The MTNA teacher group in San Mateo gave me the opportunity to present a workshop on American Popular Piano in the very attractive Oak Room in the new San Mateo library building. There was a very good turnout for this and Janice Sheng is to be congratulated for hosting an extremely well-organised event. Some teachers were aware of the new series – at least one teacher had bought it over a year ago and was not sure how to use it, so she had come to find out! So my session very much emphasized how to use American Popular Piano – the teacher in question was my “student” when I went through some of the ear-training and sight-reading components in the Skills books. Other teachers were delighted to try improvising for the first time.Everyone went away feeling comfortable with how to use the series – they like the material but needed a chance to see how this new concept worked. We will continue to do what we can on the website to communicate the “how to” aspect as clearly as possible.
A final quote from Janice Sheng:
"Christopher Norton's presentation on the APP Series was not only informative but also exciting and inspiring. The teachers of MTAC San Mateo branch had a great time. We learnt new concepts and tricks, and we cannot wait to get our hands on the innovative APP materials!"
