ables - Karen Hunter Piano Studio 2 A NEWSLETTER FOR WELS PIANO TEACHERS NOTE-ABLES January 2011...

January 2011

Volume 14 Issue 3

What’s inside New and returning Note-ables subscribers

2

Dr. Juanita Becker’s 10 resources for piano teachers

3

Emma Veers’ lecture review 6

Rich Freese’s Resignation Prelude

8-9

Rich Freese’s Prelude on O Mein Jesu, Ich Muss Sterben

10

Dr. Juanita Becker’s Utilizing outside evaluation opportunities to reinforce your curriculum

12

Emma Veers’ intermediate level teaching tips, concepts and repertoire

14-15

Subscription form 16

From Dr. Juanita Becker

Developing good piano technique A

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Note-ables

It seems to me that many piano teachers have given up on teaching piano technique.

Why is this? I suspect that, somewhere along the way, teaching piano technique has

become shrouded in mystery, when in fact a little common sense goes a long way.

Whatever the reason, the reality is that without good technique a student will be unable

to master and play intermediate to advanced level music with ease.

I once complained to a friend that too many students were arriv-

ing on our college campus with no concept of hand position. Her

immediate response was, “What about the picture?” “What pic-

ture?” I asked. “The one in the front of every beginning piano

method!” she replied. So, let us begin with that picture. I invite

you to dig out the various beginning method books you have and

open to the picture of good hand position. Somewhere on the

same page the authors will talk about how to sit at the piano and how the arm should

look in relation to the keyboard. None of these points should be ignored, and it would

be all to the good if you introduced these matters with both student and parent. I will

even go so far as to suggest that every time your student progresses to the next level in

the method series you review these points with the student and parent. (This makes

even more sense when you think about how much your student grows in the intervening

weeks and months between the beginning of one level and the beginning of the next

level, and how this means they need to modify their physical approach to the instru-

ment.) Pianists need to sit at the proper height, with their arms parallel (more or less) to

the floor and their feet resting on a stool if they do not reach the floor. Adjustable chairs

can be purchased, or phone books or remnant carpet squares can be stacked to get chil-

dren to the correct height. Feet should not dangle but should rest on a foot-stool

(upturned waste basket, stack of phone books or the J.C. Penney catalog). Feet dangling

(Continued on page 4)

Note-able

Quotable

"When man's natural musical ability is

whetted and polished to the extent that

it becomes an art, then do we note

with great surprise the great and perfect

wisdom of God in music, which is, after all,

His product and His gift."

—Martin Luther

A NEWSLETTER FOR WELS PIANO TEACHERS

NOTE-ABLES

January 2011

Volume 14 Issue 3 Purpose: NOTE-ABLES is published 3 times annually (January, May, and September) to benefit WELS piano teachers throughout the country. It is a forum for sharing ideas and opinions, and for encouraging each other as we teach the next generation of church musicians.

Editor: Karen Hunter

Articles: WELS piano teachers nation-wide are recommended or volunteer to be profiled in NOTE-ABLES. Those who agree to be profiled will be asked to write various columns for a specific issue of the newsletter. We encourage ALL subscribers to submit ideas, games, and questions for publication. The more input we receive, the more ideas teachers have to choose from for use in their studios.

Cost: $5 annually/ $8 bi-annually

Direct all correspondence to:

Karen Hunter

4734 Bergamot Way

Middleton, WI 53562

(608) 836-7497

e-mail address: [email protected]

Website: karenhunterpiano.com

New and returning Note-ables subscribers

Welcome!

Brenda Tiefel, Mequon, WI

Karen Brunk, Lake Mills, WI

Carly Seifert, Bozeman, MT

Dr. Juanita Becker, New Berlin, WI

Raven Kostrzewa, Wauwatosa, WI

Karen Warmuth, Neillsville, WI

Helen Meyer, Milwaukee, WI

Charlene Reitz, Fond du Lac, WI

Kristin Schneider, Schertz, TX

Paula Schmeling, Menomonie, WI

Cheryl Freed, Jenera, OH

At www.twink.net, you can click to print your own paper (I used card

stock) piano—print a blank one to decorate yourself or print one of 24 other designs. Students will get a kick out of this!

I downloaded Silly Sentences and the accompanying cards for Silly

Sentences from www.susanparadis.com. To play Silly Sentences, students read the aforementioned silly sentences in the “style” of the card they drew (i.e. accelerando, ritardando, presto, legato, staccato, etc.). Fellow students guess the “style” in which the student read.

Susan’s website (www.susanparadis.com) also has multiple games

perfect for winter (Snowflake Keyboard Note Race and Snowman Triads, to name a few) and several Valentine-themed games (Valentine Notes and Valentine Note Hunt).

I downloaded a copy of the “All Blues Pentascales” from Jerald M.

Simon’s Music Motivation website. Students of any age and ability could select one of the blues pentascales to use to compose a jazzy, bluesy piece of their very own.

From jenspianostudio.wordpress.com: LEGO® rhythms. Use the

4-bump blocks to represent quarter notes, then use blocks that are twice as big to represent half notes, four times as big to represent whole notes, and so on. The blocks work well for teaching subdivision, too. If a 4-bump block represents a quarter note, it’s very easy to see how two “eighth note” blocks add up to the same size. It’s even easy to see how a dotted quarter is equal to a beat and half (or equal to 3 eighth notes). LEGO® rhythms—what a great idea!

To hone students’ key naming skills, I purchased a couple inexpensive

packages of corks (about 20 per pack) at Michael’s. I used a perma-nent marker to write one letter name (A through G) on the top of each cork. The student selects a cork and places it on the appropriate key on the piano. I’m considering using a stopwatch to time students at this! I store the corks in an empty make-up bag (Those “gift” pur-chases at the department store make-up counters usually net me sev-eral bags of varying sizes which I’ve decided are perfect to store my homemade piano games.). Making the game took me all of 5 min-utes—but I’ve already used it countless times.

From Karen Hunter

Fun “finds” Note-able

Quotable

"You don't have to like it; you just have

to do it."

—Dr. Juanita Becker, as said to many,

many students

January 2011 / Volume 14 Issue 3 PAGE 3

Below is an annotated list of ten

resources I use quite regularly in

my teaching. Several of these are

carry-overs from my years teach-

ing elementary level students. A

few are resources I am still explor-

ing. This list could be longer, but I

thought ten resources was a good

number with which to start.

#1

Abramson, Robert M. Rhythm

Games for Perception and Cogni-

tion. Pittsburgh: Volkwein Bros.,

Inc., 1997.

