Piano for Children

 Piano for Children

 

The starting point in private piano lessons with a child who has maintained and developed their natural musicality before beginning private lessons  

is quite different than the starting point with a child who has not been exposed to songs, dances and instrument play in early childhood.

If you have dreams that your child will become a pianist, then I recommend starting early but not with formal private instruction.  


Begin early with parent/child music classes that incorporate movement and singing and playing instruments.  

If you have dreams that your child will love the piano, then make sure there is a piano in your family!    

Find a piano or keyboard that can live with you in your home.

I have been so fortunate that many of the students who currently study piano privately with me began their music education in my Orff classes before they were 2 years old.

The benefits of involvement in baby & toddler music and movement classes are HUGE!

1. Children develop a sense of rhythm and ability to audiate before they begin playing piano.


2. We build confidence in approaching all variety of instruments and in being in musical situations.


3. We play percussion from around the world; shakers, scrapers, metals and drums.


4. We try violins, cellos, guitars, ukuleles, banjos, dulcimers and harps.


5. We hear wind instruments from all varieties of whistles through recorders, harmonicas and some common band instruments like the clarinet.


6. I create and incorporate activities that engage babies in noticing symbols for sound and pitch.  They LOVE this!


7. We move our bodies to music feeling every type of meter, a variety of tempos and also show dynamics of music.


8. We engage in creative movement using language to describe how we are moving our bodies.


9. We play social circle games that teach us musical and social skills simultaneously.


10. In addition, these early group experiences develop a natural sense of music-making within a group of people.  We learn to take turns, stop and start together, feel tempo and show dynamics with our bodies and with instruments as a group.  We develop a sensitivity to the idea of making music in community.

A pre-school music teacher asked (true story)

A pre-school music teacher asked, 

"Susan, 

do you really think it makes a difference 

if kids are exposed to music in preschool?"

"Absolutely," 
I responded with calm and certainty.  

"If you weren't there to do this, who would do it?"


 

How would those few children you spend minutes with each week gain exposure to using their voices and bodies creatively, expressively, thoughtfully, joyfully? 

Who would be their model?

(aside from the media stars and pop singers...

...and those models are not real-everyday-life-type-models...) 

"Remember..."
I said,  
"music & movement are the first languages of the brain."  

The brain wires itself most happily and easily through song and rhythm.   

Setting a foundation for early musicality happens in these young ages.   We don't get to see the results of our efforts for almost 2 decades...so it can seem pointless at times.

I've been doing this for several decades now and I have seen results.

Did you know...when the child is still in the womb the first teacher is sound!

Just days after conception the fetus will withdraw in response to a loud sound.  

A few weeks later the ear canals are formed and are responding to sound.

The baby is born already in the habit of learning through sound and doesn't even have to be exposed to Mozart for this to happen!

Even newborn babies have non-verbal ways to let you know they like a song.  


Babies who have heard certain songs sung to them in the womb recognize those songs and respond to them.

Children learn to speak more easily through song.  So easily in fact, that I have had experiences where mamas withdraw a one-year old from an english-speaking class because the child was learning English too quickly.  Mama wasn't ready for her mother tongue to be replaced!



Yes, music and movement in preschool makes a world of difference to a child's development.  


We use the elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, dynamics, tempo) to shift emotional state.  



Music is THE most amazing way to light up the ENTIRE brain!!!

Nothing does this like music does.  Nothing.  Best activity ever for brain development!


You're doing great work when you make music with kids!  

xo
Susan

Making a difference in a child's life thru music and movement

It's true!
You really can believe you are making a difference in a child's life by...

...singing to them

...singing with them

...moving with them

...dancing with them

...making body shapes with them

...using silly voices with them

...playing percussion with them

...keeping the beat with them

...changing the words to songs with them

...chanting rhymes and poems with them

...resting and relaxing with them

"The only way a child will be left behind is if he doesn't learn art and music" (Bob McGrath)

This coming Monday evening I am the guest speaker at a local preschool.

My Preschool Parent Talk
When I speak at parent meetings, parents are usually interested in the benefits of music in the development of their preschool-age children.  

