Whole Music Lessons

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Learn to understand the building blocks of music.
Explore new ways of approaching music.
Discover how to beneficially blend classics with jazz and pop.
Watch tutorial videos
Listen to music
Browse articles and reviews
Download sheet music, and much, much more!

The principles of WML's learning materials work with any instrument, though many of our visitors and members are pianists and teachers. They acknowledge the value of tradition, yet strive for familiarity with music of today and everything in between. Some even discover that this helps them be more visionary about the future.

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Eclectic Church Music

What have I been up to lately? Many of you have asked...

Well, for one thing, the church where I'm Director of Music requested an eclectic program of music, instead of their usual requiem with an orchestra, for their "big music Sunday." Here's what they'll be performing:

Preludes, assorted - keyboard and keyboard/congas
Bell Choir - When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Mason/Kerin
Kyrie (One that I put together, w/congas, bells, and 2 choir "leaders," leading 2 halves of the congregation singing it as a round.)
Combined Adult/Middle Choir - Sanctus, from the Congolese Mass, Missa Luba, by Baluba/Haazen, sung a capella, with the Childrens' Choir as our Percussion Ensemble
Adult Choir - I Want Jesus to Walk with Me, trad., arr. by Hogan, with 3 vocal soloists and one 8-yr old keyboard soloist (we added this solo at the beginning of the arrangement)
Music: Adult Choir - Sanctus, from Mass of Harmony, by Capestro (with the organ)
Music: Adult Choir - Sanctus, from The Requiem, by G. Faure (with the organ)
Music: Adult Choir - Let Thy Blood in Mercy Poured, by Brownlie/Vann (sung a capella)
A Musical Meditation: Bell Choir - Improvisation (a pentatonic one we put together)
Adult Choir - And No Bird Sang, Wagner, with a horn soloist (I added a horn part.)
Adult Choir - Chorale, from Mass, by Bernstein (with the organ)

It's been great fun putting this together, and also a lot of work. However, it is, indeed, moving in a more eclectic direction. It also engages many music participants to learn more about the structure of music in a fun way, which makes me happy.

-Susan Capestro

Handout from Session on Instructional Videos

Click here for the handout from the session, INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS, featuring YOU!, presented by Kathleen A. Theisen, MM, NCTM, and Susan Capestro, MM, NCTM, at the 2011 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy.

What Would Happen If

Piano_Studio_FrontPG ...painters only learned to repaint the Mona Lisa? Monet's Haystacks? Sound ridiculous? Yet, in lieu of truly understanding the building blocks of music, and experiencing the joy in finding their own voice, pianists are often trained only to recreate pieces composed by others! What would the world be like, if artists were taught only to repaint works of the great masters, instead of combining visual elements in their own way?...

Classical or Jazz? Why Not Both?

What is Whole Music Lessons' Integral Keyboard Teaching?

It includes a creativity-based, comprehensive set of skills.
It synergistically combines successful practice techniques used by jazz/pop keyboardists with current, proven approaches to music reading and traditional piano repertoire.
It emphasizes structural understanding.
The student finds his or her own musical voice.
It uses music from various traditions, both written and oral.

Here at Whole Music Lessons, you learn how to blend the best of