Pitch Memory through Ear Training
Playing “find the note” increasing from single notes in a one octave C major scale then begin to increase the complexity by adding the black notes to form a one octave chromatic scale. Intervals can then be introduced in one octave and then triads on white keys. Progress into all of the intervals can made by adding the black notes as well in one octave.
The final step
is to expand the C major scale out to two and then three and so on to the whole keyboard and then add in the other steps (ie. Chromatic scale notes, intervals on C major then all intervals, triads on C major scale then all triads.)
How to tips:
With interval practice and triads, students name the notes from the bottom up, training their ears to hear the more difficult lower tones! Young children and older students are all challenged and enjoy this game, especially if they get to test the teacher or parent on the same test after they accomplish several correct answers!
It's ok for young children to learn in an easy way
I have found that with very young children it is fine for them to see where the teacher or parent is playing on the keyboard and then for them to play back what they hear and see. Older students are not allowed to see, but must learn to hear the pitch.
Make a Story
Each piece that the student learns has a structure, book one is mostly ABA format, (ie. Theme A then Theme B then Theme A again) a simple and fun way to build memory associations with these forms is to create characters or labels that can be made into stories for the pieces.
Let's Go to Africa. All children love animals!
For instance: A = Tall Giraffe, B = Hungry Lion, and the piece is a story about how the tall Giraffe is looking out for the Hungry Lion! This is a fun way to engage the imagination and build the ability to memorize musical abstract structures by attaching concrete and fun images to the different sections.
Listen. Listen. Listen
Listening is perhaps the greatest single thing that you as a parent can do to increase your child’s memory, if they have quality music, especially the music that they are going to be working on in the future then they will be building a clear sound image for what they will be playing and learning in the future.
Help Your child develop fine musical memories!
This ability to learn by ear, once it is learned and put into practice will enable them to learn pieces quickly and listen to the examples and modeling done in the lessons with greater clarity and precision. So please play the recordings for your children! Help them to develop fine musical memories!
With Love, Joy, Peace and Hope,
Ben
P.S. Tomorrow we will be looking at Musical Technology to use in practice!
Showing posts with label dr. kataoka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dr. kataoka. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Blossoming Character
Note: Yesterday the WiFi was down and so this is the post for Thursday and today!
Our next topic will be more technical on Monday, how to develop memory skills!
Teaching Music is about Relationships
Over the past years of teaching I have had the privilege of working with several students on a long term basis. The relationships that develop from this are rewarding for me for several reasons: one, it is simply amazing to be an active part of a child’s artistic development from an early age up to their adult life. From the first lessons in how to bow correctly, through the stages of beginning steps and the many recitals that come each year, the child grows into a fine musician and along the way develops life skills that we could call character traits.
Character Through Persistence
Persistence is one of the most common traits that all children develop while studying the piano over the course of 10 years or more. This one trait however is perhaps the single most important one for a child to develop to succeed at college and then outside in the world of community, business, education and government. How many stories have we heard of great people who have taught the world something about life, who had to have persistence?!!
The Life Cycle of Music Lessons!
I recently began to coach a student who has come back after a few years of college and then marriage. She has a child now and that child is coming with her mother to piano lessons as an infant. It is fascinating to me to observe this little baby respond to the music, smile at the studio children who come in for their lessons and begin to learn through the studio environment about music, art and relationships. She can not speak yet, but I’m anxious to hear what she will have to say in a year or so…
What is your child developing?
Perhaps you can think of other character traits and relationship building skills that your child is learning through music lessons, the studio environment, the parent, teacher and child interdependent relationship and home practice.
The Blossoming of a child’s character through:
Persistence, Patience, Love of Learning, Courage, Self Presentation, Nurturing Relationships with Adults, Artistic development, Empathy, Learning how to contribute to a Community of learners, Honesty in practice and lessons, Accountability, Respect for self and others, Listening to others and instruction, Creative Expression, and the list could continue for a very long time!