You know...most parents don't believe they should bother with extra music.  They wonder, "Does it really make any difference in any measurable way?"  

In fact, most ECE teachers don't know the benefits of music either!  Most ECEducators will counsel parents NOT to take a music class while taking preschool.  A sure sign they do NOT understand it's value over the long-term.

At my Preschool Parent talks we learn...Music is a verb!
As we all know, experiencing music is much different than talking about it so every few minutes, I engage the parents in a real musical activity for 3 and 4 year olds.  It is a first-hand example of what music can really feel like when you are engaged as a participant and not an observer.

I believe (because of the research and reading I've done for so many years) that music is a language and is one of the most important ways to engage a young child when communicating with them in their early years.   I'm pretty passionate about it.  

I think the research is overwhelmingly supportive of this belief.  In fact, if you read all that research and experience music as a non-competitive, engaging, socially fun, interesting, intellectual, creative activity you might do what I did...open your own music school for children!

Amazing study!

Many years ago, I read the results of a study where several groups of elementary-age children were involved.  Group 1 received reading, writing and math as most regular school classes receive.  Group 2 received music and art 2-3 times per week as well as reading, writing and math, without an emphasis on any one subject.  Group 3 received music and art EVERYDAY and in order to do this, less reading, writing and math were offered each week.  This study went on for 2 years. 

I like to ask parents to imagine this.  

Imagine your principal/head teacher comes to you and offers your child art and music EVERYDAY!  You'd be excited right?  Then you find out, your child would receive less reading, writing and math in order to schedule it all in.  Most parents would expect after two years of this their child would perform at a lower level on academic testing, having received less academic teaching and more arts instruction.

Most parents would not be okay with this.  Typically, music and art are not seen as beneficial "enough" to warrant an increase in exposure to them.  The fact is...they are and increasing music and arts time has a huge impact!

Do you know the results of that 2-year study?

Group 3 outperformed both other groups on academic tests at the end of the 2 years.

The group that received less math, reading and writing instruction and more arts instruction, outperformed groups 1 and 2 on academic testing.  These children outperformed the groups that received no arts and limited arts instruction.

This is always astonishing to parents...and to administrators.  The idea that music and art instruction can have a cross-over effect that boosts scores on academic tests.

Oh...and one more thing...they discovered that not only was the group that received more arts teaching outperforming on academic testing, that group was also more socially cooperative!

The results of this study always causes parents to stop and think.  

Then, as I roll out the research results about increased language proficiency, longevity, better memory later in life, some of them actually begin to think it might be worthwhile to find out if their preschool offers any music ed opportunities for their children.  My experience is...usually not.  

During my parent talk, I describe what music learning is not...

• it's not sitting and listening to recorded music in the preschool classroom,
• it's not just free play with a bunch of percussion instruments, 
• it's not just doing whatever you feel like musically 
• it's not just singing, it's not just dancing.  (It's fun to do these things but learning that stimulates development is more than that.) 

Music instruction is a form of communication and play and games and interaction between children and teachers.  Hopefully, it is an active learning process that has children participating and singing, chanting, moving, listening, contributing, feeling, creating, problem solving and learning...but through music. 

The generalist teacher usually has some difficulty with this, both with knowledge and musical confidence.  It takes special training to know what and how to offer the kinds of activities that stimulate development through music.


These are the things I attempt to communicate to parents at my preschool parent talks.  

Do you have an opinion?

What do you think?  
Do you agree with the last 3 decades of research?  
Is music learning beneficial enough that without it children have not been offered a full education in our schools? 



If you would like practical, concrete ways to engage children in music, you would love my free monthly newsletter. Sign up to receive your copy of the newsletter here.

ABOUT THE QUOTE

"The only way a child will be left behind is if he doesn't learn art and music," said McGrath (The Times, www.mywebtimes.com)  I loved this when I read it.  It was posted by the ECMMA on their facebook page.     You can read the whole article here.

My Book Review is out!

Last spring Angela Barker (Editor) asked if I would write a book review for Perspectives, the professional journal for the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association.

Apparently, you have to be a member of the ECMMA (which I encourage you to become!) to read the review and many other wonderful articles.  

