Syllabus Savvy

by Elaine Wipf

How is your Syllabus Savvy?  Are you able to maximize the teaching resources of the syllabus?  The syllabus, PEPP, and resource list are valuable tools that will help you with many aspects of teaching.   Certainly the syllabus helps with exam preparation, but the syllabus also is a wonderful resource for planning curriculum, evaluating student level and needs, and determining the available options for printed music.  The syllabus is truly a teacher’s helper.

The syllabus is in three sections, the Syllabus (repertoire lists and requirements for each level), PEPP, and the ResourceList.  These three sections work together to help guide you and your student through exam preparation.  The syllabus contains level appropriate lists of repertoire.  This is a great way to plan curriculum, not only for the current level but in planning ahead for advancement.  Even if your student is not preparing for the exam, you can be sure of making a quality selection of repertoire if you use the syllabus lists.  

Using the syllabus also provides you with an opportunity to evaluate your student’s level and progress.  Since each level includes appropriate technical skills, theory requirements, sight reading, and questions about style and form, you can be confident that your student is developing into a well rounded musician.  Also included in each level is a list of student expectations, so you and your student can evaluate their progress and readiness for testing.

The PEPP section (Piano Exam Preparation Packet) will help you assess readiness, and also build student confidence.  There are practice keyboard skills tests, and charts that help you track the progress of your student.  Even if your student is not taking the exam, the keyboard skills tests can be used for in studio testing and awards.

The last section of the Syllabus consists of the resource list.  Are you wishing to locate a specific piece?  Or are you wishing to know which pieces from the syllabus are in a specific book?  Many teachers use the resource list to make cost effective selections by finding books that contain pieces from the current level, and an advancing level for the future.  The resource section can help you locate, and plan your selection of printed music for your students.

The MMTA syllabus is a guide for exam preparation, but it is so much more.  Get the most from your syllabus and use it to plan repertoire, locate repertoire, evaluate your students, and plan a curriculum that is balanced and well rounded.  Be a Syllabus Savvy teacher!

A Student's View

This is a college application essay written by Jared Funk, student of Kathleen Tueber Younker.

I started playing the piano when I was young. When I started learning music, my teacher taught me rhythm by having me stomp and clap to the beat. This meant that my repertoire consisted of what I could stomp and clap. Now I am currently working on the piece "Through Moanin' Pines", an early advanced song. It has always interested me how I could go from all my musical talent being stored in one finger to reading pages of music covered in ink. I think this also applies to my high school education because I'm ready to finish the “stomping stage.”

           

When I went to my first lesson, everything seemed intimidating. There was a tall lady who kept telling me what to do, large machines with unusual buttons, mysterious charts, graphs, and tapes. I never thought I’d be able to comprehend what was going on and what I was doing. I was forced to do some odd rituals similar to a dance. It all seemed so suspicious. Soon after that dreadful day, everything changed: that tall lady, weird machine, everything. Step by step, I began to grasp the concepts behind this thing they call music.

            

My piano lessons started with simple games so I would understand things like rhythm or how long a beat was and gradually transitioned into chords and scales. At first it didn’t make any sense. “Why do these particular buttons work together but these don’t?” That was the general question asked by my 5-year-old brain. Unfortunately for me, that wasn’t even the half of it. I had to press buttons at different pressures, speeds, and timings. I had to use more than one hand at the same time or use the pedals with my feet. All these tasks didn’t seem possible to do simultaneously. Those thoughts persisted until the moment I could actually do it. It was magic! Everything seemed supernatural at that point. It was time for the show: Lights, camera, action!

             

I’ll admit it. When I started playing piano, I loathed performing at recitals and concerts. Performing was pure agony. My teacher, however, insisted it was important. I could not understood why. Couldn’t we just learn music and keep it to ourselves? Now I understand that without something to strive for, without a testament to what we’ve accomplished, we’ll never have the motivation to finish it. That one idea, motivation, has meant a lot to me. The same idea that brings doughnuts and cake to people’s minds is what allowed me to accomplish great things.

              

I’ve been taking piano lessons for over 10 years, objectively speaking, but the impact from the simple practice of learning music has gone much farther than time. I’ve spent so much time pressing those keys of white and black no unit of time can do it justice. In retrospect, it's funny how this abstract concept of music, combined with this oddly shaped machine became such an influential part of my life.