These are designed for use in a group setting, but can be adapted for use in a private lesson. I regularly use the Chapter I Tempo Games and the Chapter IV Games of Rest with my piano classes, primarily because they are the easiest to use in our music theory lab, which currently doubles as a class piano room. These games encourage students to develop a strong sense of rhythm and pulse. They are based on Eurhythmics, a system of music and movement devel-oped by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. A CD is included with the book, and instructions for the teacher are clear and concise. Highly recommended and suitable for all ages.

#2

Ammer, Christine. Musician’s

Handbook of Foreign Terms.

New York/London: G. Schirmer,

1971.

From the title page: Containing the English equivalents of approximately 2700 foreign expression marks and directions taken from French, German, Italian, Latin Portuguese and Spanish scores. Which reminds me of the sign I saw on a hardware store in a small town in Missouri: If we ain’t got it, you don’t need it. I have absolutely no idea if this book is still in print. I expect any online used book site carries it. I obtained my copy in a large and some-what legendary used bookstore in Micanopy, Florida (a recommended stop should you find yourself nearby). This book resides on the left side of my piano music rack and gets a lot of use. Suitable for teachers and late intermediate/early advanced students.


10 resources I use on a regular basis

#3

Bartók, Béla. Mikrokosmos Vols.

I-VI, new revised edition. Lon-

don: Boosey & Hawkes, 1987.

I use these quite regularly for my col-lege and high school students to de-velop excellent sight-playing skills. Almost all my students sight-play their way through Volumes I-III. My piano performance majors sight-play Volume IV. Volumes V-VI make an excellent introduction to contemporary music for piano. Suitable for piano teachers and late elementary/ early intermediate through advanced level students.

#4

Braccini, Roberto. Praktisches

Wörterbuch der Musik. Mainz:

B. Schotts S., 1992.

This is a handy little book a German friend sent me years ago. It sits on the left side of my piano with Christine Ammer’s book. It features lists of musical terms in English, German, French and Italian. So, for example, if you have an unfamiliar Italian musical term, you look it up in the index, which tells you where to find it in the body of the book with its English, German, and French equivalents. Hal Leonard dis-tributes Schott in the USA now, so you do not need to despair for lack of book-mailing German friends. Just call the Hal Leonard teacher service and ask for Erin Mathieus or Chara Fedke (both WLC grads) and tell them I sent you. There is a newer edition avail-able now. This resource is suitable for teachers and advanced students.

#5

Chung, Brian and Dennis Thur-

mond. Improvisation at the Pi-

ano: A Systematic Approach for

the Classically Trained Pianist. Los Angeles: Alfred Publishing

Co., Inc., 2007.

I am working my way through this book with my students. Chung and Thur-mond take a very systematic and non-threatening approach to learning im-provisation. They start out with re-peated notes and then move to upper and lower neighbors, working through improvising with scales and chord patterns and, finally, culminate in Im-provisation through the Ages, namely, improvising in Medieval, Baroque,

Classical and Romantic Styles. (I will let you know how difficult or easy it is when I get there.) Back in the day (as our students say), every professional pianist improvised and composed her (or his) own music, in addition to per-forming the works of others. Learning to create their own music makes music lessons more meaningful to students, and encourages the development of skills related to learning and memoriz-ing music. Suitable for piano teachers to use with all students, at their discre-tion. (Note: there are several piano methods which incorporate improvisa-tion. Three that come to mind are The Music Tree, the Hal Leonard series, and the new American Popular Piano series.)

#6

Coats, Sylvia. Thinking as You

Play: Teaching Piano in Individ-

ual and Group Lessons. Bloom-

ington and Indianapolis: Indiana

University Press, 2006.

Sylvia Coats serves on the music fac-ulty at Wichita State University as professor of Piano Pedagogy and Class Piano. This book is a reflection of her experience as a teacher of all ages, and as a doctoral student of Guy Duckworth, who specialized in concep-tual teaching in groups. This is a great resource for the piano teacher willing to rethink and revise her (or his) ap-proach to teaching from just plowing through the method books to develop-ing a curriculum using a conceptual approach. I am still learning how to master and utilize all the ideas pre-sented in this book. When we are done using it as a text for Piano Peda-gogy 2 this semester, it is going in the stack on the left side of my piano mu-sic rack! Highly recommended reading for piano teachers. Explore the sec-tion on memorizing, which incorpo-rates improvisation in the memoriza-tion process!

#7

King, Vicki. Playing the Piano

Naturally. Greenleaf, WI: Con-

ners Publications, 1997.

This is a thin but highly informative and useful book on developing an effective and injury free technique. You may have to contact Conners Publications to obtain a copy. This book sits on the left side of my piano in the same stack with



in the air lead to lack of balance and

unnecessary tension in the small

body of your student.

Now that your student

is seated at the correct

height and distance

from the piano (the

arm should be at a

slightly greater than 90

degree angle), take a

look at the student’s hand position.

(Note: For students whose feet

reach the floor, a good rule of

thumb for proper distance from the

keyboard is to make sure they can

stand up from where they are sit-

ting. This will change as they grow;

it is important to check regularly

that the bench moves farther back as

they grow taller. Many high school

students pull the piano bench in as

close to the keyboard as they did

when they were in elementary

school, thus restricting their arm

movement!) There are many good

analogies for hand position, such as:

pretend you are holding a grape-

fruit, pretend you are holding a bub-

ble, and so on. There seems to be

some connection between the crown

of one’s head and the size of one’s

hands. I ask students to put one

hand on the crown of their head and

bring it down and have a look. Of

course, that is not a shape you can

maintain throughout the course of

playing, but it gives a nice guideline

for a basic hand position—what the

arch should look like. You can en-

courage students to build the mus-

cles in their hands by having them

gently squeeze a rubber ball for a

few seconds at a time. If you do

this, make sure they hold the ball

downwards in a piano-playing posi-

tion. This activity

also reinforces the

natural movement of

the fingers and

thumb. Be careful

they do not strain

their muscles when they do this—a

(Continued from page 1) few seconds at a time is enough!

Next, let’s consider how the fingers

should operate. It is a good idea to

keep an unsharpened pencil near the

piano. You can use it for all sorts of

things, like pointing to the notes and

doing Seymour Bernstein exercises

for tone production. In this instance,

we want the student to discover how

the fingers and thumb work differ-

ently. So, invite the student to pick

up the unsharpened pencil you just

happen to have nearby and observe

how the fingers move in a downward

arc but the thumbs moves sideways

in toward the hand. Translating

these motions to piano-playing, the

fingers produce sounds by describing

part of a downward arc, while the

thumb produces sound by moving

sideways (somewhat like scratching

a speck of food

off the kitchen

counter). A simi-

lar activity to

picking up a pen-

cil is picking up a

Koosh™ ball.

