Time to allow for Pedal TTM?
Found in: Supplemental Programs
Joan H., Canada
Greetings – I am thinking about teaching the content of the Pedal TTM during summer lessons but have not taught it before. Can anybody comment on how much time would be needed to cover it? Would you devote an entire lesson to this as a particular focus, or combine it with other streams for variety? Based on the answer to the previous question, how many weeks/lessons would be needed to cover the content? I am encouraging families to plan to come for 3 lessons during the 9 week break of summer, and feel it may be a draw for them to come, knowing they are going to learn something entirely new.
Mark M., New York
I personally think this is best done in little spurts over time. I’ve taken Samali’s pedal TWS program and done all the individual projects she suggests, as well as adding in the opportunity for students to select a handful of their own choice of accompaniments and then later on solo pieces, so that the whole program, if taught weekly, would normally take me about 4-5 months to get through. It may be possible to stream that during a Summer doing twice as much each week, especially if you pull away some or all of the chances for students to pick their own pedal projects, though I do feel there’s benefit to giving students that leeway as part of their overall learning path with pedal.
Your other option is to just start the pedal program during the Summer with those students who do only your 3 Summer lessons. This way they’ll still have the draw of something new but nobody will be rushed through the program. The setup conversation the beginning takes as bit of time anyway, so that would work well for really feeling like you’re embarking on something new. And then you just continue the pedal training beyond Summer as appropriate. Win-win.