"Sharing the bench from the beginning": a Pedagogy Saturday session by Carolyn Shaak.(2008 PEDAGOGY SATURDAY REPORT)

The Pedagogy Saturday session "Sharing the Bench from the Beginning" showcased talented students from the Denver, Colorado, studios of Carolyn Shaak and June Haun. Students played pieces from Shaak's piano method, Piano Partners. This innovative method focuses on playing the piano with others. By making music together, students gain a solid inner rhythmic pulse, hear and play harmonically fitting accompaniments and have the fun of playing with others.

I visited Carolyn Shaak for my dissertation research in 2006 because of her reputation for producing prizewinning students, and in my interview with her and my observations of her lessons and classes, I was impressed by several ideas that were demonstrated at this session by her students.

Rhythm

Shaak's approach to teaching piano, both in terms of the development of musicality and technique, is based on rhythm. Students play pieces, five-finger patterns on repeated notes, and improvise on drums, percussion instruments, and the piano using rhythmic patterns such as "Colorado Mountain" or "Jingle Bells." This not only provides children with a solid rhythmic foundation, but also enables them to play the piano using a free forearm stroke. According to Shaak and nearly a dozen other well-known teachers I have interviewed, beginning with the arm as the primary playing unit and integrating the use of the arm with the fingers is the best way for children to acquire a solid technical foundation that yields injury-flee playing that is both powerful and physically flee.

Accompaniments

During the lessons I observed, Shaak played energetic accompaniments for her students' technical exercises, pieces and improvisations. This reinforced the technical freedom of the students' playing and enhanced the rhythmic pulse. All Shaak's students played with great rhythmic energy in a technically effortless manner. Shaak has her students and their piano partners, which can be a parent, sibling or peer, play pieces in a variety of ways. For example, the student can play the melody while the partner plays the accompaniment or vice versa. Songs can be played in a round, transposed to different keys or played with either hand. Shaak also creates larger ensembles by using percussion instruments and keyboard instruments. Playing the various renditions of one piece enhances the creativity of the students and develops their ears as they listen to different parts and create improvisations to enhance a piece.

Group Classes