Simpedia

Karen T., Illinois

In my own learning of this song, I hit that wall! So – taking myself in hand – I decided to start with the last two chords. Play this one, then the last one. Not too terribly tough, just a little awkward. I did it until it wasn’t awkward. Okay, so add one more at the front of the line. I took as long as I needed to play those last three chords smoothly. Then added one more to the front of the line. Etc.

By the time I reached the beginning of the song, I was quite confident, because I had already learned the rest of the chords! And, by starting at the ending first, I was under no pressure to make it sound like a song. Of course it didn’t sound like a song yet, I was learning it backwards, so to speak!

That’s what worked for me. I’ve only taught it to three people so far, all young teen girls. They didn’t hit that wall. But I’m prepared if someone does. Hope this helps.

Cheryl G., Pennsylvania

I have to agree with you that many students resist learning the SSB. They are sure they will never be able to get it. I have used these strategies with success:

Learning the piece ‘backwards’. This means starting with the FINAL chord and adding on one chord at a time (but of course still playing the chords forwards). It does NOT mean to literally play the piece backwards, which would not be any help at all! This is a technique I have often used in the traditional world.

Make sure they are grouping from the third beat to the first beat. In other words, I make sure they DON’T stop after the third beat and play the song in three beat chunks (as many are apt to do), but continue on to beat one (of the following measure as it were).

Fragment – start in various places throughout the piece, any place but the very beginning.

Outright memorize the AA E AA D section.

With perseverance they all get it eventually, but it is hard dealing with student resistance.

Kerry V., Australia

Great idea going backwards.

Both Karen and Cheryl mentioned that playing the chords to SSB didn’t sound like the song. Well, I don’t teach the chords as a song as such.  To me they are a bunch of chords and it just so happens that SSB can be sung with them. Bonus, they learn more chord arrangements with new songs.

Sometimes if a person has a problem with the words of a song I just ask them to make up their own words, this seems to take away pressure and allows them to see the song differently rather than as a chore. Most times they come back playing the piece not changing a word. I guess giving them permission to move outside the square helps them relax more.

If, however more to the subject at hand, if a student hits the wall, we work on it as a ‘break down’ that is, we break down the piece into small events, just like what Karen and Cheryl have done by going backwards, so they don’t confuse the chords with the song. In this ‘break down of the events’ or Control the Events, I have the students look at the pattern in the right hand, and then the left hand, only one measure if that is enough, and then they can see it as pattern-based rather than a bunch of letters on the page they need to decipher. When a student comes to me and says they found a particular chord really hard so they didn’t even attempt it, we go over how to approach working on chords that may be new or hard for them and any other chord they may find difficult.

As you mentioned Mary: “I’m starting to think maybe it’s something missing in the TEACHING of this piece.” many times if more than two students have a problem with a song, I immediately look at how I am teaching it or where I may be coming from. If I am not convicted enough in the song for what ever reason, I translate that to my students in my unspoken words.

Colleen L., Western Australia

People may not like this piece because it presents a new challenge that is ‘hard’. Many of us interpret ‘hard’ as meaning ‘cannot do’. So lets make it easy to begin with.

I begin the piece with the students playing the ‘BIG chords’ – C, Am, Am, G etc. They get familiar with these and so the only new learning is a split chord which doesn’t present too much of a challenge. Once they have achieved this, I then introduce the ‘small chords’ as well as the change in count. This then creates a new challenge, and takes longer to learn, but once they have it they know they have leaped a big hurdle and can achieve the whole piece successfully. As Neil has said, just break it up into smaller teaching blocks.

Sarah H., Western Australia

Having taught SM for 6 years now, from what I read in your emails, I think you are teaching it too fast and introducing too much too soon. Simple as that. (no pun intended!)

“Less is More”. Teach tiny increments at a time and get those solid before moving on. Be very patient with your students. Like me (a keen singer), you are probably chomping at the bit wanting to sing along with their playing, but you need to give them plenty of space to slowly process the info at their own rate.

(I have to say that I am singing the Aussie National Anthem at the start of our Cricket season in December to a big crowd, so don’t give up on your fantasy!)

Dorothy H., Australia

I have never had to teach the SSB backwards!

Perhaps this is because I always teach the variation to Amazing Grace a couple of weeks before they reach the SSB. In some cases I only introduce the C/E split chords and when these are easily played, the changed last line. This I also simplify at first: Am |F/D |F |C

Then the F/G change on the 3rd beat, and then the Fm just before the last C.

Cheryl G., Pennsylvania

No, I don’t teach it backwards unless the student is having a “learning challenge” 🙂

I start by teaching it forwards and having the student say all the chord names out loud, and see if they can get it slow and steady. I would probably not try this unless the student wasn’t getting it after a few weeks. Or I might just try the first line backwards or the second line backwards, not the entire piece necessarily. If a student plays it steadily with no problem, I would not introduce it – that would just create a problem where there was none.

Karen T., Illinois

I do not teach it backwards unless the need presents itself. The way Neil teaches the song is very fine, and to teach it backwards every time, just in case, would be re-routing his teaching progression. I don’t feel it has been necessary, but I use a lot of what I call “teacher’s license”, in that I know that I am free to teach something LH first instead of RH first if I feel the need for it in that student. But it’s not necessary to make that change for everyone.

Vonnie L., Oregon

One more thought on teaching SSB:
I know that I have introduced too much at a time with some students, so I’ve had to back up and reteach in smaller doses.

One thing I did just yesterday with an 8-year old boy was to show him that he didn’t need to look at his LH at all. I had him place his LH with pinkie on low C, then close his eyes and think about what note was under each finger. Then I called out notes, first in line (C, D, E, etc.) and then in the song order, and had him play them. He could see that except for opening up the thumb to reach the A, everything was right under his fingers and didn’t require looking – only thinking at this point. That helped him play much smoother because he could concentrate on the RH, and by looking at that hand, could remember which finger to use to
play the LH.

I often do that with accompaniments. I have the student figure out where to put the LH so that they can easily reach the I, IV, and V chords without moving the hand, then practice playing them before adding the RH chords.