CCMP Curriculum
If you are investing too much valuable rehearsal time to remediate, the Chaffee Core Musicianship Project can help you build a comprehensive curriculum with a focus on individualized learning support.
The Chaffee Core Musicianship Program curriculum consists of three main components. Use any or all components as you and your students desire!
Rhythm Workshop
The written materials and performance activities in Rhythm Workshop will bring to nearly zero the amount of rehearsal time needed to fix rhythm reading errors.
Key Shapes
The written materials and performance activities in Key Shapes will significantly reduce the time needed to fix wrong notes - notes that are out of the key or just out of tune.
Peer Coaching/Leadership Training
CCMP in the Classroom
Applying the method in real time
All written materials come to you as PDFs. They are easy to print or load onto your grading software for sharing, studying, completing, and submitting online. In most programs, it will be best to gradually work each core concept into the curriculum in a way that supports your program goals.
All activities are designed for gathering data from each student to support data-driven curriculum design and revision. Students are encouraged to work independently, allowing the teacher to devote time to the players who need the most help. Setting up an effective Peer Coaching routine will enhance your student leadership development and give you more time to work individually with students who need you the most. See our PDF on peer coaching and leadership training. Pre-training 20% of each class to promote peer coaching and efficient class time management is recommended for larger groups.
Effective in studio, chamber group, and large group settings.
Goals
Efficiently and comprehensively train musicians in 5 fundamental topic areas that comprise basic musicianship.
Provide a common vocabulary and a common approach to musical problem-solving for all of the fundamental knowledge-based challenges in music performance.
Provide a curriculum to individualize learning, leading to stronger student outcomes. Data can be easily gathered from this work and used for program development within a PLC program.
Greatly reduce the need for in-rehearsal remediation, leading to more productive and enjoyable rehearsals, ongoing improvement of performance quality, lowered dropout rate, and significant reduction in discipline issues.
Specifications
Using primarily standard pedagogy from classical and jazz traditions, along with efficient organization and a few “CCMP only” activities, significant improvements can be made in student enrichment and program development over the course of a semester to a year.
“Rhythm Workshop” curriculum helps students master sight reading in all time signatures and all rhythms commonly encountered. There are 24 rhythm duets, each with a written preparation page. Included are time signatures with 2, 3, and 4 on top and 2, 4, and 8 on the bottom, as well as duets in fast 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8. Through RW activities, students learn to speed read rhythms by reading entire bars or entire beat groups at one time. Rhythm Workshop is a highly effective way to comprehensively individualize the teaching of rhythm-reading knowledge and skill mastery.
The “Key Shapes” curriculum efficiently provides learners with individualized and comprehensive training in the other fundamental topics of core musicianship, including:
1. The “Exploding FACEs” lesson uses a common note identification tool in innovative ways to help learners master note placement within, above, and below treble, bass, and all C clefs.
2. Keyboard note identification / all 5 accidental types
3. Major and minor scale construction
4. Key signatures & the circles of 4ths and 5ths
5. Key Shapes for Strings. For strings, this means playing beyond the scales - mastering the hand shape sequences within each position in every key. This includes Specialized Warm Up Activities for Strings. For Key Shapes For Winds and Keyboards, it means playing from the bottom to the top of the range in every key, not just “do” to “do.”
Project Resources
We’re here for you every step of the way.
As you begin to apply the Chaffee Core Musicianship Project to your own studio or ensembles, you will receive:
Free instructional videos for each step in the process
A dozen free instructional videos are available for use as in-class initial presentations. Links to the videos can be embedded in your online curriculum for easy at-home learner review. There are helpful introductory videos for teachers and learners. The instructional videos vary from 4 to 11 minutes in length.
Print materials and program information available here on www.clarkchaffee.com
The complete Rhythm Workshop Student Pack, the complete Key Shapes Student Pack, and the Key Shapes Teacher Guide are all available for your use. These downloadable PDFs are easy to print for student use in class or to load into your online grading software for digital use. Using Notability or other apps, all work can be completed and submitted digitally.
Formative and summative activities for each of the CCMP Learning Units available on www.MusicTheory.net
The formative activities allow students to drill as needed for mastery development while the summative activities allow students to submit mastery scores for each unit with minimal faculty time involved. This allows for more faculty time for support of students who are most in need.
Coaching support is available from Mr. Chaffee and the Core Musicianship Project team.