              

Every once in a while my extended family comes in with their little troop of toddlers. They see that magical box of musical  wonder and start banging on the keys just to see what happens. I see in that moment a fraction of what I was like, how much I’ve changed. Then almost immediately one specific question pops up, “Can you play?” That's all I need to hear. There’s nothing left to do but bang on those keys.

Getting Started

by Kirsten Levorson
Originally published in the January 2014 issue of the MMTA Newsletter

The Piano Exam Development Committee would like to thank all of you for responding to our survey this fall with helpful feedback about this program! Your responses are being reviewed to guide our work. Our first impressions: You affirmed the value of this comprehensive program, and you want tools to help you make this program even more accessible for more students.

As a result, we’ve decided to make “Getting Started with the Syllabus” our theme for this year. Our newsletter articles will detail a variety of ways teachers use the syllabus with their students, discuss the tools and resources we use to manage syllabus planning for our students, and give tips for mentally preparing students for the exam experience and for interpreting the adjudicator’s comments so that the student gets the full benefit of the program.

One comment that we heard many times from survey respondents was, “the syllabus provides the framework for my curriculum; I use it with all my students, even if they don’t go to the site and take the test.” That really sums up the value our members find in the syllabus.

So how do you get started using this fabulous curriculum with your students, if you haven’t before?

 1. Some teachers get started by using one part of the exam with all their students. It might be the technical
skills, or it might be the sightplaying. Students can prepare these portions of the exam and test them
separately if the comprehensive exam seems too daunting for a first step.

2. Some teachers learn the syllabus level by level. One year, they enter a bunch of students in the Prep level.
The next year, those students advance to Level One and a new bunch of students start Prep. Each year, the
teacher is simply learning the requirements for one new level of the syllabus.

3. Some teachers use the syllabus just for their hardest working students.

4. Some teachers limit the choices – for instance, having all students at a certain level play the same
repertoire selections.

5. Many let repertoire selections do double duty – contest pieces can be substituted, so that a piece the
student has already learned well can be the start of a full program.

6. Use your mentors. If you don’t have one, find one or ask a committee member for help. Check in
with a mentor when you are planning repertoire selections, and ask questions when requirements
seem confusing.

7. Volunteer on testing days. It’s a great way to get some hands on experience with the program. Helping at
the desk, you will see how things work and what you can do to make it a good experience for your
students. You’ll have time for conversation with seasoned teachers, too.

8. Check out the resources available to support the syllabus: 2010 Resource List helps you find syllabus
pieces in many anthologies; Piano Exam Prep Packet includes sample skills tests plus reproducible planning
forms; Style Characteristics Chart helps students prepare for oral questions; reproducible Keyboard Skills
sheets are available for Prep and Level One (more coming soon). All of these are available online at
www.mnmusicteachers.com on the Teachers Resources page.

Boost your learning curve

by Elaine Wipf
Originally published in the February 2010 issue of the MMTA Newsletter

As our students are busy with exams, contests and festivals, we see their learning curve soar as they rise to the challenges presented.  They give their best effort to achieve these goals.  If we expect our students to bring a desire to learn and diligent effort to their musical endeavors, should we expect less of ourselves?  As teachers we must continue to learn and continue to grow.

While learning may include the pursuit of a higher degree, this certainly is not our only option.  Our learning curve can be developed in many ways.  Here are 10 ways to boost your learning curve in 2010.

• Teach a piece you have not taught before! – You will approach it with freshness, and you may discover a new pedagogical gem.

• Play through new music! – This may include playing through lesser performed works of standard composers, or playing works by recent or newly discovered and published composers.

• Learn and master a new piece! – What is that piece you have always wanted to play?  Now is the time to dig in and start practicing.  Working through the difficulties of a challenging piece gives fresh insight into your students’ struggles, and you may discover a new approach to a practicing dilemma.

• Listen! – There are a variety of opportunities to listen to music including, recordings, concerts, You Tube or iTunes.  Online opportunities can help you find recordings of lesser known works.  This is one learning activity that you can do while driving.  Have you heard all of the Chopin Mazurkas?  The Debussy Preludes?  Try listening to several different recordings of the same piece.  You will be amazed at what you learn!

• Read books! – There are many wonderful books about composers, musical style, keyboard literature, piano pedagogy, psychology of learning, and a wealth of other topics that will boost our learning curve. Make a list of books you want to read, then select one or two of them and start reading.

• Turn on the computer! – There are many e-journals available.  “Googling” a topic will produce a wealth of information. There are websites, and chat rooms that are specifically purposed to help music teachers.

