Teaching Level 8
Found in: Fees Rates & Cost, Foundation Songs, Reading
Kelly N., Canada
I believe someone was mentioning Level 8 in some prior comments, so I thought I would add my 2 cents about teaching this level.
Level 8 is always very interesting to teach! I had a student just this week tell me that she was going to be very sad to leave Level 8 as she enjoyed it so much!
At this point, students are really looking forward to development levels and reading all their music. I do find that managing student psychology is very important, especially in levels 4 and 8. I find that being open and letting students know what to expect continues the trust and rapport that is already in place by this time! Students that have gotten this far are very committed and dedicated to learning piano! It is essential to strengthen the playing-based skill set, and this level gives students a chance to revisit chord patterning, multiple octaves, unique melody lines, and funky rhythms. I love to start a new level by playing snippets of the songs the students will learn, and we all get excited!
I find that Blue Danube is loved by all ages! After we introduce the rhythmic system of the song, then we introduce pairs of chords. It is lots of fun to look at the chords in the RH and LH and see how they relate to each other, and how they alter. (ex. sometimes they are the same chord, sometimes they mirror each other) Initially, this song required a lot of deep thinking and learning on my part, but it is so great to teach and play!
D-part is usually a challenge for students as it is an early introduction to using the written page as a rhythm diagram. I am also very honest with students regarding student experiences with trickier songs. Then if they do find it challenging, they know they are not alone, and if it comes easy, they feel pretty good about themselves! Clapping the rhythm can be very helpful, and noting the patterns really helps students along! Breaking the song into smaller pieces and digging for patterns really helps. For instance, when playing the ending of the piece, you will notice that the RH plays a few 2 note-chords, and then essentially rolls down the five fingers, and both hands meet at the “D”. Pointing out little clues like this really give the students traction.
Beautiful Boy is a beautiful, ethereal melody that winds its way through various regions on the piano. It comes together really quickly, and is so soothing! It is a bit like a patchwork quilt, all assembled together.
Does anyone else have any additional experiences regarding level 8, or strategies to help your students??
Jill L., Australia
My students aren’t up to level 8 yet, but I have gone through it and I do have a couple of questions about it so I’m glad you brought it up!
I was hoping that the pieces would be more complex and challenging than pieces in previous levels, and I don’t feel that this is the case. Are there hidden challenges that I am missing? I feel that after Ballade and the C section of Fur Elise, the arrangement of the Blue Danube Waltz would be a bit of a disappointment for the students keen to get their teeth into another classical piece. I was also hoping that the Blues piece would take students to another level of blues after the Gaz, Dark Blue and Squidgies, and I can’t imagine my students at this level getting excited about D-Part, which I found an anticlimax after those other blues.
I also wanted to ask about D-Part being used as an “early introduction to using the written page as a rhythm diagram.” I am wondering if I have been doing things in the wrong order, because after doing the Reading Notes program, I have been doing lots of reading projects with my students, and I think they would find D-Part quite simple compared to what they are used to reading.
One more question regarding cost. Has anyone found their students reluctant to spend so much on a book with only 5 songs in it (which might not be found to be challenging enough)?
I am making these observations without having had the experience of teaching these songs to a number of students, and I would like to have the confidence to be able to “sell” this level to my students, so would welcome comments from more experienced teachers!
Sandy L., Nebraska
Hi Jill,
I am just ready to start teaching level 8 for the first time, so I cannot answer most of your questions…except this one:
“One more question regarding cost. Has anyone found their students reluctant to spend so much on a book with only 5 songs in it (which might not be found to be challenging enough)?”
I have had this happen, but not with level 8, but a prior level–7 maybe, but not absolutely sure about that. Whatever level it was, the kits had arrived and were distributed and the mom asked me quietly after class if I thought the level was realistic. I did not understand at first that she meant price, but thought she meant the level of music being played, since it was the music book she was flipping through.
So, I said it was definitely realistic, and that the appearance of some pieces as more challenging was not a problem, since we would be learning these in a playing-based way and the students were already playing a variety of levels of complexity and certainly up for the challenge. I said the same goes for the easier pieces, since what we are focused on in our playing-based materials is learning a way of learning that we will then bring to the page. It was good we had this conversation because by the end of it the mom was visibly more relaxed and in agreement with what I had said.
