Along their musical education, most piano students learn the circle of fifths. They probably develop some fuzzy connection between the circle of fifths and keys: G Major has one sharp and its tonic is a perfect fifth above C; D Major has two sharps and its tonic is a perfect fifth above G; etc. Perhaps they will learn that the order of sharps is an ascending circle of fifths, and the order of flats is a descending circle of fifths. If they are very lucky, they will begin to understand the human ear’s affinity for the circle of fifths and its implications on tonal harmony (think ii V I).

But, for all the glory that the circle of fifths deserves, I believe that the circle of thirds should be taught to our music students long before the circle of fifths, because the circle of thirds is the foundation of reading music and building harmony.

This is a fun little game to reinforce note names that I sometimes do for group class or young musicians.

I keep a bowl of small items that I’ve collected from around the house.  Things like a rubber band, a screw, a clothespin, a paper clip, a dog biscuit, a piece of gum, or anything else that I think might fit onto a piano key.

I will then lay out the items on the piano across several octaves. When the child comes into the lesson, they are fascinated by the decorated keys.

A few years ago, I took the weekend course Suzuki Principles in Action (SPA), a continuing education course for experienced Suzuki teachers. Rather than being a “here’s a bag of tricks you can use in your studio” kind of course (what I had expected), it was a “let’s look at the bigger picture” kind of course. It significantly changed how I approach teaching.

In the course, the concept of The Accomplished Learner was presented. The term “Accomplished Learner” gives a concise label to what we all want our students to become: Accomplished musicians who have become active and independent Learners.

My new assignment sheet for this year has a new check box indicating if a student should send me a video of their playing during the week.  Here’s my assignment sheet and how I enabled student video upload.