Group Theory

[minsmusic]

I'm starting a group theory course this year for kids aged between 8 -12.

What theory books do you recommend for this age group?  They'll be on level one.

[lc3606]

Keith Snell Theory series - goes to Level 10 I think.  Or A Touch of Theory available from FJH

[bernhard]

Do you know Michiko Yurko's Music Mind Games? I think you may find it very appropriate.

[bernhard]

Have you ever heard of Candida Tobin? Seh is brilliant

If you like using colours in your teaching you will love her stuff.

https://www.tobinmusic.co.uk/btconnect/index.html

[bernhard]

Candida’s Tobin is a world in herself. She really invented a new way of teaching music! I regard her highly. Her system is the result of a lifetime of search and improvement. And she should be better known. A lot of (unscrupulous) people read about her ideas and try to use them to make a quick profit. So these days you have a lot of methods by well-known publishing houses claiming to use colour to add to the fun of learning music and shorten the learning process.

But Candida’s system is a far cry from all that. First she has put much, much thought in which colour goes with each note. I cannot begin to tell you how intelligent her approach is. Yes, it is fun to colour the notes and all that, but if that were all, I wouldn’t bother with it.

The thing is, she managed to create a colouring system that makes the basic structure of music immediately visible (once you master the basics of her system). The real advantage of it (in my opinion) is that it makes harmonic analysis (a very forbidding subject) easy as pie. But it will also be fun for children, and it will make sight-reading not only easy, but also very appealing.

The downside of all this, is that you must learn the system. It is not a matter of (as many people think) just using colours. “using colours! Great idea! I am going to use that too!” Using colours is just the start. But if you do take the time to learn her method, later on you will be amazed at how many things will suddenly fit together. It is very, very clever.

Fortunately Candida has spent much of her time and writing explaining how the system works step by step. The basic book where all is explained and which breaks it all down in such a way that you can start to use the system straightaway (she provides you with carefully laid out lessons plans from day one) is “Tobin music system – Classroom teachers manual – First steps to musical literacy”

She is also a very nice lady, extremely approachable with an infinite love for music and music education. Send her an email, I am sure she will be delighted to hear from you.

You may also try this very interesting site:

https://www.ukpianogroup.f9.co.uk/

You need to become a member (it is free) to fully explore the archives. Candida is a regular contributor, and amongst its many resources you will find some very interesting work by her.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.