B.Mus (U.Regina)
M.Mus (UofT)
Shelley has recently graduated with a Master of Teaching from OISE. She is qualified to teach music and drama. Shelley did her undergrad at the UofT Faculty of Music where her main instrument was piano. She sang in the Women’s Chamber Choir, where she got the opportunity to perform Cherubini’s Requiem at the Lincoln Center. Shelley also studied multiple genres of voice, especially classical, musical theatre, and jazz. She has performed in multiple revue/cabaret shows and was a soloist in the Hart House Jazz Ensemble. Shelley has also taken courses in the UofT Drama department and directed two of her original plays on campus.
As an emerging music educator, Shelley would like to expose her students to a wide variety of different musical genres/styles including classical, jazz, pop, musical theatre, folk, and contemporary, and teach them techniques such as reading notation, reading degree numbers, and learning by ear. She aspires to create a space that students enjoy because they get to explore their own musical identity and interests by choosing the music style(s) they like. By encouraging and giving students opportunities to engage in and develop their own skills in an area of their choice, Shelley believes students will be more likely to want to continue with music in their lives beyond the studio.
Get to know Shelley…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Singing, playing piano, guitar and ukelele, acting, dancing, songwriting, story writing, playwriting, screenwriting, choreographing, travelling
Musical influences: Chopin, Sondheim, Larson, ABBA
Favourite food: Pasta
Least favourite food: Salad dressing
Favourite song: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger by Kelly Clarkson
Favourite movie: The Sound of Music
Favourite movie music: The Lion King
Favourite musical theater/ opera: Wicked, Don Giovanni
Best quote from your teacher: “It’s not just about practicing, it’s the way you practice”
Favorite quote: “Don’t work hard, work smart”
Favourite book: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Passing my love of music to students
Latest Homework from Shelley
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Homework for September 30-October 7
Hakim
Great work today Hakim! Here is this week’s homework:
Duration of practice: 15-20 min per day
What to practice: Creator, Bizville, Gymnopedie
How to practice:
Creator- First three lines, follow fingering written out as it is the most natural for placement of fingers on the piano
Bizville- Great first bar! Review hands separate, when you are very comfortable with them separately then try hands together, practice at a slower tempo with the correct counting and then slowly bring up the tempo
Gymnopedie- Review
See you next week :)
Homework for June 18-24
Maya
Great work Maya! Here’s this week’s homework:
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: Autumn Song, Hiking
How to practice:
Autumn Song- review rhythm in third bar so that it is done correctly. 4 straight quarters followed by two halves. Repeat correctly until fingers learn it.
Hiking- notes in third bar, both lines. F is only played in the first bar, not the third bar. Practice the C-D-E-D in the third bar. Fingering is like this: 1-2-3-2
How parents can support practice: Supervise practicing, make sure she repeats the rhythm in Autumn and notes in Hiking correctly. If she reverts back to the original way, she has to start again. Make sure she unlearns the mistakes, which is sometimes harder than learning a brand new piece.
Homework for June 10-17
Dear students,
Great work today! Here’s homework for this week:
Nova
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: Lightly Row, If I Were a Rich Man
How to practice:
Lightly Row- Practice hands separate until very solid. Be aware of when you’re playing staccato, legato, or detached.
If I Were a Rich Man- Review
**If you have any higher level piano books at home, look at key signatures and see if you can figure out keys of pieces based on what we did in the lesson
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide as needed
Maya
Recommended minutes to practice: 5-10 minutes a day
What to practice: Autumn Song, Hiking
How to practice:
Autumn Song- review the rhythm for bars 3 and 4 both lines. Bar 3 is 4 1-beat notes (ta) going down by steps, followed by two 2-beat notes (ta-a). Practice that section repeatedly to get the correct rhythm, without stopping. When connecting it to the rest of the piece, do not go back to the wrong rhythm.
How parents can support practice: Practice the rhythm in Autumn song with her, and make sure she gets all the half notes without stopping or changing the rhythm midway.
See you next week :)
Homework for June 3-10
Nova
Great work today! Here’s your homework:
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 per day
What to practice: Rich Man, Lightly Row, minor scales
How to practice:
Rich Man
– review timing/stacatto in bars 4 and 12; the bar is divided by two half notes, the staccato is beat 2 of the first half
– Review all staccato areas and make sure to do them (particularly bar 7)
– Dynamic contrast; use crescendos as your guide to dynamic changes
– Practice rhythmic changes for straight eighths, with crescendo
– Review bar 15; use rit to your advantage
– Practice transition between G octaves for bar 16
Lightly Row (p. 35 lesson book)
-start hands separate, when comfortable you can put hands together but don’t have to
-Be mindful of articulations (staccatos, slurs, slurred staccatos, detached notes)
-pay attention to movement/static in different voices in bar 4
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide as needed.
See you next week :)
Homework for May 27-June 3
Nova
Excellent work today! Here’s this week’s homework:
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 per day
What to practice: A minor and E minor scales, If I Were A Rich Man, Mixed up Song
How to Practice:
Scales- Be aware of which accidentals to use when. Remember that natural minors have the same accidentals as the relative major, and harmonic minors are the same except they add a raised 7th. Review the circle of 5ths.
If I Were A Rich Man- fix staccato sections. Practice the straight eighth section with abnormal rhythms and round fingers. The section at the bottom is called a sequence- a pattern repeated on different starting notes. Add dynamics.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide. Remind them to work on staccato.
