What would help you most?

Which project should I work on next?

I need your help.

Over the last few months I’ve had several ideas for resources.

I can’t find any of them out there, but they really ought to exist. I’d like to make them all, but I simply don’t have time!

Please help me choose where to focus. Which of these would be most helpful to you? (See explanations below!)

About the ideas

Accompaniments in all keys & metres

Ensemble playing is great for piano students, helping them to develop a strong sense of time and shape.

Ensemble improvisation is excellent for budding improvisers, especially nervous ones! It reduces the pressure and gives them somewhere to hide while they try out ideas.

To do this, I routinely make up accompaniments. That means my students are used to improvising in different keys and metres. I imagine many other teachers do this too.

But if you’re not a confident improviser, how do you get started?

I want to write a book of basic accompaniments in all keys, modes and metres. There doesn’t seem to be anything comparable out there. (Maybe I’m missing something — let me know in the comments!)

This resource would be a real benefit to teachers who want to help their students get creative but feel nervous around improvisation. You’re the people I most want to help!

A book of pieces with creative choices

One of the best ways to learn music theory is to make changes to pieces. It’s fun to do, but it’s also a great way to learn. It’s a bit like a lab experiment in school. You try things out and see what happens!

There are a few books out there with built in suggestions for how students can make changes: Diversions by Juan Cabeza, Doodles by Alison Mathews, and Little Gems: Creative Primer by Paula Dreyer & Marilyn Lowe amongst others.

What I want to create is slightly different.

In my book, all pieces would require students to make creative decisions. They might choose:

• whether a piece is in major or minor or a mode

• whether a piece is in 3/4 or 6/8

• which pitches to apply to a given rhythm to create a melody

Each decision would be accompanied by an accessible explanation of the theory and all pieces would be carefully benchmarked against the UK exam boards’ syllabuses. In doing so I would directly connect the theory syllabus with the performance syllabus. I’d begin with a Grade 1 book, then work on the other levels.

This would be a game-changer for teachers who work within the exam system and who want to make their theory lessons more practical and fun.

The Mozart Method online course

My Mozart Method shows teachers how to use the composition technique of Variation to teach theory and help students to get creative.

It’s fun, flexible, and has a serious pedagogical purpose.

Read more about it here:

I first delivered it at The Piano Teacher’s Course at the Purcell School in the UK but I’d like to make it more accessible. An online course is an obvious way to do it!

In the course I’d explain and demonstrate the Mozart Method and show you how to incorporate it into your short-term and long-term lesson planning.

The course would be flexible, taught through a mix of videos, reading, and creative activities. That means you can study in your own time, but unlike many online courses, I would also be available for live mentoring via video chat.

Of the three resources, this is the one with the widest application. Few teachers do this routinely but it is so flexible and so useful. It is particularly useful for classically trained piano teachers, and Mozart is a wonderful starting point!

So where do I begin?

Let me know in the poll above!