TC207: Rote Teaching Queen Paula Dreyer on Composition

Our dear friend Paula Dreyer joins us on the TopCast to talk about rote teaching and composition today. You'll explore how you can use rote music with your own students to inspire composition and go way beyond boring reading-only methods with piano students.

This rote and reading approach is especially well suited for beginning students and older students.

Paula Dreyer's Little Gems for Piano book series features brilliantly levelled rote pieces perfect for lessons or recitals.

She also recently launched the Piano Flow Summer Intensive course for teachers, and her original solo piano album called Central Star, coming out in Fall 2020.

Transcript of the Show

If you'd like to download a PDF transcript of this episode, please click below.

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• Related: TopMusicSheets is our monthly digital sheet music book, available to all TopMusicPro members! Paula's duet book (TMS vol5) will be available through September 30, 2020. Check out our membership options here.Watch Paula and Tim demo Paula's duet compositions from TopMusicSheets vol.5 :[embed]https://youtu.be/GdsCc5dNsi8[/embed]

In this episode, you’ll learn about rote learning with composition with Paula:

• [04:04] A peek at her current studio and projects.
• [07:35] Paula talks about her new Central Star album.
• [08:18] What is rote teaching?
• [09:08] The story behind her Little Gems books of rote & reading pieces.
• [11:35] Her background in music training.
• [17:42] About her teaching studio
• [19:24] The reason she decided to self-publish Little Gems for Piano.
• [28:22] Biggest advantage for teachers in adding rote music for beginner students.
• [30:37] The connection between reading and rote music.
• [31:31] Advice to teachers in using rote for beginner lessons.
• [34:11] Hardest thing about her journey on creating her books.
• [35:41] Paula talks about her feature on TopMusicSheets for the month of September 2020.

Promo & Links Mentioned

• Special offer on Paula Dreyer's compositions at her site: Use coupon code SAVE15 for 15% off on *one-time downloads.
• (This offer is good for digital sheet music only, marked one-time use. It excludes studio-licensed digital books.)
• Piano Flow Group Intensive

About our Guest on rote composition

Paula Dreyer is a pianist, educator and composer making music in a unique style that draws upon influences of classical, Spanish, film and improvisational music. She seeks to inspire, include and connect individuals through her globally successful Little Gems for Piano Educational Series. She recently debuted her original solo piano album, Central Star.

Thank you for tuning in!

In conclusion, there are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, and I’m grateful that you’ve chosen mine. Whether you’re at the gym, on the bike or in the car, I know that you and your students will get lots out of what you learn in the long run.

Just make sure you try out some of the ideas before they get lost in the business of your next lessons!

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