Quick Overview of The Big Print Music Method

The Big Print Music Method is an expanding set of music education materials with a clear, color-coded, graphical design intended to simplify learning for elementary band and symphony orchestra students. The following article contains a summary of the primary set of learning materials, with links to sales organizations.


Summary of Main Components, with Sample Pages

Method Boosters contain big-print fingering charts, each with note names, keyboards, and clearly-labeled staves. One and two-note exercises are also included. Transposition charts are included for relevant instruments.




3-Note Exercise Books help students hone fingering skills throughout the entire range. All half-step and whole-step combinations are explored, throughout the entire student range.

Interval Studies teach students all major intervals up to one octave, beginning from the lowest note through the top of the student range.

Learning Alternate Fingerings is a series for woodwinds only, focusing on fingering patterns not included in the first series. Students are provided with big print fingering charts for the new notes, plus 2-note and 3-note exercises.

Interval Studies with Alternate Fingerings is a series for woodwinds only, focusing on all combinations of fingering patterns not included in Interval Studies. 

Learning String Crossing and Double Stops for string instruments teaches all possible combinations of fingering combinations up to one octave, including more than one string, when possible. (Note: The practical limit of space on the fingerboard limits some combinations of intervals.)



The full set of availability, with links to sales, are presented below. Note that E-Files from MusicaNeo are only $4 each for most of the series, whereas the printed copies are many times more expensive, due to the cost of printing. Wholesale is available through CreateSpace for approved wholesale vendors only.


Strings & Guitar

• Method Boosters: E-Files
• 3-Note Exercise Books: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Interval Exercises: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Learning String Crossing and Double Stops: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files

Woodwinds & Recorders

• Method Boosters: E-Files
• 3-Note Exercise Books: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Interval Exercises: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Learning Alternate Fingerings: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Interval Exercises with Alternate Fingerings: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files

Brass

• Method Boosters: E-Files
• 3-Note Exercise Books: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Interval Exercises: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files

Percussion

• Method Boosters: E-Files
• 3-Note Exercise Books: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Interval Exercises: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files

Solo & Ensemble

• Elementary Exercises: E-files
• Big Print Tunes (Multimedia): E-files 
• Big Print Duets (Multimedia): E-files
• Big Print Ensemble (Flexible Instrumentation; Multimedia): E-files

Supplementary

• Theory: Scales, Chords, & Arpeggios: Print, Wholesale, & E-Files
• Conducting Method: Print (Partial Series), Wholesale, & E-Files (Complete, with Multimedia)

The entire series is expected to be completed soon. A full description of current instrumentation is included in the first article in this blog, located below.


Additional Information

Schottenbauer Publishing

Free Education Resources