Sound Bites
What is Sound Bites?
The great writer Mark Twain once described the concept of ‘Sound Bite' as such: "A minimum of sound to a maximum of sense."
Words like ‘sound' and ‘sense' are the universal themes in the making of a musical artist. We aim to develop the sense of how the sound behaves in this course. We aim to engage our bodily senses to experience how the sound comes alive: the ears (listening), the voices (singing), the eyes (sight reading), the touch (keyboard), and whole body movement for rhythm work.
Who is it designed for?
This course is aimed for our piano students with at least 2 years of studies. As their repertoire during the lesson increases, there is often not enough time for developing the sense of sound. In response to this urgent need, Junior Sound Bites is now available at CMC.
Sound Bites is offered as two 16 week sessions during the year with age-appropriate introductions to these basic music principles and continue to meet the requirements of RCM practical exams for higher levels.
What is our unique approach?
Junior Sound Bites follows the guidelines of the RCM Examination. Junior Sound Bites covers ear training requirements within the first 5 grades. In the context of Sound Bites, preparing for ear training exam requirements is NOT a drilling process. It is a process of being musical through interactive games, inventions, and discovery.
Solfège singing, keyboard solfège (sing and play at the same time), melody/rhythm play back, tone and semitone, intervals, simple rhythmic and melodic improvisation, sight reading, and dictation.
Advanced Sound Bites continues to follow guidelines of RCM examinations for grades 5 and up, depending on the level of the students involved in the class.
The senior course also includes solfège, melody/rhythm play back, intervals, advanced rhythmic and melodic materials, sight reading, and dictation. In addition, the course will cover chart reading and improvisations (from Christmas carols to rock/jazz charts), and transcription of different genres of music (learning a piece by ear and recognizing how to notate it and improvise within its framework).
Who is teaching the classes?
Cheng-Feng Lin (Junior) - upto grade 5 piano level
Dr. Erik Ross (Advanced) - grade 5 piano level and up
When is Sound Bites offered?
Junior Sound Bites is on Tuesdays from 5:15-6:00pm
(Pre-requisite: 2 years of private piano lessons)
Session I: September to January
Session II: January to May
Cost of Sound Bites:
$240 per 16 week session of 45 minute weekly classes