(This has the extra advantage of giv-

ing you, the teacher, a good excuse

to buy one! They are very handy for

tossing back and forth between your

hands to relieve stress. Throwing

one at a student who has not prac-

ticed would probably also relieve a

lot of stress but this is NOT recom-

mended!) Some Suzuki teacher

trainers also advocate the use of

Koosh™ balls to help students de-

velop touch sensitivity.

An excellent exercise for teaching

students to use their fingers correctly

is to have them play five-finger pat-

terns from the piano key surface, in

other words, to feel the key beneath

the finger before they depress it.

This is not a technical approach you

can use in every circumstance, but it

is an excellent means of training stu-

dents to use their fingers ergonomi-

cally! This is not a complicated

thing to ask students to do; yet, it can

completely revolutionize their

piano-playing technique.

Now that we have established what

is a good height, a good distance

from the piano keyboard, and a

good hand position, take a moment

to think about the rest of the hand

and arm. Observe that the arm is

attached to the student at the shoul-

der, and connects with the piano at

the fingertip. From the fingertip to

the shoulder, the arm should move

freely, like a suspension bridge.

The teacher can check for unneces-

sary tension in the arm by having

the student stand and allow the

teacher to hold his/her arm up by

the hand. Instruct the student to

completely relax the arm (allowing

the teacher to be responsible for

holding it up), and then let go. (This

is why they need to be standing; if

they are sitting, they will whack

their hand and arm on the piano

bench!) If the arm falls freely to the

student’s side, good! If not, they

are holding tension, so reverse roles

and have them hold up your arm

while you alternate between holding

it up yourself when they let go, and

letting it free fall when they let go.

Have them observe which muscle it

is they engage when they hold up

the arm versus releasing that muscle

to let the arm free fall when the per-

son holding it up releases it. Nelita

True offers an excellent demonstra-

tion of how to teach students to re-

lease their arm weight into the keys

on a video I reference below. (The

WLC library has this video in its

collection. If you cannot find it

anywhere, I would be happy to ar-

range for you to watch it.)

After students have learned to re-

lease the tension in their arms, al-

lowing for the weight of their arms

to be transferred to the fingers

(hence the need for a good hand

position and especially FIRM FIN-



GERTIPS), explore with your stu-

dents the wonders of lateral wrist

rotation. Notice that while the fin-

gers are attached to the hand at the

knuckle joints, the hand is attached

to the arm at the wrist. The wrist

can move up and down AND it can

move sideways. Without employing

lateral wrist rotation, we can never

fully maximize the potential for arm

weight to be transferred from finger

to finger, thus creating a beautiful

rich tone. Please, from the very

beginning stages of piano playing,

encourage your students to keep

their arm behind the finger that is

playing. This is the opposite advice

from what many of us learned years

ago when the average neighborhood

piano teacher told students to hold

their arm and hand still for finger

independence. This was great ad-

vice for playing that ancient instru-

ment—the clavichord—with its

metal tangents and delicate mecha-

nism, but it’s terrible advice for pi-

anists.

To briefly review, the two things

you should find yourself frequently

saying are: Feel the key beneath

your finger before you depress it

and Keep your arm behind the fin-

ger that is playing. This is not the

only technical approach required to

play the piano well, but it is a very

good place to start.

As students advance in their piano-

playing technique, have them ob-

serve the different effect they obtain

when tilting their hands toward the

fifth finger (BAD), which maxi-

mizes the fact that our fingers come

in different lengths, and tilting the

hands slightly toward the thumb

(GOOD), which minimizes the fact

that our fingers come in different

lengths. Tilting the hand slightly

toward the thumb also allows the

thumb to move more freely and

makes it easier to pass the thumb

behind other fingers when playing

(Continued from page 4) scale passages.

Nelita True gives a

fine demonstration of

playing arpeggios in

the video I reference

below. For scales, if

one makes minute

adjustments of the hand using lateral

wrist rotation as one is ascending the

scales with the right hand (or de-

scending with the left hand) the

thumb will not really have very far to

go to get behind the third finger.

Going in the opposite direction, my

professor at Oberlin, Peter Takács,

showed me how to collapse the

thumb joint in such a way as to make

it easy to float the rest of the hand

over the thumb. This is similar to

what Nelita True demonstrates in her

video.

Speaking of Nelita True, if you ever

have the opportunity to attend her

workshop and master class, take it!

She is truly a master teacher. I have

been privileged to see her many

times over the years, probably from

the beginning of her career, since I

remember seeing her give a work-

shop for the Central Florida Music

Teachers Association when I was in

high school.

A few other basic technical points

are worth mentioning. Loud and soft

are achieved by speed of attack; in

other words, how quickly or slowly

the piano key is sent down. Other

factors play a role but, in simplest

terms, this is what makes the differ-

ence between soft and loud. One can

demonstrate this to students by clap-

ping one’s hands. Putting one’s

hands together very slowly results in

no sound whatsoever, whereas strik-

ing the hands together at a good

speed results in a nice clap. The

same is true at the piano. The speed

at which the key descends affects the

speed at which the hammer strikes

the string, which creates the loudness

or softness of the sound.

Another point to remember is in

regard to speed of tempo in

combination with dynamics. It

is very hard on the playing ap-

paratus to play loud (fingers

depressing the keys at a great

speed—a vertical motion) in

combination with fast (arms

moving the fingers in a more or less

horizontal direction) simultaneously

at the same time. It is better to play

less forcefully when also playing at

a fast tempo. The fact that there are

more notes being sounded will cre-

ate the effect of a loud dynamic

with less strain on the arms and fin-

gers.

I think this is all I want to cover

about technique in print, as there is

the danger of misinterpretation

when a written description is not

accompanied by a visual demonstra-

tion. In the following paragraphs I

will reference some chapters in pi-

ano pedagogy books that outline

schemes for technical development

at the elementary and intermediate

levels. Following that is a brief list

of resources. More expanded lists

can be found in any of the many

fine books about piano teaching that

are in print now.

Yvonne Enoch, in Creative Piano

Teaching (James Lyke et al), Chap-

ter 11—Technical Development for

Elementary Students, offers won-

derful descriptions and beginning

finger exercises as well as lists of

recommended reference books for

the teacher and technical exercise

books for the student. Chapter 28—

Technical Development for the In-

termediate Student by Ian Hobson

offers very clear verbal descriptions

and illustrative drawings that ex-

plain how the piano mechanism

works, how the body works in rela-

tion to the piano, how to use lateral

wrist motion, the various types of

staccato (finger, wrist and arm), and

good pedal technique among other



things. At the end of the chapter he offers lists of technical collections for intermediate and advanced students and a

list of references for the teacher. In James Bastien’s How to Teach Piano Successfully (Third Edition), Part Two

(Chapters 6-9) covers technique for beginners, second- and third-year students, as well as intermediate technique.

