Bachelor of Fine Arts (York University)
Katie Thurman is a singer, pianist, accompanist, and teacher based in Toronto. Her passion for music has been with her since childhood, and she is excited to have recently completed her undergraduate degree in music at York University.
Trained classically in piano, she continues to explore other styles including pop and jazz, as well as write her own compositions. Her vocal training is in both classical and musical theatre styles, as well as lengthy choral experience both in and out of school.
Katie spent 6 years singing with WIBI A Cappella, a collegiate-based group, during her time at York, and is proud to have competed with them twice in the ICCA (the very competition the Pitch Perfect films were based on!). Currently, she sings with the Toronto-based That Choir.
Katie loves all types of music, but spends most of her time listening to pop, indie, and alt-pop records.
Katie also writes her own songs and is working towards putting together an EP. Aside from music, Katie’s other passions include baking, film, and psychology. She loves teaching and is always pushing herself to grow pedagogically and musically!
Get to know Katie…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: baking, watching movies/TV, writing, yoga, hiking
Musical influences: Classical: Natalie Dessay, Maria Callas/Pop: Arcade Fire, Lana Del Rey, BANKS, Florence & the Machine, Rhye
Favourite food: Pasta
Least favourite food: Seafood
Favourite music: pop & alt-pop, indie/folk, dance, and all things Celtic
Favourite song: currently “Favourite Boy” by Half Moon Run
Favourite movie: Eighth Grade
Favourite movie music: A Single Man, music composed by Abel Korzeniowski?
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Les Misérables
Best quote from your teacher: Vocal teacher: “Just go for it! We want to hear ‘Katie-and-a-half'”.
Favourite quote: Motivation comes from work
Favourite book: The Handmaid’s Tale
Best thing about teaching at ABC: I like sharing my knowledge with students, and I learn from them too!
Latest Homework from Katie
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Efe – Jan 10th
Hi Efe!
Here’s the rundown of what to do for this week.
Chords
Reacquaint yourself with the E, Em (E minor), G, and B chords.
- The Google Drive provided on December 6th shows you how to play the E chord. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1cURXZdyFoL_6FZX5V4COTxCljwXKq8wO
- The B chord is played on frets 7, 9, 9, and 8 going from the low E string up to the G string. The fingerings are 5 (the thumb), 3, 4, and 2, respectively. Feel free to be nice and tough with gripping this. If it gets painful, rest your hand. Do some stretches (you’ll see some below), then get right back to it.
- Spend 5 minutes holding down the correct frets with the correct fingerings, and strumming them with proper posture.
- Try playing those four chords over the following backing track. Spend 5 minutes doing your best with this. Remember: no need to play fast. Em slow blues backing track
Scale
The Em pentatonic scale.
- This Google Drive has pictures of the fretboard with this scale. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GMsYAiDXsew5x_4fByy4cQp8O6KXeq_6?usp=drive_link
- Please memorize this scale for next class. The shape of this scale is used all over the guitar neck for countless songs in many genres. This scale is an essential tool for most of the guitar music in the world. — Spend 5 minutes a day this week to work on memorizing this. My hope is that by next class you’ll be able to improvise on this scale without needing to look at the provided pictures.
- Experiment with playing any of this scale’s notes over this backing track. Take it as a creative game to keep getting better at. Em slow blues backing track
— Do this once a day; 10-12 minutes everyday.
— Try things like vibratos (you once called them wiggles, haha) and bends.
Song choices
Listen to the following 3 songs. Then choose the one you like best. We’ll work on that one for the spring recital.
- Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
- Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
- Rumble by Link Wray
Stretching
- Watch this video. In under 10 minutes, this famous guitarist clearly describes the types of stretching he does for his guitar playing sessions.
- What I’d like you to do with this, Efe, is to do these stretches during and after your practice sessions. He does them before his; I don’t think that’s necessary.
Additional notes
- Please get a new guitar strap.
- Please find your pick again. If you can’t then you’ll have to get a new one. My guitar lessons require the student to have a pick.
- Regarding the pain of the hand, there are 2 things to acknowledge.
— 1, this is normal. As with any physical exercise, the body and its muscles will tire and get sore. Don’t give up when this happens. But you also don’t want to overdo this, so make sure to rest during practice sessions.
— 2, everything in this practice plan can be done without days of 0 playing. I.e., no need to rest for an entire day. The aim is to keep exercising the hands so that these pains no longer occur. The day this happens will come once enough consistent practicing has been done.
Final note
I’m sorry I didn’t bring the teacher’s report today. I’ll bring it next class. One recommendation I made going forward is to practice a half hour a day, only. This should make it easier to find time to practice the guitar.
- Notice that I made today’s practice instructions so that they should span a half hour, at maximum. Most of this week’s practice should take no more than a half hour. Including the stretching I’m assigning.
- Going over a half hour this week may only happen because you must listen to each song fully and also see the full stretching video.
Good to see you again today, Efe. I’m looking forward to this new term! See you in a week!
Preferred Books for Katie’s Students
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Faber & Faber Piano Adventures
The 2nd Edition Primer Lesson Book introduces the keyboard, note values, and the grand staff. Students play in C 5-finger scale patterns, develop recognition of steps and skips, and learn letter names independent of finger number. Musicianship is built through the use of dynamics and coloristic experimentation with the pedal. The book is organized into units which represent the major concepts and skills. As new units are introduced, earlier concepts and skills are constantly reviewed.
Alfred's Adult Basic All-In-One
Alfred’s Basic Adult All-in-One Course is designed for use with a piano instructor for the beginning student looking for a truly complete piano course. It is a greatly expanded version of Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course that will include lesson, theory, and technique in a convenient, “all-in-one” format. This comprehensive course adds such features as isometric hand exercises, finger strengthening drills, and written assignments that reinforce each lesson’s concepts. There is a smooth, logical progression between each lesson, a thorough explanation of chord theory and playing styles, and outstanding extra songs, including folk, classical, and contemporary selections.
RCM Voice Repertoire
A Comprehensive Voice Series serves as the official resource for voice assessments of the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program. Featuring an outstanding selection of voice literature and supporting materials, this series offers a truly enriched learning experience to help ensure student success. As in previous editions, Resonance encompasses a rich and varied selection of Repertoire, Vocalises and Recitatives that students of all ages and voice types will find appropriate to their musical interests and level of technical ability.
Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer
The vocal workouts in this much-anticipated follow-up to Peckham’s The Contemporary Singer are based on Berklee College of Music’s highly effective vocal method. This volume will help vocalists develop the voice through good vocal health, warm-up exercises, advanced techniques, stage performance advice and more. Includes companion online audio for ultimate interactive education!
Alfred's Teach Yourself to Sing
Learn to sing and open up a brand new world of musical knowledge with this exciting method from Alfred Music. Beginning with the fundamentals, you will learn about equipment used by singers, vocal health, and getting acquainted with reading music. You will then move right along to breathing, vocalizing, proper warm-ups, and singing songs, lesson by lesson, all while continuing to increase your knowledge of reading and understanding music. You will learn to sing an array of musical styles including pop, jazz, classical, and musical theater. Near the end of the book, you will be introduced to the idea of individual interpretation, which will help you color your songs with your own unique style. The book features a chord and scale chart for reference during and after your lessons.
