A Conceptual Christmas – Teaching Broad Music Concepts through Familiar Holiday Literature

Holiday Songs represent an evolving musical culture that spans 6 centuries and are the one body of songs that are more universal to our culture than anything else. Even though the harmonic treatments become more removed from the original with each passing year, there is still enough recognition of these songs even if they are now used to sell merchandise instead of their sacred original meaning.
The reinforcement students receive from family and friends by playing something “familiar”, as well as the short time span and goal of performance opportunities make students highly motivated to work on these songs.

However, in addition to the benefits to students mentioned above, these songs offer a treasure trove of opportunities to for discovering or reinforcing important basic music concepts that you are already teaching in other areas of your lessons. Don’t miss this golden opportunity for learning.

5-finger Patterns

Dreydl Song
Jingle Bells
Great for level 1 students. Have a spinner with 12 pentachord patterns on cards fanned around it. Students spin to transpose the song into the new key. To add extra zest, students give the jingle bells a shake after completing each scale.

Sequences
Have students discover the sequences in these songs.

Deck the Halls
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
O Christmas Tree
Angels We Have Heard on High
Ding Dong Merrily On High (one of the longest sequences I know)

Applying I and V7 chords
Use the formula, when the melody notes are 1, 3 and 5 use I chord, when on 2 and 4 use V7 to create a left hand for these melodies;

Dreydl Song
Jingle Bells

I IV V

Apply the same formula, adding the information that the 6th scale note goes with the IV chord.
Joy to the World
Silent Night (once the chords are established, apply broken chord style to bass for a simple but effective accompaniment pattern – if they are more advanced, they can apply ballad style (Root 5th 3rd above – use fingers 5 2 1)

Intervals
Look for the examples of these prominent intervals in these songs

Steps – The First Noel (the entire song is comprised of steps and fourths)
Skips –
4th and 5ths find the one fourth and one fifth, one skip, and the rest are repeated notes and steps
Octaves and major scales – Joy to the World

Major and Relative Minor Key Signatures
We 3 Kings
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Modes and Minor Keys
Use these songs to discover the difference between minor and dorian modes.
What Child is This
O Come O Come Emmanuel
Coventry Carol

Common Rhythm Patterns
Short Short Short Short Short Short LONG
Good King Wensceslas Looked Out
Jolly Old St. Nicholas
Compare to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald Had A Farm, Melody, by Schumann, Song by Kabalevsky., Haydn Surprise Symphony, and many others

Form – find songs that represent the following forms:
AABA (O Christmas Tree)
AABC (First Noel, Good King Wenceslas)
ABAB’(Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Jingle Bells)
Have students listen and guess which form that song follows.

Repeated Patterns
Students often are so focused on individual notes that they don’t notice broader patterns in the music. With your early level students, don’t make them learn all new notes of Jolly Old St. Nicholas for the second half when all they have to do is change the last note! This song is a great example of songs going “home” at the end, but ending on a dominant note “not home” in the middle.

The same applies to Jingle Bells – just learn the two differing parts of One Horse Open Sleigh first, then the rest of the song is mostly steps and repeated notes.

Acquiring Early Experience in Leading the Sing a Long

Help your students become valuable to their friends and community by getting them used to playing carols early; with the chording tools above they will realize they don’t always need to have music. Additionally they can transpose to singable keys (instead of C which is usually presented in early books because of ease of key signature)

Teach them how to use the last line of the song for a introduction, and to use body language (head nod) to start the group singing.
Teach them basic conducting patterns, by having students take turns, conducting, playing and singing.

Teach them how to work with other instrumentalists or vocalists by reading the chords of a fake book (or chords included in a song with traditional notation.) Many have friends who play guitar, etc.
Teach them a basic sing and strum method if the melody is provided by another instrument such as flute or vocals.

Jump in and have fun! Holidays only come around once a year!

Student Duet “Poor Wayfaring Stranger”

Duet of “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” is arranged by Marion Verhaalen and published in “Folk Songs from Here and There” by Lee Roberts Music Publications.

Group Piano Teacher Training – Level 1- Chicago 2018

Robert Pace Curriculum Piano Teacher Training

Fri.-Mon. Aug. 3-5, 2018

9:30 a.m. -3:30 p.m.

Group Piano Level 1

This course focuses on the concepts presented in the Robert Pace Level I books. Learn how to integrate theory right from the beginning, as well as how to develop all music skills simultaneously (ear training, sight reading, technique, improvisation, transposition, and theory) through the repertoire studies. Learn how to create a buoyant, creative atmosphere in each lesson. Learn how to facilitate good peer teaching and cooperative learning. Discover what it means to teach music concepts and how doing so will create an upward pattern of spiral learning, and develop independent learners who will become lifelong music participants. Level I curriculum concepts include: steps and skips, up, down, same, patterns, repetitions, sequences, parallel and contrasting question and answer phrases, 5 finger patterns, I and V7 chords, waltz style, alberti bass, broken chords, march, dorian, pentatonic, roving triads, passing tones, upper and lower neighbors, tetrachord scales, major and minor key signatures, parallel and contrary motion, down up phrasing, staccato vs. legato, and many more.

We will address good business guidelines including how to market and expand your student clientele, establish studio policies, and the importance of maintaining personal professional growth.

