ebook teaching with little musician

7/29/2019 ebook teaching with little musician

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Tea ching with Little Musician 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Gree tings from the Founder of BrillKids..................................................................................................................................3

Prefa ce ................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER 1: Introduc tion...........................................................................................................................................................9

The Imp ortanc e of Ea rly Lea rning in Music ....................................................................................................................... 9The Promise o f Little Music ian .............................................................................................................................................. 9

About Teaching Music to your Young Child ................................................................................................................... 10

Basic M usic Termino logy .................................................................................................................................................... 11

CHAPTER 2: Getting Started with Little Music ian .................................................................................................................12

CHAPTER 3: The Little Musician Curric ulum .........................................................................................................................14

Cho rd Recognit ion ............................................................................................................................................................. 14

No te Sounds ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Solfge .................................................................................................................................................................................. 15Exerc ises ............................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Clap -Along .......................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Music Kno wledge ............................................................................................................................................................... 17

Music App rec ia tion ............................................................................................................................................................ 18

Rhythm .................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Sc a les .................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Keyboard ............................................................................................................................................................................. 19

CHAPTER 4: Using Little Musician...........................................................................................................................................22Session Freque nc y .............................................................................................................................................................. 22

Just 5 Minute s a Da y ........................................................................................................................................................... 22

During the Lesson ................................................................................................................................................................ 23

After the Lesson ................................................................................................................................................................... 24

Othe r Ac tivit ies .................................................................................................................................................................... 26

CHAPTER 5: Taking it Further ..................................................................................................................................................27

Cho rd Toys ........................................................................................................................................................................... 27

Solf ge Ac tions ................................................................................................................................................................... 28CHAPTER 6: Freq uently Asked Questions ............................................................................................................................31

APPENDIX 1: Basic Music Terminolog y ................................................................................................................................35

APPENDIX 2: Why I Avo id Classica l Piano Training For My Daug hter .............................................................................37


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GREETINGS FROM THE FOUNDER OF BRILLKIDS

Thank you fo r purcha sing Little Music ian!

It brings me great joy that your child will be able to experience

Little Musician, as it is some thing I am extreme ly proud of.

How Little Music ian Ca me About

Let m e te ll you a b it about w hy Little Musician was c rea ted .

Even though I have had a fair amount of musical training and experience myself (including many

years of p laying the p iano and c om po sing songs and music als), when it c am e to tea c hing music to

my d aughter Felic ity, I wa s often a t a loss as to w ha t to do.

Unlike reading and math, where there were established and proven methods of teaching babies

and toddlers, there was no baby/toddler music program for me to follow, or even a particular

me thod to use as a g uide. We tried som e music c lasses whe n she was a to dd ler, but thoug h they

we re fun fo r her, it didn't tea c h ma ny of the things I wa nted her to lea rn, things which I knew she ha d

the a b ility (and desire) to lea rn.

Inc orpora ting Early Lea rning Method olog ies

After creating Little Reader and Little Math, therefore, I started working on Little Musician

incorporating a lot of the early-learning and right-brain philosophies that were the foundation of

those tw o p rog rams, exce pt the a rea c onc erned this time was music and musica lity.

Little Musician is eve rything I wished fo r when Felicity wa s a to dd ler. In fac t, it has bec om e even

more than what I wished for, because back then I wasn't even familiar with many of the things with

which I am now fam iliar reg arding wha t c an b e ta ught to little c hild ren.


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The Importanc e o f Solfg e a nd Sing ing

One suc h area wa s solfge (do, re, mi, fa, so, etc .). Solfge goe s hand in hand with sing ing. One

thing I feel very strongly about is that far too little emphasis is given to singing in today's musica

ed uc a tion. Rather than de velop ing the most imp ortant instrume nt our c hild ren have -- the ir voice

boxes -- we instead just foc us on ha ving them lea rn a m usica l instrument, suc h as the p iano . With

solfg e, not o nly do we c ultivate their voices, but we de velop the ir music ianshipas they lea rn a bo ut

music notes in a w ay that g oe s muc h de ep er than say, trad itional piano training , doe s.

I wrote a bout this a t leng th on the BrillKids Blog , in a p iec e t itled "Why I Avoid Classical Piano Training

for My Daughter". I have included that b log post in the App end ix, and I rec om mend tha t you rea d it

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that solfge is featured heavily in the Little Musician

c urriculum. I firmly believe tha t a ma stery of solfge a nd the d eve lopm ent o f a c hild 's sing ing a b ility

would prove to be enormously valuable in developing the child's musicality, regardless of what

instrume nt (if any) the c hild ma y choo se in the future.

Last b ut not lea st...

As I a lways em phasize, the num ber one rule of teac hing is to ha ve fun d oing it. Results should neve

be the foc us of lessons. Instead , trea t lessons p rimarily as a t ime for bond ing, and enjoy the lea rning

expe rienc e with your c hild .

