Syllabus and Game Plan

[wmyette]

Many students have asked for an outline of which order to watch the videos.

I am currently working on this and you can find a link to the demo area at the bottom of this post or here (http://www.mylessonclub.com/students/lesson-plans).

I have decided to take a two-fold approach.



I have broken down learning jazz piano into core concepts: Repertoire, Rhythm, Technique, Theory, Improvisation and Style. So, you can simply click on a concept and work through the videos in that concept block.
I will have a few "game plans" that will help to guide your practice routine.

I'd love your thoughts on the idea. You can see the demo here (http://www.mylessonclub.com/students/lesson-plans). (Be sure to login first before clicking this link. The direct link is http://www.mylessonclub.com/students/lesson-plans

Remember, this is a work in progress, so please be patient. So remember to come back to this page often and reload! I am literally working on this while you are looking at it.

As it progresses, I'll post here. Please post your thoughts here (good or bad) about this new syllabus.

[makrelenman]

There is nothing more to say to this realisation. Just what i'm looking for. Cool idea to organize chapters by skill level like you did it for "Improvisation"...

thanks willie!

[ricoche]

Yes! This is fantastic! Thank you.

[jazzyjaye]

Hi Willie;
This is a great idea. I sorely need it. If you can recommend the areas to start from and the order we should study the concepts, it would be helpful. For me it feels like going to a buffet. Lots to choose from, but where should I start? :cool:

Thanx,
jazzyjaye

[pepelito]

I always start with the salads...hehe

[kirsten]

Hi Willie;
This is a great idea. I sorely need it. If you can recommend the areas to start from and the order we should study the concepts, it would be helpful. For me it feels like going to a buffet. Lots to choose from, but where should I start? :cool:

Thanx,
jazzyjaye

Yes, me to, I think this is a great idea. But as well looking forward to some help about where to start, and what to do next, and third ....

Kirsten

[wmyette]

Thanks everyone, I'll be working on this more this week and will add some "where to start" sections.

[bbarley281]

Willie,
You have been producing videos at a very fast pace and this syllabus and game plan will be very helpful to keep a focus on what I need to work on for constant improvement. Thanks.

[skylark]

Hi Willie,
This looks great. I know it is a lot of work for you. I just wanted to say that I took your "survey" and found it difficult to put just one choice for what I am most interested in. I put Jazz Ballads but I am also definitely interested in Bebop, so I just wanted to add that to your survey info. thanks - Skylark

[soureel]

Excellent idea. Having just signed up for a membership, I was wondering where to start. The wealth of possibilities is a bit overwhelming.

Lee

[smartmedtechman]

Willie,

It would be helpful to apply the same thoughts process to the Funk Piano Lessons course. And It would be nice to have lesson sheet for all of the lessons. It can only enhance relating the technique and improve the ability to read music. I personally rely on playing what's written and then improvising from there........

[ricoche]

Hi Willie,

The Syllabus looks great so far. One area that I am having a tiny bit of trouble locating in your selection of DVDs is the following. The areas in red I can't seem to locate. Note I have gone through the DVD 701-703 series on chord voicings and although it was fabulous, I didn't seem to find an area where you specifically addressed the extended 9th, 11th, and 13th chords. This confused me a little when studying the Form A&B inversions and the Upper structure triads. Perhaps I am missing the boat on something...laugh. Thanks. - Jim

CHORD TYPES

Triad
Major · Minor · Augmented · Diminished · Suspended

Seventh
Major · Minor · Dominant · Diminished · Half-diminished · Minor-major · Augmented major · Augmented minor

Extended
Ninth · Eleventh · Thirteenth · Upper structure

Other
Sixth · Minor sixth ·Augmented sixth · Altered · Added tone · Polychord · Quartal and quintal · Tone cluster · Power chord

[widjaja10]

Great Idea. Impressive. Thanks. Keep up the good work

[zepafa]

This is a very useful section that helps breaks an almost unmanageable amount of work into bite-sized chunks. The thing I like about it most is that it encourages a balanced workload. It stops me overstretching in one areas at the cost of others.

[rldoan]

Willie, I think a syllabus is a great idea, and I like the thematic organization. I have a couple of suggestions, though.

First, organize all the lessons on the lesson page (http://www.mylessonclub.com/members_jpl/lessons.php) thematically in way similar to what you are are proposing. Second, make a syllabus that is more of a lesson plan, rather than just a thematic organization -- a plan that puts the dvds in the order in which a student ought to learn the material.

