THE SCENES and THEMES
COMPACT DISC
The CD, which is a brand new fully digital
recording, updated in style and content to take
advantage of the opportunities offered by that medium, is
divided into sessions which exactly match the ground
covered in each section of Scenes and Themes. The music for
the first section of Scenes and Themes ("In the Court
of King Arthur") is presented as two
separate sessions to suit this very early stage. Each piece
is presented twice:
1. the student's part, unaccompanied, with a metronome
click to aid counting, at an appropriate tempo
2. the student's part, together with the accompaniment
The second and subsequent sections of Scenes & Themes
are again presented in 2 versions :
1. the student's part, together with the accompaniment
2. just the accompaniment for the student to play along
with, at an appropriately faster tempo if the piece demands
it (= "Music minus One")
The CD includes tuning notes as necessary and there are
commentaries, advice and reminders for the student. All the
student has to do for the daily practice session is to
start the CD at the track which heads the section and
simply leave it running for the duration of the session
(about 10 - 15 minutes each), following and playing along.
If the teacher requires specific pieces to be studied, they
are of course immediately accessible to the student from
the track list (there is a total of 74 tracks on the CD).
This continuous repetition and reinforcement at this
crucial early stage has proved to be absolutely invaluable
in establishing firm foundations of musicianship and basic
technical skills. It is obvious if a student
hasn't been using the CD! The CD also
offers the opportunity for the young student to present
musically meaningful performances at home from the very
start, thus developing performance skills from the outset.
made on mac