Piano

August 11, 2008

Musical Notes- Part 4 (The Piano)

Dominique Education Musical Notes, Piano

The Piano is the 1st instrument that I was introduced to as a child. It is also the 1st instrument that I have introduced to both Ryan & Roy. This instrument is normally the base instrument that one would learn before branching out to other secondary instruments Ie: Violin, Guitar, Flute.

Let me start off by showing you the skeleton of the piano

Whenever you strike a key on the piano, a felt hammer would have struck briefly at a particular steel string within the piano. The sound that is produced is a result of the metal string vibrating upon being hit. These vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies them.

When you play a chord, two or more strings would be vibrating at the same time and the blended sound would be resonating from it.

If you look at the bottom of the piano you would see 3 pedal in the centre.

The pedal which you would use the most often would be the extreme right – Sustain pedal. It lifts the dampers from all keys, sustaining all played notes, and altering the overall tone.The leftmost pedal is the soft pedal. By stepping on this pedal, the hammers moves closer to the strings, allowing the hammers to hit the strings with less force and produce a softer sound.The middle pedal called the celeste pedal.

This drops a piece of felt between the hammers and strings, greatly muting the sounds.However the middle pedal is seldom used unless you intend to play into the wee hours of the night and do not want to disturb the neighbours.For me getting my boys to learn the Piano at this stage is for them to enjoy music, develop their sense of co-ordination, ability to listen subjectively. It also helps in their right-brain training as it aids in them seeing the bigger picture between each and every piece that they play.A few months ago I posted on which piano method Ryan was using.

He is still playing songs from the Suzuki Piano Method Vol 1 and is halfway through that book. He is now able to co-ordinate both his right and left hands while playing syncopated tunes.Have you started your kids on learning a musical instrument?Tune in to the last part of the 5 part series on Musical Notes tomorrow.If you have missed any of the earlier parts of the series here they are:

Post in this series

– Musical Notes 101 (Part 1)

– Musical Notes 101 (Part 2)

– Musical Notes 101 (Part 3) The violin

–Musical Notes 101 (Part 4) The Piano

-Musical Notes 101( Part 5 Care for your Instrument

March 2, 2008

Which piano method?

Dominique Parenting Views Music lessons, Piano, Ryan, Suzuki method

It’s Music Time!! “YEAH!!” replied Ryan extremely excited that he will be having a fun music session.

Since my elder boy turned 3yr old I felt that it is the right time to in

: Image via Wikipedia

troduce him to formal music lessons. From young he has always been very interested in music. He has been humming tunes taught to him from birth and loves moving his body to music whenever he hears catchy tunes on the television or radio.

Being personally schooled in classical music since young, I know that it would be an advantage for him to learn music as it will enhance his overall development. I started him out in the Alfred method of learning which focuses on both theory & practical aspects of the piano. However after two to three months of trying I realized that the Suzuki Method is more suitable for him.

Here is my take on both methods

Alfred Method

Ryan started out on Alfred’s Prep Course – Lesson Book (Level A). This book is full of colourful illustrations and catchy tunes. It even comes with a CD which plays all the tunes taught in the book. Initially Ryan was interested to play the songs in the book. However when he graduated to (Level B) and had to play both right and left hand simultaneously and keep beat to the music he started to get frustrated with it.

I feel that it was quite a tall order for a 3yr old to be able to read the notes, follow the score and play in sync as the book is recommended for 5yrs and up.

Even though through his music lesson he has learned how to read the staves, notes and note values it is not easy to co-ordinate both right and left hand while playing a piece of music. Not wanting to kill his enthausiam in learning the piano I decided to switch him to the Suzuki method.

Suzuki Method

Developed by Shinichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist,who believed that every child is capable of a high level of musical achievement. It emphasises on variations based on repetition of famous tunes like twinkle twinkle little stars. Students learn music by focusing on hearing then on sight reading.

Suzuki Piano School Piano Book, Vol.1 By Shinichi Suzuki is the book Ryan is currently learning. Even though he has just started on the book I can see a rapid improvement in his attitude towards his piano lessons. He is now more willing to listen to his piano teacher and follow her instructions. He is also much happier as he is able to complete the songs more easily as it is easy to follow.

The focus on repetition/variation on twinkle twinkle little star emphasized on cultivating proper fingering and following the different rhythms/beats. I feel that it is very important to have the proper finger positioning to be able to play piano well. If one develops bad fingering practices, they will face problems playing complicated tunes, fingerings when they progress to higher grades.

Knowing how to count the beats and applying them to practical piano, the child also learns about rhythm and co-ordination. It teaches them how to be focused and also builds up their self-esteem/self-confidence as they able to show their “accomplishments” through playing the tunes.

In Wikipedia the Con mentioned about this method is it’s “rote learning” and that it may stifle creativity in musical expression. I disagree with this point for young children learn best through repetition.

In conclusion I definately recommend parents of young children to let your child try the Suzuki method if you are choosing the piano as their 1st instrument. I would also suggest that you supplement their learning with theory lesson so that they get a more comprehensive musical experience.