Happy Birthday, Rivers Cuomo

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Marie

Happy Birthday to Rivers Cuomo, born 1970, American musician, best known as the frontman for the band Weezer.

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Reading Notes, Memorizing Pieces

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Marie

Q: I have a feeling that my child is not learning to read music. Instead, she memorizes the pieces. When I ask her to name one specific note in the written music, she cannot answer. I would like for her to know to read music, but she is just memorizing songs. What can you suggest to help her to play by reading?

A: This is a problem that many students have. What is a solution for one child may not be the solution for the next.

If memorization is the student’s strength, flash cards that have individual notes (such as Complete Color Coded Flash Cards for All Beginning Music Students ) will help her in recognizing the notes, much like flash cards can be used to help learn multiplication tables. At first, drill the Middle C and the clef-name notes (Treble G and Bass F), then incorporate Treble C and Bass C, giving her a few seconds each. Bring other notes into the mix. Add a timer (or count in your mind) to enhance speed.

Another method, one that I use when teaching, is to hover a book or a magazine (nothing distracting) over the student’s hands so that she can play by “feel” and associate the heads of the notes with the pitches of the tones. If the notes go up, her fingers play to the right, and the pitches are higher. This is very practical because it develops the recognition of musical patterns.

Theory workbooks that concentrate on identifying individual notes are helpful. Schaum Note Spellers Book 1 (Schaum Method Supplement) is a great resource and one that I have used with many of my students. After a few pages of exercise, you will see that her reading music will have improved. This is also a good workbook if the student is away from the piano for several days, for it helps to keep her reading skills strong.

Over time, with practice, reading musical notation will be like reading English.

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How Young is Too Young to Begin?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Marie

How old is too old?

Piano lessons can begin at any age, but there must be an optimal age, yes?

There are more than a few schools of thought on this issue. The Suzuki Method encourages very young children who can barely hold a crayon to begin instruction. An opposite view is held by the Waldorf Method: Children begin piano instruction as late as age 11. There are many valid reasons for these two very different approaches to piano instruction. It is widely held, however, that instruction plays an important role in being able to play the piano.

If you are considering piano lessons for your child, take a few moments to honestly answer these questions:

  • Does he sit and focus for 25 to 30 minutes?
  • Can he recognize the letters of the alphabet?
  • Does he take criticism with a grain of salt?

If you can answer “yes” when thinking about your three year old, then you know that he is ready for piano lessons. Because piano instruction involves stopping a child’s work and correcting it, he ought to be able to emotionally handle what one may feel is an insult. If you think that your five year old does not fit the criteria, wait a three or six months. It only takes a little bit of time to develop the maturity required for piano lessons.

On the other side of the spectrum, many adult students who have never had a music lesson or claim to be tone deaf, have learned to play piano fairly quickly.

Remember that learning a musical instrument depends not only on the intelligence and temper of the student but on the support that he receives at home from his siblings and parents. A competent, agreeable ten year old who has no place to practice will not progress if he only plays piano during his lesson. By not making time to sit to listen to their child to give them a little concert, parents take the risk of losing their child’s interest in piano.

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Today in Music History, 1829

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Marie

Today in Music History, 1829, Vienna, Austria: The accordion patent is officially granted to Cyrill Demian. Since then, Western music has come a long way.

Have fun listening to the accordion version of a-ha’s “Take On Me.”

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The First Lesson: Names of the White Keys on the Piano

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Marie

To begin the first lesson, I ask the student to identify a pattern on the piano. If he needs help, a good hint is to note the black keys. I have heard many good responses, but the response that I’m looking for is “two-three-two-three…” With those black keys, they play only the groups of two, then the groups of three, counting the groups. The purpose is to develop confidence throughout the keyboard. In my younger years, I began teaching at Middle C as the books do, but I realized that students then become afraid to play with and experiment with the higher and lower keys.

We give names to these groups. More often than not, Chopsticks, and Forks are the names because the two black keys look like chopsticks and because the beginning white note of the Chopsticks group is C. Same goes for Forks: F. You can try other names for the groups. One student suggested “Twix” and “Oreo.” I thought that might be confusing for many reasons, but she never had a problem with her mnemonic.

He finds all the Cs on the keyboard, then all the Fs.

The student then recites the musical alphabet on his own, “ABCDEFG.” He plays all the white keys in order while reciting, “ABCDEFG.” Every once in a while, I point out that the C lands just before the “Chopsticks,” and the F just before the “Forks.”

That was the easy part!

I ask the student to play the white keys backward, reciting the letter names, “GFEDCBA.” This helps in calculation of the notes when the student begins reading music, especially in the Bass clef. Why the Bass clef? Because the F of the Bass clef is at the top of the five-lined staff, so to calculate the notes, one must think backward, which is why many students claim to “not know the Bass clef.”

When he becomes more proficient with naming the white keys backward, I teach naming the keys in intervals, thirds, fourths, and fifths, that is, skipping one note, then two, then three. For example, the interval of a third would be from A to C (B is skipped). Along the keyboard, it would be:
ACEGBDFACEGBDFA… then backward AFDBGECAFDBGECA.

This won’t take but couple of lessons as it is required daily practice. The student will be able to do this without stumbling. (Note: Music Theory also takes into consideration the quality of the interval, that is, major, minor, perfect, &c. Because the student is in his beginning stages, I do not introduce quality at this time. Becoming acquainted with the white keys is the goal of these first lessons.)