• Attend the MMTA convention! – Clear the dates now (June 7-8) for the upcoming MMTA convention.  I am always inspired anew by the sessions, and the interchange of ideas with other music teachers. 

• Attend other pedagogy seminars, conferences and master classes! – There are a myriad of opportunities both close and far.  The costs of transporting and staying at a conference are decreased by finding other music teachers attending, and sharing the cost of gas and motel.

• Keep in contact with local groups of music teachers! – The MMTA local groups often provide continuing education opportunities in their meetings.  The contact of professional with professional always sharpens our skills.

• Go back to school! – This will guarantee challenge, learning and growth. You can opt for a degree program or audit the classes! Some pedagogy seminars offer the option of credit.

The opportunities are there.  Seize them!  How is your LEARNING CURVE?

Hands off teaching

By Kathie Younker
Originally published in the MMTA Newsletter, April 2012

I once had a student who, whenever I took over the piano at a lesson, acted a little annoyed. I couldn't figure out why, because everyone knows that demonstration is worth a thousand words, right? I was at the peak of my performing ability, and I had a lot of skills to impart. I knew how it should sound, I knew the historical framework of the music, and it was a time saver for her to listen to me and do what I did. I had gone to wonderful workshops and master classes where the master played and the student (sometimes after a few tries) duplicated the style, the touch and the expression, in fact every nuance, exactly as demonstrated by the master.

I didn't learn from my student that I should try a different approach, but it always weighed on me in my subsequent teaching. As I began to teach more and more advanced students, I realized that I had to make a choice: either I had to teach only those pieces I had under my fingers or I needed to be willing to teach pieces I couldn't play as well as my students could. I am a person who bores easily of teaching the same pieces all the time, so I chose the latter, and thereby made an amazing discovery. I discovered ways of teaching that transcended my technical skills. I became the orchestra conductor who doesn't need to grab the oboe and show the oboist how to play, but rather, respects the oboist enough to realize that he will figure out the means if he is inspired by an idea.

Therein lies the challenge: how does the teacher impart the knowledge without taking control of the piano? How does the teacher relinquish control of the piano and still earn his/her salary?
Imagery, gestures, stories, lyrics, and singing are all wonderful ways to get the students' creative juices flowing. Imagining what is going on in the piece (what story is it trying to tell, or what impression is it creating?) is a way to really get the student actively involved. Gesturing a phrase with the arms, or dancing the dance while the student plays, helps get the feeling of the forward motion as well as the rhythm and accent of the dance. Gesturing the type of touch in the air or on the keyboard gives them a strong visual idea of how the muscles and joints move to create a given sound. Writing some extra dynamics or even a breath mark can spark their expressive imagination.
Improvising lyrics and singing them while students play also helps them feel the drama or the humor, while at the same time gives them an understanding of where the piece has to breath. A little history lesson can help a lot to give them a sense of the style of the particular period or of a particular composer. The more I did this type of teaching, the more I discovered new ways to impart my ideas creatively, and the more descriptive and alive I became with my teaching.
I discovered that a 'hands-off' style of teaching validates both the student and the teacher:

• It shows respect for the student's creative ability and recognizes the student as a partner in the learning process.
• It helps you the teacher (or the adjudicator) be a little more open to the student's interpretation of the music, since if you aren't spending your teaching time drilling the student to learn your interpretation, you will be spending more time listening.
• It gives you the teacher a guilt-free-but-effective alternative teaching style when needed, for example, if you are ill or incapacitated physically, if the piece the student is learning is not under your fingers, or if you have a student who prefers to keep control of the piano.
• It gives students confidence and a feeling of independence as a musician, which goes a long way in making them confident performers. There's nothing more confidence building than the feeling that they can play a piece better than their teacher.

I want to be part of that!

by Judy Payne
Originally published in the MMTA Newsletter, December 2012

Gravitation – a movement or force toward something or someone.

I joined MMTA via WSMTA [West Suburban Music Teachers Association] as a chance to commune with other music teachers in the western suburbs. To be frank, I did not expect the level of professionalism that I witnessed by these dedicated musicians and teachers. I was simply blown away by the chops these women displayed as they explored and played at the annual Composers Forum meeting in May. I wanted to be part of that.

The next year I attended the National Convention in Austin, Texas. The seminars were wonderful, the mood inviting, and the inspiration to become more deeply involved in professional development solidified. I began attending the state convention. I wanted to be part of that.
During the first years of MMTA membership, I began to enroll many of my students in the State Piano Contest, believing that it was the premier offering of the MMTA, enhanced by memories of playing in the 10 Piano Concert at Northrop in the late 1960s! As a music theory major in college, it was natural to begin to familiarize myself with the MMTA Theory Program and to begin using its materials with my students. I wanted to be part of that.

