Create First! Part 1

Create First! uses Forrest Kinney's Pattern Play approach to provide a natural and enjoyable way to learn to improvise music at the piano. The series has an underlying structure that progressively develops musicality and a hands-on knowledge of scales, intervals, and chords. A student is introduced to these basic materials of music by first creating music with them. Rather than learn to create, one creates to learn!

This product contains a selection of 12 solo and duet works from Create First! Book 1 featuring printable scores and links to online video demonstrations:

Black Keys: Exploring Sounds, Rhythms and Elements of Musicality

• Sunrise - A piece for beginners. It invites students to explore, move freely, and listen to tones. It doesn’t require a sense of rhythm.
• For the Joy - The first piece in the book to explore playing with a beat.
• Don’t Give Up! - An A natural is added to the black keys to create a blues scale. This is played with a strong rock-like beat to develop the ability to play on and then “off” the beat (syncopation).
• Bottom Line Blues - This piece uses the same blues scale to introduce swing rhythm. This consists of playing the first eighth note in a beat longer than the second.

White Keys: Exploring Scales and Modes

• New Day, New Way - The student plays with the first five notes of a C major scale. The harmonies in the accompaniment (which include B-flats and A-flats) are interesting and inviting.
• Scales Dream of Melodies - This provides a musical way to introduce the C Major scale. Students can learn to play it by creating melodies rather than just playing mechanically.
• Glimmer of Hope - This simple piece introduces the A natural minor scale.
• Music of the Moment - This piece features both A natural minor and A harmonic minor scales so the student can really hear and feel the difference between them.
• Kyoto - This piece explores the haunting sounds of an ancient Japanese scale. In modern musical terms, this scales uses selected notes of the Phrygian mode played on white keys.
• Scotland - This introduces the Mixolydian mode on white keys. Later, this is contrasted with the sound of the Dorian mode on white keys.
• Whole Lot of Weirdness - This piece introduces and explores the sounds of the wholetone scale. The sounds are always intriguing!
• Cool - This introduces the A blues scale (all white keys with one black) and features a familiar and appealing walking bass accompaniment.

Personal use license

This is a license for your personal use only. Please see "Studio license" option if you wish to use this material with your students.