If you are not a member, this is the book I reviewed.  I consume many books...and I don't usually say this...this is a book EVERY music and movement teacher or therapist should have on their bookshelf!

So, if you're not going to read the review...just go get yourself a copy of the book.  It's a book I now recommend to all parents and teachers of the very young!

Spring Has Sprung! (part 3)

Make Me Musical celebrates spring!

In the Sunday (part 1) post we learned the Spring has Sprung poem.
On Monday (part 2) we added 2 ostinati to perform with the poem.


Today we transfer those ostinati speech parts to percussion.

Spring has sprung

Spring has sprung

The grass is growing green

The sun is shining now and

Birds are seen!

Ostinati chanting:

grass:  "Growing, growing, growing, growing"
birds:  "Here I am!  (sh sh)  Here I am!  (sh sh)
           (sh = rest/no sound)    

Take the grass part "growing, growing" and play it on the drums.

Take the  bird part "here I am!"  and play it on the shakers & scrapers.

Something to think about

Now, you might think it would be a good idea to play the word rhythm of the poem onto a percussion instrument...and it may be but consider this.

A short, rhythmic repeated rhythm like "growing, growing" or "here I am (sh sh)" is a wonderful, relaxing rhythmic/steady beat phrase to play.  The brain enjoys that sort of repetitious performance.  It will create coherence in our brains and hearts.

Phyllis Weikart suggests that, clapping each syllable of a rhythmic poem like this one will fracture the rhythm and set up an incoherence in the brain.  So don't clap the words of the poem.  Instead, chant the poem or sing it as a melody.  

Spring Has Sprung (part 2)

Try a rhythmic speech arts piece with your class!

On Sunday, the first day of spring (check it out) I posted a spring chant that can be used with all ages.

Today I'm adding some layers of speech to make a textured speech arts piece with that poem.

Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung

The grass is growing green

The sun is shining now and

Birds are seen!

Ostinati chanting:
grass:  "Growing, growing, growing, growing"
birds:  "Here I am!  (sh sh)  Here I am!  (sh sh)
           (sh = rest/no sound)    


This is a pretty simple addition...adding some rhythmic speech to layer over the poem.
Have one group of kids chanting the grass part, another chanting the bird part, and another group chanting the poem.

Adding movement
The kids usually instinctively add movement to their speech parts and then all the groups can move through the space chanting their parts simultaneously.  

It's okay to sit and chant though, especially if the groups are new to speech work. 

Have fun! 
If the class just can not do all 3 groups, I divide them in 2 groups (birds and grass) and I chant the poem.

Skills we are building 

This builds listening, focus, auditory independence, beat competence and cooperative skills.

Little Mr. Bluebird Hopped Upon My Windowsill

Just in today...a gift from a little girl.  Can you see us in pink?

She's on the right...I'm on the left.  

I think we might be friends of gold at the end of the rainbow.  

Yeah!!!! The sun is shining and the birds are singing!   It's time to sing some of our tweet bird songs.:)

Every Thursday morning I sing, dance and play with a parent/child class.  All the children are now between 22-28 months old...I'm not sure of the parent age range...although we do have a few grandmothers in the class.  This morning we sang "Little Mr. Bluebird".

Why do we sing this song?  We sing...

1. to bring attention to the outside world of birds and the coming of spring
2. to learn and speak the names of different types of birds.  
3. to explore bird sounds with our voices
4. to play a vocal echo game using the words "hello", "good day", and any bird sounds we come up with as we play the game.

Little Mr.Bluebird hopped upon my windowsill.

Little Mr.Bluebird cocked his head and sang.

Hello!

Hello (echo)

Good Day!

Good Day (echo)

Hello!

Hello (echo)

And then he flew away!

 

In my new-to-early-childhood-music days...

Before I had a collection of puppets, I used to use my hand to make a bird-type handpuppet shape.  My hand-bird would hop onto my arm/window ledge.  The thumb/head would cock itself and sing.  The fingers/tail feathers would wiggle and fly away at the end.  It was short and sweet.  I still do this but today I wanted to bring in the puppets and really play with vocal sounds.

Now that I'm a veteran...

