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HARMONY COMES TOGETHER

Workshops and Presentations 2008

Margaret Brandman has recently released her new harmony text - Harmony Comes Together. A series of workshops and presentations will take place to inform teachers and students about this 'seriously good fun' approach to the study of harmony.

Margaret's role in the team that worked on the AMEB's new Music Craft course was to devise the written questions for the student workbooks for all grades.
As writer of the workbooks she is able provide many insights into how to successfully teach the topics of the course and show how her new harmony book and existing theory books and chord workbooks will be of assistance to students of both old and new courses.

Harmony Comes Together includes a comparison of terminology and musical practice of the previous AMEB courses and various syllabi in the English tradition, to the terminology and musical practice used in Music Craft which has its origin in European and American theory texts. Margaret will also demonstrate her aural transcription short-hand techniques and various other concepts to aid students in successfully completing the aural questions of the course and building aural skills in general.

She will also show how the understanding of the harmonic structure extending beyond the traditional requirements, can be of benefit to the study of selected contemporary and jazz pieces in the Piano for Leisure syllabus. .

 

A downloadable chart of Music Craft topics and their correlation to pages in the existing Brandman educational materials that may be used for extra practice and preparation is available on the this website.

All workshops include breaks for refreshments

VENUES

Saturday 17th May 2008 -2pm
Gold Coast Pianos and Music - Robina Super Centre

Margaret will be available to answer questions
on her materials at -
Allans Music -Kew, Victoria
Educational evening - Wednesday 11th of June

Saturday 14th of June - 3pm
Official Launch of 'Harmony Comes Together'
at Music on the Move - Hurstville

Thursday August 28th
Better Music - Canberra

Further venues to be advised..

INDIVIDUAL TUITION FOR CHILDREN OR ADULTS

Margaret is a versatile and experienced teacher of:

* piano or keyboard
 * the craft of music including musicianship, theory and ear-training
* AMEB 'Music Craft' syllabus ***
* arranging skills and composition
* classical, popular and jazz styles

Her accelerated learning techniques foster easy learning for both children and adults. In particular Margaret has many years of experience teaching adult beginners to play in the shortest possible time using her 'playing made easy' techniques.

***Margaret is the major contributing writer of the written component of AMEB's new Music Craft student workbooks - Preliminary to Fourth Grade. (The aural questions for this course were devised by Robert Keane)

WHERE: at her Professional Piano Studio in Newtown.
Close to buses and trains, plus easy parking if you wish to drive.

Lessons and master classes can be arranged by private consultation.

Contact Margaret by phone (02)9557-8058 or 0414 185 193 or by email: margaretbrandman@yahoo.com.au

 

Professional Development Classes
for studio teachers and school music teachers

Last year a Professional Development seminar was held for the
Tasmanian Music Teachers Association
Annual Conference on Saturday 18th March 2006 at Launceston Grammar School


" Thanks so much for your very informative sessions for TMTA. I have lots of follow up work to do with chords and aural, and you have certainly set me on the right path. Just need more time..... I've had a quick sightread of Dreamweaving pieces and love them! "

Thanks again and best wishes, Jenny Wilkinson., Secretary TMTA 19/03/06

 

MARGARET BRANDMAN'S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES FOR STUDIO MUSIC TEACHERS

Download this Flyer to find out about the topics for the Professional Development courses.

"It's Easy To Improvise" Music Flyer

 

Review of "It's Easy to Improvise" seminar
conducted by Margaret Brandman

"It's Easy to Improvise" was the title of the workshop run by Margaret Brandman at by hte
Music Teachers Association of Queensland Sunday April 3rd 2005 , but how much more she covered!

Those in attendance learnt how to approach the difficulties in teaching pupils their scales by seeing the patterns in fingering and key signatures; we discovered the exciting sounds to be made by using modern chords, and how they have been used in music of past eras; we had an insight Margaret's pieces that are included in new syllabi; Margaret's CDs used in conjunction with texts are a really fun way of teaching the aural component of music education, and we all participated in some of these examples. Margaret gave generously of her time, and demonstrated her own skills by playing a great deal of her own compositional output.

Thank you Margaret for a very valuable session,
 and an opportunity to examine closely many of your method and music books.

Lynn Haug - Councillor MTAQ

 

 

MARGARET BRANDMAN

Professional Development

It's Easy to Improvise

 

Topics included

 Speed Music Reading and learning techniques

The Sound Pleasures and Patterns of Scales, Modes and Harmony

Modulation Made Easy

 Discovering the connecting threads between the Classics and Jazz

Tools for Improvisation

 The pleasures and patterns of Rhythm

 

Longer courses - contact Margaret to book a series of lectures for a college or university.

CONTEMPORARY TEACHING SKILLS AND METHODOLOGY
- CLASSICAL AND MODERN

Working from both written and aural perspectives, this course presents new and exciting ways of teaching including the discovery of many of the common threads linking the classical, popular and jazz repertoire. There will be time for hands-on experience for both individual and group situations and this course has an option to continue.

Areas included in the course are:
* Piano and keyboard skills; speed learning techniques for beginners to advanced students
* New and easy ways to achieve two-handed fluency for early beginners.
* Learning theories including pattern learning, left-right brain function , Gestalt etc
* The connection between music, mathematics and music for healing
* Fast ways to learn keyboard scale topography
* Practical ways to approach transposition and improvisation
* Modern chord terminology; extension chords up to 13ths and how to apply this to all styles of music
* Advanced ear-training skills
* Applied harmonic analysis for music speed-reading and memorisation
* Application of the skills learnt to both classical and modern works
* Syllabus requirements and chosen works for perusal and analysis suggested by participants.

 

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Margaret Brandman has pioneered an holistic approach to music education in Australia and overseas.Her high school text book Accent on Music is widely used in Australia, whilst the Brandman Contemporary series method books and Playing Made Easy for Recorder series are in demand in the USA, England, Europe and Australia. Her studio teaching materials for individual students are extremely practical and innovative and she is well known for her arrangements of popular pieces including the recent Hot Hits for Easy Piano series.

The Professional Development classes she presents Australia -wide are both educational and entertaining, achieving enthusiastic response from participants. Margaret has worked professionally in the jazz and popular music fields and as a result, was invited to serve as a member of the advisory board for the AMEB's Contemporary Popular Music Syllabus and Anzca Syllabus. Margaret has in depth knowledge of the requirements of new courses, as well as extensive knowledge in the teaching of the classics. She brings a fresh approach to teaching and learning for teachers of all student levels. Detailed information on all her teaching methodology and publications is available on this web site.

PIANO AND KEYBOARD SKILLS FOR BOTH CLASSICAL AND MODERN SYLLABI STANDARD COURSE

Covering skills required to teach the modern syllabi of both AMEB and ANZCA :

1) Transposition

2) Applied Keyboard harmony using both Figuring and Modern Chord symbols

3) Efficient sight reading and learning of pieces

4) Aural development

5) Efficient methods to teach Scales, Modes and the Cycle of Fifths

6) Knowledge of keyboard topography for both improvisation and easy learning of classical repertoire.

7) Piano styles and/or how to accompany many genres including Popular, Latin American, and Jazz

8) Contemporary Popular Music syllabus skills