Dear Parents,
The students can play many pieces now. We are balancing learning new repertoire with developing skills and habits. Please keep the focus on the most important points to continue to progress and develop ability:
1. Life Ability-Spend as much time on the ready position as possible in every practice. This will develop awareness and intention.
2. Natural Learning-Listen to the disc as much as possible in every 24 hour period.
3. Whole Learning-Continue to encourage free time at the piano while differentiating the practice time with more discipline.
4. Integral Learning- Focus on the inspirational quadrant by listening to performances from the Core Studio video blog, and disc for books 2 and 3.
5. Ability Development-Help your child connect moving their fingers with the sound they are making. This is possible when the ready position is good so that the hand is relaxed and the mind is focused. Do repetitions on the assigned spots and ask for moving fingers.
6. Core Focus-The most important point to come back to at this time is "ready".
7. Positive Affirmation-Everyone is making progress. Progress is not necessarily in a "straight line". We are learning balance and depth at the same time we are moving forward.
These are the seven principles of core education.
all the best,
Leah Brammer
Click Here for a link to the next Twinkle Lessons Blog
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
24_Twinkle Lessons: On the Rhythm
As the children enjoy finding the notes to the songs, they will sometimes speed up on the sections that they know well. and slow down or skip over other parts of the piece. It is important to help them learn how to keep a steady rhythm after they are fluent in the notes.
Rhythm is a natural part of life, and life ability. The word rhythm comes from the Greek word 'rhythmos" and means "flow". Our heartbeat is a natural pulse. We breathe in a rhythm. The earth has daily, monthly, yearly (etc) rhythms. Our lives evolve around daily rhythms. It is quite natural for children to play music with good rhythm. We do not have to "teach" it.
My good friend and colleague Robin Blankenship sent me an article about research being done on babies concerning rhythm. The article They Got Rhythm: Study of babies finds" supports previous research showing that infants respond to rhythm and keep a beat or pulse with their body. This article has a video of the testing being done on infants which is interesting.
Another article, "Newborn Infants detect the beat in Music" published in the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 goes into more detail with measuring electrical brain responses that even show infants responding to downbeats and omission of downbeats.
Our job then is to preserve this natural ability to feel rhythm and apply it while playing piano. So, we need to be aware that as soon as the mind becomes too busy thinking about what to do, the natural feeling diminishes.
Rhythm has different parts. There is the steady beat which creates the underlying pulse. The meter represented by the time signature at the beginning of the piece makes groups of deep and light sounds out of the steady beat. So, if the meter is 3 beats per measure, beat one is the deep sound and beat 3 is the lighter sound. These groupings are the basic component of meter and provide the base upon which the individual rhythm of the piece is set. For example, Twinkle has 4 beats in each group or measure, and Cuckoo has 3 beats (like a waltz). It is not important for the children to "know" this, but as adults it is good to be aware of it at this point as you are listening. See if you can tell when you are listening if you hear/feel duple (2 or 4 beats) or triple (3 beats) groupings. We will be working on this in the near future. The term "rhythm" then refers to the individual short and long sounds in a piece, but also generally means the beat, the meter and the individual rhythm as one whole.
In group class the children were easily able to clap the beat, and then lightly clap the rhythm of several Book 1 pieces. Please do this at home as well. It is not necessary to make it part of the regular practice, but on occasion as you are listening to the disc. We will continue doing this in the group class.
The best way to develop the child's ability to be able to stay on the rhythm while playing the piano is for the teacher to play with the student in the lessons. Sometimes it may seem that there is not much "teaching" going on during these times. This is the next step for the child after they have learned the notes. It is not really beneficial for the child to play with the disc. The disc cannot adapt to the natural tempo the child is ready to play on. Also there is no "ready-go" so the child cannot come in accurately on the the rhythm. Therefore, the time at the lesson to play together with the teacher is vitally important.
Please continue to have your child get ready before playing when you are practicing with them. Of course they can also have time at the piano which is "free time".
By getting ready on each note of the twinkles, on each spot, phrase and piece, they are developing the ability to start on the rhythm. By getting ready each time, they are developing the habit of finding good body balance and concentration before playing. This is the first essential step to having good rhythm It is much easier to keep a rhythm once it is started. Actually it is impossible to have good rhythm if it is not started at the beginning. The beginning of the piece is crucial for setting the rhythm so please observe the way that you say "go". Practice how you say "go" so that the word "go" sounds like the way a conductor of an orchestra looks when they start the orchestra. If you imagine this it will help.
