Methods (or not) for very young beginners

[pianistimo]

Methods implies to me that a teacher has a plan and not particularly following a book or everything someone else wrote or set up.  However, for a long time I've been using Bastien for beginners thinking that it was very good for students to learn to sightread and play during the first year.  However, i am beginning to rethink my process after reading a book written by Clara Wieke's father on utilizing methods that children are most familiar with at this age (rote) and concentrating on one thing at a time.  Suzuki follows this pattern, too, and for many years i thought it was a hinderance to sightreading if the sightreading was put off.  Perhaps not?

I am tempted to consider tone over sightreading skills again.  The more recent Bastien books do just put the notes without staves for a few pages - but perhaps more can be done by rote without any sort of traditional method book for quite a few lessons.  Do you think this would cause a three to four year old to be able to concentrate better, too?  What do you think about the method where you play something and then the child imitates?

OK. If any of you wishes to share your teaching methods (for very beginning students) - i am open to hear them.  What do you think is a good approach to learning - and if there is no method that suits you - what is your own particular 'method' for the first months to year with a three or four year old student.

By five and six years - when they learn to read language - is that the best time to read music?  Seems quite plausible and Suzuki seems to promote this.  The only drawback i found with suzuki is the seeming boringness of playing one note or two notes repetitively for tone production.  Children seem to gravitate to small - two line - songs or folk songs.

Sorry to meander - but my other question is perhaps a combo of Kodaly method, Suzuki method, and Orff - all together.  I see many good qualities of each.  The Suzuki for tone production and being able to focus on what the hands are doing, the Kodaly for folk songs (or can use native country folk songs found in the library), and Orff for rhythm ideas.  Does't Orff start out with rhythm first?  Using sticks or whatever and putting on recorded music?  I haven't learned that much orff - but i think the school systems use it here and the children learn general musical ideas pretty quickly.

[pianistimo]

One good thing, I've learned, from Bastien - is that one can utilize the two and three black notes and get children used to the idea of using their rh for the treble notes and lh for the bass notes.  However, i would like to attempt to start putting hands together much sooner on some melodies.  For instance, once they learn rh 23 23  and lh 32 32 - to put them both together and play the two notes in both octaves. 

Also, children find some things easier when the same fingers are played with both hands.  Suppose that is probably the best way to start out playing hands together  (ie rh 32 32 and lh 32 32).  Same for three black notes.

Once you've understood all the patterns and blocks of white notes around the black notes (CDE  FGAB) - and tetrachord scales  CDEF GABC in all keys - what can one start doing with teaching chords and melodies.

I saw a few of Chick Corea's ideas - and thought maybe it was all in patterns for first year young students.  To see different patterns and combine their knowledge of 'key' with also a knowledge of seeing 'patterns.'

[hyrst]

For my 3 to 4 year olds, I dis-integrate all the approaches to music.  I work on the foundations.  I haven't found any method books that are truly supportive of learning at this age, although Alfred's Little Mozart has some useful elements in the first 2 books and then I change to another beginner series that doesn't move on so quickly. 

I use the metronome for rhythm - clapping, any kind of routine they can imagine using their bodies, tapping keys, counting different numbers of beats and clapping different rhythms to this beat or between different hands or hands / feet.

Pitch - drawing lines or moving bodies up and down higher / lower; taking steps or jumping if I play steps or leaps; singing key and sofegge names.

Keyboard - playing notes by letters one or a couple at a time

Reading - patterns of dots, up and down stairs or on the piano; words to help with counting; playing on my floor staff being a line or space and moving step or skip

Technique - any kind of finger / hand / wrist / body momvement that is foundational to proper technique and is sudden, noisy, graceful, funny or has a little story (like the hen having dinner or the hand spread as a starfish)

Pieces - I encourage my little ones to read for themselves but this independence grows over time.  Like all students, playing is quicker, easier and more musical when it is imitated.  Some little ones don't get the idea of fluent music until they can imitate.  Some don't want you to have a turn - they want to do all the piano playing and have you listen.

These are only a few ideas.  I try to invent things as I go along, often on the moment, based on what the child can do, how they learn, where I want them to go to (reading and playing independently and correctly) and the underlying skills and processes.  Everything comes together at some point - sometimes not until 5 years old, but all the foundations matter and that is why I think it important to cover every area.  If you remove the music, it becomes something potentially strange and intimidating.  Parents don't read books to their children but withold the book.  They get picture books with things of interest to the  child.  It isn't too long before the child wants to know how the parent knows what to say when telling the story.  Pictures become words, become letters become an increasing foundation in reading and creating new text.