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
Get this GADGET
T.K. Goforth is a musician and author of the well-received book "Chord Piano is Fun!" She also writes a music blog called "Chord Piano Chick's Mostly Musical Musings.
