Okay, I am setting goals for what I want my students to be learning from their time with me. Theory is a big thing to me.
Using repertoire as the tool for acquiring a command on theory, I have the following questions :
1. Does it make sense to address smaller units before larger units or vice versa ?
Example : Roman numeral anlaysis vs overall form.
I personally find I am forever wanting to discover the larger picture first, the overall form, to then fit the smaller units into context. But, by now I am not sure whether this only makes sense to me because I learned the smaller units first.
2. I am considering giving my students part-writing assignments, however it dawns on me that I don't rightly know the practical applications of this exercise. It is just what I did in first year theory as an exercise to, at worst, learn rules and at best, learn what types of note combinations give which arual affect. So, is this primarily a compositional exercise ?
Perhaps I have just not made a mental connection yet.
I am simply having a hard time knowing how to organize my thoughts and aims. I have a number of books covering the specifics of theory and form, but I am not certain of their overall efficiency and ability to lead the student into cogent thinking as it may relate to piano playing. And I don't think I will have the desired results to just hand them a book and say "here, read this".
Thanks in advance,
m1469
Topic: Teaching Theory: Learning individual units & applications of Part-writing