"W W H W W W H"
As a high school theory student, I learned to chant the major scale this way. Even though I knew each scale individually, I didn't find out about the pattern until then. That meant I had to learn every scale (every key signature) as a seperate entity--an endeavor that, to become second nature, took my whole gradeschool life. I'm still a little slow when I need to transpose on the spot because my brain wasn't originally wired to see a "major scale" as much as it was to see a "G scale" or "B scale."
Mrs. Stewart changes this radically through the use of visual helpers placed on the keys: a major scale card, a root triad and an inverted triad. They can be placed on any key and sound the scale or chord when played. The major scale card has numbers 1 2 34 5 6 71' spaced so that they line up with a major scale starting wherever number 1 is (this design is copyrighted by Mrs. Stewart). I experimented with my husband who has very little piano training, and he played a major scale on C, C# and Bb.
As a church musician, I play from chord sheets all of the time. Sometimes the guitar players will put on a capo and change the key leaving me to use my "mental capo." Some songs are easy, others can be tricky, and it depends on how much I have on my mind how smoothly I can accomplish the task. If only I had learned from the beginning to view the piano this way! If only I had learned to play familiar songs in several different keys when I was 5 and learning new things was easy!
First things first...
Though I have not been able to use the entire method with beginners yet (I just got the books a couple of weeks ago), I have been able to use the scale card with one of my capable Suzuki method beginners. Before, teaching a scale was all about a confusing tangle of fingerings and piano keys, and it seemed impossible to separate the two. Now, I actually started by introducing the card, having her move it to various keys and play the various scales, then settle on C major finally specifying which fingers to use. She is a very self-motivated learner and lets me know when something is confusing--this was totally clear to her. As we introduce new scales, I'll keep using the card and encouraging her to recognize the build of the scale before incorporating the piano fingerings.
Exciting Adventures Ahead....
Finally, this method is going to open up a whole new genre of teaching for me. My training was classical: I learned to read music and played from sheet music from the very beginning. Though I later taught myself to play from chords and use my ears to improvise, I haven't felt comfortable allowing someone to pay me to teach them these skills. Not to mention I have always felt like piano lessons should incorporate learning to read music. With Mrs. Stewart's Lessons I can teach chords and scales while still leading into teaching music reading in a progression that is well planned out.
As I expand my studio to include more and more group piano classes for beginners, I can't wait to work through Mrs. Stewart's Piano Lessons. I expect to be surprised...