This is the method that is used in class to help students learn how to play a song. The goal of this process is to increase students' ability to read music, as well as encourage learning how to play new music independently. Students should be using this process when practising at home as well. Finally, by following these steps, students can learn how to play a song in minimal time.

STEP 1: Sing it!

Students should sing the rhythm of the song before playing it to help improve and focus on the articulation (the way to tongue, pick, or strike a note).

STEP 2: Play it using one pitch!

Here, students can reinforce the above step and also work on their breathing and posture techniques, as well as focusing on playing with good tone (nice lip buzz on brass, no squeaks on reeds, no airy sound on flutes).

STEP 3: Play it in pieces!

This step helps the students learn what pitches they should be playing, two bars at a time. While doing this, it is vital that the students keep the rhythm accurate. This helps the students improve their reading skills by 'forcing the brain' to identify the pitch with a 'time limit'. For example, if they are playing a 2-beat note (known as a half note), they have 2 beats to figure out the pitch/fingering of the following note

The mistake students often make is to focus on always playing the correct pitch, rather than the rhythm. This method DOES NOT get the brain to process faster, rather, it give the brain the 'excuse' to not identify notes quickly.

STEP 4: Add pieces together as you learn them.

As the students learn each two bar section, they need to return to the beginning of the song and play all the sections consecutively. This way, the students can remember the whole song from the beginning. If they only play each two bar section, by the time they reach the final section, they will have forgotten how to play the first section.

Standard of excellence recordings

It should be noted that recordings of all exercises in the book Standard of Excellence can be found on the Google drive and are located HERE