Tag Archives: Comprehensive Musicianship

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!

 

Robert Pace Piano Exhibit at NKPC 2011

Lee Roberts Music Booth at 2011 National Keyboard Pedagogy ConferenceJulie and Reno Lovison represented the Robert Pace publications at the National Keyboard Pedagogy Conference in July of 2011, in Lombard, IL.   The tone of the conference was upbeat and contemporary and Julie and Reno enjoyed discussing the Pace concepts of comprehensive musicianship, multi-key playing in early levels, and group teaching benefits with teachers while acquainting them with the diverse range of musical styles in the Pace repertoire. 

Consultants Ursula Newman and Julie Lovison reconnect in the booth

“It was  a mad scramble to catch a session here and there in between visiting with colleagues, friends and other exhibitors,” said Julie.

Julie and Reno Lovison enjoy a reunion with Consultant Donna Edwards.

Summer Pace Teacher Training

One of the things I love most about summer is introducing teachers to the creative and far reaching ideas included in the Robert Pace materials, and the fun of working together, sharing ideas.

Narjes Soliman, director of  DaffodilMusicStudio.com  and Charapin Pongtornpipat, member of Chicago Area Music Teachers Association,  participated in this summer’s Comprehensive Musicianship Teacher Training Seminars at The Lake Shore Music Studio, and received certification in Music for Moppets (pre-school) and Level I Robert Pace curriculum from the International Piano Teaching Foundation.    

Julie Lovison waves the “magic wand” to turn white keys to black, and black to white, as Charapin Pongtornipat changes the D 5 finger pattern to Db on the magnet board (E-ZNotes.com), and Narjes Soliman finds the keys on the piano.  Studying D and Db as opposite patterns helps in memorizing the scales.

This Magic Wand was  hastily created from electricians tape wrapped around  a rod, and fancy wrapping ribbon, but one could be found easily at Halloween time.  The magic wand creates a playful element that makes learning fundamentals more FUN.

In this example, everyone in the group has a role to play, which rotates so students get a turn to experience from different learning perspectives (tactile and visual), and help check each other as well.

Students in the Pace approach learn to transpose to all 12 five finger patterns in the early levels of study.

Stay tuned for next summer’s schedule of teacher training seminars at LSMS.            

Building Blocks of Success – Getting the Most out of Your Lessons

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by Julie Lovison 

Everyone loves to hear the polished pieces performed by students with confidence at the recitals.  This is an easy measure of what students have accomplished at the piano.  What is not as well known is the depth of comprehensive musicianship students are gaining as they work through the years at LSMS, and the methods by which this is achieved.

We have an ongoing curriculum of study of applied theory and technique.  Every week we present new concepts.  We rely on students to follow up with daily study and digest this new information and skills to be ready to add a new layer of understanding to the previous concepts and skills the following week.  Students take home a weekly practice plan which outlines the expectations for practice in many areas (technique, sight reading practice, theory fundamentals, creative reading and improvisation, transposition, new and review pieces).  Students need to spend a small amount of time working in each category every day.  The purpose of the check off boxes is to help students keep track of which categories they have completed so they make sure they get to everything every week. Each student must pull his or her own weight to enable the group as a whole to move on. 

Parents, you can help students get organized by asking your child to explain the assignments to you and show you how they do them,  then checking to make sure they do them.  The goal of LSMS is to create independent learners, that is students who know how to ask the correct evaluative questions as they practice to achieve results on their own and make new discoveries unaided by a teacher.  This will ensure a personal lifelong relationship with the piano.

Getting Organized

The night before the lesson, help your student organize all books and the practice sheet into his/her music bag and put it wherever it will go to make sure it gets to the lesson.  Students need their own books for the lesson.     We do make important personal notations in the books, and also with several students in a group studying the same book, we would not have enough spare studio copies if several students forget the book on the same day.  Another important concept in building success is continuity of attendance.  Although our policy does allow students to visit other classes when unable to attend their own, students need to feel that their weekly input into their own group is important.  The spirit of cohesiveness that develops with a group is sometimes the one thing that keeps our students happily involved in piano study.  Arriving on time is important as well, as the teacher plans the curriculum around a particular agenda, and a student who arrives consistently late will miss a significant aspect of the lesson.  However, it is better to come to a portion of the lesson than miss it for the week.  Even 20 minutes of contact time will secure a new forward direction of practice for the student. 
If you have to come late or leave early, please come anyway.  If you forgot your books, come anyway.  If you didn’t practice all week, come anyway.  If you jammed a finger, broke an arm, sprained an ankle, have drops in your eyes from the eye doctor, come anyway.  We can work with all those.  However, if you have the flu, it might be best to stay home!