Turn the music 90 degrees clockwise and show them that the treble clef is on the R, bass on the L. This is also quite useful for getting across the idea of up and down on the staff and keyboard.
What happens if you rotate the page the wrong way .. seems too error prone for a 7 year old to me!Is the problem that they are say, playing an F in the right hand, instead of a G in the left because those two notes look the same when reflected through the plane of symmetry between the two staves?
children that age can't understand what you are talking about. music notation is a code with many rules that represents a highly abstract concept of music sounds and music making. so, no matter what your approach, your kids will not understand until they are 10, 11 years old.notwithstanding, they can learn what to do. so, the best approach is to give little chunks each time and let them memorize each one.best regards!
I can't imagine how this could happen unless they are actually decoding with understanding.
Does your last statement imply that young children can only learn how to read by rote or we should be teaching only via an aural method such as Dr Suzuki advocates at this age?
h they can be taught to find the notes, to look at the symbol at the score and to find the proper key, to use the right finger, and so on. but they are not even near understanding what is going on. Quote from: gerryjay on May 27, 2011, 12:20:05 PMI would have to respectfully disagree with you on that. Frankly I have seen some kids around the age or 8 or 9 play better than some adults believe it or not. As far as Kids not being able to understand what is going on, in my opinion if your are able to consistently achieve musical results you understand it, consciously or subconsciously. Take a look at child prodigies such as Sara Chang who debuted with New York Philharmonic at the age of 9 ! She was such advance music understanding beyond most teachers. Of course this is a rare, extreme case but my point would be we should be careful the limitations we place on children.
I would have to respectfully disagree with you on that. Frankly I have seen some kids around the age or 8 or 9 play better than some adults believe it or not. As far as Kids not being able to understand what is going on, in my opinion if your are able to consistently achieve musical results you understand it, consciously or subconsciously. Take a look at child prodigies such as Sara Chang who debuted with New York Philharmonic at the age of 9 ! She was such advance music understanding beyond most teachers. Of course this is a rare, extreme case but my point would be we should be careful the limitations we place on children.
I like to use a mix of learning modes, as well. However, with this particular 3-year-old, I have only been using the Suzuki Method and have not begun teaching her to read; I've had her for about 3 months. I've never taught one so young and wouldn't know what materials to use for reading. I have thought about starting her on a pre-reading book, but I'm not sure if I should yet.OK, a quick progress report: I have been working to gradually increase her attention span while at the piano and playing pieces. I start the lesson with that and will keep it going until I've 'lost' her (she will usually start talking to me about her pretty shoes - that's my first clue that her attention has wandered ). Then, we do rhythm games, puzzles, singing, dancing, etc. I was thrilled this week during her lesson because she focused at the piano for 20 minutes and played all of her pieces by herself! There were a few diversions, but they were piano-related. She asked me where the sound was coming from, so I opened the piano and showed her the strings and hammers. I let her peek in there while I played, so she could see how the music was being made. It motivated her to get back to the piano and play something herself. I've had some difficult times with her (you know, 'cause she's 3), but that was a great lesson. Made me feel good.
hi db, fascinating topic indeed.well, that's the point. children 5 years old can play, there is no doubt about it (although i don't like the idea teaching an instrument so early, but that's another question). they can be taught to find the notes, to look at the symbol at the score and to find the proper key, to use the right finger, and so on. but they are not even near understanding what is going on. this is a most theoretical question, and i think we won't get anything good there, but i must stablish a parallel between music and maths. although a 5-year-old can reproduce the order of the numbers out loud, s/he will not have a clue about what counting is. that's my point.best regards!Cheers
. i accept your invitation to walk out of topic: i did also see youngers playing very well. nevertheless, the ones that i knew the teacher as well were precise replicas of s/he. i feel that it is a great waste of a precious time that won't never come back. but i'm way out of bounds...best!
then, i accept your invitation to walk out of topic: i did also see youngers playing very well. nevertheless, the ones that i knew the teacher as well were precise replicas of s/he. i feel that it is a great waste of a precious time that won't never come back. but i'm way out of bounds.
hi db, fascinating topic indeed.well, that's the point. children 5 years old can play, there is no doubt about it (although i don't like the idea teaching an instrument so early, but that's another question). they can be taught to find the notes, to look at the symbol at the score and to find the proper key, to use the right finger, and so on. but they are not even near understanding what is going on. this is a most theoretical question, and i think we won't get anything good there, but i must stablish a parallel between music and maths. although a 5-year-old can reproduce the order of the numbers out loud, s/he will not have a clue about what counting is. that's my point.best regards!
hi db, fascinating topic indeed.well, that's the point. children 5 years old can play, there is no doubt about it (although i don't like the idea teaching an instrument so early, but that's another question). they can be taught to find the notes, to look at the symbol at the score and to find the proper key, to use the right finger, and so on. but they are not even near understanding what is going on. this is a most theoretical question, and i think we won't get anything good there, but i must stablish a parallel between music and maths. although a 5-year-old can reproduce the order of the numbers out loud, s/he will not have a clue about what counting is. that's my point.best regards!Oops - my server went down twice in the middle of this comment and now it's appeared twice. Not sure how or whether I can delete it - not that it really matters. db
the first point may be resumed in a very simple statement: people learn different things at different rates in different moments of their lifes. in my experience, children 5-year old don't have a clue about counting and, even more, about the representation of counting through abstract notation. of course, i'm based on my own experience and in the literature i read. it's perfectly possible that your background is completely different, and you are used to children that age that do counting and the like. so, it's pointless to proceed: you will say yes, and you are right; i will say no, and i'm right either.
Even if the child does not count, I think it's very important for them to begin to understand the concept- otherwise what happens when they get difficult rhythms in later life? They listen to recordings and hope to copy it? In general, those who struggle the most with rhythm make a lot of improvement if I count out loud for them. From there I build up to them doing the counting themself. If a kid has little sense of rhythm, they need to understand what they are fitting things to. I don't think any child would struggle with the notion that a certain note goes on beat 1 and the next on beat 3 etc. It just isn't very complex. Some kids can do it simply by listening, but in such cases I'd argue that they might as well at least have an idea what they are lining up around- to start preparing for advanced skills. Especially when it comes to syncopations, feeling where the beats are can be even more important than where the notes themselves are landing. Copying doesn't cut it with some rhythms (as the ear often tends to make inaccurate assumptions about where the beat is in such rhythms), so it's really important to set the grounding in beats. Some kids can't even get simple rhythms by listening at the start- in which case it's a big help to show them the framework they are fitting everything around. It takes them out of the idea that certain notes are pretty long and others are pretty short and puts a genuine pulse into it. Also, one of the best things about counting is that it reveals errors to the student. All too often a student fails to notice have stuck a 3/4 bar in a 4/4 piece etc. Next thing you know, they've done it 10 times and it's a difficult habit to remove in a lesson. A student who counts and judges by beats in a bar simply cannot fail to realise such an error. Even the youngest students require some degree of self-suffiency and independence- as more often than not there's no teacher to put them on track during their practise. Arguable it takes more talent to only "feel" before foundations are set than to count.