Downloadable Instructional Materials
ApRo Rhythm Factory by Scott Rogal
These products each consist of a pdf file containing 150 pages of rhythms, arranged in order of difficulty, starting at the very easy level. Each page has ten lines. They may be used in any way that suits your teaching - printed out, displayed on a smartboard, etc.
Part One covers rhythms often found in Grade 1 and 2 band literature.
Part Two covers rhythms often found in Grade 3 and higher band literature.
Students can count and clap, or play the lines on a unison note.
The sheets progress very gradually, allowing plenty of time for mastery.
ApRo Sight Reading by Brian Appleby & Scott Rogal
This set of pages includes 40 short sight reading items for each instrument, progressing from very easy to somewhat challenging.
Our intention was to provide teachers with an efficient way to test individual students on their sight reading skill, and assign a grade that can be used as part of a report card mark.
There are eight pages for each instrument. Also included are marking pages, which have four reduced student pages on each sheet. These can be duplicated back to back to produce a separate marking page for each student.
The set contains ample raw material, as well as several suggested ways of using that material. It has become an indispensable tool for us.
6/8 Tunes for Band Instruments compiled by Brian Appleby
Most band methods deal only briefly with 6/8 times, and give just a few examples.
6/8 Tunes for Band Instruments is meant to provide a wealth of 6/8 reading material. There are 60 tunes, starting with easy children's songs like Three Blind Mice, and working up to Sousa march tunes. Both slow, lyrical tunes and fast, technical tunes are included.
The product includes a separate pdf file for each band instrument, and a teacher's guide. The files are all contained in a single folder which is downloaded as a ZIP file. Once the file is downloaded (it may take a few minutes) it can be unzipped to produce a folder containing all of the necessary pdf files.
Sheets can be run off and handed out individually or assembled into booklets which make a great addition to student folders. It's wonderful to just be able to ask them to get out their 6/8 books and work on some tunes at whatever level the students are currently at.
There is a snare drum part and a drum set part which are designed to fit with the accompaniments. There is also an electric bass part, which matches the bass part on the recordings.
This product formerly shipped as printed material, with two CD's. The CD's have each been converted to folders containing mp3 files for all the tracks on the CD's. They can be downloaded as ZIP files on this page, at no additional charge.
ApRo Guitar by Brian Appleby
Twenty lessons starting at the absolute beginner level.
Introduces a wide variety of styles: chording, melodies, finger picking, power chords.
Accompaniment tracks for all the tunes as a .zip folder of mp3 files are freely downloadable from this page.
Lessons include many opportunities for students to work with a partner or in small groups
Can be used by music teachers with little or no guitar experience
SoundStart for Guitar by Brian Appleby
A different approach than ApRo Guitar, this uses the tunes from SoundStart to introduce music reading to guitar players who may have little or no reading experience.
The set consists of 36 pages and over 120 short tunes, all in the Key of C, starting with very simple three note tunes and progressing through a range of notes.
Accompaniment tracks for all the tunes as a .zip folder of mp3 files are freely downloadable from this page.