Lead Sheets

   This summer I wanted to introduce each student to a lead sheet. I have used them over the years and they appear in the strangest places. For example, I was hired by a very passionate third grade teacher to come into her classroom to do music. This school had a music teacher and each classroom went once a week. She wanted more, so she paid me, out of her pocket for eight years. I went in on Mondays and stayed 45 minutes. I started out just accompanying, but over time she gave me more license and freedom to bring in music of my choice. The music she gave me to play was mostly lead sheets. Sometimes I had to make my own because she would hum the melody and I would jot down the tune on music paper I had with me. It was a learning adventure for me for sure.

    The Fabers have included lead sheets in their new edition lesson books. I have scoured the internet for free music to add to my collection. I start with just one note in the left hand, the root note. Then I add fifths, the first and the fifth note of the chord, and finally the whole chord.
     Here is an example of a great song to use that plan. "Walk Don't Run" sounds good with just one bass note, the fifths, and the chord. With my intermediate students who understand intervals, I show them the inverted chords, close together for fluency.
     Reasons to work with lead sheets-

1. It opens the door to understanding chord theory
2. Improvisation happens naturally
3. Traditional songs come back into use, like Happy Birthday.

Wikifonia is a great internet site for finding lead sheets and even uploading your own.
                                                  Find some free lead sheets here.

Talking About Music

      Talking about music with my students is sometimes quite magic. I handed A. a pencil and told her she was sitting in the teacher seat today. We were editing her music called "Dance With the Stars". In an effort to help bring her note reading skills on par with her composing skills, I was playing what I had transcribed and she was correcting. Finally words like crescendo, dynamics, and tempo had a real meaning. She is very particular about her own music. Being a natural musician, my task is to encourage her to become well rounded in all musical skills.

 
 When my next student arrived I handed her "Dance With The Stars" to sight read. M. reads music but the key of G flat means adjusting to black keys. Quickly she found the pattern and was delighted with the ease but also the sound. I told her who wrote it and we talked about the musical hook that captured our attention. In the middle of this animated conversation M. exclaimed, "There is some music I have to learn!" Why does some music vibrate our heart strings? We didn't find all the answers but I teach for moments like these when music is alive.
   Here is the music. I have permission to share.

I Am A Pianist

       As a teacher I am on the lookout for opportunities my students might have to learn to play with others. Accompanying singing groups is such an opportunity that comes along too infrequently. I would love them all to learn this skill once they are intermediate pianists. This past year one of my students accompanied his early morning religion class when they sang together. He struggled to keep on beat but his peers gave him encouragement and over the year he learned many pieces. 

    One song, in particular, was very difficult and the object of learning it was to accompany a larger group at the closure of the school year. Observing him at the first rehearsal I noticed that he was steady but slower than the conductor. Thanks to patient adults, who want to see our youth grow, I observed his skill taking off as the pressure during rehearsal pushed him beyond his comfort zone. As his piano teacher, one on one, I would never be able to apply this positive pressure on him. At the final performance he soared and the conductor felt he was tuned into him completely. I listened as many people thanked him for his ability and commitment. There was a new confidence and an almost visual mantle fell across his shoulders. "I am a pianist."

Getting off Beat

   Maria was playing a difficult piece with all the right notes but she seemed unaware of the rhythm pulse. On which part of the beat did the notes enter? Her brow furrowed and her body tensed. I asked her to isolate two measures and write in the beats. A moment of fear passed her eyes. What exactly did I mean? We started at the beginning. How many counts did the half note get? 1 & 2 &, she squeezed the symbols under the staff and waited as the next note appeared to be tied to a following note. Where did that tied note fit in the beats? We seemed to be as far away from the flow and beauty of this song as possible. In frustration she looked at me, silently asking how this could possibly clear up her practice problem.

  The ear and the senses are remarkable tools in playing the piano but they are sometimes 

wrong. Often we must go back to the linear math of music to see how the notes are put together. Ideally that should happen the first time we read a new piece but we get seduced by the sound and get carried away, guessing instead of knowing what the notes reveal.

  Life is like that to. Quite often we do not take stock of what is happening. We "play it by ear" and find out later we are fuzzy on the details. Our experience feels out of sync and no longer holds the joy we thought possible. That is when we must go back to the beginning and count. What action should I have taken at this point in the experience. How is the moment tied to this action? As the linear processing unfolds we begin to feel the steady beat, and now we know when we are right. There is nothing as physically satisfying as being "right on the beat".

Understanding Music

                   I ran across this wonderful video about music.

The Happy Birthday Project

    As part of my campaign to prove that Playing The Piano Is A Practical Skill I have challenged all my students to learn a version of Happy Birthday. Some of us are learning it with thumbs sharing on middle C, others are learning it in the key of F as a lead sheet with the primary chords, and still some are learning it in different styles. Once you play it for me from memory you get to be on the Happy Birthday Board. If you play it for someone on or around their birthday you get an added sticker.

                      I am halfway through my student list and it is such fun watching the results.

"Piano Is Practical" Mini Documentary

   Piano is a practical skill meaning that the skill has usefulness through out life. So, as parents I would like to encourage practical (likely to succeed or be effective in real circumstances) assistance to your child in their practice routine. 

  I asked many of the parents in my studio to describe their child's practice routine. Here are some of their great comments.

1. She practices at the same time every day however long she wants. Sometimes she gives a concert.

2. His routine is to practice in the mornings before school.   15 to 20 minutes on most days.   He usually starts with scales.   I sit with him and help him.

3.They have changed over the years. Typically I prompt the children to do their practice.

4. He plays any chance he gets.  He plays his favorite pieces over and over.  He also picks out, by ear, new pieces he likes.  He plays at least 45 mins./ daily

5. Usually practices after dinner for about 15 minutes and during free time on weekends.

6.  I try to have her practice after dinner and in the morning on late-start days and Saturdays. I have her play each of her pieces three times through until she knows them well enough to do it fairly well, and then two times through each time after that. I am not consistent enough.

7. We do scales, new songs, review old songs up to 10 total, do the theory book.  Sometimes we do note flash cards if we have time.

8. She often plays on her own

9. In the past she would play many times during the day, but lately she has been in a funk

10. He gets up and plays after everyone is awake

  

    I see a similar thread winding through these comments. Practice before school if they are elementary age and practice after dinner if they are middle school and high school age. Practicing the same time every day is a very sound solution. If your child has a heavy homework schedule taking a break to practice for 20 minutes will make them more able to concentrate again, after. 

   I remember the challenges of children practicing, very well; I had five of my own. One skill I developed was to acknowledge that I was not the best practice buddy every day for my children but I was able to be really good with each child once a week. On the day that my focus became intense with that one child, I listened more intently to their playing and assessed the flow and amount of hesitations and mistakes. I read their assignments carefully it see if they were playing all assigned music and I asked questions about their intentions. I tried to give assistance to the problems they identified. I showered them with praise and hoped that this was enough to carry us through the week. You may think that it was easy for me because I was a teacher but my daughter played violin and I knew very little about that instrument. The complexity of her instructions and her frustrations were often more than I could handle. I was not perfect, but once a week I was great.

   I hope this encourages us all to see piano as a practical and useful skill. Watch our video about how we see pianists in everyday life.