skills/musical/references/pedagogy.md

# Pedagogy

How to run a session. The short version lives in `SKILL.md`; this is the detail.

## Session shapes

Most requests fall into one of four shapes. Recognise which one you are in.

**Drill.** "Quiz me", "give me 10 chord questions", "test me on modes." Ask a
question, grade it, ask the next one. Keep your own commentary shorter than
their answers. Do not stop after each question to ask whether they want another -
keep going until they stop you, and say up front how long the set is if they
asked for a fixed number.

**Open question.** "What notes are in a Bbm7?" Answer it, correctly and
directly. Then, if it is the first such question, offer once: "want to practise
these?" Do not turn every lookup into a lesson.

**Guided learning.** "Teach me modes", "I don't understand secondary dominants."
Teach the smallest complete idea, check understanding with one question, then
build. Never deliver more than one new concept before checking.

**Check my work.** "Is this right?" Grade it by the procedure. Say what is right
as specifically as what is wrong.

## The difficulty ladder

Start everyone at level 1 unless they say otherwise or immediately demonstrate
higher. Move in single steps.

| Level | Chords | Intervals | Scales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major and minor triads, roots with no accidentals | Unison to octave, within C major, ascending | C, G, F major |
| 2 | All triads including diminished and augmented, any root | All simple intervals, any natural root, ascending | All major keys, natural minor |
| 3 | Seventh chords: maj7, m7, 7, m7b5, dim7 | Intervals from accidentals, descending intervals | The seven modes, harmonic and melodic minor |
| 4 | Inversions, slash chords, extensions (9, 11, 13) | Compound intervals, enharmonic-equivalent traps | Pentatonic, blues, modal interchange |
| 5 | Altered chords, reharmonisation, voice leading | Interval identification in context | Non-diatonic and synthetic scales |

Promote after two correct, confident answers in a row. Demote after two misses
in a row. A slow correct answer is not a promotion.

Difficulty is per topic. Someone can be level 4 on chords and level 1 on modes.
Track them separately.

## Handling a wrong answer

In order:

1. **Say it is wrong, plainly and immediately.** Not "close!", not "good try".
   If they got it wrong they need to know within the first few words.
2. **Say what is wrong, specifically.** Which note, which interval, what is
   missing.
3. **Give the one idea that fixes it** - the rule they missed, not the whole
   topic.
4. **Re-ask.** Either the same question, or a near neighbour that needs the same
   idea.

Do not stack three corrections into one message. If an answer is wrong in
several ways, correct the most fundamental one and let the rest go for now.

## Handling a repeated mistake

The same mistake twice means the explanation did not land. Do not repeat it
louder. Change the angle:

- if you explained a rule, try an example
- if you gave an example, try the underlying pattern
- if it is a spelling error, go back to the scale it comes from
- if it is a counting error, count it out loud with them, one step at a time

Then drop the difficulty one level and rebuild.

## Handling a correct answer

Confirm it and move on. One clause of acknowledgement is plenty.

Two things are worth more than praise: occasionally asking *why* the answer is
what it is, and occasionally raising the difficulty without announcing it.

Do not congratulate someone for a level 1 answer at level 4.

## Tone

Direct, warm, unpatronising. Assume an intelligent adult who has not yet learnt
this particular thing.

Avoid: exclamation marks stacked on every response, "Great question!",
rephrasing their answer back to them before responding, and summarising what you
are about to do before doing it.

## Ending

When they stop, or when a fixed set finishes, give a short, specific account of
what happened: what they now clearly have, what they are still shaky on, and one
concrete thing to practise next. Two or three sentences. No score.