These chapters include many useful exercises and offer an overview of where students should be in their technical

development in order to progress easily to the next level. I encourage you to read or review these chapters regularly.

Selected List of Resources

Bernstein, Seymour. 20 Lessons in Keyboard Choreography. Seymour Bernstein Music, 1991. Ex-

clusively distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation of Milwaukee.

In this very clearly written book, filled with photos, musical examples, and illustrations, Bernstein demonstrates step by

step his approach to piano technique, with special emphasis on the physical workings of the instrument and the most

ergonomic way we can use our playing mechanism to interact with the instrument. Suitable for teachers, as well as in-

termediate and early advanced students.

Bernstein, Seymour. MUSI-PHYSI-CALITY: Making A Physical Connection to Musical Feeling

for the Beginning Pianist. Seymour Bernstein Music, 1991. Exclusively distributed by Hal Leonard

Corporation of Milwaukee.

Same as above. Suitable for teachers and beginning through elementary-aged students.

Bridger, Carolyn. When asked about the technical regime she used with her developing piano students,

Dr. Bridger, my piano professor at Florida State University (where I obtained my doctoral degree), told

me she progressed from selected Heller exercises to Cramer, followed by Pischna exercises and the Op.

1 Liszt Etudes.

Clark, Frances and Louise Goss and Sam Holland. Musical Fingers Books 1-4. Summy-Birchard,

Inc., distributed by Alfred Publishing Co., 1983.

There is a teachers’ handbook that accompanies each book.

The Guild Syllabus, published by the American College of Musicians, offers guidelines for scales,

chords, cadences and arpeggios appropriate to each level of piano study.

Last, Joan. Freedom in Piano Technique. London: Oxford University Press, 1980.

A concise and very clear book covering most of the important elements of good piano playing technique, from under-

standing the instrument through octaves, fingering and pedaling.

Last, Joan. Freedom Technique Books 1-3. London: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Three books of exercises and studies for piano.

Pollei, Paul. Essential Technique for the Pianist: An Organized and Systematic Method of Teach-

ing Piano Technique. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing Co., 1996.

True, Nelita. Technique through Listening. Kansas City, MO.: SH Productions, Inc., 1991.

(Continued from page 5)

By Emma Veers

Dr. Maurice Hinson* lecture review On Saturday, October 2, 2010, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by Dr. Maurice Hinson at

Wisconsin Lutheran College as part of the third annual Baroque Piano Festival. Dr. Juanita Becker

asked me to share my notes on the lecture with you.

Throughout this lecture on Baroque piano music, Dr. Hinson focused on two key practices. The first

involved introducing each new piece by talking about its character. For example, Dr. Hinson described CPE Bach’s

Polonaise in G Minor as marked, sensitive and tender. Discussing the character of each piece gives the student a



Ammer and Braccini. Dr. King writes clearly about developing and using a natural hand position for students at every level and for every type of techni-cal challenge from scales, triads, and trills to octaves and double notes. She also addresses the technical challenges presented by the various style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Con-temporary, and includes a chapter on Vocal Accompanying, as well. This book makes suitable reading for piano teachers and advanced students. The concepts should be used with students of every age.

#8

Lyke, James and Yvonne Enoch

and Geoffrey Haydon. Creative

Piano Teaching. Champaign, Illi-

nois: Stipes Publishing, L.L.C.,

1996.

I am currently using this as a Piano Pedagogy 2 text, along with Sylvia Coats’ book. I use the James Bastien book for Piano Pedagogy 1, but I may add this book to that course, as well. It sits on my shelf next to my other favorite piano teaching reference books by De-nes Agay and Marienne Uzsler. Con-tributing authors for various aspects of elementary level teaching include Chris-tos Tsitsaros, Ann Collins, and Richard Chronister. In Part Two: Intermediate Piano Instruction, William Heiles contrib-uted the chapters on An Approach to Bach and Scarlatti and An Approach to Twentieth Century Music; Kenneth Drake contributed the chapter on An Approach to Classic Repertoire; Walter Schenkman contributed the chapter on An Approach to Romantic Repertoire; and Reid Alexander contributed all the corresponding chapters for repertoire recommendations. I love this book! I think most piano teachers will find this useful, particularly when transitioning students from the method books into advancing piano repertoire. There are very clearly written chapters on Elemen-tary and Intermediate level technique, practice techniques, and even a chapter from Tony Caramia on introducing jazz literature. Highly recommended reading for piano teachers.

#9

Lyke, James and Geoffrey Haydon.

Essential Melodic and Harmonic

Patterns for Group Piano Stu-

dents. Champaign, Illinois: Stipes

Publishing Company, 2003.

Despite the title, I use this for both indi-vidual lessons and group classes. Most

(Continued from page 3) of my students come to college with little or no training in scales, chords and ca-dence patterns. The accompanying CD makes this a relatively painless way to encourage mastery of these essential elements of musicianship at the piano. Section One: Melodic Patterns covers major and minor pentachords, major scales in tetrachords, major and minor triad arpeggios (two octaves with left hand cross-over), the blues scales and the blues bass line. Section Two: Har-monic Patterns introduces the tonic/dominant and tonic/subdominant/dominant cadence patterns, as well as more advanced secondary chord ca-dence patterns, and the twelve bar blues progression in selected keys. I find this an easy way to prepare students for more serious work with scales, chords, arpeggios, and cadence patterns. Suit-able for use with beginning to advanced students at the teacher’s discretion.

#10

Yurko, Michiko. NO-H-IN-

SNAKE: Music Theory for Chil-

dren. Sherman Oaks, California:

Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., 1979.

Music Mind Games, revised edi-

tion. Miami: Warner Bros. Pub-

lishing, Inc., 1992.

http://

www.musicmindgames.com/

Michiko Yurko has nearly 40 years ex-perience teaching music. She devel-oped these music theory games over several decades. I saw her give a dem-onstration at Oberlin in the 1970’s. It was great fun and very motivating! The first book, No-H-In-Snake, can be found online at most used book sites. I used these games with both my Suzuki and Traditional piano students and I use them today with Freshman Theory, Pi-ano Classes, and anywhere else they might be useful. If you do nothing else, check out the website. There are pat-terns available for some of these games if you prefer to make them yourself rather than purchasing them ready- made. There used to be ready-made games boxed in three levels available for purchase before Alfred bought out Warner Bros. Alas, I only bought the Level One box before they became unavailable! WLC will be purchasing a Puppy Pack shortly, as I need to check out those new Do-Re-Mi cards! The books and games are suitable for abso-lutely everyone, and make everything from music theory to ear training and dictation fun and interesting.

better concept of the feel of the

piece. Dr. Hinson also pointed out

that his concept of each piece’s

character may be different from

your concept as the teacher, which

may in turn differ from your stu-

dent’s concept. The goal is to get

your students to develop this prac-

tice on their own.

