Tutorials
Jocelyn provides a growing range of tutorials to assist teachers and students with learning her music
Menu
Flight of the Sorcerer
Flight of the Sorcerer is a fun piece for fast flying fingers from the 'Danger Zone' collection.
It can be used as a scale study or just for fun but mainly it was created to appeal to children who love to play fast and furiously but need to hone their technical and interpretive skills to do that well.
This tutorial explores the many opportunities for technical, theoretical and interpretive growth and gives a thorough overview of all teaching aspects.
Intermediate Level
4th Grade AMEB/ANZCA
5th Grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: Danger Zone
Click the picture for the tutorial
Tomb Spiders
Tomb Spiders is an intermediate level piece for solo piano from the 'Danger Zone' collection.
It was written to appeal to young people looking for dark, scary music while also giving them the opportunity to develop their skills in fast finger work, bringing a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
It will require a certain amount of discipline from the student in working through the patterns slowly and thoroughly with effective fingering so that the runs can flow smoothly at speed.
Intermediate Level
4th - 5th Grade AMEB/ANZCA
5th - 6th Grade level ABRSM
Collection/Album: Danger Zone
Click the picture for the tutorial
The Dark Phantom
The Dark Phantom is a early intermediate level recital piece from the collection 'Another Pinch ... and a Stronger Dash!'
It was written to satisfy the needs of my young students who wanted fast-paced music that sounded impressive but wasn't too difficult to play.
There are, nevertheless, some challenges which need to be worked thoroughly to be able to play this piece effectively and these are explored in this tutorial.
Early Intermediate Level
Approx. 1st Grade AMEB/ANZCA
Approx. 2nd Grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: Another Pinch ... and a Stronger Dash!
Click the picture for the tutorial
Alex,
The Amazingly Talented Cat
Alex, The Amazingly Talented Cat, from the 'Jazz! Schmazz!' collection captures the antics of a red-blonde Burmese cat belonging to two young students.
He has a range of talents which you'll hear about in this tutorial and a matching amount of dexterity will be required from the student in coordinating the hands to bring out the main melody in this contrapuntal work.
Early - Mid Intermediate Level
2nd - 3rd Grade AMEB/ANZCA
3rd - 4th Grade level ABRSM
Collection/Album: Jazz! Schmazz!
Click the picture for the tutorial
Brave the Warrior
Brave the Warrior is an early intermediate level piece from the 'Danger Zone' collection, designed to appeal to older children and teens.
The driven nature of the battle music speaks to the strong and courageous virtues of the warrior within.
Early intermediate Level
3rd grade AMEB/ANZCA
4th grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: Danger Zone
Click the picture for the tutorial
Mirabella Moth
Mirabella Moth is an elementary level piece from the Caterina Caterpillar collection.
It was designed to teach children how to play chromatic semitones and to illustrate the different names that may be given to those notes - for example, C sharp and D flat.
This tutorial gives an overview of the song, its lyrics, and the way the piece fits under the fingers.
Elementary (Pre-preliminary) Level
Collection/Album: 'Caterina Caterina and other Creepy Crawlies'
Click the picture for the tutorial
Jazz Invention
Jazz Invention is a late intermediate piece from the collection 'A Pocketful of Jazz'.
This two part contrapuntal work is explored in detail in this tutorial, with strategies given for learning and options for students with smaller hands.
Popular with teens and older children as well as adults.
Late Intermediate Level
4th Grade AMEB/ANZCA
5th Grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: A Pocketful of Jazz
Click the picture for the tutorial
Raindrops on the Window
'Raindrops on the Window' is a late elementary/early intermediate piano study in staccato and tonal expression.
This tutorial explores the challenges for the student and offers helpful tips for managing them.
Late elementary/early intermediate level
Approx. 1st Grade AMEB/ANZCA
Approx. 2nd Grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: Myriad Moments
Click the picture for the tutorial
Samantha Dances the Tarantella
Samantha Dances the Tarantella is a late elementary level dance which challenges the student in a number of ways.
