Teaching Sonatinas

21st Century Ideas from Creative

ComposeCreate Teachers

© 2017 by Compose Create LLC

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Grand Prize Idea: Three-Course Sonatina
Grand Prize Winner: Debbie Noble
noblepiano.com

This game is called "Three-Course Sonatina." Students currently working on the

Clementi, Op. 36, No. 1, are running the game. They will take turns playing the three
movements while game-players eat a different "course" for each movement. The
first movement: they will be eating portions of a salad quickly-lettuce during the first
theme/exposition and recapitulation, olives during second theme, cheese during
development, etc. The second movement: eat entree slowly. The third movement:
eat dessert quickly. Objectives: understanding of sonatina form, and customary
tempos of each movement. The students studying the Clementi can hardly wait to
run the game!

First Runner Up Idea - Match the Personality of the Performer

Second Place Winner: Denise West

For my 2016 Spring recital, I taught 3 young girls (age 10) one movement each of
Lynn Freeman Olson's "First Sonatina" from his Signature Collection, Volume 1. I
matched each movement to the personality of the child. At the recital, I explained to
the audience what a Sonatina is and explained the "character" of each movement
and how it matched the character of each girl. Each girl played her movement and
after all 3 movements were performed, the 3 girls came up on the stage and bowed
together while the audience applauded. Not only did the girls understand that each
movement of a sonatina has its own "flavor" or "character", but the audience was
able to learn this as well and appreciate the meaning behind a sonatina.

Second Runner Up Idea - Gamification: Unlocking the Sonatina

Parts
Second Place Winner: Laura Nguyen
lauranpianostudio.blogspot.com

The first sonatina my students learn is Sonatina in G Major (Anh. 5) by Beethoven. It

comes towards the end of the book (Suzuki Piano Volume 2). Recently I decided to
add some "gamification" to build up to learning this piece. I created a sheet with a
list of a number of pieces in the book before the sonatina. Once the student
completes the piece (or in some cases, learns one hand of the piece), they "unlock"
part of the sonatina. Each part they unlock is only a few measures long. I teach

them that part, and they add it to their practice. I paired measures that have
technical similarities to the piece that unlocked that part so that they are building on
what they just learned. Students who have begun this are already looking eagerly
ahead at what the next goal is to unlock part of the sonatina. I made sure to tell
them that once they reach the sonatina, they will already know a lot of it! One
student also found it motivating to know who else is, or will be, working on unlocking
the sonatina. It is great to know you are not alone when working on such a large
project!

Other Great Ideas by Subject:

Inspire
Paula Cain:
www.pacificmelodymusicstudio.com
Inspire students to learn Sonatinas by showing them the music and playing for them
a Beethoven Sonata! After I play one, and explain the importance of Sonata form, I
explain that a Sonatina is a small sonata with contrasting movements. Then I make
it like a story that is unfolding by studying with my student the variation in
movements and making the composers life come alive with photos of them,
interesting facts about their life, and time period they lived in. Clementi is one of my
favorite Sonatina composers to teach.

Barbara Stepp:
I think one of the best ways to introduce a sonatina is for the student to see/hear it
played in person. That could be the teacher playing it, or a more advanced student
playing it. There's just something different about seeing someone play in person as
opposed to watching it on video. I sometimes coordinate with parents to have
students attend each others' lessons so that late elementary students see their
peers playing a more advanced piece *just for them* -- not only in a recital setting. It
has more impact when they see someone they know (from group lessons, recitals,
etc.) playing a piece.

Swan Kiezebrink:
www.swanstudio.musicteachershelper.com
This is so basic, hardly even worth mentioning, but when I play it for the student and
find a young person on YouTube playing it, there is generally a spark of inspiration to
fuel the learning. Because most kids like "fast" Sonatina's generally fit the bill!
Story
Chris Musgrove:
I try to relate the sonata to story, either existing or one I make up to fit the music. It
could be broken down to three parts, for example ( 1. The journey out, 2. Subduing
the wicked beast. 3. Returning home triumphant.). I also keep the end of the story a
secret until the child reaches that part of the music. All they would know at the start,
is that they were going on an adventure.