The second practice Dr. Hinson dis-

cussed is how he uses the actual

dance steps of each Baroque dance

to give students a feel for these

pieces. He has produced a DVD

which depicts the main dances and

he teaches the dance steps. In the

lecture he went over the Polonaise,

Sarabande, Minuet, Gigue, and Ri-

gaudon. These dances require a

good deal of movement, so Dr.

Hinson also took this opportunity to

promote a healthy life-style. At 79

years old, he still plays tennis four

days a week, and he reminded the

audience that we need to take care

of our bodies because no one else is

going to do that for us!

As a education major who wants to

get a masters degree in piano peda-

gogy, I found this lecture very re-

freshing. Incorporating the charac-

ter of the piece gets the student to

think about the piece apart from its

notes, rhythms and dynamics, and

see the piece as a whole. Using the

actual dance steps of baroque

dances does the same, and has the

potential to break up a monotonous

lesson!

*Dr. Maurice Hinson is professor of piano in the School of Church Music at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, where he teaches graduate courses in piano literature, piano pedagogy, chamber music and private piano instruction. Dr. Hinson is the author of ten books, including Guide to the Pianist's Reper-toire and numerous articles. He’s edited over seventy editions of piano music for Alfred, Belwin-Mills, Boosey & Hawkes, European American and Hinshaw Publishers, as well as written and presented in six videos. Dr. Hinson is the past editor for The American Music Teacher, and contributing editor for The Piano Quarterly. He has given recitals, lectures and master classes on five continents and in forty-eight states.

(Continued from page 6)


Note-able Quotable

"If you have a good idea, repeat it."

—-Bill Braun

Biographies of this issue’s writers Rich Freese is a graduate student

at Truman State University pursu-

ing a Master of Arts in Music

Composition and teaching Per-

spectives in Music: World Music.

He currently studies composition

with Warren Gooch. Past compo-

sition instructors include: Craig

Hirschmann and William Braun of

Wisconsin Lutheran College, for-

mer Marquette University ensem-

bles director Nick Contorno, and

Matt Miller, a Milwaukee-based

guitarist and instructor.

In 2007, Rich graduated with hon-

ors from Wisconsin Lutheran Col-

lege, earning a Bachelor of Sci-

ence in Music and Art. He was a

music instructor (guitar, bass, the-

ory/composition) in the Milwaukee

area before relocating to Missouri

to study at Truman. Rich's compo-

sitions have been performed

throughout the United States in

venues including art exhibition

openings, theatre productions,

worship services and music festi-

vals. Recent awards include per-

formance at the Society of Com-

posers National Conference, First

Place in the MMTA Composition

Competition, and the 2010

MACRO Bruce Benward Theory/

Composition Honorarium.

Emma Veers is currently a senior at

Wisconsin Lutheran College, Mil-

waukee, WI. She will graduate in

May with a bachelor's degree in edu-

cational studies and minors in piano

pedagogy and mathematics. After

graduation, Emma plans to pursue a

master's degree in piano pedagogy

and performance at the University of

Colorado in Boulder, while living at

home in Golden, CO.

Juanita Becker is currently Asso-

ciate Professor of Music at Wis-

consin Lutheran College. Called

to WLC in 2001, she previously

served on the faculty at Truman

State University. She holds the

Doctor of Music from Florida

State University, the Master of

Music from the University of Wis-

consin-Madison, and the Bachelor

of Music from Oberlin College

Conservatory of Music. While

pursuing her doctoral studies, she

taught both traditional and Suzuki

piano lessons at Stubbs Music

Center, and occasionally worked in

the music theory lab. In one of her

"previous lives" she concurrently

was an adjunct professor of music

theory at Stetson University

School of Music in Deland, FL;

coordinator of the Pre-College Pi-

ano Institute at the University of

Central Florida; part-time staff

accompanist for the University of

Central Florida Music Department

(Fortunately, this never involved

too many people!); and, an instruc-

tor at the Suzuki Music Institute of

Central Florida. A graduate of

Winter Park High School in Win-

ter Park, FL, her greatest inspira-

tion will always be Ada Sievert,

her fifth grade teacher at St. Mark's

Lutheran School in Watertown,

WI, which she attended from first

through half of fifth grade. She

got her early church musician ex-

perience at such Florida mission

churches as King of Kings in Mait-

land, and Our Redeemer in Titus-

ville, served by pastors Richard

Wiechmann and Larry Zwieg.

At Wisconsin Lutheran College,

she teaches applied piano, applied

harpsichord, three levels of class

piano (we are hoping to add a

fourth level soon), Piano Litera-

ture, Piano Pedagogy I and II, and

Accompanying. Periodically, she

teaches freshman music theory, and

she recently created—with the help

of the music faculty and WLC cur-

riculum committee—the piano peda-

gogy minor. Her current profes-

sional research projects include re-

cording a CD of music by Dutch

composers for oboe and piano, with

the other half of the Lake Cottage

Duo, Dr. Sheri Mattson, Associate

Professor of Music at the University

of Central Missouri. In addition, she

hopes shortly to be working with

Mellen Press, a scholarly press, on a

book version of her doctoral treatise,

Henriette Bosmans: Pianist and

Composer.

Note-able Quotable

"Mistakes are the

best kind of learning."

—Nick Contorno


The experience I gained while teaching for Bette Broward Hunting at the Suzuki Music Institute of Central Florida and later for

Martha Stubbs at Stubbs’ Music Center in Tallahassee, FL, form the basis for this brief article. In addition to being excellent

and experienced piano teachers to students of all ages, both women were also highly professional businesswomen. They under-

stood that when properly approached as an opportunity for students to see and measure their progress from year to year, and not

as a means of comparing themselves to others, outside evaluations help students grow and give them goals for which to work.

Evaluation opportunities also give parents a structured way to view their students’ progress in music from year to year. They

understand that progressing from one level to the next in a Junior Festival or Guild Audition is much like moving from grade to

grade in school.

The outside evaluation opportunities both Mrs. Hunting and Mrs. Stubbs encouraged their teachers to use were: the National

Guild Auditions sponsored by the American College of Musicians, the Junior Festival Auditions sponsored by the Federated

Music Clubs and the Florida State Music Teachers Association District Student Day Auditions. Most of my students took ad-

vantage of one or two of these opportunities every year. A few of them took advantage of all three opportunities. Regardless, I

included preparation for all of them in my curriculum plans for each student. I found that this resulted in a well-rounded educa-

tional experience. Each of these evaluation opportunities reinforces a different aspect of one’s teaching curriculum.

