Create First!

Learning Music the Pattern Play Way

This new series—just born in 2017—uses the Pattern Play approach, a natural and enjoyable way to learn to improvise music at the piano. Create First! has many new features:

The series has an underlying structure that progressively develops 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!

Click to see the structure: Materials in Solo 1 and Materials in Solo 2.

At each level (there are currently two levels), there is a Duet Book to be used by the teacher in the lesson, and a Solo Book to be used by the student at home. The Duet Book might also be used by a parent with a child, by two teachers, by two students, or by a music therapist and a client. Though a person can learn using just the Solo book, the Duet-to-Solo Approach is a proven method for successfully teaching and learning improvisation.

Each book has a PDF version. Now, anyone in the world with a computer can instantly get the book and pay the same price.

Each piece comes with a video demonstration and explanation. The Duet Videos show how a teacher (or parent or therapist) can introduce the piece and this is followed by a sample duet improvisation. The Solo videos begin with a sample improvisation followed by an explanation of how to play the piece. This means that even students who do not yet read music can understand how to Pattern Play. The videos can be viewed easily by anyone in the world who has a computer.

There are many more beginning-level pieces in this series that can also be played and enjoyed by much more experienced players.

There are new approaches that help develop a sense of rhythm and better two-handed coordination.

There are new approaches that help students develop sensitivity toward consonance and dissonance and be able to create personal, spontaneous melodies.

The series has a low price that makes this approach more affordable beginning with $7.95 PDFs, $12.95 spiral-bound hard copies, and $17.95 Studio License. In the first two levels, there are 58 pieces in diverse musical styles: classical, jazz and blues, popular, and world music styles. There are styles for everyone!

The Create First! series is best used in conjunction with the two previous Pattern Play series (especially the one published by Frederick Harris Music) since the previous Pattern Play books include many “all-time favorite” pieces such as Reflecting, Africa, and Blues on Black. Read about the previous two Pattern Play series here.