Presenter: Julie Lovison

The Lake Shore Music Studio

1460 N. Sandburg Terrace

Chicago, IL 60610

312-335-8426

LSMSPiano@aol.com

Tuition: $295

Plus cost of materials:

Robert Pace Music For Piano, Creative Music, Theory Papers and Finger Builders

Teachers completing the course receive IPTF certificate and listing on LeeRobertsMusic website.

Registration Form

Location of LSMS in Relation to Great Chicago Fire

This map shows the current location of The Lake Shore Music Studio at Sandburg Village in relation to The Great Chicago Fire of October 8, 1871.

The pink area on this edited map indicates the area that was burned north of the river.

You can click on this link to see more of the map and read more about the Great Chicago Fire.

It’s fun to put yourself in history. Look around and imagine how much has changed.

The people escaping the flames on that early fall day could hardly imagine what the city would ultimately become.

Study the map and note that Clark Street north of North Avenue was called Green Bay Road. Where it intersects with Lincoln was called Little Fort Road.

Much of the “Gold Coast” area to the east including the Cardinal’s Residence was part of the Catholic Cemetery.

Did you know that Mary Todd Lincoln, widow of the slain President Abraham Lincoln was living in Chicago and escaped the fire with her son Robert by going to the lake?

Photo of destruction after the Chicago Fire

Madison and Wells Street after the Great Chicago Fire

Take a minute to listen to these two songs written shortly afterwards “Passing Through the Fire” and “Pity the Homeless.”

The song that might be the most popular is “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the old Town Tonight.”

This song was already well known but was adapted to commemorate the disaster.

Unfortunately its popularity was helpful in continuing the myth that the fire was caused by Mrs. O’Leary and her cow. Mrs O’Leary was ultimately exonerated by the City Council in 1997.

Here are the lyrics from the popular Chicago version of the song.

“Late one night,
When we were all in bed,
Old Mother Leary
Left a lantern in the shed;
And when the cow kicked it over,
She winked her eye and said,
‘There’ll be a hot time
In the old town, tonight.’”

For you sports fans you might recognize this as one of the favorite songs used to rally on the soccer team.

Here’s a very funky honky tonk piano version on an out of tune piano.

Finally check out this cartoon from the 1940’s and see how the music is used to augment the action of the animation.

Listen closely to hear the “Carnival of Venice” theme.

It ends with a sing-along version of “The Hot Time..” song.

Sing-A-Longs before and after the main movie feature were very popular in the movie theaters at the time.

Piano Tuner Plays Important Role in “Five Guys Named Moe.”

It takes more than actors, musicians and dancers to put on a great theatrical musical performance. There are also a number of technicians handling audio, lights and more.

I was delighted to see, that when crediting all of those who contributed to the production of “Five Guys Named Moe” at the Court Theatre in Hyde Park, the producers included the production’s piano tuner Kent Busse in the program.

I am sure the appreciation extends to the outstanding six piece jazz band that accompanied the “Moes.” J.P Floyd (trombone), Sam Hankins (trumpet), Jarrard Harris (reeds), Ben Johnson (drums), Chuck Webb (bass), led by Abdul Hamid Royal (music director/pianist).

When you sit down to play it’s nice to have the confidence of knowing that your instrument is in tune. In a combo of this size the musicians usually tune-up to the piano, so it all starts there.

It is a similar experience for the singers. They have a certain pitch in mind that they expect to hear as the first note is sung. Singing in tune starts with an in-tune piano. In this production the Five Moes sing five part harmony. Typically each singer’s harmonic interval is derived from the first note. If that note is “off” everyone is off.

The harmonies of this doo-wop quintet comprised of Big Moe (Lorenzo Rush, Jr.), Little Moe (Darrin Ford), Eat Moe (James Earl Jones II), Four Eyed-Moe (Kelvin Rosten, Jr.) and No Moe (Eric A. Lewis) are spot on.

I think I’ll make Kent Busse the sixth Moe, “Hear Moe,” because what he hears will determine what the audience will hear.

Kent has been the “official” piano tuner for The Lake Shore Music Studio for several years and recently tuned our piano at home. That is why I was particularly pleased to see him get some of the recognition he deserves and also give him a bit of recognition here as well.

According to Julie, Kent does a great job of keeping the LSMS pianos in shape as well as in tune. As you can imagine they get quite a workout from 50+ students per week aged 4 through 74+.

You can enjoy the fruits of Mr. Busse’s work by playing one of the many LSMS acoustic pianos or coming in to hear your kids play during their lesson.

Additionally you might check out “Five Guys Named Moe” which is a tribute to band leader and saxophonist Louis Jordan, one of the fathers of rock & roll, who popularized several blues/jazz standards like Caldonia and Choo Choo Ch’boogie.

Listen for the boogie piano accompaniment in the beginning of this video.

To read my entire review of “Five Guys Named Moe”.

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Guest Blogger : Reno Lovison is Julie’s husband and reviewer for Chicago Theater and Arts.

World Premiere of Suite for Heroes – J. Golembiowski

Julie Lovison with friend and piano colleague Jaroslaw Golembiowski on the occasion of the premier performance of his composition “Suite for Heroes” honoring the 200th Anniversary of the Death of Thadeusz Kosciuszko. Performed by the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra with David Maller on trumpet at the Copernicus Center in Chicago September 2, 2017. The piece was commissioned by Drs. Barbara and Waldemar Niklinski.