See you next week :)
Homework for May 20-27
Nova
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 per day
What to practice: Scales A minor natural + harmonic, E minor natural + harmonic, Mixed up Song, If I Were a Rich Man
How to practice:
Scales- remember fingering pattern. RH 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 ascending, descending opposite way, LH 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1 ascending, descending opposite way. Natural minor is exactly the same notes as relative major, harmonic minor is with the raised 7th (E minor has D#, A minor has G#)
Mixed up Song- make mezzo forte dynamics (instrumental part) and forte dynamics (lyric part and ending) sound distinct. Also distinguish three articulations: staccato, detached, and legato. Make sure you don’t connect the 2nd and 3rd detached notes in a detached bar, and watch the second staccato note in a staccato bar- do not connect or make it detached.
If I were a Rich Man
-great practice with the eighth notes!
-Practice staccato bits. They should bounce.
-Go over rhythm and articulation in bar 4- measure is divided between the two half notes.
-Remember the accented staccato on the chord in bar 8.
-Bars 15-16: watch fingering change, note sequence, and rit (slow down). End on a 5th interval, accented staccato.
Maya
Recommended minutes to practice: 5-10 mi per day
What to practice: Autumn song, Hiking
How to practice:
Autumn song- no stopping at hand transitions. Isolate bars 2-3, practice multiple times, then sandwich between bars 1 and 4 and practice until you get it multiple times in a row without stopping. Do not forget to make two-beat notes longer.
Hiking- practice on a steady beat, without stopping at hand switches. Watch rhythms.
How parents can support practice: Supervise, especially provide help with making hand transitions smooth.
See you next week :)
Homework for May 6-13
Nova
Rec min to practice: 15-20 per day
What to practice: Mixed up Man, If I Were a Rich Man
How to practice:
Mixed up Man- Pay attention to rhythmic pattern throughout. The main melody is played with right hand leading first, the second time either left hand leading. Practice hands separate slowly first, then hands together when ready.
If I Were a Rich Man- Pay attention to fingering in all the different scales. Chromatic scale and minor scale are new.
How parents can support practice: Listen and guide them as needed.
Maya
Rec min to practice: 5-10 min per day
What to practice: Baby Bear, Autumn Song
How to practice:
Baby Bear- practice with visual aide (CDECEDC paper) and try to eventually be able to play without it.
Autumn Song- practice transitions between right hand and left hand. Line 2 is a repetition of line 1.
How parents can support practice: Supervise, especially the difficult passage in Baby Bear. I created the visual side but the goal is that she will eventually be able to rely on looking at the music and not need it.
Preferred Books for Shelley Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
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.
Hal Leonard Vocal Method
The Complete Method for Singers
Kodály Approach
Belting - A Guide to Healthy Powerful Singing
Belting is a strong way of big singing that has become very popular in contemporary styles. It is heard in everything from rock to hip-hop to pop to musical theater to the plethora of award shows. However, not only is there much confusion and misinformation about how to belt well, if done poorly belting can actually damage the voice. Numerous famous singers have belted their way to injury or even lost their voices, sometimes permanently. Many voice teachers believe (incorrectly) that belting is simply bad, physically and aesthetically. So, singing students are getting mixed messages. They hear their favorite artists belt-singing throughout their favorite music, yet the resources teaching healthy belting techniques are few and far between. Belting for the Contemporary Singer seeks to remedy the situation. The fact is, belting can be done well and without causing injury. This book presents the facts about belting, what approaches work and which to avoid. Its online video and audio demonstrate good techniques and exercises.
15 First Lessons - Voice
The First 15 Lessons series provides a step-by-step lesson plan for the absolute beginner, complete with audio tracks, video lessons, and real songs! Designed for self-teaching or for use with an instructor, you’ll build a solid foundation as you work through each lesson, learning the basics of singing and music reading while practicing the many exercises, concepts and song excerpts within. Each book in the series features must-know instruction so you can start performing right away, with a free online metronome! The voice book features lessons on: full-body singing, breathing, finding your voice, vocal warmups, the vocal break, caring for your voice, diction, music literacy, building skills, working on a song, dealing with nerves and more.
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.
Folk Songs for Solo Singers vol. 2
A new high edition of our popular vocal collection, this volume of best-loved folk songs for solo voice and piano contains fourteen memorable works arranged by three of Alfred Music’s top writers: Jay Althouse, Mark Hayes, and Ruth Elaine Schram. The CD includes a piano accompaniment track for each song.
Elementary Rudiments of Music
This series organizes concepts into three progressive levels with an Answer Book. Designed for intermediate to late-intermediate level students, it teaches the basic elements of music theory and complements the study of all instruments.
The Brown Scale Book
This essential resource includes all major and minor scales, triads, arpeggios, dominant sevenths, and chromatic scales organized by key. A favorite for decades, The Brown Scale Book belongs in every student’s library.
Dozen A Day
The Dozen a Day books are universally recognized as one of the most remarkable technique series on the market for all ages! Each book in this series contains short warm-up exercises to be played at the beginning of each practice session, providing excellent day-to-day training for the student.
Faber Piano Adventures
The 2nd Edition Level 1 Lesson Book introduces all the notes of the grand staff, elementary chord playing, and the concept of tonic and dominant notes. Students play in varied positions, reinforcing reading skills and recognizing intervals through the 5th. Musicianship is built with the introduction of legato and staccato touches. This level continues the interval orientation to reading across the full range of the Grand Staff. The 5-finger approach is presented here in a fresh, musically appealing way.
