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groups. Likewise, the drills in this method will provide the abundant opportunities (individually

and in groups) needed to develop rhythmic fluidity and mastery for developing musicians.

Students excel when multiple styles of learning can take place during study. Whether in

rhythm portions of textbooks or method books, or in books written entirely about rhythm, most

rhythm exercises in the current literature are single lines to be performed by one person or in

unison as a group. One of my goals in this method is to provide a variety of exercises (solo lines,

duets, ensembles), in combination with rhythm worksheets and written drills, so that many

learning styles (aural, visual, and tactile) are represented.

Finally, my approach to presentation of information is slightly different than most

common methods. I discuss simple duple first, followed immediately by compound duple. So

many books, especially piano teaching methods, do not introduce 6/8 time until much later in the

learning process; furthermore, they almost always state that 6/8 time has six beats. My approach

has a focus on meter and division, and the underlying pulse for each meter/division type, with

lots of stomping, tapping and clapping to help internalize rhythm patterns and metric accent.

Verbalization is an effective learning tool and is used in each unit to help solidify new concepts

with familiar tunes and rhymes. Finally, my presentation of information includes a wide variety

of exercises from solos to ensembles and written drills; most books have only one type of

exercise, and I believe the variety found in my method will help students achieve greater depth

of understanding.