Darling, over the next twelve months we’ll unfurl a sumptuous piano programme for our bright 15‑year‑old: Piano Adventures repertoire seasoned with Hanon‑Faber warmups and the Scale & Chord books, and a deliciously medieval side‑menu (Hildegard of Bingen plainsong, chansons de geste, German Minnesänger and minstrels’ tunes). Each lesson is like tasting — begin with The New Virtuoso Pianist to grease joints and cultivate relaxed, efficient gesture; then savour scales, arpeggios and chord progressions from Level 1–3 to build harmonic appetite and improvisatory spice. Performance plate: prepare 3 graded pieces each term (studio, exam, and creative), rotating sacred chant, secular medieval song and modern Piano Adventures arrangements. Composition garnish: short improvisations and modal harmonisations inspired by medieval modes. Listening and analysis: weekly close listening to Hildegard, a trouvère chanson, a German Minnesänger piece and a minstrel melody, noting mode, texture and text‑setting. Assessment: fortnightly technical checks, termly performances and a Year‑end recital merging chant and contemporary arrangement. Differentiation: technique focus for stamina, aural tasks for musicianship, notation and composition tasks scaffolded. Parental palate: fortnightly practice goals (20–40 minutes/day), warm‑up recipe and repertoire list. I’ll guide with gentle critique, exuberant praise and a nudge toward expressive colour. Mapped to ACARA v9 strands: Performing (technical fluency, ensemble), Creating (improvisation, composition), Responding (analysis, aural skills) and Understanding (musicology, notation, historical context). Outcomes: sustained technical development, stylistic literacy in medieval and modern repertoire, and confident expressive performance.
Monthly rhythm: months 1–3 concentrate on foundational technique and modal listening; months 4–6 introduce medieval melodies and simple chant arrangements alongside Scale & Chord Level 1; months 7–9 advance arpeggio and transposition work with Scale & Chord Level 2 and creative projects inspired by trouvère texts; months 10–12 refine performance polish with The New Virtuoso Pianist routines and a culminating recital merging sacred chant and contemporary Piano Adventures.