Natalia Santana:
I would create a story about two or three dancers. The story would start from the
childhood of the dancers till the grow up. The first dancer would be an optiminst guy,
but the second is gloomy. The third is hyperactive and unstoppable. And one day the
three were chosen by the king and queen of some far away country to dance in an
important play called a sonatina!

The three dancers represent the three movements of a sonatina. Depending on the
type of sonatina to teach, the personality (or number if the sonatina is set in ABA
form) of the dancers change. Students may actually be curious to know and play the
sonatina of the three dancers!

Sharla Mercado:
I ask my students to listen to recordings of the sonatina either ahead of time or as
they are learning. As they listen, they need to come up with a story that the sonatina
is telling. Depending upon the level of the student, I may ask them to make up a
story for just the first movement, or all three movements. As the student learns the
sonatina, I will ask "What is happening in this part?" and then respond appropriately
to increase their musicality. ("You say that Jack is happily jumping into the water
here? It sure doesn't sound happy. What could you do to make sure the audience
knows what is going on?") And, if the sonatina is performed on a recital, I encourage
the performers to tell the audience all about their story before they play, as a way to
keep the audience engaged. Hope that this helps everyone!

Nancy Allen:
Make it tell a story. One can compare chord progressions in a sonatina to today's
pop music, or add new improvisations, but the listener must hear the story a
sonatina tells. Descriptive words and sentences can help a student play in an
expressive manner that conveys to the listener and player the excitement that can
be found in a sonatina. There are opportunities galore to hone their skills in the use
of dynamics and articulations. Besides, most sonatinas have a couple of fast
movements, and what student doesn't like to play fast? A slower movement can
certainly rock a baby to sleep, or provide a waltz for young teens' first dance. Make
a groovy sound track on iRealPro for one of the movements and your student will
love you!

Debbie Oliver:
olivermusic.ca
Sonatinas are little Soap operas.. On to the stage comes character number 1 -
describe his personality .... then character number 2 .. what is he like? This is called
the Exposition because we are exposing our characters. In the next part of the song
is the action between the two characters . find the tension and the interaction . Last
of all they both come back on the stage for a final recap and bow
My other latest sonatina plan (for children with struggling attention spans ) is to only
assign 3 or 4 lines of many sonatinas . This way they are exposed to the
music ,learn to appreciate a sonatina and do not need to spend too many weeks on
one song.

Marilyn King:
Sonatinas are fun to teach because learning them is like reading a good novel. They
have a plot, setting, characters and.......chapters that lead you to an exciting ending!
To be more specific, the setting is centered around a key, the plot its modulations,
the characters are the dynamics - e.g. p = a quiet friend, mp = a friend who's not as
quiet as p, mf = a moderately loud friend while f = a loud friend and sfz = a friend
who has outburts!

The chapters could relate to THEME EXPOSITION, THEME DEVELOPMENT thru'

a variety of Keys and the RECAPITULATION being the returning to "home base"
key" like a happy ending to the total adventure!

Kara Moore:
fortepianostudio.ca
I didn't come up with this - credit goes to the folks at Teach Piano Today - but it's so
brilliant, I had to share. Turn the sonatina into a story: the tonic theme becomes the
protagonist of a story, the dominant theme the antagonist, and the three movements
the plot!

Manipulatives
Janice Hubbard:
www.musicalmomentsnh.com
Begin with listening! Familiarity encourages enjoyment. The student should listen to
several recordings of the piece, so as he learns it, he knows what to expect.
Discover the form by using creative manipulatives. See if the student can put plastic
cups labeled with A, B or the components of sonata allegro form etc. in the correct
order. Time him! See if next week he can do it faster! You could also label cards with
A, B etc and have the student hold up the correct card or pick up the correctly
labeled plastic cup as you listen to the sonatina together. You can do similar
activities with the key changes and chords progressions.

Rhythm Changes
Nancy Allen
Make a groovy sound track on iRealPro for one of the movements and your student
will love you!