However, initially, I did not explore the Comprehensive Piano Examination Curriculum. It appeared somehow too, je ne sais quoi… However, in the spirit of a convert, I have wholly embraced the gravitation to what I now believe is the strongest element of the offerings of the MMTA. So how did I experience this change, or more importantly, how can I suggest ways to facilitate the gravitation in other members?

Well, my first transfer student showed me the way. He had already passed the first two levels and was eager to continue in the work. I put the pieces of the puzzle together, what literature he had played, what piano skills he had acquired and where he was with theory. I opened my Piano Examination binder and read and highlighted what I needed to do to advance him to the next level. What had seemed rather unfocused became quite clear once I simply started using the materials.

The next year, I chose approximate levels for each of my students, using the summer to choose literature and to prepare the overall lesson plan for each student for the next year. With this work done, the academic year really became focused into attainable goals. The program incorporates literature, keyboard skills, and sightreading. I could devote my energies as a teacher to developing and relaying a deeper understanding of musical principles and musicality. What a joy! I wanted to be part of that.

Now, a proviso from a convert. Although I use the materials to develop an individualized course of study for each student, I do not require that every student actually take the examination. If this is anathema for you, stop reading. I do believe the core of learning is the most important element, and highly specific requirements should be weighed for each individual student. I have a couple of upper level students that just do not have the time or drive to complete Theory Level IV as a prerequisite for their Piano Examinations. I have a few students who find the differences in the keyboard skills of Theory versus those of Piano Exams confounding. I have some who absolutely find it impossible to schedule year end exams on the same dates as AP and ACT/SAT testing. Are any of these issues insurmountable? No. But, again, my own belief is in the curriculum itself, not in its testing. However, I have some students who absolutely relish the examination experience and the results. Some want the certificate and what it represents, some want the points and ribbons. But what I want is to be the best teacher possible and to give each of my students a well designed and purposeful music education. I want to be a part of that!

More Scale Fingering Help

by Sharon Kaplan
originally published January 2013 in the MMTA Newsletter

At the MMTA Visioning Session last August, there was a request that MMTA provide a book that has all the piano syllabus technical skills spelled out, with fingerings. And wouldn’t you know, we found someone, Elise Rieke, who is working on that and is willing to share it with us!! But working everything out and getting it all on paper takes time. Until then, here are some references that some of our committee members have found helpful.

THE FJH CLASSIC SCALE BOOKS by McArthur/McLean

FJH CLASSIC FIRST SCALE BOOK for Prep - level 2

* Major and parallel minor pentascales

* Cross-hand arpeggios
* Tonic chords (blocked and broken)
* Cadences (I-V-I, I-V(7)-I)
* Major and minor One-octave scales
* Three-note tonic chord inversions
* Cadence I IV V V7 I
* Instructional pages explaining all of the concepts covered in this book
* Quick Guide to Scale Fingering
* Practice guides
* Progress charts.

FJH CLASSIC SCALE BOOK for Level 3 - 6

* Explains concept for Major Scales

* Explains concept for Minor Scales
* One-octave major and minor scales in parallel motion in quarter notes
* Two-octave major and natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales in in parallel motion in eighths notes
* Contrary motion major and harmonic minor scales
* Triads and inversions ,block and broken
* Diminished 7th 4-note chord block
* Diminished 7th arpeggios
* Key note arpeggios.
* Cadence I IV V V7 I and inversions
* Chromatic Scale.

THE BROWN SCALE BOOK: Scales, Chords and Arpeggios for Piano Level 7- 11

This no-nonsense compendium is just the ticket as a reference source for scales and arpeggios. Every key is covered with major and minor (harmonic and melodic) scales, arpeggios, and chords. There's also a useful repertoire of practice ideas, contrary motion, third, sixths,...

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF SCALES, CHORDS, ARPEGGIOS & CADENCES

Scale, chord, arpeggio and cadence studies in all major and minor keys presented in a convenient two-page format. Includes an in-depth 12 page explanation that leads to complete understanding of the fundamentals of major and minor scales, chords, arpeggios and cadences plus a clear explanation of scale degrees and a two-page guide to fingering the scales and arpeggios. In addition, several enrichment options are provided with exercises such as harmonizing scales, accelerating scales expanding scales and much more!