A Creative Introduction to 'The Sewing Machine' by Mel Bonis
A great fun piece from the Trinity Grade 2 syllabus
This is the first in a series of articles exploring how to teach popular elementary repertoire in a creative way.
‘The Sewing Machine’ by Mélanie Bonis was requested by both Becs Leighton and Janet Denham. Thanks Becs and Janet! If you have a request, please leave it in the comments below.
‘The Sewing Machine’ features a simple left hand ostinato accompaniment, with the right hand playing melodies above and below the left, so you’ve got to do some hand crossing.
That makes it a great piece for training keyboard dexterity and good technique, but what really makes it special is just how fun it is to play!
The piece is part of the Trinity Grade 2 syllabus. It’s out of copyright so you can download it for free on IMSLP — click here.
How to teach a “Creative Introduction”
First, download the PDF and print off a copy for you and your student. (Feel free to print as many as you like!)
This new series of Creative Introductions are in two parts.
The first part is a duet designed for when you start teaching the piece. It helps your student understand the tonality and metre of the piece. They’ll play the scale (or scales!) in time with an accompaniment based on the original piece. There are a bunch of challenges to complete, including improvising, and I’ve included some suggestions to get them started with improvising.
(Note that the “G melodic minor” uses only the notes of the ascending form of the scale, even when descending. This is strictly speaking incorrect, but it is in keeping with how Bonis uses the scale in the original piece.)
The second part is designed to be used after your student has learnt the piece. It prompts them to think about how they could change it. This is a great opportunity to get them improvising and to review theory topics. Enthusiastic students might go so far as to write their own variation of the piece, which gives you an opportunity to improve their notation skills.
Requests are welcome!
I love writing these, especially when I know they get used. If you’d like me to write one for a piece you enjoy, let me know in the comments.