But, then she said something to the effect of: but what about the price–there are so few songs in this book for such a high price. So, we discussed the fact that each kit includes not just a music file and reference file, but also the audio and video–very valuable resources in supporting the student’s learning, and well worth the price of the kit. (I guess I could have even mentioned the included teacher evaluation form, since it really does help me as a teacher to be the best teacher I can be for her child, but I didn’t think of that aspect at the time.) We also discussed that this is not an $8-book-from-a-music-store kind of program, but a revolutionary breakthrough that has taken years of a man’s life as well as the efforts of all the staff at SM, and great financial resources, to provide to the world.
This entire conversation seemed to really help this mom to be at ease with the materials she had just purchased and was a good review for both of us regarding why we are doing what we are doing. For me it was particularly insightful that I need to be very cognizant of keeping the conversation alive and ongoing continually, like a wheel that just keeps rolling, so that coaches and students stay committed, are more comfortable with their commitment…probably could come up with endless reasons here for ongoing SM conversations, but I will stop now.
Anyway, I give this example from my experience to encourage you that this problem can be solved through open and honest conversation about what you as a SM teacher, and what the SHM can provide for the student. I think it is important to be matter-of-fact and confident while still empathetic and compassionate so coaches know that SM, the teacher, coach and student are all on the same team working together toward the same goals.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
You’ve gotten some great responses regarding Level 8 already, but I thought I’d add a bit to what has already been well-communicated.
Number of songs
Once students get into these later foundation levels, the songs take longer to learn because most are a bit more complex…no more “a song a week” expectations. If there were 10 songs in Level 8, along with all the other streams it would take a very long time to work through it. One thing I’ve learned is that most students will judge their progress according to the number on that Foundation book (what level they are in). They don’t tend to consider all the other wonderful things they are learning alongside the foundation pieces. They would feel like they weren’t progressing if they were accustomed to completing a level in 3 – 5 months, then all of a sudden it takes 8 – 10 months or more.
Difficulty level
This is one of the interesting things about how the curriculum is laid out. Neil has said that this is not a “linear” program as people expect – meaning that each successive song learned is not necessarily more difficult than the most previous one. What happens then, is that students may experience learning songs as fun, then difficult, then easy, then challenging, boring, exciting, etc. (in any order). Just like life! If every song were progressively more difficult, students wouldn’t have the opportunity to feel like there was a “breather” anywhere, or have the experience of having a brand new song be EASY to learn – great for the ego!
There are songs beyond even Level 9 which could easily be taught in Level 1 using simple playing-based strategies. However, with those easier songs, students then have the opportunity to exercise their self-generative skills by creating a more advanced arrangement of them. Plus they have the experience of reading a new piece without difficulty.
D-Part
Regarding “using the page as a rhythm diagram” – Yes, students are reading at this point, but usually not fluently yet. The opportunity in using the music with D-Part is that it offers students an alternative to learning these rhythms in a playing-based environment, which can be tricky for some. And it reinforces their reading skills to practice “lining up” the RH and LH notes on the page to determine when to play RH, LH, or BH together – and they don’t have to have any attention on the actual notes because they have already learned them using playing-based strategies. It also demonstrates how BOTH playing-based and reading-based clues can be used together as a hybrid approach. I think it’s brilliant.
Sue C., Australia
Just last week an average wonderful teenage boy student began level 8. I could see him relax when I told him that he would find this level to be easier than level 7 (as it is largely pattern based) and that he would probably still be improving on level 7 Fur Elise by the end of level 8.
He is starting on level 8 while still playing level 7 to get it to a reasonable performance standard. I also said that in level 9 is the final section to Fur Elise and this level 8 gives him time to consolidate Fur Elise thus far before adding the last part.
To acknowledge the parents, I said that the materials his parents have paid for do cost a considerable amount and to make sure that he uses the video to good advantage. I also mentioned that after level 9, the levels are not so expensive to purchase as the student only requires the music book then.