Review of repertoire is likely one of the most neglected aspects of piano playing, as we always seem to be focused on the fu-

ture. We tend to forget the many benefits that reviewing previously-learned repertoire has to offer. Keeping a growing group

of pieces memorized allows students to remain prepared to share their accomplishments with friends and family, develops their

ability to eventually memorize longer pieces, and allows them the opportunity to apply newly-learned concepts (or more highly

refined concepts) to music they already know. Guild Auditions offer teachers the opportunity to encourage students to prepare

a program mix of some review pieces and some newly-learned pieces. As a teacher I have had, and as a Guild judge I have

heard, students of all ages play a prepared 10-piece Guild program. An annual 10-piece program is a great motivator, and over

time allows students to become comfortable performing longer works by memory. In a 10-piece program, one can substitute

three musicianship phases for three repertoire pieces. This motivates students to stay on task with the scales, chords, cadences

and arpeggios that are appropriate to their level of study. The musicianship phases of Ear Training, Transposition, Improvisa-

tion and Sight-Reading can be alternated from year to year with the phases for Scales, Chords/Cadences and Arpeggios. The

teacher can design the mix of things each year that seems to be most beneficial for the student to be evaluated on, but all of the

activities can be included in the year’s curriculum, resulting in a well-rounded educational approach to music at the piano. The

remaining seven repertoire pieces can be a mix of recital pieces from that year and the previous year, and can include Christ-

mas recital music and music for the Junior Festival Audition and the State Music Teacher District Day Audition. For each rep-

ertoire piece, students must play the scale and cadence indicated for their level of ability. This gives the teacher a chance to

include music theory in the curriculum, demonstrating to the student how the composer of each piece uses the scale and chords

of that key to build the musical composition. The tangible rewards of the Guild Auditions are pins. Students who participate in

the 10-piece auditions for a number of years receive special composer pins.

Contemporary music is something many of us tend to avoid. Junior Festival Auditions call for two pieces, one the choice of

student and teacher, the other chosen from a graded list of music by American Composers. The list changes every two to three

years. This keeps the student and teacher abreast of contemporary music. The Junior Festival also offers categories for hymn

playing, duets and concertos among other things. The tangible rewards for Junior Festival auditions are “gold cups.” It takes

three years of top marks to earn a “gold cup” and each successive cup is larger than the previous one. Junior Festival is best

begun with younger students so they have the maximum opportunity to earn “gold cups.”

The MTNA state-affiliated District Auditions offer a music theory component. The music theory level is based on one’s abil-

ity, not one’s age. Martha Stubbs actually requires all the students at her school to enroll in the music theory lab for a half hour

of instruction each week, either before or after their private or group lesson. She hires a separate instructor for theory instruc-

tion, which utilizes a combination of worksheets and computer programs. The curriculum she devised for each student level

was based, among other things, on the Music Theory curriculum the Florida State Music Teachers Association devised for each

level of District Student Day. (The Wisconsin Music Teachers Association has a similar music theory curriculum, as does each

state’s Music Teachers Association that is affiliated with the Music Teachers National Association.) Whether students at

Stubbs Music Center participate in District Auditions or not, they all work through the music theory curriculum appropriate to

their level of study. Many state organizations post their theory curriculums online, and one can utilize these resources even if

one chooses to not be a member. (On a personal note, I will say that MTNA is the professional organization to which I always

belong. I have been a member of MTNA longer than any other music teacher organization.)


Utilizing outside evaluation opportunities to reinforce your curriculum


Early

Interm

ediate

Mid

In

termed

iate

Late

Interm

ediate

Early

Ad

vanced

Tech

-n

ique

Sca

les: A

ll majo

r scales and

harm

on

ic

min

or scales: 2

octav

es, eigh

th

no

te rhyth

m, h

and

s togeth

er

M.M

. qu

arter = 7

2

All m

ajor an

d p

arallel harm

on

ic

min

or scales: th

ree octav

es,

triplet rh

yth

m

M.M

. qu

arter = 6

0

Th

ree octav

es of all m

ajor,

harm

on

ic min

or, an

d m

elod

ic

min

or scales: trip

let rhyth

m

M.M

. qu

arter = 8

0

All m

ajor, h

armo

nic m

ino

r,

melo

dic m

ino

r, natu

ral min

or

scales: fou

r octav

es, sixteen

th

no

te rhyth

m

M.M

. qu

arter = 7

2

Ch

ord

s:

All m

ajor an

d m

ino

r triads aro

und

the circle o

f fifths: ro

ot p

ositio

n

han

ds to

geth

er and 1

st inversio

n

han

ds sep

arately

All to

nic m

ajor an

d to

nic m

ino

r

triads, ro

ot, first, an

d seco

nd

inversio

n: h

and

s separately

and

togeth

er

All to

nic m

ajor, m

ino

r, dim

in-

ished

, and

augm

ented

triads

arou

nd

the circle o

f fifths

All to

nic m

ajor, m

ino

r, dim

in-

ished

, augm

ented

triads th

ree

po

sition

s, as well as d

om

inan

t

and

dim

inish

ed 7

th cho

rds: all

key

s, roo

t po

sition

Cad

ences:

I-IV-I-V

(V7

)-I, all arou

nd

the

circle of fifth

s, roo

t po

sition an

d

first inversio

n, h

and

s separately

I-IV-I-V

(V7

)-I, roo

t, first, and

secon

d in

versio

n, h

and

s sepa-

rately an

d to

geth

er

I-IV-I-V

-V7

-I, roo

t po

sition,

han

ds to

geth

er

I-IV-I-V

-V7

-I, all po

sition

s, all

key

s, han

ds sep

arately

Arp

egg

ios:

Majo

r and

min

or triad

s all arou

nd

the circle o

f fifths: ro

ot p

ositio

n

and

first inversio

n, 2

octav

es han

ds

separately

M.M

. qu

arter = 6

0

Th

ree octav

es of to

nic m

ajor

and

ton

ic min

or triad

s, han

ds

separately

M.M

. qu

arter = 7

2

Th

ree octav

es of to

nic m

ajor

and

ton

ic min

or triad

s, han

ds

togeth

er

M.M

. qu

arter = 7

2

All m

ajor an

d to

nic m

ino

r tri-

ads th

ree po

sition

s, fou

r oc-

taves, an

d d

om

inan

t and

dim

in-

ished

7th arp

eggio

s, all key

s,

roo

t po

sition

two

octav

es,

han

ds to

geth

er

M.M

. qu

arter = 6

0

Ear

Train

ing

Reco

gn

ize all the in

tervals in

the

majo

r and

harm

on

ic min

or scales:

