“How do I use ComposeCreate® music with method books?”
“Does ComposeCreate® music replace the method book?”
“Do I really need Music Kids Love® if I’m already using a method book I like?”
These are really great questions that some teachers ask! It can be tricky to know when and how to use supplemental music when you already use a method book. But it’s absolutely worth it! Supplemental music is a fabulous way to round out your student’s education, boost motivation and confidence, and make lessons more enjoyable!
Should I even use a method book?
Yes, definitely! Wendy doesn’t suggest a specific one, because each teacher and student is so different. She’s found that each method has its strengths and weaknesses, but using a method book is absolutely a great idea. Why?
It keeps us accountable to teach theory, technique, and music in a sequential order that builds on the previous thing learned. It also makes sure there aren’t gaps, and helps us to avoid our own blind spots. We want to give our students the best education possible. Just like school teachers use a curriculum to guide them through the year, we often need to do the same. [But we also know of some teachers that are confident in their own tailor made curriculum and don’t use one. We support that too!]
How can I use ComposeCreate® music with a method book?
There are so many ways you can use ComposeCreate® music alongside a method book. We’re listing the most common ways below, but would love to hear how you’re using Music Kids Love® in a creative way! Please comment below!
- For recitals and festivals: Method book pieces serve a wonderful purpose. However, that purpose is rarely to make students sound super impressive and more advanced than they really are.
But ComposeCreate® pieces are carefully composed to be both pedagogically sound and to make students sound really impressive. That means they make wonderful recital and festival solos!
- For taking a break: Sometimes after a student has finished a level of their method book, teachers take a week or two as a “breather” before jumping into the next level. This is a great time to whip out a piece they’ll love. I find this helps to keep up their motivation as well. And, it reminds them that the reason they’re able to play this amazing piece is because they worked really hard to work diligently in their method book.
- To lock in a transfer student: Many times transfer students will come to us after months of not having a teacher. They may have been in Book 4 in their method, but have now regressed several units or a whole book. How do you bring them back without discouraging them to the point of quitting? Replacing boring method book songs with ComposeCreate® pieces is the perfect way to get over this hump. Teaching the “old” concepts without a method book (that clearly has a level number on it) and with a fresh piece of Music Kids Love® will reinforce those ideas, give you a readout of their current level, and keep them motivated.
- As student-savers: When a student wants to quit, they can often be turned around by playing something really exciting. The Dangerous Piano Pieces, Mythical Creatures, Beautiful Places series and Little Fuzzies series have all been especially helpful with engaging even the most apathetic students, because they’re fun or beautiful! And who doesn’t want to continue doing something fun?
- To replace boring method pieces: Let’s be honest. Every method has a few pieces (some have more) in each book that are just not very interesting or musical. Replacing a piece like this with a similarly leveled ComposeCreate® piece is a great idea to make sure students get the pedagogy, but don’t get discouraged by boring pieces. You can use our Student Solutions Catalog to know just what piece covers specific concepts!
- In a challenge: If you’re participating in the 30/40 piece challenge, it can be well nigh impossible to learn that many pieces in a method book. Why? They’re tied to the concepts being taught in that book. And students rarely move through concepts at that speed. But ComposeCreate® pieces can easily be used to bolster the number of songs learned because they’re stand-alone pieces!
Our Short Sheets® are actually perfect for this because each of them is a set of 3 one-page pieces that are pedagogically sound. So students can learn all the concepts in their method book, but with a super engaging piece. And since it’s only one page, they’ll be able to accomplish those 30 or 40 pieces in a year!
- As a reinforcement of the method book: If your student is “stuck” in a particular section of their method book, use a ComposeCreate® piece to keep engagement up. If their sister just played a method book piece last year and breezed through it, and they’re feeling insecure – replace it with a ComposeCreate® piece at the same level. Which leads me to….
- Replace dreaded method book pieces: Like I said above, if we’re being honest, every method book has at least one song that either our student hates, we hate, or both. It is 100% ok to not play those pieces! But, you do need to find a piece that is going to actively be working on whatever the method book is trying to train. Students need to learn particular skills to advance – but they (and you) shouldn’t have to trudge through the misery of a piece they hate to get there. How do you know which CompsoeCreate® pieces tackle particular areas of technique/student problems? The free Student Solutions Catalog! (More on that below)
- As a replacement of a method book: We do know of some teachers that use ComposeCreate® music to the exclusion of a method book and we think that’s a fine idea too! If you are confident in your curriculum, then there’s no doubt that you can find Music Kids Love® at absolutely every level for your students so they don’t even need a method book.
How do I know which ComposeCreate® pieces will work best?
The FREE Student Solutions Catalog!
This is not just a traditional “catalog.” This catalog helps you find pieces that work on specific skills.
For example, if you are looking for pieces that work on finger dexterity – there’s a page of song suggestions for that. What about left-hand development? We have that too. Bass clef for both hands, playing hands together, out-of-position playing, shifting meter – we have so many categories. And each piece mentioned is hyperlinked, so you just click on the picture and you’ll be taken right to the product page!
Everything is laid out easily, and the pieces on each page are listed in order of relative difficulty, so you can find the correct level for your student a bit more easily. And, many pages come with really helpful pedagogical tips or exercises for students.
Using the Student Solutions Catalog, I am now able to find music for my students in less than half the time it used to take me. And it often reminds me of ComposeCreate® pieces I completely forgot I had that would be the perfect fit for a student! Our goal with this resource is to help you use what you have, and know what you need to fill out your repertoire library.
I hope that gives you some new ideas for using Music Kids Love®, and that those pieces motivate your students and make teaching even just a bit easier for you!
How do you use Music Kids Love®? We’d love to hear in the comments below.
One of the things I introduce in the first lessons are finger numbers. Especially with older students I use the Finding Beautiful Places pieces to reinforce these. The same I do with finger number short sheets for younger students using German Faber Piano Adventures (which introduces finger numbers before notes). It gives them more practice sorting their finger numbers with longer fun pieces.
I use the mythical creatures with the colouring pages as a treat/gift for (primary school) students who can play harder pieces and accomplished a goal I have set.
Rote & Reading pieces I also use for primary school students who need something for a recital that is not in their method book ans sounds “great”. Just to get the recital a bit more varied in repertoire.
Generally I like the Beautiful Places Series for Teen and Adult Beginners – with or without method books. Some children like them too but not all appreciate the dreamy quality.
I use seasonal pieces with all students as supplementary material to their method books. Halloween is a bit easier for me to use. Students don’t expect to know the pieces. With Christmas one of the problems is that many songs are not that well known in Germany. So I use those for my slightly more advanced students to get to know new repertoire while the younger ones are usually happy with the easy “Jingle Bells” versions, “Silent Night” & “O Christmas Tree”. I like stusio licenced Christmas pieces especially when students still have some pieces left in their Christmas books and purchasing a harder one might make more sense the next year. So I can add some lesser known repertoire or pieces with a twist in that may actually prepare them for harder or longer pieces in the following year.
I am planning to use short sheets for some students doing the 30/40 piece challenge who are heavily involved in sports and either have little time to practice or switched to every 2 weeks. They need some “lear on your own” easier material.
I’m new to “Create Compose”. What best practices are teachers using with beginning students and incorporating this material>