These days I have quite the collection of bird puppets so we sing verse after verse about  Little Mr. Hummingbird, Little Mr. Duck, Mr. Chick, Mr. Crow, Mr. Woodpecker, Mr. Kookaburra, Mr.Parrot, Mr. Penguin, Mr. Peacock...perhaps you'd like to meet some of them.

Little Mr. Hummingbird (or Mrs.) hopped upon my windowsill.

Little Mr. Hummingbird cocked his head and sang.

etc...

Today we went thru every bird puppet as each child came back for more.

Each child was putting out an arm to let the bird hop on their windowsill and then taking the puppets from me to their parents as we sang each verse and the bird flew away.

I saved Mr. Peacock for last because he is not so little.

Mr. Peacock is such a huge puppet that we didn't actually get thru the verse (too much laughter).

As soon as "Little" Mr.Peacock hopped upon my windowsill one of the dads improvised a new verse...

Little Mr.Peacock hopped upon my windowsill

Little Mr.Peacock scared us all away!

We ended with our flock of birds flying all around the room and then nesting on the floor.

It was lovely!

Do you have bird songs you love to play with?

Spectacular Story!

Adrian Anantawan Talks About Easy and Hard

Adrian Anantawan is a Canadian violinist born with only one arm. He has clearly overcome his disability!

Earlier this week my husband and I watched a documentary about Adrian. It was uplifting and inspiring.

Adrian began music lessons at the age of 9.

I love that. All the early childhood research tells us our ability to learn music begins to decline after age 8 and if you wish your child to retain their natural music ability, start before age 8.

Even though I am a complete supporter of early childhood education, a passionate enthusiast and highly trained to work with young children, I too believe beginning sooner rather than later is the way to go.

Having said that, I just love hearing the stories of musicians who began their musical education at later ages.

It's never too late!

Oh...and if you enjoyed this video you might also enjoy this piano/violin duet.

Have a great weekend!

 

Beat Competence: Natural Ability or Learned Skill? (post No.2)

The Surprise

My first instinct when I am working with a child who clearly can not keep a beat is to do something that is not obviously musical.

I want to have them immediately on their tummy.  

I call it "floor work" or "tummy time".

Parents and most teachers are surprised by this response. I know it's not obvious but I also know it's one of the ways to bring children to a place of readiness for keeping a beat.

I know that children who can not keep a beat have missed a piece in their development and that it is recoverable.  We just have to incorporate developmental movements as often as possible in class and in activities outside of class.

As I mentioned in my first post earlier this week about beat competence that I am not including children here with severe cognitive, physical, developmental challenges...those challenges require a more complex response.

Getting Ready

We slither and lizard around.

We crawl on all fours and roll on the ground.

We pull ourselves on the floor using just our hands and legs with the full weight of our bodies on our tummies.

I touch on some movement games in previous posts, and also in a 5-part blog posting about why we use movement in a music class.

All this crawling and slithering is physically demanding for children who "need" it.  They often resist it.  
Children who don't really "need" it, usually love games with these movements in them.  
Children who DO NEED it, complain and resist and generally try to get out of playing this way.

Interesting, no?!

Beat Competence: A natural ability or a learned skill? (post No.1)

Beat Competence

So...beat competence...it seems like such a natural thing, yet some kids/people just don't have it.  They just can't keep a beat. 

You know those kids...they seem to be happy, energetic, love to sing, enthusiastic, throw themselves into whatever musical expression they love and they just can NOT keep a beat.  

I feel it is spectacular!  Almost unbelievably spectacular!  wow...

I have trouble trying to intentionally NOT keep a beat and they can't keep a beat to save their lives.  

The Download

I've had students like this.  What I notice about the kids who have difficulty keeping a beat is that they usually did not attend baby music classes, not mine or any music classes. 

Those first 2 years seem to be the natural developmental period when beat competence is "downloaded" and "installed" in the body and they missed out.

Of course, there are children with obvious developmental, cognitive or physical challenges and while some of them are beat competent, we do not have the expectation they will be beat competent.  Those are not the children I am thinking of here.

Benefits of beat competence

I spent the first year of public school teaching as a learning assistance teacher.  I worked with kids (K- Gr.10) who couldn't read, couldn't do math, couldn't print, couldn't spell.