In this tutorial, those challenges are explored and strategies presented to help with a range of pedagogical issues including adapting octave stretches for small hands, connecting one hand while disconnecting the other, phrasing and reading of low notes.
It is hoped that teachers will find this piece a useful addition to teaching repertoire, and the tutorial informative and helpful!
Late Elementary Level
1st Grade AMEB/ANZCA
2nd Grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: A Pinch of This ... A Dash of That!
Click the picture for the tutorial
The Sandwich Song
Not a tutorial but just a quick look at 'The Sandwich Song' from the collection 'Another Pinch ... and a Stronger Dash!'
This song was designed to bring context to the structure of ternary form (and coda) for children ... or students of any age.
Lyrics illustrate the 'sandwich' structure of the song and help to internalise the form of the music in a meaningful way.
Late elementary/early intermediate level
2nd Grade AMEB/ANZCA
3rd Grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: Another Pinch ... and a Stronger Dash!
Click picture to listen to the song and view the lyrics
Sunlight through the Pines
'Sunlight Through the Pines' is an early level study in rubato from the 'Myriad Moments' collection.
It is ideal for adolescent and pre-adolescent children who need a safe starting point to experiment with this complex technique.
This tutorial gives a thorough overview of teaching and learning strategies for Sunlight through the Pines, providing a resource for students at lower levels to begin exploring a technique which is normally introduced at higher levels.
Late elementary/early intermediate level
1st - 2nd Grade AMEB/ANZCA
2nd - 3rd Grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: Myriad Moments
Click the picture for the tutorial
Return to Eden
Return to Eden is an intermediate level piece from the collection 'In My Room'.
The pieces in this collection have all been written specifically for teens with the aim of supporting their emotional life and nourishing their psyche.
This tutorial looks in depth at the ways in which this piece, and others from the collection, may be taught and the benefits that can be drawn from deep immersion into this music.
Intermediate Level
late 2nd - early 3rd grade AMEB/ANZCA
late 3rd - early 4th grade ABRSM
Collection/Album: In My Room - 8 Lyrical Pieces for Intermediate Piano
Click the picture for the tutorial
Canons Tutorial I
I’ve been conscious that many teachers are experiencing difficulties with teaching the 2nd grade canon from the AMEB Technical Exercises ‘Too Tame to Tango’.
Learning to play a canon like this effectively can’t take place within a vacuum - like any skill, it needs to come via a series of steps.
With the permission of the AMEB and my publishers, Wirripang, I’ve recorded this tutorial which looks at how to approach the learning and playing of canons so that the individual lines retain their integrity when those lines are played together.
Step by step guidance is given on how to take apart different types of canons and put them together again without losing the individuality of each musical part.
The canons played and discussed in this tutorial are:
Canoeing Down The Canon (‘A Canonical Adventure’ and ‘AMEB Series 17 Grade 1’);
Cotton Candy (‘A Canonical Adventure’);
Rolling In The Canonfields (‘A Canonical Adventure’ and ‘AMEB Series 17 Grade 1’);
Too Tame to Tango (‘AMEB Technical Work Level 1)
Late Elementary/early intermediate levels
1st - 3rd Grades AMEB/ANZCA
2nd - 4th Grades ABRSM
Collections/Albums: Conquering Canons & A Canonical Adventure
Waterfall
'Waterfall' is an ideal first pedalling study for piano, from the Magical Mystical' collection.
This video tutorial guides teachers on how to teach 'Waterfall' in general and how to teach the pedalling in particular.
Elementary Level
Pre-preliminary AMEB/ANZCA
Initial Piano ABSRM
Collection/Album: Magical Mystical
Click the picture for the tutorial
New Tutorial Coming Soon!
Visit the catalogue pages for a wide range of music for children, teens and adults