Well, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. I think I gave up since I had about 6 new special ed students added to my classes in December. I really don't know what to say about that except that I'm individualizing the guitar part of my curriculum at about 3 different levels now. So it's kind of difficult to do a quick post about what I'm teaching.
I've got about 15 inclusion students playing one-string songs. (They're doing This Old Man this week.) I've got another 15 or so who've been with me the whole year who are playing the more advanced stuff on three strings. And finally, there are about 5 to 10 who have transferred to my class at different points mid-year.
I really just have to look at where everyone is and assign many different pieces depending on who's in the class. For example, in my 6th period I've got one kid who reads well that's way ahead, four 'normal' kids who've been with me all year, three 'normal ed' students who just transferred to our school in January, two special ed students who were only added in January to my class and one kid who's a talented musician but has reading problems and is playing some tab. And my other classes are just as diverse.
In terms of the 'regular' curriculum I started with at the beginning of the year, the kids who are on that track are doing great, considering. It just makes me sad to think about where I could be with them musically, if I wasn't individualizing so many lesson plans and teaching everybody something different.
These students are now playing out of Dick Bennett's Standard Guitar Method, which I have really come to appreciate. It's funny to read my last post from November and see what I thought, then. Now, I use this method almost exclusively.
Because of my unique situation, I have seen the benefit of his systetmatic, approach to teaching the students to play chords in standard notation. The chords are integrated into many of the songs, while others have a notated accompaniment underneath the melody. They can really work at their own pace while I'm helping other students who need special attention.
2 comments:
I have been using Bennett's stuff for a while, but just got into really evaluating all his stuff in more detail. I have seen many modern methods, and this has some benefits over any of the modern stuff I've seen. I came across this blog when searching for Dick Bennett. I wish I could find out more about who this guy was.
You can check out virtually all his in print books at www.dumontmusic.com, look for exclusives, and then under "Beacon." Also, I highly recommend http://www.midi-classics.com/ where they sell all this stuff, have an amazing selection of music-related supplies and wonderful service. Give these guys your business instead of sheetmusicplus.
They were nice enough to give me a small discount for ordering every Bennett book in print (about a $200 order). But you should know that the price of the Bennett books just went up about $1 more per book.
Finally, I should mention that I have some real complaints about Bennett, such as emphasis on pick and not finger playing, use of dotted8-16 when it should be actually swing rhythm, and a few other little complaints. But overall, these things are great and have some wonderful inspiring melodies. Though progressive, he also puts easy key of C stuff throughout even into harder books that are otherwise doing more advanced things.
I hope to share my reviews and thoughts about guitar teaching and pedagogic materials on a website eventually, but still just organizing all my thoughts...
Best,
Aaron Wolf
Ann Arbor, MI
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