M2

, m3

, M3

, P4

, P5, m

6, M

6, M

7,

P8

Reco

gn

ize min

or an

d d

imin

ished

triads in

any p

ositio

n

Reco

gn

ize majo

r and

aug-

men

ted triad

s in an

y p

ositio

n

Reco

gn

ize the fo

llow

ing

rhyth

ms:

2/4

, 3/4

, 4/4

, 6/8

Reco

gn

ize majo

r, min

or, d

imin

-

ished

and

augm

ented

triads in

any p

ositio

n

Reco

gn

ize majo

r, harm

on

ic

min

or an

d m

elod

ic min

or scales

Co

ntin

ued

recogn

ition

of th

e

follo

win

g rh

yth

ms: 2

/4, 3

/4,

4/4

, 6/8

, 9/8

Co

ntin

ue to

recogn

ize majo

r,

melo

dic m

ino

r, harm

on

ic mi-

no

r, natu

ral min

or an

d w

ho

le

ton

e scales

Reco

gn

ize plag

al (I-IV) an

d

auth

entic (V

-I) caden

ces.

Th

eory

In h

is boo

k, H

ow

to T

each

Pia

no S

uccessfu

lly, James W

. Bastien

recom

men

ds th

at stud

ents b

e intro

du

ced to

the fo

llow

ing co

ncep

ts at the

interm

ediate lev

el:

Triad

s of m

ino

r scales

Fig

ured

bass fo

r triads an

d in

versio

ns

Sev

enth

cho

rds

Fig

ured

bass fo

r do

min

ant sev

enth

cho

rds

Mo

du

lation

Intermediate Level Concepts (Adapted from the Musicianship Phase Chart in the Guild Syllabus)


I put together the following piano

curriculum as the culminating pro-

ject of my second semester Piano

Pedagogy class at Wisconsin Lu-

theran College. In it, I present

teaching tips, concepts, and reper-

toire for intermediate level piano

students. This curriculum is meant

to guide, not dictate. You are the

experienced teachers; I am the in-

experienced college student. How-

ever, as such, I had the time to do

some research, and that is what I

would like to share with you here.

You know your students best, so I

leave you to select the information

you find useful from this curricu-

lum.

General Teaching Tips

Incorporate sight-reading two

levels below the current per-

formance-playing level of the

student. Bartók’s Mikrokos-

mos Volumes 1-4 are excellent

books to use for sight-reading

at the intermediate level.

Early Intermediate: Volumes 1-2

Mid Intermediate: Volumes 2-3

Late Intermediate: Volumes 3-4

Early Advanced: Volume 4

According to James Bastien,

scales should not be practiced

in an unimaginative man-

ner. Here are some sugges-

tions: Crescendo on the way up,

decrescendo on the way down

One hand staccato, the other hand

legato

One hand louder than the other

Use offbeat accents

Use dotted rhythms

Use syncopated rhythms

Have students practice trills

separately, and be sure stu-

dents understand the symbols

that represent each trill in stan-

dard repertoire.

Repertoire Selection Guide

In Intermediate Piano Repertoire: A

Guide For Teaching, Dr. Cathy Albergo

and Dr. Reid Alexander classify the dif-

ferent levels of intermediate piano reper-

toire as follows:

E (Early Intermediate)

Easy intermediate literature; entry level

pieces for the particular style; a com-

poser’s easiest writing; material appro-

priate for introducing the classics.

I (Intermediate)

Moderately difficult pieces; possible

introductory pieces to the composer’s

style.

A (Advanced Intermediate to Ad-

vanced)

Difficult pieces that are possible for

skilled, motivated high school students;

a composer’s more advanced composi-

tions.

Jane Magrath’s The Pianists Guide to

Standard Teaching and Performance

Literature provides the following guide

when it comes to selecting repertoire for

students at the intermediate levels

(Levels 4 and 5 can be considered

Early Intermediate, 6 and 7 Mid In-

termediate, 8 and 9 Late Intermediate,

and level 10 Early Advanced):

Level 4: Anna Magdalena Bach Note-

book; Gurlitt Album for the Young, Op.

140; Tchaikovsky Album for the Young,

Op. 39

Level 5: Anna Magdalena Bach Note-

book; Sonatinas by Attwood, Lynes;

Menotti Poemetti

Level 6: Clementi Sonatinas, Op. 36;

Burgmüller 25 Progressive Pieces, Op.

100

Level 7: Kuhlau and Diabelli Sonatinas;

Bach easier Two-Part Inventions; Bach

Little Preludes; Dell Joio Lyric Pieces

for the Young

Level 8: Moderately difficult Bach Two-

Part Inventions; Beethoven easier varia-

tion sets; Field Nocturnes; Schumann

Album Leaves, Op. 124; Schubert

Waltzes; Turina Miniatures

Level 9: Easier Bach Three-Part Inven-

tions; easiest Haydn Sonata movements;

easiest Mendelssohn Songs Without

Words; easiest Chopin Mazurkas

Level 10: Bach Three-Part Inventions;

easiest Chopin Nocturnes; Beethoven

Sonatas, Op. 49, 79; Mozart Sonata,

K. 283; Muczynski Preludes

Suggested Pieces

In their book Creative Piano Teach-

ing, James Lyke, Yvonne Enoch and

Geoffrey Haydon recommend the fol-

lowing pieces from the Baroque, Clas-

sical, Romantic and 20th Century eras

for intermediate students. I have lev-

eled them using the reference books

listed above. For a brief description of

the pedagogical benefit of each piece,

see the book Creative Piano Teach-

ing.

Baroque:

J. S. Bach

Dances of J.S. Bach (Hinson, ed.) Levels 7-9 or

I-A

Gavotte from French Suite No. 5 in G Major,

BWV 816/4

Two-Part Inventions

No. 10 in G Major, BWV 781 Level 7

No. 14 in B Flat Major, BWV 785 Level 7

The Well Tempered Clavier, I

Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 847 A

Partita No. 1 in B Flat Major, BWV 825

VI: Giga (Palmer, ed.) A

Italian Concerto BWV 791 A

At the Piano with J.S. Bach (Hinson, ed.) Levels

4-10 or I

Capriccio on the Departure of his Beloved

Brother, BWV 992

III: Adagissimo (Lamentations of his friends)