For prices, availability, and options, please contact:
Lori Rosolowsky at Open Sky Artists
Clark Chaffee at clarkchaffee@gmail.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Please click on each question to display the answer.
There is so much helpful material in CCMP. Is it important to “follow the script?”
Not at all - except with the warmup activities, which build sequentially from easiest to most challenging activities and concepts.
The Rhythm Workshop is set up so that it moves from note values of one beat and longer ("Level 1") through dividing the beat into 2, 3, and then 4 subdivisions per beat, so progressing through in order through the duets is the most logical path but may not suit your needs. At some point, all players should complete all 24 duets.
The Key Shapes materials are a sequence of complete and independent musical building blocks. The presentation sequence given in the CCMP materials is Clark's preference and the sequence used by all band and orchestra programs that are currently adapting CCMP in full. Feel free to incorporate units gradually and in the sequence that works best for you.
The materials mention the importance of individualizing the tracking of student mastery through CCMP. I've got a large program, and CCMP has many knowledge and skill-gaining activities - how can I possibly individualize tracking throughout the whole program?
For successful implementation, developing a dynamic Peer Coaching program has proven very helpful. When you pre-train 20% of each class, you’ll have one Peer Coach for every four other students. During your Work Days, your Peer Coaches will be kept busy as they provide coaching for other students who need a bit of help and who are ready to check off Rhythm Workshop clapping and other skill mastery activities that you trust in their hands. A small percentage of your students will need more help than your Peer Coaches can give, however, and you will have the time in class to provide that extra help.
Most of the written work can be done using MusicTheory.net. Students submit the score sheets, and while you will need to log the results, you will not need to do any active grading. The first few Key Shapes worksheets will likely require more support. Once students understand how to do them, progress is normally quick, accurate on the first attempt, and easy to grade.
CCMP is highly comprehensive. Should I try to adapt the entire program in year one?
Probably not. After all, "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!"
As you explore the Rhythm Workshop materials, the warm-up sequence, and the Key Shapes work, consider whether the sequence of presentation within CCMP fits well with where your program is now. If not, decide what challenges are most in need of addressing and start there. Bring in one or two units at a time, gradually expanding to total embedding into your ensemble curriculum.
While it may be tempting to do as much as possible, as soon as possible, new materials can create stress for everyone - just be sure to make it fun.
Should I be lining up progress through the warm-up activities with any of the other aspects of CCMP?
Absolutely! The warm-ups begin with familiarization of the feel (sequence of half and whole steps on the instrument) and sound of all four basic tetrachords. That process should begin as soon as possible.
At the same time, students should be starting to work on “Exploding FACEs,” keyboard note identification, accidentals, and basic intervals (half steps, whole steps, enharmonics).
As soon as they are ready, string players should do the first Key Shapes worksheet - all the white notes on the left and all the black notes (both common names) on the right. It is best to begin the “tetrachord pairs” warm-up work at the same time as starting to work through the process of completing one Key Shapes worksheet (all notes on the left, all notes in the arpeggio on the right) for every key signature. That is the only critical linking of activities.
Rhythm Workshop can go at any pace. Equal spacing of duets throughout the year is logical, but you may wish to expedite that process in your curriculum so that you enjoy the significant improvements in your rehearsals earlier in the school year. Linking between the Key Shapes and Rhythm Workshop activities, while helpful, is not mandatory.
Testimonials
Aimee
As a former student of Clark Chaffee's from his tenure as a high school music director in Deerfield, IL, Aimee is now a middle school music educator and offers her unique perspective on the Chaffee Core Musicianship Project's materials, having both experienced them as a student and now implemented them in her own classrooms.
Evan
A 17-year veteran of musical education, Evan has been using the CCMP curriculum since 2018. The materials “provide a very clear and logical pathway to finding really high-level musicianship,” laying out “a very logical sequence” for students to follow. Although he notes a slight learning curve for teacher application, returning students feel increasingly comfortable as they come back year after year, fostering a strong background of peer coaching.
Allie
Allie, a flutist and elementary school band and strings teacher, shares her perspective on Clark's in-person clinics and how she applies the information she learned to her educational models. Having never taught strings before, the CCMP method has greatly enriched her curriculum and given her added confidence to lead. She also shares her views on applying the Rhythm Workshop materials to her teaching.
Holly
With 22 years of educating and orchestral direction under her belt, Holly first came into contact with CCMP in 2020 and has applied it to her upper-level elementary school, middle school, and high school curriculum. She has found it useful for students at all levels and uses it throughout her course materials.