Rebecca Hahn:
I had a student use dotted rhythms to play a Sonatina and he ended up loving it! It
sounded more like jazz and I liked it too!

History
Sarah Lawton:
Ahhh..."The Age of the Symphony"! Bring on the movie "Amadeus". I love to talk
about the Classical genre itself, with all of its costumes, make-up and society. The
idea that architecture and poetry can let the arts come together. Once I have them
hooked, I take a look at how the symmetry of the Sonata Cycle is enlightening and I
review the form with key structure. Now I have them label these in their music. After
a week with their piece I turn to the electronic keyboard. They student can chose the
instrument of their choice to play each phrase or section, thereby creating their own
version of "the symphony". Eyes light up as they now own their creation.

Ellen Berry:
My students' first sonatinas are the Beethoven Sonatina in G and the Clementi
Sonatina Op. 36, No. 1. With the Beethoven they are usually quite impressed that
they are going to learn such a long piece (four pages!). For the Clementi, I like to
show them a nice edition of the entire Opus 36 sonatinas, and how they are
organized just like a "chapter book" they may be reading at school. As well, we
spend some time enjoying pictures of Clementi, his manuscript style, and what
pianos looked like when his company manufactured them. Understanding the
historical context when introducing classical sonatinas really helps to set the stage
for each student's musical journey.

Lyrics and Conversation

Allen Long:
I act out an imaginary conversation between the contrasting theme during the
lesson. I will also do this when two melodies are in contrast to each other. The goal
is for the student to have a good character distinction. Music is to express and if the
sonatina cannot be expressive of ideas and/or emotions, I won't use it.
Roberto Blaise:
Consider it as a letter, or e-mail , or a text, that you would write to a friend. Does that
friend make you happy - ( insert theme in G Major) or Jumpy- (insert theme
Sonatina with Stoccato rhythms in A Minor. She can add words to the Sonatina to
personalize her feelings, and find a key that suits her voice .

Carol Jilling:
Put words to the first phrase -- make it catchy or ridiculous, then have the student
count how many times it appears in the sonatina. Secondary theme could be an
opposite catchy set of words.

Brennan Chan:
brennanchanpiano.com
Coming up with words that match specific rhythms in the sonatina. For example,
four 16th notes followed by two eighth-notes could be "pepperoni pizza”.

Form: Look for Familiar Parts

Stephanie Davis:
StephaniesStudioBillings.com
In order to teach the form of a sonatina and show students how to use that to their
advantage, I photocopy the sonatina and give it to them in short sections. [Note from
Wendy - as long as the student owns the piece that you copy, you can do this.]
When they have learned all of the sections, they get the whole piece. The first time
they see the whole song, students are often a little intimidated, but when they start
playing it they realize that they already know the whole thing. I give them the
development sections right after the theme which is being developed so they
recognize the tune fragments. I do not give them duplicates of sections that repeat
(for example, when the Principal Theme returns); when they encounter these
returns, it reinforces the recapitulation section of the form.

Karen Snow:
snowmusicschool.com
I point out all the parts that are things they know - particularly scales, 5 finger
patterns, arpeggios, etc. They light up when they see they already know how to do
that in all different keys, so it seems easier to them. Sometimes all the "black" notes
in the runs and scales scares them when they look at it. Once they realize they
know what to do already, it helps. I also have them learn in chunks. Many times I
don't have them start at the beginning. Sometimes they learn the end first and
sometimes just the hardest parts. I tell them they have the hardest thing done and
now they can easily learn the rest. They love it by the time they are finished - and it's
usually memorized then because we memorize as we go.
Jan Sherman:
I do three things: 1. What I call an "Opus Study"---we look for repeated elements
and mark them to show what is repeated in distinct colors. We mark any scales,
chords, etc. to make sight reading easier. We look for the form of each movement,
highlighting key changes and how they relate to the tonic. Then we listen to the
song, following the music carefully. We mark any tricky fingerings with stickers or
brackets. 2. We do a "Technic Study." This actually works best if the teacher copies
the trickiest sections or phrases and makes them into technic exercises before the
Sonatina is introduced. Make a one-week challenge (with some kind of reward) to
see if the student can play the exercise perfectly.Then when introducing the
Sonatina, draw squares around these technic exercises in the music so that the
student sees they have already conquered them.
3. Then sight read the music, cuing the student to the markings on the page so you
help them get as many phrases perfect the first time. Keep track of how many they
get right. Mark the number on the page, applauding the student and see how many
they can pay perfectly the next week.