With Joy, Love, Peace and Hope,
Ben
Our next topic will be more technical on Monday, how to develop memory skills!
Teaching Music is about Relationships
Over the past years of teaching I have had the privilege of working with several students on a long term basis. The relationships that develop from this are rewarding for me for several reasons: one, it is simply amazing to be an active part of a child’s artistic development from an early age up to their adult life. From the first lessons in how to bow correctly, through the stages of beginning steps and the many recitals that come each year, the child grows into a fine musician and along the way develops life skills that we could call character traits.
Character Through Persistence
Persistence is one of the most common traits that all children develop while studying the piano over the course of 10 years or more. This one trait however is perhaps the single most important one for a child to develop to succeed at college and then outside in the world of community, business, education and government. How many stories have we heard of great people who have taught the world something about life, who had to have persistence?!!
The Life Cycle of Music Lessons!
I recently began to coach a student who has come back after a few years of college and then marriage. She has a child now and that child is coming with her mother to piano lessons as an infant. It is fascinating to me to observe this little baby respond to the music, smile at the studio children who come in for their lessons and begin to learn through the studio environment about music, art and relationships. She can not speak yet, but I’m anxious to hear what she will have to say in a year or so…
What is your child developing?
Perhaps you can think of other character traits and relationship building skills that your child is learning through music lessons, the studio environment, the parent, teacher and child interdependent relationship and home practice.
The Blossoming of a child’s character through:
Persistence, Patience, Love of Learning, Courage, Self Presentation, Nurturing Relationships with Adults, Artistic development, Empathy, Learning how to contribute to a Community of learners, Honesty in practice and lessons, Accountability, Respect for self and others, Listening to others and instruction, Creative Expression, and the list could continue for a very long time!
With Joy, Love, Peace and Hope,
Ben
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Creative Imagination
Children love to be creative and have wonderful imaginations.
It seems that as children grow older these attributes become less emphasized in their education. Perhaps this is why there are so many adults who are so unhappy in their careers and lives.
What happens to childlike imagination?
Perhaps as children they were not nurtured in their creativity and their imaginations were not encouraged by teachers and parents and other well meaning adults.
Great People of imagination
Great people like Suzuki, Einstein, Edison, Gandhi, Beethoven, Picasso, all had highly developed imaginations.
Einstein
I remember reading about Einstein in my early twenties and being amazed at how he used pure imagination to develop many of the intricate theories and concepts that have shaped so dramatically how we now view the world.
Let us find ways to encourage children to be imaginative, then to be creative.
It seems that one and the other come together in children so naturally, and in adults we see a seperation of the two at times. A child can be imaginative and create an experience or object out of their imagination. Often adults will do one or the other. Let’s look hard at our own lives and see where we are imaginative and can begin to create something.
How to nurture your Imagination and Creativity
Maybe it’s simply imagining a fun vacation that we had in the past year and then posting pictures up on the fridge, or perhaps simply finding joy in arranging a vase of flowers on the table. These simple acts are everyday art!
With Joy, Love, Hope and Peace,
Ben
Tomorrow we will be talking about Blossoming Character
It seems that as children grow older these attributes become less emphasized in their education. Perhaps this is why there are so many adults who are so unhappy in their careers and lives.
What happens to childlike imagination?
Perhaps as children they were not nurtured in their creativity and their imaginations were not encouraged by teachers and parents and other well meaning adults.
Great People of imagination
Great people like Suzuki, Einstein, Edison, Gandhi, Beethoven, Picasso, all had highly developed imaginations.
Einstein
I remember reading about Einstein in my early twenties and being amazed at how he used pure imagination to develop many of the intricate theories and concepts that have shaped so dramatically how we now view the world.
Let us find ways to encourage children to be imaginative, then to be creative.
It seems that one and the other come together in children so naturally, and in adults we see a seperation of the two at times. A child can be imaginative and create an experience or object out of their imagination. Often adults will do one or the other. Let’s look hard at our own lives and see where we are imaginative and can begin to create something.
