Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Only a FEW DAYS left to enter!
Friday, March 4, 2011
FREE GIVEAWAY AND NEW VIDEO FOR CHORD PIANO IS FUN!
Thanks for coming to my blog site! And because you are here, I am offering a GIVEAWAY CONTEST for a free copy of CHORD PIANO IS FUN!
Here's what you have to do:...
Go to CHORD PIANO CHICK for more info...
Monday, February 28, 2011
Music Teachers -- great offer for you!
Calling all Music Teachers!
If you have a website or blog, and would be willing to promote Chord Piano Is Fun with a photo link on your site, you can receive a discount of over 30%!
Please complete the form below and I will send you all the details!
MUSIC TEACHERS ONLY!
Go to Chord Piano Chick for more details...
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Wonderful New Review for my book, Chord Piano Is Fun!
Here is her review:
Don’t you just love it when someone else does all the hard work and puts together a systematic approach to teaching something that is just the way you would do it? Honestly, it’s pretty rare to find something that’s a perfect fit, but T.K. Goforth has done just that with her book, Chord Piano Is Fun!
The book begins with a fabulous introduction of How to Create a Major Scale, then moves into chords, scale degrees, chord inversions, key signatures, 7th chords, and more! All of this is introduced with the objective of helping pianists learn how to play from a lead sheet (a.k.a. fake book). The layout of the book is very clean, with lots of helpful images, and some of the most concise explanations I’ve read for various theoretical elements in music. This would be perfect for a student who wants to learn chording skills on their own, or for a teacher who is struggling to know how to introduce scales, chords, key signatures, and playing from a lead sheet to his or her students.
I love that the terminology used is accurate, but is broken down in such a way that even beginning students can begin to grasp the concepts. The one exception to this that I’ve discovered is the use of the term, “Family Chords” rather than “Primary Triads.” I could definitely work around this, though, for the value to be gained from the rest of the book. There is even a brief lesson on song-writing in the back that I think would be appealing to a lot of students!
The primary reason that I rarely use theory books with my students is due to a lack of relevance. The written material is divorced from the music that they are playing and it becomes more of a busywork assignment than a real learning tool. A book like Chord Piano Is Fun! is a wonderful approach to learning theory because what is being learned is immediately relevant to music and styles that the student wants to learn to play. I am excited to begin using it in my studio! And the great news is that you can win a copy for you or one of your students, too! Just leave a comment below and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win your own Chord Piano Is Fun! book! The drawing will end at noon (CST) on Thursday, February 17, and the winner will be drawn using a random number generator.
Thank you, Natalie!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Teachers, unashamedly...
...I'm going to promote my own book here. Please hear me out! I think you will like what you hear:
Teaching chord piano is a great addition to your teaching curriculum.
As a piano teacher, I created Chord Piano Is Fun to teach my students how to play chord piano and be able to read chord charts or lead sheets. Many of them wanted to learn how to play popular music, but were still too new in their ability to follow many of the popular music books' left hand line along with the melody line. So, after spending hundreds of dollars on other chord methods to try to find one to teach well and for my students to follow, I realized I had to write my own.
This is a very easy book to follow and use. Chord Piano Is Fun integrates very nicely with methods such as Alfred, Piano Adventures, etc., and gives a deeper insight into the theory of music. Teachers have found that with use of this the students have a greater understanding of what they are learning and tend to progress at a quicker pace. I use this in addition to and along with my other method books and music pieces for my students.
Also, because it is a spiral-bound book, it lays very nicely on the piano and is easy to flip through. It is packed full of resources, such as How to Create All Types of Chords, All of the Family Chords for each Key (Major and Minor), All the Major and Minor Scales, Circle of 4ths/5ths, How to Write a Song, How to Play the Blues, etc. With purchase, you will also be able to sign into the Customer Page to download new additions, such as Christmas Music, etc.
I have found that once the student understands their chords and how they are created, they are able to pick them easily out of their music, thus helping them to learn their pieces easier because they have a "visual" in their mind.
The Songwriting Chart in the book is a great way to get a child starting on writing his/her own song. Once it is written, and with the help of a notation software (I use Capella), it's so exciting to watch a child create their first song, put a name to it, and the copyright on the bottom. They are published! I have each student perform their songs at a recital and with their permission give copies of each student's song to the other students so that they can try them at home.
Please see below or go to my Customer Reviews page for reviews from other teachers and students.
I hope you decide to give Chord Piano Is Fun a try. I know you won't be sorry!
God bless,
T.K. Goforth
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Teaching chord piano is a great addition to your teaching curriculum.
As a piano teacher, I created Chord Piano Is Fun to teach my students how to play chord piano and be able to read chord charts or lead sheets. Many of them wanted to learn how to play popular music, but were still too new in their ability to follow many of the popular music books' left hand line along with the melody line. So, after spending hundreds of dollars on other chord methods to try to find one to teach well and for my students to follow, I realized I had to write my own.
This is a very easy book to follow and use. Chord Piano Is Fun integrates very nicely with methods such as Alfred, Piano Adventures, etc., and gives a deeper insight into the theory of music. Teachers have found that with use of this the students have a greater understanding of what they are learning and tend to progress at a quicker pace. I use this in addition to and along with my other method books and music pieces for my students.
