Piano Teaching

Teach Beat and Rhythm Successfully With This Simple 5-Step Game

Do you have trouble explaining the difference between pulse and rhythm?
Get physical first with this fun, simple song Helen uses in both her Kodály Musicianship and Piano lessons. Your students will FEEL the difference and you won’t get tangled up with ineffective, wordy explanations.

Top 5 Simple Improvisation Activities for Kodály Piano Teachers

2 Comments / Piano Teaching / By Helen

Developing improvisation with young children is far more achievable than you think. So put away those jazz riffs and use age-appropriate…

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Here are my Top 5 Improvisation ActivitiesImprovisation #1 – Warming UpThis is possibly my favourite warm-up that I have previously shared with you. Using an imaginary balloon ask your student to choose the colour and then imagine blowing it up and letting all the air come out of it again.Improvisation #2 – Action songs“Hey, Hey look at me! I am singing look at me”.Sing these with your children and ask them to give you different actions such as clapping, stomping, or waving.Improvisation #3 – Story songsIt’s a simple la-so-mi song used by Kodály music teachers. The melody is simply ssllssmm. At the end of the song you say “Wolf? Are you there?” The child has to say yes or no. If it’s no, they have to give a reason. For example “No, I’m brushing my teeth.”Improvisation #4 – Free PlayWe start by improvising based on different verbal stimuli like Scary Bear, Raindrops, Ballerina.Then we play the game. They choose four situations or characters. For each one they improvise sounds. At our next lesson, after drawing their pictures and practising their sounds, they have to secretly choose one for me to guess. All I have to go on is their musical sounds!Improvisation #5 – Level-UpLevelling up completed pieces with improvisation is a joyous experience. I start with one of my own compositions, Black Crow. Once they are confident with the first steps they can start to improvise. As the crow flies high in the sky, the child chooses another skip position higher up the keys, and another and another. Each time it’s different and the child chooses which set to use.Want to know more? There is more detail about each of these improvisations in my article, Top 5 Simple Improvisation Activities for Kodály Piano Teachers >> bit.ly/3pb7mlo ... See MoreSee Less

13 hours ago ·

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Music is magical ❤️ ... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago ·

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Do you take time out for yourself? As a busy working mother who also volunteers with various groups, I understand the importance of taking time out for yourself. It is a great way to recharge the batteries and focus on your personal needs, which in turn help others around you. At the end of the day, a happy person is a joy to be around.One of the reasons why Doremi Connect is such a great community is because we are all passionate about music, teaching, and sharing it with others, whilst expanding our own knowledge and skills.Doremi offers time for you through our musicianship classes, time for friends with our Doremi Sofa membership group, and time for training, where you can develop your piano skills.You can find out more about the time we give to you on our website >> bit.ly/3iGOJoe ... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago ·

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Are you ready to learn, develop your skills and have fun?Our Muscianship for Improvers class re-starts this morning with Doremi founder Helen.The class introduces the full diatonic scales, five pentatonic scales and pentachords (BKA Level 3-4).Tailoring to the needs of the class, Helen creates a warm, safe and nurturing environment. This is a 6 week course and runs every Friday morning at 09:30 until 16th July.There is still time to sign up and join in >> bit.ly/3wZOf0r ... See MoreSee Less

6 days ago ·

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What are you doing on Friday morning?Fancy joining us for some music, fun, friendship and learning?Helen Russell's Musicianship for Improvers is a weekly Zoom class on Friday mornings. Classes start on Friday 11th June at 09:30.Open to returning members as well as new starters.We are really looking forward to seeing you there. You can find out more and sign up here >> bit.ly/3v5fUN4 ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago ·

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