Is there ever a reason not to learn to read?

[m1469]

Besides somebody just deciding they'd rather not?  I've just met with a new student yesterday, a transfer from another teacher.  There are a few factors involved.

1.  Apparently, at some point, this child was taking violin lessons and got so stressed out that she passed out and became sick.  So, they stopped lessons.

2.  Fingers are everywhere.  Almost no use of the 4th and 5th fingers at all, but lots of 2 crossing over 3, etc..  She has a good ear, and loves music, and her lessons before me were built to be stress free, per Mom's requests, mainly learning by ear alone, with zero reading or technique involved.

So, I tell that I will work with them, I will help us use her ears and bridge into reading, but that I do want to have us learn to read, and develop a good technique.  Mom seems "hesitant" explaining that she's talked with people (just who is that, I wonder?) and some have said to just leave the child and don't have her read.  All the while, the child is saying "I DO want to learn to read.  I DO want to."

Is there something fundamentally harmful about reading and technique itself?  Or, is it more the possible methods used for that which can be trouble for somebody?

[jpahmad]

Hi m1469

   I have a student like this and she just can't process things quickly enough when it comes to reading notes on a page.  She's in 4th grade (I'm really not sure how much she practices).  It became very frustrating for both of us and I was sure she was going to tell her mom that she didn't want to come see me anymore.  So, I just said heck with it and taught her the I, IV, and V7 chords, by rote.  We now learn about two simple songs every lesson that she can sing along to while accompanying herself.  I'm talking about "twinkle, twinkle", happy b-day", "when the saints go marching in"  etc..  She has a good voice and a good sense of rhythm. Now, she's all happy when she comes over to see me  I could probably continue on for the next six months easily with this approach, but....

Everybody must learn to read music.  So my plan is to slowly but surely, sneak in a little note reading towards the end of class.  Make it so simple, just one hand.  Make the progression painstakingly slow.  I think once you build a little confidence and take the dread away from reading notes on a page, she'll open up to it a little more.  The trick is, you don't want her complaining to mom about anything.  If she comes out of her lesson feeling good and happy, then the mom will feel good and happy.  The mother doesn't know what she's talking about, she just wants her kid to enjoy music lessons.  That being said, we'll see what happens when I add a little reading again to my students list of things to do during the lesson.  I hope I don't have to eat my words.

[m1469]

Thank you for your reply, I see what you mean.  This is a case where my personal experience growing up could probably be pretty useful, but it could also get into the way.  I can't pour my own childhood into this child, and teach her everything I wish I would have learned, to try to stop the same problems from occurring.  No, at least not in a forceful way, but it does get me a bit revved up.

She is actually playing, in terms of fluidity and connection to the music, to a higher level than what you talked about.  She very apparently has her connection and I understand the importance of not getting into the way of that, nor trying to take it away.  But, she could possibly want to play for the rest of her life and it is stingingly obvious that if she never develops efficiency and reading skills, she will be more limited than her love for it would be comfortable with.  I can see it.  But, it's also pretty personal for me, so again I have to separate myself in a smart and useful way.

So, my gut is to further develop some reading methods that I've had hunches about but haven't necessarily had the need for yet.

[jpahmad]

Yeah, if she is playing at a higher level than a beginner then that is a difficult thing indeed.  Because you can't teach intermediate material by rote.  You could I suppose do it, but, that would suck.  I once taught a Scarlatti Sonata by rote to a kid who really had a good ear and played all the time at home.  The lessons were painful to get through.  I would play two measures and he would watch me with big silver dollar eyes and then jump on the piano and try to imitate me.  It would continue on in this manner with me interjecting every other two seconds with things like "no b-flat and F with your left hand, no 3rd finger, no fifth finger on A, no left hand goes first, no like this"...I taught him for two months and then he moved away.  So, I'll never no what would of happened if I kept going. 

[m1469]

Well, the interjections ... I want to eliminate whether they are "reading" or not.  I have students who have music sitting in front of them, but still they gravitate to not reading, and the interjections must still continue ... well, even when they are reading  .  But, even if the lessons themselves were fine for me to get through, how does them being capable of learning *only* by rote after somebody feeds them every note, help them to really become independent or truly develop actual, artistic skill?  In my opinion it doesn't.  And, it is silly to not use all fingers, if they are there to be used - that is a big limitation!

[jpahmad]

If they get taught "by rote", then they will not become independent.  That's for sure.  Unless they're a genius and can play anything by ear.  But then if this were the case, they wouldn't need you to tell them what to do. 

This is just simply a case of the mother not wanting her child to feel unsuccessful.  I wouldn't draw any conclusions from it. How old is the student?  I mean, what are you going to do, teach her for two/three years by rote?  She just may not be ready for lessons.  There needs to be a certain emotional maturity in place before someone can subject themselves to the kind of mental process involved in learning to play the piano.  Some kids just don't want to fail or mess up.  It's kind of weird.  It's usually the very smart ones too.   You just have to wait till they grow up.

 In the meantime, teach her by rote 

[quantum]

One may need to strike a balance between tackling the necessary hurdles one encounters in learning, and a sense of comfort in the lesson. 

Something I learned about gifted pupils, is that they may have problems dealing with bumps and hurdles in learning.  Especially if a lot of things come easy to the person and they are suddenly faced with a challenge no matter how tiny, it becomes overwhelming to them.  They somehow come to expect that learning should be easy and comfortable, and the odd cases it isn't are what probably feel like face planting into a brick wall to them. 

Maybe go with very small, yet frequent lessons on reading. Could be something like learning to read one specific note, or score element, a week.  Maybe don't try to label it as "reading" yet, just another way to look at notes.  Eg: this is how it sounds, Happy Birthday starts on "C", we can also paint it on paper like this...