What I noticed (because I was also a music teacher) was that these kids all seemed to struggle with keeping a beat as well.

When compared to kids who ARE beat competent, kids who have trouble keeping the beat also seem to have challenges with:

• learning to work the scissors, 
• holding a pencil, 
• learning to print/handwrite, 
• skip with a skipping rope, 
• move through the space without smashing into other people and 
• some have trouble learning to read books.

If you are interested in beat competence from a practical perspective 

• can it be nurtured? 
• or is it one of those things handed out at birth?

then stay tuned because I'm going to write a few posts about this very topic. 

Everybody snake along....snake until we STOP!

In real Life:  Use with ages 1-4.

Sung to the tune of that old favorite:  Merrily we roll along

Developmental benefits include:  enjoyment (this age group loves a song that requires a sudden stop),  controlling & anticipating start and stop of the body, exploring a variety of locomotor/non-locomotor movements, gross or fine motor focus depending on movement words you choose.

Everybody snake along, snake along, snake along.

Everybody snake along, snake until we STOP!

Everybody roll along, roll along, roll along

Everybody roll along, roll until we STOP!

Everybody growing tall, growing tall, growing tall.

Everybody growing tall, grow until we STOP!

Everybody melting down, melting down, melting down.

Everybody melting down, melt until we STOP!

Everybody flick your head, flick your head, flick your head.

Everybody flick your head, flick until we STOP!

 (If you're in a group make sure everyone is running in the same direction...and using their "traffic eyes"!)

Everybody running fast...

I think you get the idea:) Just substitute words from the locomotor word list.

See you tomorrow with another musical movement activity...next time it will be for older kids!

Why movement in a music class? (part 3/5)

If you feel uncomfortable moving...it probably means you're getting more out of it than everyone else!

 

aerial view of University of Victoria campus...so beautiful!

 

In the "olden days"...when I was in university...back in the 1980's...I was studying music education as part of a 5-year Bachelor of Education degree.

I had already been teaching private music lessons (piano, saxophone, clarinet, theory) in my home for 10 years.  I had some confidence about how to approach a music lesson for children.  I played classical piano and had all the exams, festivals, master classes and diplomas that are a part of that kind of study.   I'd prepared many students for exams and festival as well.  I could read music, write music, analyze form and chord progressions, etc...

I had no idea there was SO MUCH MORE to music for children.

I was hired immediately out of university.  I didn't even get to attend my graduation ceremony because I was working.  In those days, there were no teaching jobs...so that was a huge miracle in my life!

My first job was as a learning assistant teacher at a K-10 school (on a reserve in northern BC).  I learned a lot.

My second job was teaching grade 3 classroom and music (K-7 and special needs music) at a First Nations elementary school in northern BC.  (In those days, they were still called Indian reserves...not very politically correct!)   As part of my contract to teach, I had to complete the Introductory Level Orff course.

I'd read about Orff in my music ed classes, it sounded fun and easy.  I sure didn't "get" that movement was involved from just reading about it though.

Orff summer classes were 6 hours a day with homework every night.

• We sang (fun for me), 
• played recorders (easy for me),  
• played the Orff instruments (so much fun!), 
• we did folk dancing (that was okay)
• and did creative movement (I hated this, resisted it...and it took years for me to LOVE it).  

I  did NOT understand WHY we had to move around the room with those silly scarves or imagine we were leaves or pretend we were lions or work cooperatively with others to create a "dance".  What on earth was THAT going to teach children about music???

Yikes!....that was me???  sigh...

In my university classes we learned about listening, matching pitch, Kodaly games, early childhood activity centers, writing lesson plans, using the provincial curriculum guides and music textbooks.  There was no movement of any kind.  We sat in chairs.  That was it.

I tried to get out of the movement portion of the Orff course that summer.  I tried to schedule dentist appointments, I tried to go home by pleading illness...I just did not get it.  The instructors (were FABULOUS) and explained that I would fail the course if I didn't participate in the movement sections. That was a huge motivator for me because I wouldn't be able to keep my teaching job without this course.  Naturally, I participated in all the movement portions.

