Simpedia

Laurie Richards, Nebraska

Teach a very small portion of something without revealing what it’s leading to. This works great with Arrangements, e.g. Soapy Dreams (Dreams #2):

• I teach just the LH chord shape and ask students to try it in different locations on the piano.
• Once everyone’s got it (usually the next lesson or two), I ask them to remember a few positions for the chord: first D on bottom, the C, and go back and forth so we can make something musical of it.
• Then we make it a bit more interesting by adding RH improv in D and/or C position 8va. So it becomes a C&I project.
• Then we play Dreams RH above the LH, but just one time for each LH chord. Now it’s an arrangement but almost completely learned.
• Then we double up the LH chords. Voila! Arrangement learned in micro doses.