When you sing solfege as the child plays you are also helping them to keep a natural rhythm. You can say: "let's stay together as you play and I sing". Next you can lightly tap the steady beat. If they have trouble then it is probably a part of the piece they need to spot practice (separate from playing the whole piece), because they are unsure or unable to play the correct notes in rhythm on that part.
It is important to introduce the concept of keeping the steady beat after the child can play the notes well. This includes playing with good body balance, and good tone. The concept of sequencing skills to present the most important point at the appropriate time is the "core focus principle of nurturing", and is one of the seven principles of Core Education
So, please do not try to have them keep the steady beat on the pieces they are just learning. Dr. Suzuki said :
For Further Reading:
*"How To Teach Beginners" by Dr. Katoaka: Part 4 General Considerations in Book 1
Click Here for a Link to the Next Twinkle Lessons Blog
Rhythm is a natural part of life, and life ability. The word rhythm comes from the Greek word 'rhythmos" and means "flow". Our heartbeat is a natural pulse. We breathe in a rhythm. The earth has daily, monthly, yearly (etc) rhythms. Our lives evolve around daily rhythms. It is quite natural for children to play music with good rhythm. We do not have to "teach" it.
My good friend and colleague Robin Blankenship sent me an article about research being done on babies concerning rhythm. The article They Got Rhythm: Study of babies finds" supports previous research showing that infants respond to rhythm and keep a beat or pulse with their body. This article has a video of the testing being done on infants which is interesting.
Another article, "Newborn Infants detect the beat in Music" published in the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 goes into more detail with measuring electrical brain responses that even show infants responding to downbeats and omission of downbeats.
Our job then is to preserve this natural ability to feel rhythm and apply it while playing piano. So, we need to be aware that as soon as the mind becomes too busy thinking about what to do, the natural feeling diminishes.
Rhythm has different parts. There is the steady beat which creates the underlying pulse. The meter represented by the time signature at the beginning of the piece makes groups of deep and light sounds out of the steady beat. So, if the meter is 3 beats per measure, beat one is the deep sound and beat 3 is the lighter sound. These groupings are the basic component of meter and provide the base upon which the individual rhythm of the piece is set. For example, Twinkle has 4 beats in each group or measure, and Cuckoo has 3 beats (like a waltz). It is not important for the children to "know" this, but as adults it is good to be aware of it at this point as you are listening. See if you can tell when you are listening if you hear/feel duple (2 or 4 beats) or triple (3 beats) groupings. We will be working on this in the near future. The term "rhythm" then refers to the individual short and long sounds in a piece, but also generally means the beat, the meter and the individual rhythm as one whole.
In group class the children were easily able to clap the beat, and then lightly clap the rhythm of several Book 1 pieces. Please do this at home as well. It is not necessary to make it part of the regular practice, but on occasion as you are listening to the disc. We will continue doing this in the group class.
The best way to develop the child's ability to be able to stay on the rhythm while playing the piano is for the teacher to play with the student in the lessons. Sometimes it may seem that there is not much "teaching" going on during these times. This is the next step for the child after they have learned the notes. It is not really beneficial for the child to play with the disc. The disc cannot adapt to the natural tempo the child is ready to play on. Also there is no "ready-go" so the child cannot come in accurately on the the rhythm. Therefore, the time at the lesson to play together with the teacher is vitally important.
Please continue to have your child get ready before playing when you are practicing with them. Of course they can also have time at the piano which is "free time".
By getting ready on each note of the twinkles, on each spot, phrase and piece, they are developing the ability to start on the rhythm. By getting ready each time, they are developing the habit of finding good body balance and concentration before playing. This is the first essential step to having good rhythm It is much easier to keep a rhythm once it is started. Actually it is impossible to have good rhythm if it is not started at the beginning. The beginning of the piece is crucial for setting the rhythm so please observe the way that you say "go". Practice how you say "go" so that the word "go" sounds like the way a conductor of an orchestra looks when they start the orchestra. If you imagine this it will help.
