scarborough fair
Apologize by One Republic
Have had a blast in class this week having kids play along to the current hit song Apologize by One Republic. Only four chords (cm, Ab, Eb and Bb) so anybody who is past Scarborough Fair in the Accompaniment book could do it and anyone…
Explaining ratios to parent
Ratio question: I’m going to give my most basic explanation for a long-term excellent mum who told me the other day she doesn’t get ratios. I promised I’d get back to her. “This is an accompaniment BH strategy that ensures the basic time signature for…
I, IV, V and minor keys
Here’s a theory question from a student that has me stumped: are songs in minor keys (like Scarborough Fair) still built on a I, IV, V foundation? Which major chords would one expect to find in a minor key, and why? Intuitively, it seems like…
Transition chord for changing keys
Quick Accompaniment question: What bridging chord to you use to link the two versions of Scarborough Fair? Transitioning from A minor to C minor, that makes it the 5th of C minor. Would that be G major? It doesn’t quite hit the mark for my…
LH position for Scarborough Fair
In Accompaniment 1, what is the LH fingering or placement for Scarborough Fair in A minor?] I have students put LH finger 3 on A – that keeps all the bass notes in the 5-finger position, with the thumb playing both C and reaching over…
Arpeggiating chords instead of playing block chords
I have a student who recently quit for financial reasons, but now it seems she was unhappy about the Accompaniment part of the program because she feels the accompaniment part is too simple. She tells me now that she would rather run her fingers up…
Scarborough Fair Left Hand Position
I’m a new teacher, and my studio is in the very beginning stages of Accomp. 1. For the songs in major keys, I’ve had the students keep LH finger 5 on I, so that finger 2 and 1 play IV and V in every key…