Valerie Alfonso is a fantastic ComposeCreate® piano teacher, and she shared a wonderful idea for a tricky rhythm section in Waltz of the Flowers with the ComposeCreate® Facebook Group!
Here’s what Valerie shared:
“This wording has been helping my students hack ‘the hard part’ in Waltz of the Flowers (Nutcracker Cups), (excerpt from the 3rd page of Level A). [I knew it was tricky when I kept getting lost, but the words made it foolproof for both student and teacher!]
If you aren’t sure what the Nutcracker Rhythm Cup Explorations® is all about, you can read more here. This project has been years in the making – we’re so happy to see teachers and students enjoying it!
This rhythm curriculum is incredibly fun, but you can also use this to challenge students as well. You can adapt the level of difficulty to your students by 1) choose harder or easier choreography levels (there are 4 per piece) or 2) choose faster or slower tempos. We also love hearing ideas that you’ve been trying with your own students to make the naturally challenging rhythms of the Nutcracker a bit easier.
Valerie also shared a tip that makes the page turn during Waltz of the Flowers go more quickly. Here it is:
“We also make the page turn easier with a sticky tab —that page turn is so fast that a bent corner just isn’t enough.”
Thanks to Valerie and other teachers who have been sharing their ideas! If you’re looking for a resource that will bring down the house at your recital, group holiday party, or Christmas recital, you can purchase and get an immediate PDF download of the Nutcracker Rhythm Cup Explorations® here.
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