After a few years of music lessons, a student will be prepared for interval qualities, chord building and progression, harmonic analysis, and all trimmings of composition and sight reading. The exercises of reciting and playing the keys will have molded his skills.

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False or Weak Praise

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Marie

Q: I feel like I’m guilty of over-praising my child after he plays the piano at home. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I don’t want to give him a false sense of victory, either. How can I keep him motivated without the weak applause and the fake “yay”?

A: Children sense weak praise. They know when you are not genuinely impressed.

I always ask the student first what she or he feels about the playing, not the piece that is assigned but how it was played. Self-evaluation is not natural to young children. For some, I might be the very first person ever to have asked them “How do you feel about your effort?” Usually, a student will realize that it needs more practice or attention to detail. He’ll want to play it again and again. This is not bad at all. Repetition leads to mastery.

He might also feel that this newly learned piece is the only thing that he can practice, so encourage him to move on on his own. This initiative will warrant genuine praise from his teacher.

If you feel that real praise is appropriate, ask him if you can record just a short passage and share it on social media. He might feel embarrassed, so just record his hands.

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Auditions and Competitions

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Marie

January is typically audition season for students who are applying for magnet programs. If you are concerned that your child is not yet ready for his audition, contact your local music teacher and request private lessons. Just a few hours in one week will elevate your child’s skills. Of course, he must practice on his own as well.

Here in Florida, middle and high school students are also coming into the FOA (Florida Orchestra Association) and the FBMA (Florida Band Masters Association) competitions. While your child’s band teacher at school may work with the class for the ensemble piece, your child may require a bit more attention for the solo performance. Many music teachers know of someone who knows someone who teaches the instrument and whose specialty is the genre of music that your child is preparing. Don’t be afraid to call or email your child’s music teacher to ask about how best to prepare him for the competition.

In both auditions and competitions, students perform before very small audiences of one to three judges, typically in an empty classroom. This setting is strange and confusing for a young musician, so you want to give your child every opportunity to be prepared and confident for his performance.

Break a leg!

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Happy Birthday, Ozzy Osbourne

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Marie

Singer, songwriter, and actor John Michael Osbourne, b. 1948 in Birmingham, England, has sold more than 100 million heavy metal albums, thus dubbing him the “Godfather of Heavy Metal.”

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Proper Piano Posture

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Marie

Begin sitting on the piano bench only about the front edge or half of the bench, feet resting on the floor, and your knees lower than your hips. This form keeps pressure off of your lower back when you are sitting tall with shoulders back. If your legs dangle, use a footstool.

You should be comfortable enough to lean left and right and toward the piano to play high and low notes or push the piano to create a very loud sound all without having to fall off the bench! Because a young learner does not often require to lean into the piano or left or right, phone books are adequate to rest the feet. Once, however, the pianist is constantly using the phone books to lean, they will slide and become a distraction or a nuisance. I recommend a footstool.

Elbows should be comfortably hanging from shoulders. Wrists are straight enough to balance a Magic Tree House paperback. If the keyboard is too high, a learning pianist might tense her shoulders to keep her wrists straight or drop her shoulders but lean on the piano’s edge with her wrists. Neither of these compensate for good form.  I recommend interlocking foam floor tiles (children’s gym mats) because they do not slip when stacked and do not squish like pillows do. When the forearms are parallel to the floor, you have reached proper height.

If you do not have a piano bench, a normal chair works fine. Be careful not to become too comfortable in your chair and be tempted to lean back. Office chairs are not recommended as they lean with the weight and roll along the floor, becoming a play toy instead of a learning place.

Keep in mind that your posture changes with the time of day, depending on how stressed or fatigued you are. If you are still growing, your proportions will certainly change along with your height. Always begin sitting at the piano by checking your muscle tension and comfort. Piano playing is a performance art, so always try to look good!

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Piano and Musical Goals

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Marie

You have decided that it’s time to begin piano lessons. Why? Do you have a relative or friend who also plays music and wish to play together? Perhaps you’d like to learn a few carols for Christmas. Do you have a general goal of wanting to have fun? If you already have specific reasons for learning the piano, write them down, and post them close to your piano. After your teacher has been informed of your goals, you two can work together toward reaching them.

What are your short term goals? How or what do you want to be playing on the piano in one month? That’s only four lessons. Do you want to learn “Happy Birthday”? Maybe you just want to catch up on music theory. Write down a short term goal, one that will take you four weeks to accomplish. Once you’ve achieved this goal, write down another one!

What are your long term goals? What do you want to be playing in one year? That seems like a long time, especially since learning piano involves constant practice and precision. Write down your long term goals, but give yourself some wiggle room. What may take your neighbor a year to learn may take you two years.

To keep you goal-oriented at the piano, write down smaller goals. Think of them as dependent goals, one depending on the the previous one. For example, say you want to learn Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” a three-minute piece that requires technique and memorization. With a composition pattern of A-B-A-C-A, the famous first lines are repeated throughout the piece. (As a teacher, I like to keep section “A” unlearned until the end, like a carrot at the end of the stick. “B” and “C” are the most difficult to learn, so I teach them first.) The dependent goals are then sections “B” and “C,” which can even be divided up into smaller groups.

Some parents have signed their children up for piano lessons in hopes to strengthen children’s reading skills. Practicing the piano also enhances fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, which are great reasons to begin piano lessons. Skills and coordination will improve, but the children should have goals for themselves. Real, tangible goals such as learning this or that song, will keep children curious and involved with music.

Really get your arms around your “Why?” Find a specific motivator to keep you interested in learning the piano. Be patient, and be consistent.

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