This is the time of the year that I have all the balls in the air that I’m frantically trying not to drop. Yes, you guessed it. It’s recital/festival/exam prep season.
Our state MTNA group hosts a spring festival with comprehensive testing of ALL the things. Performance. Sight Reading. Technical Skills and Theory. Within that testing is a simple harmonization exercise beginning with 7th graders. Each grade has its own keys and requirements, but I decided to start with the basics.
Although theses exercises are easily copied and assigned for homework, I find it helpful to just slip them into a white erase pouch to work through during our lessons. I start by having the student name the key and find the 5 finger position. Then, they play the I-V-I or I-V7-I progression as a warm up. They will write the chords and key in the blank above the exercise. Blanks have been provided for basic chord changes. To make this even easier, students can use root position I and V chords.
