Mayfair Wholesale - Workshops

Creative Piano Teaching Workshop
Clinician: Debra Wanless

"Children are not things to be moulded but people to be unfolded."
...Charles F. Boyd

Scientists now believe that children have developed nearly fifty percent of their brain's capacity by the age of six. Although children have billions of brain cells, educators must turn those cells into usable intelligence through creative llearning experiences. Learning through our personal learning style accelerates the learning process and creates better, easier and quicker learning. Using one's preferred learning style while stimulating less natural skills literally ''connects the dots' for all levels of learning.

The new Creative Learning packages by Debra Wanless offer young students fun, inspiring and creative learning concepts. They stimulate audio, visual, tactile and kinetic learners to become confident, eager and well-rounded music students. Creative Learning packages can be 'mixed and matched' with all levels and methods of choice - don't miss this high energy and informative workshop.

Developing Keyboard Harmony from the Inside-Out
Clinician: Debra Wanless

Keyboard Harmony is one of the areas of study that can be quite daunting - when to start, how to start, what materials to use, how can I do this within a 30-minute piano lesson?

Most method books provide simple improvisation, harmonization and transposition but once we move into a graded program these items seem to disappear in our regular lesson plan.

Most schools require some keyboard harmony - ConCan begins it at grade five piano, the Royal Conservatory of Music has an optional keyboard harmony program, while the Canadian National Conservatory of Music (CNCM) requires it from the beginning of grade programs -- but all university and college programs expect students to be proficient in harmonization, vocalization, even transposition.

MYC™ teachers know that all of this material is covered in their children's program, yet this new keyboard harmony program provides them with a smooth transition to regular graded curriculum.

We really owe our students a holistic program -- one that develops all areas of musicianship -- no matter what the school of choice.

We also need to be attentive to the various learning styles -- the individual styles impact how we approach these areas of study and why certain students are more proficient in certain areas than others.

Don't miss this dynamic workshop and viewing of new materials to assist you with developing Keyboard Harmony in your studio.

Jazzin' Up Your Studio
Clinician: Debra Wanless

This was so much fun; I could feel myself moving to the music!
... Sheila from Peterborough, ON

Bach, Leopold Mozart, even Chopin taught the music of the day and today's students should have the same privilege. Jazz is the music of the 20th century, growing out of the rags of Scott Joplin during the 1890s, into big band and swing, to the rock and rock music of the 1950s and 60s inspiring the pop music of today.

Jazz has finally found a stage in traditional music studies. New jazz programs and popular writers like Christopher Norton have more and more students enjoying this popular style. Students are attracted to and inspired by jazz sounds and rhythms. The lush jazz harmonies may also provide a good bridge to contemporary/20th and 21st century music. Canadian composers are providing students with fine jazz works, everything from rags to boogies and blues at all levels. The various styles and historical information within the genre is intriguing and often references traditional music.

This workshop will introduce new Canadian jazz works for all levels and abilities. Debra will discuss approaches and values to learning and teaching swing rhythm, creative improvising, incorporating blues scales into technique and harmonic structure. Using stride bass as a tool in the development of strong kinetic comprehension, a much needed skill for romantic waltzes and building seventh chords outside traditional technique will be included.

Students and teachers will love this dynamic workshop. Debra will share fun and pedagogically sound jazz works for all levels - real student savers!

Debra Wanless

Debra Wanless is an active piano adjudicator, studio teacher, editor, examiner, music publisher, and composer. She has travelled across Canada and the United States as a pedagogy clinician. Debra holds a Junior Fellowship and Licentiate in piano pedagogy with Northern Lights Canadian National Conservatory of Music; and Associate of Music in piano pedagogy with Western Ontario Conservatory of Music [Conservatory Canada]; and post graduate studies in piano performance, theory and piano ensemble.

Debra is a pedagogy specialist whose students have earned the Cora B. Arhens Award for pedagogy excellence. She is principal and founding member of Northern Lights Canadian National Conservatory of Music and the three-day Piano Pedagogy workshop, Summer Sizzle. Debra has served at the local and provincial levels of the ORMTA, is the founder of the North Wellington Camerata Canada Music Week Festival and worked for many years as music secretary to the Midwestern Ontario Rotary Music Festival.

Her piano solos and ensembles have been selected for performance at festivals across Canada; for inclusion in the New Millennium, Contemporary Idioms, Northern Lights and Making Tracks series; the Piano Now Syllabus; and reviewed in Clavier Magazine. Debra has edited, revised and written new material for the Leila Fletcher piano course (Mayfair/Montgomery Music), the James Lawless Theory Course (Waterloo Music) and arranges pop music for the ProMusic Company in California.

Her most recent books/materials include two Rhythm Workbooks, Elementary Harmony and Melody Writing, Musical Signs and Terms Flashcards, Let's Begin, 101 Children's Pieces, A Jazzy Day, Midnight Jazz (which includes a CD), Keyboard Harmony Books 1 - 3, Classy Piano Pieces, Boogie and Jazz Piano Styles, Groovin' and What a Wonderful World of Big Note and Intermediate piano solos, and intermediate Sacred Jazz Solos. Debra's pedagogy materials and compositions are also used and performed in Australia, Brazil, China, England, Guam, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and throughout North America. She is a recipient of the ORMTA Special Teacher Award, and the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.

© Copyright 2008 Mayfair Music Publications, Inc.

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