Robbin Jordan:
I begin by having the student look at several treble clef measures. After the initial
"This looks so hard!", I always hear "Oh, that's a scale!" Students seem very
comforted by seeing an old “friend."

Laura Davis:
www.friendofmusic.com
I start by having my student take a look through all the lines of the movement,
looking for where are the "A" & "B" sections, then perhaps short bridges, or the
ending. They will learn all the "A" type sections first! Then the "B" sections. This
helps them see and appreciate the structure, which is a big help in memorizing.

Melody
Deborah Calling:
Focus on the melody. Show how everything else is either a variation, a bridge, a
harmony, etc. to support the melody. Maybe the melody shifts hands, octaves, etc.
Start there then teach around that.

Eunjung Kim:
When i teach a sonata first, I allow them to discover the melodies and chord
themselves before practice sonatina. Second, I hope them find chords and
melodies, color because 21st century sonatinas are diffeent to classical, romantic
age. Third practice left hand and then right hand because I think left hand is based
on chords and good to feel steady beat.
Anita Kohli:
anitaelise.wordpress.com
Student selects 2 bars that look easy, learns them hands together, then finds where
they repeat. Next play the same bars and add 2 more. Do the same, and identify
slight variations in repeats. Finish a section, then do this with the next.

Divide and Conquer!

Susan Petters:
Highlight patterns that repeat themselves in different colors so you can identify how
offen they are reoccurring. You can also use color highlight tape so you can remove
them when the Sonatina has been learned. I have the students practice a different
color each week then put it all together.

Renda Smith:
Pull the hardest parts first and go over them with the student.

Angela Jacob:
Assign the most challenging sections first. Small sections & lots of repetitions.

Composition
Helen Cheung:
(1) Introduce the piano duel of Clementi and Mozart. (2) Listen to different sonatinas
by different composers. (3) Ask the students to search the subjects, and analyze the
keys and find the sections by listening and by reading the scores. (4) Ask the
students to compose a simple sonatina by first creating 2 subjects in different keys.

Start Early - Repertoire Suggestions

Patti Bennett:
I begin Sonatinas early. Early means within the first few weeks of lessons. The first
sonatina I teach is Five Note Sonatina by Bolck. It is a great phrasing, dynamics and
coordination study. In a Dennis Alexander Adult Piano Duet Book 1 there is a one
page sonatina that also works well in the first few weeks of lessons for the younger
students. Then I teach from the Lynn Freeman Olson book, Beginning Sonatinas.
They are fabulous! I begin with the first movement of the first sonatina. It is easy to
teach by a combination of rote and reading. Students love these sonatinas, and they
are great for teaching phrasing, dynamics, musicality, technique, coordination and
enjoyment of playing. Then I teach the sonatina in F Major and then on to the A
Minor sonatina, which really sounds difficult. From the very beginning of lessons, I
encourage students to play - and ENJOY - sonatinas. So there is a natural
progression into the early intermediate sonatina repertoire on through the more
difficult sonatinas. This progression leads fluently into the easier sonata repertoire.
My students LOVE playing sonatinas and enter a sonatina competition each year.
Our choice pieces for festivals and competitions are usually sonatinas or sonatas.

Special Events (Recitals, Festivals, Group Lessons)

Andrea Bentz:
bentzmusicstudio@att.net
I have a studio-wide focus coming this spring. We will all learn about sonatinas - the
older the student, the more they will learn. A group lesson will feature sonatinas,
including watching YouTube performances of some famous but very different
sonatinas, and the study of form with cookies (from on the web). At year-end recital,
I will have opportunities for period dress , composition, reports about the form or
composers, and performance of sonatinas. This will be a section of the recital, not
the entire program. --That's all my ideas right now, still working on it, won't be
scheduled until mid-March. I am now starting to think of some creative and out of the
box ideas that go beyond these basics.