How to nurture your Imagination and Creativity
Maybe it’s simply imagining a fun vacation that we had in the past year and then posting pictures up on the fridge, or perhaps simply finding joy in arranging a vase of flowers on the table. These simple acts are everyday art!
With Joy, Love, Hope and Peace,
Ben
Tomorrow we will be talking about Blossoming Character
Monday, January 12, 2009
Revealing the Invisible
Most of a Student’s work is invisible. She (or he) will spend 30 minutes at a weekly lesson in front of a teacher with her parent helper and perform her lesson pieces and receive instruction on how to practice for the next session. Here the student is rewarded with praise and affirmation with a supportive parent observing and approving of her work in the class and a believing teacher who is offering encouragement and making honest comments about the work that has been done.
Never underestimate
Then the student goes home and practices for six days with her Home Helper. And the cycle is repeated throughout the year. At recitals a student is offered another chance to showcase her work through her performance and this is highly motivating! Never underestimate the power of recitals to motivate practice!
How do we help the younger student see their work on a daily basis? See it with a sense of accomplishment, and find motivation in the day to day practice between events?
Some Ideas:
Start a Practice Calendar
for every day that a students practices, she rubber stamps or places a sticker on the day! This is one of the oldest forms of making the invisible visible! After a month has gone by look over all of the markers for her work and praise her!
A system of accomplishment can be set up as well that will reward with achievement medals different levels of practice, for instance after 30 days of continuous practice there is a 30 day recognition award given to the student at the recital. This is great because is rewards with recognition, persistence and consistency, not simply memorization or facility.
Coloring Sheets
Other ways to mark the practice is to create sheets of 50 and 100 marks, that represent repetitions on practices and then hanging these in the studio or the home practice space. The pages can be a fill in the dots to make pictures, or simply color in different pictures with 50 - 100 spots to fill in!
Quilting
One parent had the fantastic idea of creating a practice quilt that marks certain accomplishments in a lasting way.
And these are simply a few of the ways that we can begin to find ways of Making the Invisible work of daily practice Visible!
See you Tomorrow when we will be discussing the Creative Imagination
With Peace, Love, Hope and Joy,
Ben
Never underestimate
Then the student goes home and practices for six days with her Home Helper. And the cycle is repeated throughout the year. At recitals a student is offered another chance to showcase her work through her performance and this is highly motivating! Never underestimate the power of recitals to motivate practice!
How do we help the younger student see their work on a daily basis? See it with a sense of accomplishment, and find motivation in the day to day practice between events?
Some Ideas:
Start a Practice Calendar
for every day that a students practices, she rubber stamps or places a sticker on the day! This is one of the oldest forms of making the invisible visible! After a month has gone by look over all of the markers for her work and praise her!
A system of accomplishment can be set up as well that will reward with achievement medals different levels of practice, for instance after 30 days of continuous practice there is a 30 day recognition award given to the student at the recital. This is great because is rewards with recognition, persistence and consistency, not simply memorization or facility.
Coloring Sheets
Other ways to mark the practice is to create sheets of 50 and 100 marks, that represent repetitions on practices and then hanging these in the studio or the home practice space. The pages can be a fill in the dots to make pictures, or simply color in different pictures with 50 - 100 spots to fill in!
Quilting
One parent had the fantastic idea of creating a practice quilt that marks certain accomplishments in a lasting way.
And these are simply a few of the ways that we can begin to find ways of Making the Invisible work of daily practice Visible!
See you Tomorrow when we will be discussing the Creative Imagination
With Peace, Love, Hope and Joy,
Ben
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Mystery of Artistic Motivation
(Note: Snag Island Studio was closed yesterday due to Flooding, Make up lessons TBA)
Separation
While there is a mystique surrounding the artist and how he or she becomes inspired to create, we as educators and schools and parents often believe that we understand how to teach the mechanical side of the arts. And so there can be a separation between the Motivation, and Inspiration and the Technique and Mechanical aspects of art.
