Hi again,
I think that considering the two staves as a set of 11 lines is absolutely great ! I am working on that right now, with Richmann's book as a support, and I think I am greatly improving my reading skill.
I have not started the "Read-&-Play connection"yet because I would like to be as fluent as possible in the "Read" process first...
Now, testing my reading ability on a piece that has flats in the key signature, I wonder how you read the altered notes...
For instance, if there is one flat in the key signature (Bb), when you see B's in the piece, do you say "B" - relying on your fingers - and their "knowledge" of scales - to hit Bb key instead of B - or do you say "B flat" to be more explicit ?
Thanks !
Drooxy
PS: I did not read any strong argument against Bernhard's method consisting in considering the two staves as a single one made of 11 lines (just some comments stating that the efficiency of a method also depends on individuals...). Now, I have no experience of teaching to children (no experience of teaching music at all !!!) but I see no reason to start reading independantly something you will, eventually, have to read simultaneously... Just a thought from an adult who learns more on that forum than he did during 5 years of piano lessons in his youth...
It depends on how thorough is your knowledge of scales.
A lot of students can play scales perfectly at speed, and yet they are completely at a loss if ask them “What is the dominant of Ab major?”. Their knowledge in restricted to the mechanics of it. They do not understand the concept of key, or indeed why scales are so important.
Nowadays I start teaching scales form the very first lesson. I do not worry about fingering or the actual mechanics of playing them efficiently. This can come later. What is important to me (they play all scales with one finger only to start with) is that a student knows which notes make up the scale. This is far from trivial.
Let me give an example. If you only play on the black keys, no matter what you play it always sounds good (and since it is a pentatonic scale, it will have a Chinese feel to it). It is also very easy, since all you have to do is to avoid the white keys.
Now, there is no reason why one should not be able to pull the same stunt by playing only on the white keys. Simply avoid the F and the B and you have a pentatonic scale on the white keys.
However if you try that you will find out that it is actually surprisingly difficult to avoid hitting the F and the B. You must somehow “delete” those keys from the keyboard in your mind. With the black keys it is easy to ignore the white keys and delete them in your mind. But with the white keys it demands a lot of concentrated work.
When working on a scale a similar problem appears. Out of the 12 keys in the keyboard (within an octave), you must somehow delete five, so that you are left only with the scale notes. If it was difficult trying to delete two notes, it is exponentially more difficult to delete five. So it is very important not to practise scales mechanically, but to concentrate completely in seeing in your mind’s eye only the notes that comprise the scale. If this is done systematically form the very beginning, it will save years of frustration later on.
So back to your question. Since I have trained myself thoroughly in the above, when faced with a frightening key signature (or any key signature, actually), I simply “see” only the notes that belong to the scale. If the key is F major, whenever I see a B in the score, I will “see” a Bb, simply because for me natural B is not part of the F major scale. It does not exist. Most of my students find the most difficult scales to see in this way to be Ab and Eb, so usually you need extra work on those.
Of course if you have not yet developed this ability, then you will have to remember to flat all Bs that come your way in a piece written in F major.
Finally, both me and my students make a point of always working on the scale(s) of a piece (the key of the piece) before tackling it at the piano. This should become a strong habit.
Best wishes,
Bernhard.