I really need to finish off my scale postings because I have a number of other things that I’d like to write about! So, here are some ideas and resources I have used in teaching scales. 1. Graphical scales. Rather than showing the notes on the staff, these graphical scales show the fingerings on a …
Natalie asks a great question for open discussion at her blog Music Matters. The question is basically, “How do you teach students to rip off their scales in 4 octaves, played in 16th notes at quarter=126 BPM?” I have to be honest and say that, due to having started studios in 4 different cities, and …
Once I’m 100% sure that a student can reliably find whole steps and half steps from any key on the keyboard, we proceed to step two of the “learning major pentascales” process. Step One is here. On their assignment page, I write this formula: S-W-W-H-W1 -2 -3 -4 -5 The letters stand for Start-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole. Of …
With my beginner students, I start to teach pentascales about the time that they begin playing notes on the staff. I start off by explaining half steps and whole steps. Several years ago, I took a twin bedsheet and drew a keyboard on it with permanent marker, making the keys big enough to step on. …
I am not a Suzuki teacher, but this quote sums up how I feel exactly. I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.—Shin’ichi Suzuki