KL Wong

Founder, BrillKids Inc .


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PREFACE

By Gregory Blankenb ehler, M.A. Mus.

Common Myths

There is an unfo rtuna te, persistent myth in ma ny of o ur cultures today tha t music is simp ly a med ium of

ente rtainment , and tha t it is best left up to tho se lucky few w ho a re b orn with ta lent. But a g row ing c onsensus

of research is showing something quite the opposite: music education makes people smarter, healthier, and

mo re suc cessful in life, reg ard less of wha tever ta lents t hey a re b orn with. Rec ent stud ies have show n music

study to cause greater physical development in the brain,1 and up to 27% higher math,2 57 points higher SAT3

and 46% higher IQ sc ores.4 It has also b een show n to ha ve a strong c orrelation with improved rea ding a nd test

taking skills, better behavior, dec rea sed anxiety, and highe r g rades in schoo l.5

The myth of the born musica l genius is a lso b eing d isp rove n a s resea rch is show ing it is nurture, not na ture tha t

ac counts for most of the musica l skills tha t lea ve us in awe. It is we ll known in the field of c hild d eve lopme nt

that there is a crucial window between birth and about 6 years old during which a child makes extraordinary

prog ress in langua ge de velopment. Not only doe s a c hild lea rn all of the struc ture a nd fund am enta ls for thei

own native language at this time, but if they are taught a foreign language during this window they can also

spea k that languag e like a na tive for the rest of their lives. The p otential to lea rn and de velop incredible

abilities is almost without limit during this once-in-a-lifetime formative window, and is accordingly used to an

ad vantag e b y ea rly ed uc ation p rog ram s such as Little Rea de r and Little Ma th.

1 G. Sc hlaug , L. Janc ke, Y. Huang and H. Steinme tz, In vivo m orphome try of interhem isphe ric assyme try and c onne c tivity in

musicians, Proce ed ings of the 3rd internationa l c onferenc e for music perce p tion and c og nition (Liege , Belgium, 1994) pp .

417-418.

2 Amy Graziano, Ma tthew Peterson a nd Gordon Shaw , Enhanc ed lea rning of p rop ortiona l math throug h m usic training

and spatial-temporal training, Neurological Resea rch21 (Ma rch 1999).

3 Co lleg e-Bound Senio rs Nat iona l Rep ort: Profile o f SAT Program Test Takers. The Co lleg e Entrance Exam inat ion Boa rd,

Princeton, NJ, 2001.

4 Rauscher, Sha w, Lev ine, Ky and Wright, Music a nd Spatial Task Performa nc e: A Causa l Rela tionship, University of

California, Irvine, 1994.

5 For a list o f additiona l stud ies on the be nefits of m usic, go to http :// littlesinge rs.info / parents/ why-stud y-music -stud ies-

showing-amazing-benefits-of-music-education/.


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The Role o f Parent ing

What is not perhaps as well understood is that musical abilities operate in much the same way as language,

and that they are learned a nd d eveloped almost ide ntic ally. The am azing lang uag e-lea rning window

op portunity from b irth to 6 is a lso a wind ow for uneq ua led musica l skills deve lopme nt. Shinic hi Suzuki, founde

of the Suzuki me thod and o ne o f the foremost expe rts on c hild music ed uca tion, unde rstoo d th is conc ep t and

promo ted the study of music by very young c hildren (age s 3 and up ), ca lling it ta lent ed uc at ion. He

be lieved that extraordinarily skilled music ians we re m ad e, not b orn, and he p roved it b y taking in hundreds of

c om mo n, eve ry-da y children and training the m to be som e of the finest violinists in the world . Suzuki s

philosop hy is we ll summ ed up in his ow n wo rds: The p urpose o f [music] e duc ation is to tra in children, not to be

profe ssiona l musicians but to be fine m usicians and to show h igh a b ility in a ny other field they ente r.[]There is

no telling to wha t heights c hildren c an a ttain if we ed ucat e them properly right a fter b irth.6

Recently, researchers have discovered that absolute pitch recognition ability (often called perfect pitch) is

not simply a rare supe r-human a bility tha t only a few a re g rante d throug h lucky genes, but a langua ge skill that

nea rly a ll ba bies a re born with. Most ba bies a re born ha rd-wired to d eve lop perfec t pitch , but most do no t

rec eive the right stimulation t o d eve lop and reta in the skill for the rest o f their lives.7