Also, because it is a spiral-bound book, it lays very nicely on the piano and is easy to flip through. It is packed full of resources, such as How to Create All Types of Chords, All of the Family Chords for each Key (Major and Minor), All the Major and Minor Scales, Circle of 4ths/5ths, How to Write a Song, How to Play the Blues, etc. With purchase, you will also be able to sign into the Customer Page to download new additions, such as Christmas Music, etc.
I have found that once the student understands their chords and how they are created, they are able to pick them easily out of their music, thus helping them to learn their pieces easier because they have a "visual" in their mind.
The Songwriting Chart in the book is a great way to get a child starting on writing his/her own song. Once it is written, and with the help of a notation software (I use Capella), it's so exciting to watch a child create their first song, put a name to it, and the copyright on the bottom. They are published! I have each student perform their songs at a recital and with their permission give copies of each student's song to the other students so that they can try them at home.
Please see below or go to my Customer Reviews page for reviews from other teachers and students.
I hope you decide to give Chord Piano Is Fun a try. I know you won't be sorry!
God bless,
T.K. Goforth
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Suzuki Method for Piano???
I have never been a "fan" of what I had seen regarding Suzuki Piano, and had somewhat ignored it, believing it to be a one-dimensional series that only taught memorization. But, when I spoke with an adult student who learned piano with the Suzuki method and showed me the songs she was playing after six months, I started paying attention.
I'm looking very seriously into this method for some of my students. I bought the book Studying Suzuki Piano-More Than Music along with Volume 1 of the Suzuki Piano School, just to see what it was about.
Studying Suzuki Piano: More Than Music :
A Handbook for Teachers, Parents, and Students (Suzuki Piano Reference)Studying Suzuki Piano-More Than Music is essential for starting the Suzuki method, and it is recommended that you even get "certification" for this method, but I found some GREAT stuff in here. It gives suggestions for all aspects of learning the piano, from the first lesson through the more difficult pieces in each Volume of the Suzuki Method.
After reading through some of the book today, I followed its suggestions and tried this method on my newest student, who is a wonderful 16 year old with ADHD and mild autism. She took to the first lesson famously. Because she wants to write music and play quickly, I had introduced the construction of scales and chords to her in her first few lessons from Chord Piano Is Fun. When I opened the book to the first lesson, and showed her which "C" the song began on (Twinkle Twinkle), it was easy for her to follow and read. She was excited that she was able to play Twinkle Twinkle with several rhythms (this is discussed in the Studying Suzuki Piano), so I gave her a quick overview of the rhythms with their useful phrases such a "Mississippi Hot Dog", and "Peanut Butter Sandwich" (for four 16th notes and two 8th notes).
Suzuki does not include note reading, so that is something to do in addition to this, but they give suggestions as to which method is good for doing so. Since the methods they suggest are too "young" for her, I will be using the The Complete Piano Player: Omnibus Edition (Complete Piano Player Series for her. I plan on looking at the Music Tree series for the younger students, but may decide to stick with the Alfred method books, which have worked well for me.
In addition, I will use Chord Piano Is Fun, which will provide a wonderful, well-rounded musical education for her, as well as my other students. She will be hearing, playing, and writing her own music in no time!
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
I'm looking very seriously into this method for some of my students. I bought the book Studying Suzuki Piano-More Than Music along with Volume 1 of the Suzuki Piano School, just to see what it was about.
Studying Suzuki Piano: More Than Music :
A Handbook for Teachers, Parents, and Students (Suzuki Piano Reference)Studying Suzuki Piano-More Than Music is essential for starting the Suzuki method, and it is recommended that you even get "certification" for this method, but I found some GREAT stuff in here. It gives suggestions for all aspects of learning the piano, from the first lesson through the more difficult pieces in each Volume of the Suzuki Method.After reading through some of the book today, I followed its suggestions and tried this method on my newest student, who is a wonderful 16 year old with ADHD and mild autism. She took to the first lesson famously. Because she wants to write music and play quickly, I had introduced the construction of scales and chords to her in her first few lessons from Chord Piano Is Fun. When I opened the book to the first lesson, and showed her which "C" the song began on (Twinkle Twinkle), it was easy for her to follow and read. She was excited that she was able to play Twinkle Twinkle with several rhythms (this is discussed in the Studying Suzuki Piano), so I gave her a quick overview of the rhythms with their useful phrases such a "Mississippi Hot Dog", and "Peanut Butter Sandwich" (for four 16th notes and two 8th notes).
Suzuki does not include note reading, so that is something to do in addition to this, but they give suggestions as to which method is good for doing so. Since the methods they suggest are too "young" for her, I will be using the The Complete Piano Player: Omnibus Edition (Complete Piano Player Series for her. I plan on looking at the Music Tree series for the younger students, but may decide to stick with the Alfred method books, which have worked well for me.
In addition, I will use Chord Piano Is Fun, which will provide a wonderful, well-rounded musical education for her, as well as my other students. She will be hearing, playing, and writing her own music in no time!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Most Important Chords
Have fun today!
T
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