Teresa Hegyi:
Have a yearly festival! Create ribbons and trophies and a graded repertoire list.
Include modern and classical period sonatinas and sonatas on this list. There is
actually lots of modern repertoire that is very good and appealing to students to
choose from! Our music teachers group has a winners concert as well. The top 3
players of every 10-15 students play in this concert and receive festival trophies. All
players receive ribbons and graded adjudication and score.

Hilda Hagins:
Our music teachers forum has a Sonatina/Sonata Festival each spring which is in
it's 21st year. I was one of the founding members and our goal was to encourage
students to study quality literature and to become comfortable performing for an
audience and an adjudicator. We usually have about 10 teachers and 150 +
students who participate. Students are divided into 12 levels and we award a
predetermined number of trophies per class (level). Trophy winners are invited to
perform in recital the following day. Students must perform a sonatina/sonata from
our list which is updated every summer. We include new literature in addition to the
standard classics. Our students are motivated by this process.
I teach sonatinas in what is probably a "usual" manner. We listen to it and then learn
the exposition hands separately, then put it together slowly to ensure accuracy.
Once that is done, in a week or two or longer, depending on the level of the piece,
we move on to the development and treat it in much the same way. Form can be
taught in even the simplest sonatinas, and that is such a useful tool when
memorizing. We look for elements such as Alberti bass that they may have already
studied in their technique books. Scales are such a fundamental component of most
Sonatinas, so we explore scale-like passages and work to play them as cleanly as
possible. Having the festival and the possibilities of winning a trophy helps to keep
even the youngest (2nd year usually) focused on the process and motivated. I also
have classes or group lessons for my students who participate in Sonatina Festival
and we play for the other students who listen and make positive comments or gently
point out what might need to be "fixed". I try to have several classes that take place
at various steps of the process of learning--at the first the sonatina is played slowly
and not from memory, and by the last class each piece should be memorized and
performance ready. I hope this keeps the students "on track" and accountable in
their learning process. Thank you!

P.S. A Sonatina Festival could be started with just a few teachers and students---it is
fun to watch it grow!

Susan Rye:
I used to live in Grand Rapids, MI, and belonged to the NMTA chapter, Piano
Teachers' Forum of Grand Rapids. That organization held a Sonata/Sonatina
Festival every year in November, and as of three years ago it was held in a large
building with four performance sites, and was FILLED with students performing,
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a Saturday. The performances were evaluated by judges,
and teachers were given the feedback. It was a HUGE event, and I think very
constructive.
All of my students participated in this festival, from 1-year Beginners to Advanced. I
found sonatinas in many unexpected places. The best ones, which I enjoyed the
most, were "Beginning Sonatinas," by Lynn Freeman Olson. There are five
sonatinas in one book, and almost all of them have three movements. They go from
early to late beginner, are varied and interesting, and extremely musical. I didn't
need to do a lot of "selling" to the students -- all that was needed was for them to
hear the music, and they wanted it!

Technique
Gayle Tuttle:
KlavierKids.com
I prepare students to play Sonatinas by having them harmonize Twinkle, Twinkle
Little Star using Alberti Bass in 5 or 6 keys. This get them use to playing Alberti Bass
with rotation and balancing the sound without the pressure of reading.

It’s a Reward
Betsy Hegwood:
https://hegwood.musicteachershelper.com/
It is a reward when kids have earned their way up to a Sonatina! I select a Sonatina
that the student has the background knowledge to understand- so it is easy to link
the theory to the form/melody patterns. Voila! Look at you! Since you learned all
those chords, you could gobble this entire movement in one lesson. You and the
masters have a lot in common! Compare sections to modern music. Appreciate the
movement/technique used to create the sound and how "smart" the masters were to
create a gesture with ease.

Thank you to all the wonderfully creative

ComposeCreate teachers who
shared their ideas!

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