based strategies, playing-based tools

I need some advice and feedback regarding one of my adult students who is at the start of Foundation 3. His playlist is pretty solid but he sometimes has difficulty remembering the patterns of the old songs though he can play them fine. I have…

• Last updated 6 years ago
• diagrams, Laurie Richards, learning clues, muscle memory, patterns, playing-based strategies, remembering patterns

One of my adult students is very dedicated and his playlist is in good shape overall, except he has quite a hard time with Minuet in G, especially the LH finger patterns. I have asked him to think about how to define those patterns in…

• Last updated 6 years ago
• F2, Foundation 2, Laurie Richards, Minuet in G, Minuet in G LH, Minuet patterns, patterns, playing-based strategies, teaching Minuet LH

I have some students finishing level 9 and when I look at all the streams they will continue, almost all of them involve reading: Level 10 and up, Jazz Clues (clue 1 and 2), reading project of own choice. If they do composition, I may…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• Development Levels, playing-based strategies, playing-based tools, playing-based while reading, reading, SM big picture

I know that it is against our license agreement to have video of us teaching. A parent asked me yesterday to take a photo of my hand on the D minor chord in Honey Dew, and I told her it’s against my license agreement. I…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• arrangements, claiming territory, F1, foundation 1, Honey Dew, Laurie Richards, learning a way of learning, level 1, license agreement, licensing, playing-based strategies

At the beginning of Foundation 4, Lead Me to Light and Lullaby have so much less on the reference notes. How do you introduce these pages to students? Given what you’ve learned so far in presenting SM, I’d firstly like to hear your thoughts on…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• F4, Foundation 4, fragmenting, hand positioning, lead me to light, Level 4, Lullaby, Neil Moore, patterns, playing-based strategies

A delightful young adult with autism had his second lesson with me tonight. He loves patterns, numbers, and music, so of course Simply Music i?s a great fit. After playing Night Storm for him once, I told him “This song is all about 2’s. May…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• autism, patterns, playing-based, playing-based strategies, playing-based tools, special needs

As I was just responding to a post about shared lessons and talking about tic-tac-toe, I had another idea for getting more out of that game to solidify playing-based tools. If you are not familiar with how I’ve used the game: I use it sometimes…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• arrangements, games, Laurie Richards, playing-based strategies, teaching students to coach, tic-tac-toe

Are there any guidelines for teaching Fur Elise to a group? Neil Moore teaches it on the training videos right at the piano. I’m not sure how to transfer this for a group. This is for the very first portion from Foundation 1. I usually…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• F1, foundation 1, Fur Elise, key pads, keypads, level 1, playing-based strategies, round robin, teaching Fur Elise to a group

Does anyone else struggle teaching Canon in D? I feel like we’ve done “all the right things”, and yet it still seems SO hard for some of my students. Neil talks about several possible playing-based strategies throughout the TTMs for Canon. I use them all,…

• Last updated 7 years ago
• Canon in D, chords, F7, Foundation 7, Laurie Richards, Level 7, playing-based strategies, playing-based tools, self-generation