The above 9-minute video demonstrates how Simply Music is taught.
Simply Music is a music education institution licensing teachers at over 700 locations in twelve countries. Australian music educator Neil Moore founded it on the core belief that all humans are naturally musical.
Simply Music offers programs for students from birth through old age, with the stated goal that “students acquire and retain music as a lifelong companion.” Simply Music patterns its approach after primary language acquisition, where speaking comes first, before reading.
Fundamental Goals of the Simply Music Piano Method
The Simply Music Piano Method is designed to maximize the likelihood of students acquiring and retaining music as a lifelong companion.
Our program is designed so that students:
- Experience playing as a natural self-expression
- Play a broad repertoire that includes classical, contemporary, blues, jazz, accompaniments and more…
- Learn to “self-generate”, i.e., progress independently as musicians, and have a strong foundation in music reading and theory
- Have a highly positive, self-affirming experience
Playing-based Education
In the same way that we all learn to speak years before we learn to read and spell, Simply Music Piano temporarily delays music reading and immerses students in the experience of immediately playing great-sounding music. We do this so successfully by introducing students to an array of unique playing-based concepts that unfold directly onto the keyboard. The result of this is that students quickly, easily and naturally are playing a solid foundation of 35 to 50 beautiful pieces, and this is typically acquired over the first year or so of lessons. Thereafter, our unique approach to music reading is introduced. We love that our students become strong readers and we love our unique approach of how we teach students to read. We also love the fact that we don’t introduce reading from the very beginning – it’s the future of music education, and it’s a far more natural approach.
THE CURRICULUM
The Simply Music Piano Curriculum unfolds over 6-10 years, depending on your individual rate of progress.
Year One
- Learn 35-50 great sounding pieces in various musical genres
- Begin to acquire a grasp of the fundamental tools that underscore the Simply Music Piano method
- Develop the basics of accompaniment performance, composition and improvisation
- Prepare to begin music writing and reading
Year Two
- Learn another 25-40 pieces of various musical genres
- Continue to develop and expand your understanding and use of Simply Music tools and strategies
- Gain a foundation of music reading and writing
- Build a stronger understanding of accompaniment, blues and jazz pieces
- Further develop improvisation and composition
Year Three
- Learn another 25-40 pieces of various musical genres
- Further develop your use and understanding of Simply Music tools, strategies and concepts
- Expand the foundation and understanding of music reading
- Broaden accompaniment performance abilities
- Develop a more complex repertoire of diverse musical genres
- Establish an understanding of music theory and its practical application
Years Four +
- Further expand students’ repertoire
- Develop a self-generative capacity in playing, reading, composition and improvisation
- Develop more fluency with Simply Music tools, strategies, concepts and approaches
- Explore individual musical interests
- More deeply explore expression and technique in playing
- Expand and broaden knowledge of music theory
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