London ABC Piano Studio Piano Lessons: Unlock Your Musical Potential - David He

Incorporating Elements of Theory into the Practical Lesson 

• Piece: Polonaise in G Minor, attr. Johann Sebastian Bach

Materials resources required: Google and reading materials given by the teacher

Learning Objective  

Activity 

Est. Time

Getting to know the background of J.S. Bach and Baroque genre

One week before the class, teacher should play this piece to the student. Check out the Wikipedia regarding Bach. Sharing the information of Bach’s Museum in Eisenach. Find out five typical characteristics of playing Baroque-era music, e.g., how to play staccato. Getting to know the other master in Baroque-era and his pieces. Find out who is Anna Magdalena Bach, and the inspiration of the notebook. 

1 min

Familiar with two-voice texture 

Invite students to close their eyes and listen to the teacher plays each part. Ask them how two melodies are merged and how the left-hand notes subdivide the dotted right-hand notes. Describe the definition and historical development of Polyphony through Wikipedia. 

3 mins

Finding rhythmic occurrences of the ‘Polonaise’ motive and 3rd accent beat

Count meter with hand clapping by using the metaphor of cutting watermelon. Understand what ‘Polonaise’ is by searching on Wikipedia. Tell the difference between 1st beat accent and 3rd bear accent.  For example, the student is deemed to be well-understood the definition of eighth note, which is separated into two equal parts from a quarter note. The teacher needs to play the two versions of this piece. The first version is the 1st notes accent, and the second version is the 3rd.  

3 min

Familiar with B flat major and g minor 

Count the intervals from the first key and familiar with the full scale. Explain why F sharp shows in the piece. For example, I have a student who could point out which key located at which degree, but she could not understand why B flat is connected with the g minor. Therefore, it should be taught together with the definition of other keys. 

1 min

Familiar with the cadence pattern in relevant keys 

Play the last six measure and the last two measure to find out the cadence pattern. The teacher should write down the degree of the chords.  As the final part, the degree names should relate to the chords, which is not appeared in this piece, but the teacher can let them play the choirs, I, IV, and V, with the explanation of these chords. 

2 min