When you sing solfege as the child plays you are also helping them to keep a natural rhythm. You can say: "let's stay together as you play and I sing". Next you can lightly tap the steady beat. If they have trouble then it is probably a part of the piece they need to spot practice (separate from playing the whole piece), because they are unsure or unable to play the correct notes in rhythm on that part.
It is important to introduce the concept of keeping the steady beat after the child can play the notes well. This includes playing with good body balance, and good tone. The concept of sequencing skills to present the most important point at the appropriate time is the "core focus principle of nurturing", and is one of the seven principles of Core Education
So, please do not try to have them keep the steady beat on the pieces they are just learning. Dr. Suzuki said :
"Raise your ability on a piece you can play."Helping the children keep a steady beat on the pieces they can already play is a good example of what he meant in that statement.
For Further Reading:
*"How To Teach Beginners" by Dr. Katoaka: Part 4 General Considerations in Book 1
Click Here for a Link to the Next Twinkle Lessons Blog
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
23_Twinkle Lessons: Visual Sensibility-Eyes to hear
When a musician looks at a score they hear the music internally. The musician doesn't think "That is a G, the next note goes up, hold that note for 2 beats" etc. Printed music is a picture of the sound in the best way we know how to represent it.
In the book Reading by Ear by Cathy Hargrave discusses her conversations with Dr. Suzuki about reading when she was studying in Matsumoto:
When the Suzuki book is used as a reference in lessons and at home, the children will develop a natural curiosity about it. This is exactly the same in regard to children's readiness to read English. They first observe reading in the environment. They have books read to them. This develops motivation.
There is so much that the child can learn about reading a musical score through observing others reading, and by having the books in the environment for reference. This is part of the whole learning environment and happens naturally without actually "teaching" anything. By using the book in lessons and practice, the child will experience that their Suzuki Book 1 has every piece represented with a visual copy of the sound and how to play it with the correct fingerings. They gradually gain awareness that each dot on the score represents one sound. They will glean that the music is read from left to right, top to bottom. The sounds are placed on lines - the staff, and they go up and down -pitch by placement as higher/lower on the staff. By having the sound internalized and looking at the score, the rhythm will begin to look like it sounds with longer notes taking up more horizontal space.
In this way, they understand the score holistically first. They will be able to look at the score and hear the music inside their mind. This is possible because they are not thinking about how long does that dot last, or the name of the note. The symbols translate directly into sound.
The Suzuki book is the best place to keep your notes. It becomes a kind of memory book. You can write down dates that you started or performed a piece for example. Please use the book to mark spots and main points, solfege and how to practice. You can use the score to write notes on and look at during the lesson, and use at practice.
It is good to have another copy on the piano that is your child's copy. I will refer to it during the lesson, opening it to circle a spot, show a whole note, or to point out a fingering to you and play the correct fingering. You can then mark the same spot in your score. Then, we can close the book and play. This gives an important message to the child that the book has importance and is a visual reference.
Because of this developing readiness it may be unclear at exactly what point the child is "reading" - that is to say looking at the score and internally hearing the sound. (as different from reading and playing at the same time) We will begin using a separate book for reading around the beginning of Suzuki Book 2. This will give the child experience playing and reading at the same time. We will learn all the names for the notes rhythms and symbols. This will be easy for them because they already know the sound.
An important point to insure that a child will be able to read a musical score and play at the same time is to develop their playing independent of the visual sense. This means they can physically create the sound they have internalized without looking at their hand all of the time. The kinesthetic/aural connection must be fully developed first, then reading while playing at the same time will be successful. When the ability to play with a good sound and basic skills is established, the child then is free to devote the visual sense to the printed symbols.
Because of this early period of creating reading readiness while the child is developing the physical/aural skills in playing piano, the reading process will unfold naturally. Most importantly, the visual sensibility of the child will directly put the symbols into sound without having to translate into the mental realm such as "Every Good Boy Does Fine-that's an F" etc. The ability to have direct translation from symbol to sound is what makes a fluent reader.
References and further research:
Reading by Ear - Cathy Hargrave - This is a link to my Recommended Books page where you can link to purchase this book from Young Musicians.
Principles for Implicit Learning - a good article on learning, and the development of knowledge frameworks.
The promotion of explicit and implicit learning strategies in English instruction: a necessary aim? I found this while writing this blog. This is my reading for the week. It is an in depth look at language acquisition and includes implicit learning as well as flow theory.