The need for motivation
After several years of working with parents of music students I’ve come to realize that as important as the technique is, and I do believe that proper technique is essential for a musician to develop. The more pressing need is to find ways to motivate the musical child. Dr. Suzuki teaches that it is through the environment that a child will learn, and so it is through the environment that we must work to motivate the child.
We can not expect a child to be self motivated to practice. So how do we help to create a motivating environment?
Tips
Attend Classical Piano Concerts.
This is perhaps one of the most powerful ways to motivate your child long term. The strength of having a real performer right in front of the child casting a musical spell over the audience is magic for the child's motivation! They now have a clear picture and sound in their heads of what they can do if they continue to practice. I was inspired to begin piano lessons after attending a high level student recital!
Sign up for a summer piano camp.
This is a huge motivator for students as they are with other young musicians, practicing on the same pieces, going to the same classes, learning from exciting new teachers, in an environment that is designed 24-7 to educate and motivate them! Summer camps become a ritual for the families that start them.
Plan to go to the State Suzuki Festival in September.
This is a state wide festival that is set up like a day camp, the only difference is that the teachers are mostly local to the state, and there is a Graduation concert for students who have passed a level in the Repertoire. This is only a one day event.
Come to every Recital and Home Rehearsal.
Bring family and supportive friends and teachers to the recitals. Make a big deal out of their accomplishments and enjoy the fun afterwards!
Participate in a multi-piano concert.
Students form a piano team and work with their team to prepare and perform their repertoire! These concerts can build great friendships and give the piano students a chance to work with their peers in a non-competitive environment! These take place every two years in Sacramento, every Three years in Seattle and every 18 months in Matsumoto Japan!
Wow, out of time this morning already! See you tomorrow
With love, joy and hope,
Ben
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at You and Me Time
Separation
While there is a mystique surrounding the artist and how he or she becomes inspired to create, we as educators and schools and parents often believe that we understand how to teach the mechanical side of the arts. And so there can be a separation between the Motivation, and Inspiration and the Technique and Mechanical aspects of art.
The need for motivation
After several years of working with parents of music students I’ve come to realize that as important as the technique is, and I do believe that proper technique is essential for a musician to develop. The more pressing need is to find ways to motivate the musical child. Dr. Suzuki teaches that it is through the environment that a child will learn, and so it is through the environment that we must work to motivate the child.
We can not expect a child to be self motivated to practice. So how do we help to create a motivating environment?
Tips
Attend Classical Piano Concerts.
This is perhaps one of the most powerful ways to motivate your child long term. The strength of having a real performer right in front of the child casting a musical spell over the audience is magic for the child's motivation! They now have a clear picture and sound in their heads of what they can do if they continue to practice. I was inspired to begin piano lessons after attending a high level student recital!
Sign up for a summer piano camp.
This is a huge motivator for students as they are with other young musicians, practicing on the same pieces, going to the same classes, learning from exciting new teachers, in an environment that is designed 24-7 to educate and motivate them! Summer camps become a ritual for the families that start them.
Plan to go to the State Suzuki Festival in September.
This is a state wide festival that is set up like a day camp, the only difference is that the teachers are mostly local to the state, and there is a Graduation concert for students who have passed a level in the Repertoire. This is only a one day event.
Come to every Recital and Home Rehearsal.
Bring family and supportive friends and teachers to the recitals. Make a big deal out of their accomplishments and enjoy the fun afterwards!
Participate in a multi-piano concert.
Students form a piano team and work with their team to prepare and perform their repertoire! These concerts can build great friendships and give the piano students a chance to work with their peers in a non-competitive environment! These take place every two years in Sacramento, every Three years in Seattle and every 18 months in Matsumoto Japan!
Wow, out of time this morning already! See you tomorrow
With love, joy and hope,
Ben
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at You and Me Time
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