Either way, I would appreciate it if the lessons were organized thematically, rather than chronologically. Long-time members may not like that as much; I'm brand new. But I love the site!

[wmyette]

Thanks everyone.

Ridoan, that is a good idea. However, I'll probably make a new page or make a new option on the lessons page so that you can use the syllabus.

I'll be getting back to the syllabus but need to do a new lesson this week

-w

[jtalamo]

Hey Willie,

This is what I was hoping that you would do; helps me. I would like to
see a suggested practice routine for different skill levels. Also, recommended
amount of time for each area depending on amount of time available to practice.
For example, If a beginner you should be focusing on this in theory, this in exercises and consider playing these songs etc.. If you have a 1/2 an hour to practice, study theory for 10 min, do exercises/scales for 10 min and play a selected tune for 10 min. Something along those lines. I personally like a structured practice routine and only having a 1/2-1 hour to practice a day. In addition, not knowing where I should be concentrating my practice time, is very frustrating and hinders my progress. I think that this could be set-up for each skill level. Just my thoughts. Thanks, John

[dzimarek]

Just wanted to throw in one more voice to say that the outline is a great help and that I too would find it helpful to know where to start and what to do next. As another wrinkle to that, is there some suggestions you might be able to put in about how to do multiple things and balance them? In other words, can I work on some theory, some technique, and some jazz stuff? Or would you recommend taking a few weeks to just do the one?

[jake1rocky2]

Awesome Willie!
You've done a great job of separating the vast amount of skills. I watched the entire video series on rhythms and some of the videos on scales and am looking forward to reviewing the other skill areas.

Will you be separating these skills into levels as well?

Will you be talking about keyboard theory? One thing you don't mention in the scales is how a major or minor scale are constructed of whole tones and half tones. This might be helpful if a student is trying out the other keys beyond the 5 finger scales you demonstrate. Just a thought from teacher perspective.

[sylvia]

Hello Willie,
Thanks for being in touch. I haven't yet spent enough time with the material to comment, except to say that you make a wealth of material available and I'm enjoying your approach. I'll respond in more detail later. This is supplementary material for me since I currently have a teacher, but on the theory level it's good to listen to someone else explain it and to be able to repeat the lesson.

Sylvia (in Paris)

[wmyette]

All excellent posts! I'll be busy for years :p

O.K. let me digest the ideas and try to come up with some new lesson plans.

[mkoplin]

Willie - I'm really excited about your ideas and really they're 'just what the Dr ordered'. for instance, I finally got 'round to listening to a radio show, and was completely blown away by the treatment of scales, chords, as you unfolded am blues ( I think it was 4/18/09). I even transcribed as you spoke, but got a little lost along the way..and you briefly mentioned a lesson that covered it. so, I thought I'd go in and get the PDF to check my transcription against, but I'm not sure I could easily locate it. yes, there is as tremendous amount of information that, for me, needs to be digested rather slowly. and I get distracted by the wonderful assortment, sometimes before I finish my first choice. so anything that will help me stay on track and find my way would help. how about 'tags' to search by?
By the way, I think one of the most exciting things about your website is your live demonstration as you go along. there is simply no substitution. I plan to be a student for a very long time. I've been playing for years, and this is just the spark I need to keep expanding...I don't know if you're religious or not (but you do a lot of hymns :) -- BUT this is turning out to be an answer to prayer for me. and you're style is so approachable that I find myself saying, "If he can do it, I can do it" Now, I don't know if that applies to climbing Mt Katadin, although I have hiked Mt Washington and the Osgood Ridge too.

[wmyette]

Thanks mkoplin!

There is a new member area coming in a few weeks that will have much more robust features like tags, etc... So, stay tuned...it will make it easier to navigate and use the site ;-)

[b10491]

Hey Willie, great idea. It would be very nice to have a better idea of where to start this journey. And by the way thanks for such a good service!

[sunfly]

Yes i agree as a former member.

[domisol]

Yes, very good idea to have all the Chapters organized. Thank you.

[sunfly]

i now tend to work through all the theory lessons first which i think is the best way to progress.

[spannfan]

It is very helpful to go through the theory lessons, but sometimes I find myself just wanting to watch one after the other for the "mental" part, and skipping the "practice" part.

That's why I'm picking one repertoire lesson and making myself go through that, I'm starting with Stella by Starlight.

I tend to have a hard time sticking with one lesson, watch a few chapters on one and then am drawn to another interesting looking lesson.:o