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All In a Day's Work
The inspiration for this extended improvisation was Grieg's ‘Morning'. My pupil enjoyed this melody and wanted to play it himself.
The resulting programme takes between two and three minutes to play, but the work involved in achieving this took about two months, or eight half-hour lessons combined with working at home with a parent.
Preparation
I taught him to play the opening melody of ‘Morning' with his right hand by rote, as he does not read music. This could also be done by using the letter names of the notes, or by reading notation.
Learning Objectives; Listening, Reading music or rote learning
Preparation
As an accompaniment to the melody, we wanted to add in some chords in the left hand. To teach him about chords, we learned ‘Chopsticks'. We played this together, with him playing the chord pattern at the bottom of the piano while I played the tune at the top.
Learning Objectives; Playing duets, Ensemble playing, Preparation
Preparation
Then we talked about what comes before the morning - the quiet of night. We experimented with playing quietly, to suggest the stillness that comes before morning. Then we remembered the dawn chorus, the singing and twittering of the birds, which we created on the high notes of the piano.
Learning Objectives; Quiet playing, Creative improvisation
General learning objectives
As well as the particular learning objectives listed, there are a number of objectives that apply to playing in general;
- playing with strong, agile fingers
- awareness and execution of dynamics
- access to a formal tune by means of rote learning or notation
- creative improvisation - developing the use of imagination in musical terms
- appreciation of melody and accompaniment and use of chords
- description of contrasting moods in pianistic terms
- duet and ensemble work - give and take on the keyboard in an improvisatory way
- the ability to work on the programme and reproduce it over a period of weeks
The benefits of working in this way spill over into;
- language development - discussing ideas and planning
- concentration - remembering a fairly long programme
- motor co-ordination - using individual finger work in a variety of ways: fast and slow, loud and soft, balancing melody and accompaniment