Click Here for a link to the Next Twinkle Lessons Blog
In the book Reading by Ear by Cathy Hargrave discusses her conversations with Dr. Suzuki about reading when she was studying in Matsumoto:
So here we have in the closest possible terms what Dr. Suzuki told us about how to introduce reading in the Suzuki method. Cathy Hargrave's book goes on to explain the next steps Dr. Suzuki discusses in beginning reading."One morning, I was in the main lobby of the Talent Education Institute when Dr. Suzuki arrived. He led me by the arm to a nearby sofa and firmly declared, "Of course, Suzuki students learn to read." He began explaining his Mother Tongue Approach, its application to musical instruction, and the natural progression into reading musical notation. The following paragraphs are a brief account of parts of the conversation: Before reading begins, introduce it into the environment. Thus far, the student has learned all pieces by a combination of ear and repetition, so only the parent has used the music book. Begin leaving Volume One and other familiar volumes of the Suzuki repertoires in plain sight of the child so s/he may browse through them. Make casual comments about the book whenever appropriate during lessons and practice sessions."
When the Suzuki book is used as a reference in lessons and at home, the children will develop a natural curiosity about it. This is exactly the same in regard to children's readiness to read English. They first observe reading in the environment. They have books read to them. This develops motivation.
There is so much that the child can learn about reading a musical score through observing others reading, and by having the books in the environment for reference. This is part of the whole learning environment and happens naturally without actually "teaching" anything. By using the book in lessons and practice, the child will experience that their Suzuki Book 1 has every piece represented with a visual copy of the sound and how to play it with the correct fingerings. They gradually gain awareness that each dot on the score represents one sound. They will glean that the music is read from left to right, top to bottom. The sounds are placed on lines - the staff, and they go up and down -pitch by placement as higher/lower on the staff. By having the sound internalized and looking at the score, the rhythm will begin to look like it sounds with longer notes taking up more horizontal space.
In this way, they understand the score holistically first. They will be able to look at the score and hear the music inside their mind. This is possible because they are not thinking about how long does that dot last, or the name of the note. The symbols translate directly into sound.
The Suzuki book is the best place to keep your notes. It becomes a kind of memory book. You can write down dates that you started or performed a piece for example. Please use the book to mark spots and main points, solfege and how to practice. You can use the score to write notes on and look at during the lesson, and use at practice.
It is good to have another copy on the piano that is your child's copy. I will refer to it during the lesson, opening it to circle a spot, show a whole note, or to point out a fingering to you and play the correct fingering. You can then mark the same spot in your score. Then, we can close the book and play. This gives an important message to the child that the book has importance and is a visual reference.
Because of this developing readiness it may be unclear at exactly what point the child is "reading" - that is to say looking at the score and internally hearing the sound. (as different from reading and playing at the same time) We will begin using a separate book for reading around the beginning of Suzuki Book 2. This will give the child experience playing and reading at the same time. We will learn all the names for the notes rhythms and symbols. This will be easy for them because they already know the sound.
An important point to insure that a child will be able to read a musical score and play at the same time is to develop their playing independent of the visual sense. This means they can physically create the sound they have internalized without looking at their hand all of the time. The kinesthetic/aural connection must be fully developed first, then reading while playing at the same time will be successful. When the ability to play with a good sound and basic skills is established, the child then is free to devote the visual sense to the printed symbols.
Because of this early period of creating reading readiness while the child is developing the physical/aural skills in playing piano, the reading process will unfold naturally. Most importantly, the visual sensibility of the child will directly put the symbols into sound without having to translate into the mental realm such as "Every Good Boy Does Fine-that's an F" etc. The ability to have direct translation from symbol to sound is what makes a fluent reader.
References and further research:
Reading by Ear - Cathy Hargrave - This is a link to my Recommended Books page where you can link to purchase this book from Young Musicians.
Principles for Implicit Learning - a good article on learning, and the development of knowledge frameworks.
The promotion of explicit and implicit learning strategies in English instruction: a necessary aim? I found this while writing this blog. This is my reading for the week. It is an in depth look at language acquisition and includes implicit learning as well as flow theory.
Click Here for a link to the Next Twinkle Lessons Blog
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