Tag Archives: music theory

teaching

January Through May Lesson Materials

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Here are all of the updates to my lesson materials since the beginning of the year.

In my Mallet Instrument Warm-Ups I added exercises using relative natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales.

In my Music theory Method Book, Level 1 I added Parallel Harmonic and Melodic Minor and in Level 2 I edited the interval pages to make them more concise.

I added more Guitar Finger-Picking Patterns (now a total of 12 pages).

I added a “Setlist Curriculum” for Guitar and Ukulele, which goes through a collection of different songs they can play as they learn more and more chords, so they can gradually build their setlist.

I added more of my method books on MyScore, so now almost all of my Guitar and Ukulele Method Books (Chord-Strumming, Recital Songbook, Strumming Rhythms Index, and Note-Reading) have Books 1 and 2 available for purchase. My Guitar Chord-Strumming Method also has Book 3 and Book 4.

Links to the individual method books for purchase on MyScore can be found under the FOR MY STUDENTS tab, on the GUITAR and UKULELE pages. All of the other materials can be found under the FOR MY STUDENTS tab, on the GUITAR, MALLETS, MUSIC THEORY, and UKULELE pages. As always, please let me know if you use any of these teaching materials with your students, and if you find them helpful, or if you have any questions or comments.

teaching

Guitar/Ukulele Note-Reading and Beginning Music Theory

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During the second half of February I made a push to finish almost all of my guitar and ukulele note-reading units, once I had decided on my overall plan of which keys to do and in which order. In my Guitar Note-Reading Method Book I finished Unit 5: The Key of F Major, Unit 6: The Key of E Major, Unit 7: The Key of B Flat Major, and Unit 8: 8th Notes. Similarly, in my Ukulele Note-Reading Method Book I finished Unit 5: The Key of B Flat Major, Unit 6: The Key of A Major, Unit 7: The Key of E Flat Major, and Unit 8: 8th Notes.

I recently also had a realization that if some people are struggling with music theory, it might be because they are having difficulty reading notes on the staff. Music notation can be a barrier between them and the overall music theory concepts, so I created some beginning music theory sheets that use only text. So far, I’ve done a unit on major scales, a unit on (relative) natural minor scales, and a unit on harmonic and melodic minor scales (all up to 3 sharps and 3 flats).

PDFs of all of these materials can be found under the FOR MY STUDENTS tab, on the GUITAR, UKULELE, and MUSIC THEORY pages. As always, please let me know if you use any of these teaching materials with your students, and if you find them helpful, or if you have any questions or comments.