Handel

An Introduction to his Keyboard Works (George

Lucktenberg, ed.) I

Gavotte in G Major Level 4

Purcell

Keyboard Works (Squire, ed.) I - A

Suite in G Major (Z 660) Level 6

Rameau

Complete Works for Solo Keyboard I - A

D. Scarlatti

Sonata in D Minor, L 366, K 1 Level 9

Sonata in C Major, L 104, K 159 Level 9

Classical

Beethoven

Für Elise Level 7 or I

Bagatelle in A Minor, Op. 119 No. 9 Level 6


From Emma Veers

Teaching tips, concepts and repertoire for intermediate students


Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 II Adagio Cantabile

Level 10

Sonata in C Minor, Op. 10 No. 1 I Allegro

molto e con brio Level 10

Clementi

Preludes from An Introduction to the Art of

Playing on the Pianoforte

Op. 43 (Bishop, ed.) Levels 5-7 or I

Six Progressive Sonatinas, Op. 36 (Hinson/

Bishop, eds.) I

Sonatina in C Major Op. 36 No. 3 Level 4

Haydn

Six Sonatinas (Palmer, ed.) I

Sonatina in F Major, Hob. XVI:9 Level 7

Sonata in A Major Hob. XVI:12 Level 7

Sonata in D Major Hob. XVI: 37 Level 8

I Allegro con brio

Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23 Levels 9-10

First Movement

Mozart

Sonatas and Fantasies (Broder, ed.) I - A

Sonata in G Major, K 283 Level 10

Sonata in C Major, K 545 Level 7-8

Sonata in F Major, K 280 Level 10

Fantasia in D Minor, K 397 Level 10

12 Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman

K300 e (265) (Hinson, ed.) Level 8 or I-A

Romantic

Brahms

Klavierstücke, Op. 118 Level 10 or A

Burgmüller

25 Progressive Pieces, Op. 100 Level 3-6 or E-I

Chopin

Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4 Level 6

Prelude in D Flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15 Level

9 or A

An Introduction to his Piano Works (Palmer,

ed.) E-I

Waltz in A Minor, posthumous. Level 7

Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2 Level 9

Field

Nocturne No. 5 in Bb Major Level 9

Grieg

Lyric Pieces I-A

Puck, Op. 71, No. 3 Level 6

Notturno, Op. 54, No. 4 Level 8

Wedding-Day at Troldhaugen, Op. 65, No. 6

Level 10

Heller

The Heller Collection (Hinson, ed) Levels 7-9

or I-A

Liszt

An Introduction to the Composer and his Music

(Banowetz, ed.) Levels 7-9 or I-A

MacDowell

Twelve Studies, Op. 39 Levels 8-9 or A

Mendelssohn

Songs Without Words (Hinson, ed.) Levels 7-10

or I-A

(Continued from page 14) Schubert

An Introduction to his Piano Works Levels 3-10 or

E-A

Impromptu, Op. 142, No. 2 Level 10

Schumann

Kinderszenen, Op. 15 Levels 7-10 or I

Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 Levels 9-10 or A

Tchaikovsky

Album for the Young, Op. 39 Levels 4-6

20th Century

Béla Bartók

Six Rumanian Folk Dances Level 9 or I

14 Bagatelles, Op. 6 Levels 8-10 or I-A

Aaron Copland

Four Piano Blues Levels 8-9 or I-A

Claude Debussy

Childrens Corner Levels 8-9 or I

Preludes (Book 1) Levels 9-10 or I-A

Norman Dello Joio

Lyric Pieces for the Young Levels 6-7 or I

Alberto Ginastera

Twelve American Preludes Levels 6-9 or I-A

Dimitri Kabalevsky

Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 38 Levels 8-10 or I-A

Aram Khachaturian

Toccata Level 9 or A

Robert Muczynski

Six Preludes, Op. 6 Levels 9-10 or A

Octavio Pinto

Scenas Infantis Levels 6-7 or I

Francis Poulenc

Mouvements Perpetuels Level 9 or I-A

Andre Previn

Impressions for Piano Levels 3-5 or I

Sergei Prokofiev

Music for Children, Op. 65 Levels 6-7 or E-I

Vladimir Rebikov

Silhouettes, Op. 31 Levels 4-6 or I

Eric Satie

3 Gymnopedies Levels 7-8 or E-I

William Schuman

Three-Score Set Levels 7-8 or I

Robert Starer

Sketches in Color Set 1 Levels 5-7

Technique Collections:

Montgomery, June C. Fundamental Musi-

cianship Skills For Piano and Keyboard:

Activities for Private or Group Lessons and

to Prepare for the National Guild of Piano Teachers Musicianship Phases (Levels

Elementary A, B, C, D, E&F, and Intermedi-

ate A&B)

Ms. Montgomery wrote these books in direct

correlation to the Guild Syllabus, and they provide a variety of exercises dealing with

technique (scales, chords, and arpeggios),

ear training, transposition and sight-reading.

Some of the elementary levels may be used

as a review for intermediate students.

Kowalchyk, G. & Lancaster E.L. Daily

Warm-Ups Set 5: Major Scales & Arpeg-

gios (Two Octaves)

Kowalchyk, G. & Lancaster E.L. Daily

Warm-Ups Set 6: Minor Scales & Arpeg-

gios (Two Octaves)

These two books of two octave scales

provide students with practice playing all

of the major and minor scales and arpeg-

gios, as well as cadences in all keys.

Bober, M., Kowalchyk, G. & Lancaster

E.L. Pentascale Pro Books 1 and 2.

Although these are both elementary books,

the fact that they contain short pieces in

all of the keys make them valuable tools

for sight-reading at the intermediate level,

as well as a good review of five-finger

patterns in all keys.

Improvisation Method Books

Although teaching improvisation can

be a daunting concept for piano teach-

ers, being able to improvise in a vari-

ety of musical styles has great benefits

to piano students. Not only will they

have the ability to play in a jazz band

if so inclined, but being able to impro-

vise in the style of a certain piece of

music aids in memorization. Here are

some collections to guide the piano

teacher in teaching the basics of im-

provisation:

Chung, Brian & Thurmond, Dennis

Improvisation at the Piano: A Systematic

Approach for the Classically Trained Pianist

The following books were suggested

by Lyke, Enoch and Haydon in their

book Creative Piano Teaching:

Boyd, Bill

An Introduction to Jazz Chord Voicings

Collins, Ann

How to Use a Fake Book

Lead Lines and Changes

Evans, Lee

Beginning Jazz Improvisation

How to Play Chord Symbols in Jazz &

Pop Music

E

a

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Subscription information for Note-ables

Note-ables: A newsletter for

WELS piano teachers

Karen Hunter

4734 Bergamot Way

Middleton, WI 53562

Phone: 1-608-836-7497

Website/contact information:

karenhunterpiano.com

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g it!!

Coming in the May 2011 issue of

Note-ables: A comparison of piano

methods by Dr. Kayme Henkel of

Silver Spring, M

D

ables - Karen Hunter Piano Studio 2 A NEWSLETTER FOR WELS PIANO TEACHERS NOTE-ABLES January 2011...

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