As I mentioned Friday, I’m doing a “Simon Says” game this week to reinforce our key signature theme of the month. I wasn’t quite sure how to adapt the idea to a private lesson, but after a bit of brainstorming, this is what I came up with. I have the student spread out two sets […]
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Monday Mailbag – Teaching Pentascales
When do you introduce the five finger pentascale to a student? Any information regarding pentascales would be greatly appreciated. I usually introduce pentascales as soon as the student has learned the names of all the white keys and understands half steps and whole steps. We start with the C-Major pentascale, and I teach them the […]
Fresh and Fun! Idea for Key Signatures
Steve, over at Music Ed Lounge, is the one who first suggested a theme of key signatures for this month (thanks, Steve!). Next week, I’m planning to use his Fresh and Fun! idea of “Simon Says” with my students. If you have a Fresh and Fun! idea you’d like to contribute for focusing on Key […]
Major Minor Scale Matchup Free Worksheet
Since my students have been doing well with the Key Signature – Scale Matchup worksheets, I thought it might be helpful to use a similar format to help them understand the relationship between relative keys. In the Major-Minor Scale Matchup worksheet, students are supposed to draw a line connecting each scale in the left hand […]
14-Year Old Jennifer Lin Performs and Improvises at the Piano
One of my students sent me the link to this video a while back and I finally sat down and watched it. It is amazing! About 15 minutes into it, Jennifer Lin does an improvisation activity that is incredible! Not only is she a great pianist, she also speaks articulately and connects well with the […]
Question for Discussion
I received an e-mail from a friend in another city asking if I know anything about the Simply Music method of teaching. They are looking for a new teacher for their daughter, and a teacher they are considering switching to uses this method. Are any of you familiar with this method? Or do any of […]
