You can lay out the bare bones of lesson plans without any resource in front of you by “playing with the numbers.” You know that you want to present Duple meter in macro and micro beats, contrasting it with Triple meter in macro and micro beats. You want to introduce Dorian tonality, and contrast it with Mixolydian. So you lay out a sketch of your lesson plans with the numbers 100 and 200 to cover the meters and 1100 and 2100 to cover the tonalities. The numbers become shorthand for your intent. You note that you did Duple meter the week before, so you might enter 101 rather than 100. You see that you introduced Dorian tonality the week before, so you might choose to follow up with 1200, Dorian tonality in Triple meter, again in shorthand. You may sketch out RD 100 and RD 200, or perhaps RD 101. You might choose RT 1100 and RT 2100, and you might follow those with Art Song 1100 or 2100.

You can sketch out your lesson plans before ever going into the SONG LIBRARY to select specific materials, with your sketch then directing you precisely where to go. The numbers alone can lay out the choice of meters, tonalities, sequence, difficulty, type of activity and ordering, making it easy to turn your sketch into full lesson plans designed for music learning.

The numbers provide a code to guide lesson planning for music learning—a shorthand that aligns with both the process of music learning and curriculum materials. Slots in your lesson plans with 110, 210, 300, and RD 100 tell at a glance that you want to include Duple meter with divisions, contrasted by Triple meter with divisions, contrasted by Unusual Paired meter with macro/micro beats, and will include Rhythm Dialogue in Duple meter with macro/micro beats. Slots that include 1200, 2100, 3100, Art Song 3100, and RT 1100 indicate that you want to present Dorian tonality in Triple meter, Mixolydian tonality in Duple meter, Phrygian tonality in Duple meter, followed by an Art Song in Phrygian tonality, and a Resting Tone Activity in Dorian tonality and Duple meter. [Of course you will alternate Rhythm and Tonal Activities rather than presenting successive meters or tonalities.] The little Art Songs from the Songbook, Cherry Blossoms are not numbered like the Tonality Songs, but they are grouped by tonality, so Art Song 3000 is shorthand for an Art Song in Phrygian tonality. If you want to be more specific, Art Song 3100 tells you to select an Art Song in Phrygian tonality and Duple meter.

Your sketch will guide you as you make final decisions for lesson plans. For example, you might insert the number 225, to indicate a Meter Chant in Triple meter that is much more difficult than divisions, only to find that there is 224 and 230, but no 225. Or, you enter RT 6201, only to discover that there is a 6200 but not a 6201. In these cases, you make a choice from the available materials, or make up a chant or song at the desired level. As you develop greater security with improvisation, the short-hand 110 guides you to make up chants in Duple meter with divisions. “Playing with the numbers” can make lesson plans take shape before ever having to collect or print materials to take into the classroom.