Even though I loved to dance and danced every day at home, on weekends with my friends and at parties and weddings...I really loved to dance...I just did not see how the teaching of dance and music were in any way connected.

Now I think...how could I NOT see the connection?

Truly, it took me several years before I really began to understand the

• personality-shaping 
• confidence-building 
• spirit-nourishing
• and intellectual understandings (yes, intellectual...) that I (and the children) were receiving from all the movement work.

After many more years of study with many teachers in Orff, creative dance, folk dance, primal dance, jazz, African dance, developmental movement therapy and authentic movement, I "get" it.

Movement is the "play" in "play-based" learning!

All I say to teachers now is...don't think about it...just trust and DO it.  If it feels uncomfortable...it just means you're getting more out of it than everyone else!

Why movement in a music class? (part 2/5)

Movement in music learning...

• keeps brains attentive (keeps us awake!)
• keeps bodies active
• releases energy
• relaxes the body
• brings life to the music
• allows for more ways to express musicality (beyond expression through singing, playing instruments or composing/drawing music)
• reminds us to breathe while we are learning
• increases a child's sense of well-being (we're happier)
• is a confidence-builder  
• increases our retention (we remember more!)
• in the ORFF approach to teaching music, music and dance are considered a unified element.  Music is not taught without movement and movement is not taught without music.

 What do you think about this?

How to be a Rock Star Teacher!...or...What do you do with a 4 year old?

That is a question traditional, classically trained music teachers invariably ask.  How do you keep 4 year olds focussed and what could they possibly learn about music at this age?  


I have a giant trove of knowledge, experience and tools to work with all manner of 4 year olds!  They are a busy age group and have a huge capacity for fun, knowledge and happiness.


My Orff Play class met today.  Such excitement!
They are a small group, ages 4 years or almost 4 years old.  Kind of like my little dog, Moka.

Moka is almost 4 years old too!  

In fact, Moka thinks he's part of the class and as soon as we sing our hello song, he finds his chewy and heads for a cushion to join us.  His presence with this age group helps enhance the children's ability to empathize with another being.  The children also learn to respect his emotional and physical needs.  Moka has an enormous fan club!

Oops...I digress...:)

Today in Orff Play we were focussed on high and low in movement, voice, reading, creating music and listening to music.  We also did some other things...but hi & lo was my main focus in my planning.

Focussing on high and low always sounds so pedestrian, doesn't it?
The thing is, when a 4 year old does explore this concept using
the body,
the voice,
the eyes,
the ears,
the hands,
the mind
and the imagination...
guess what happens???  

• Their hearts open.  They love music and learning about music in ways other children can not.  
• Their self-confidence grows.  They experience they CAN move their arms and bodies in specific ways and creative ways. 
• Their self-esteem grows.  They experience they CAN make music with their voices.
• Their social skills grow.  They believe they can make music WITH other people.  
• They learn to BE music-makers.  Not just consumers of music...although, as consumerism goes...consuming music seems pretty good to me!

I generally begin with body work, after we've sung our hello song...in fact, the hello song morphs into a movement game, using mostly gross motor movement with the children's ideas and suggestions.

Today we were "reading" high and low using graphic notation charts.
They looked like this...not too fancy...just simple for the eye to follow.

We traced them with our fingers while making vocal sounds as we traced.
We traced them in the air using a giant feather!  This has the children using their whole body to make the graphic notation and using their voices too.

For homework, they took their feathers and a little accordian pleated booklet to "read" and "write" their own music at home. 

Many years ago, I read about Japanese teachers using feathers and whole arm movement to teach their youngest students to write Japanese characters.  This was fascinating to me at the time and I wish I could remember where exactly I read that.

I will write more about 4 year olds and my Orff Play program and the why, why, why... but on another day!

Music as a second language.

You've heard of ESL? English as a second language?

More and more I meet parents who want their children to learn to speak music.  They don't want a classical education per say...but they want an ability to speak musical language...to have an ear for music...to be able to communicate in Music with others.

When you think about music and children from the developmental perspective of learning a language I think the performance expectations change from "get it right" to "way to go...nice try".

Different attitude entirely!