I recently came across composer Dennis Alexander’s website and was perusing his page of new compositions. (I love that he has free pdf samples from all of his piano books so that you can get a glimpse of the material before purchasing!) I was looking for a collection of Nocturnes recently reviewed in the American Music Teacher magazine, but noticed at the top of the page a brand new book by Dennis Alexander and Amy Greer called Repertoire by Rote. This is a fabulous-looking collection of simple songs that can be taught by rote to students. Even better, for those teachers who are just beginning to explore the world of teaching by rote or who want to improve their approach to this teaching method, the authors have included step-by-step instructions on how to present each piece so that the student receives the maximum learning benefit from this rote teaching approach.
In her introductory remarks on “Why Teach by Rote” Amy makes the point,
While rote teaching did not substitute for the all-important task of learning to read music traditionally, it was not long before I made this a standard part of my lessons, teaching beginning students colorful pieces that sounded more complicated than they were.
I wholeheartedly concur!
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Jasmine Smith says
I find learning to play the piano is a therapeutic and cognitive skill to learn, especially for children. Check out (https://www.maestrospianolessons.co.uk/) they’ve got some great courses in Birmingham.