Wednesday, October 14, 2020

The Easy Way to Merge Creativity with a Piano Method Book



One of my favorite ways to introduce composition and improvisation in piano lessons is to pair it with the concepts that are already being introduced in the student's method books. Rather than following the order of songs in Forrest Kinney's Create First books from start to finish, I prefer to choose songs that specifically relate to the lesson book concepts. My plans that correlate with Piano Adventures Book 1 are listed below. I recently posted free lesson plans for the other Piano Adventures and Piano Pronto method books with creative activities related to the concept of each piece.

Creativity with Legato/Staccato

Creativity with Treble FACE

  • Compose your own “Happy Pine” lively melody that includes just the notes F-A-C-E in any order/octave.

Creativity with C Pentascale

  • Watch Create First New Day, New Way Solo and Duet.  Then create your own melodies using the notes from the C pentascale.

Creativity with Intervals

Creativity with Sharps and Flats

  • Watch Create First Arabian Nights Duet and Solo.  Create melodies with white keys +G#.
  • Watch Create First Easy Going Duet and Solo or Cool Duet and Solo.  Then create your own music using the blues scale.
  • Watch Create First Don’t Give Up Duet and Solo.  Then create your own melodies using the E-flat blues scale (black keys + A natural).

Syncopated Rhythm (Boogie on Broadway)

  • Listen to the syncopated rhythms of Create First Bueno! Duet and Solo.  Can you create melodies with the a minor scale (a,b,c,d,e) that have a syncopated rhythm.

Creativity with Pentascales and Chords

More Creative Piano Teaching Ideas


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