Since forma l music lessons typically do not sta rt until abo ut a ge 6, at the c lose o f the langua ge -lea rning

window, very few children have been afforded the kind of music education that allows for extraordinary skill

de velopment. Mozart and Bac h are notab le excep tions. Both had fathers that were ac tive co mp oser

music ians and we re expo sed to the rudiments of music eve ry da y from even before they were bo rn. Both w ere

also the younger sib ling of a nothe r fam ily memb er who studied the keyb oa rd , and hea rd eve ry single e xercise

and song w ell befo re they could play them. Both b ec ame c hild p rod igies, fa r surpa ssing their older siblingsand a re no w known a s the tw o m ost fam ous c om po sers eve r. Were the se tw o m usica l geniuses simply bo rn

with mo re ta lent tha n anyo ne e lse? Perhaps they were b orn with som e he lpful pred ispositions, but their suc c ess

c anno t be a ttributed to just that. Mozart and Bac h had the unusual opp ortunity to rec eive an extrao rdinary

ed uca tion in music from the d ay they w ere b orn, and that is wha t c aused them to be extrao rdinary c omp oser

music ians.

6 Shinic hi Suzuki, Nurtured by Love, 2nd Ed ., Athens OH: Senzay Pub lica tions, 1983, pp . 79, 15.

7 Sad ie Dingfelde r, Pitc h Perfec t, Americ an Psycholog ica l Assoc iation36:2 (Feb 05), p 32.

For more informa tion on Perfec t Pitch, see my a rticle a t http://pitchperfectmusic.org/articles/perfect-pitch-recognizing-

notes-thin-air/.


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So, since we a re no t a ll c om poser-musicians ourselves, must we g ive up no w o n our child ren ever rec eiving this

kind of music ed uc ation? Not at all. Tec hnologica l adva nc es tod ay allow children to rec eive music a

expo sure and t ra ining tha t be fore wa s only ava ilab le to the very lucky (or rich). The c lassics tha t be fore could

only be heard b y assemb ling a large g roup of expert music ians ca n now be played any time of d ay w ith the

touc h of a button. Never befo re in history has such a we alth of nutritious music b een available to so m any so

easily.

Enter Little Music ian

Effec tive ea rly music ed uc ation go es far beyond simp ly putting on a Mozart for Bab ies C D. The Little Musician

softw are p rog ram b y BrillKids is the c losest thing I have see n yet to an ea sily-ac cessible early music e duc a tion o

the kind tha t ga ve us musica l ge niuses like Mozart and Bac h. Designed to b e used da ily with children sta rting

a t ab out 6 months, Little Musician tea ches musica l skills in the same w ay that c hild ren lea rn lang uage. With the

help of a parent (who needs no more musical skill than simple dedication), babies are exposed to the

rudiments of melody, harmony, rhythm, and meter in a structured and compelling manner that slowly but

pow erfully builds the ir musica l lang ua ge skills. Befo re the c hild ha s eve r eve n be gun stud ying a musica

instrument they can identify a melody or chord in solfge, read pitches and rhythms on treble and bass clef

staves, po int out the c orrec t key on a p iano fo r a g iven no te, and identify music al instrume nts, famo us wo rks

and the c omp osers that w rote them .

Little Musician is designed to b e a p re-music-lessons music ed uc ation. Instea d o f focusing on musica

performance as later instrumental lessons do, it simply teaches children to correctly hear and understand

musica l lang ua ge . Using the 900-year-old system of solfg e, stud ents lea rn to rec og nize a nd ident ify individua

p itche s, intervals, and c hords. (Even in the testing sta ge , pa rents have bee n rep orting tha t their c hild ren have

de veloped p erfec t pitch throug h the program.) From d ay 1, they also learn to rea d those pitc hes on the

musica l staff. By piecing tog ethe r basic m elod ic and rhythmic patte rns c om mon to the western musica

tradition, children not only learn to correctly read and sing music, but they also become true composer-

music ians that ha ve an inna te sense for go od music and c an crea te their ow n. The p rog ram also tea ches

them abo ut d ifferent music al instrume nts (from the violin to the ba njo) and c om po sers (from Viva ldi to Ge rshwin

and well-known songs (including many classical masterpieces and childrens songs).

Hav ing pa ssed throug h the c urriculum of Little Musician, any c hild will be ready to ma ke muc h mo re e ffect ive

use of priva te music lessons and b ec om e excep tiona lly suc cessful. Besides ha ving alrea dy lea rned how t o

hear and read music correctly, they will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that will make thei

playing m uch mo re a rtistic and natural. And most impo rtantly, they w ill love p laying m usic!


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Music ha s bee n languishing in our wo rld be cause too many of us think of it as frivolous entertainment . But

rec ent resea rch is show ing what our soc ieties used to know, and wha t the anc ient G reek philosop hers taug ht

high-quality music is ed uc ation o f the highest de gree. It promo tes mental de velopment and helps stude nts do

be tter in ma th and rea soning. It tea c hes ae sthetics, history, and c ultural ap prec iation in a w ay tha t no othe

sub jec t ca n. It promote s ap p rop riate be havior, ba lanced e mo tions and hea lthy relaxation. As one o f the mos

po we rful forces in the wo rld (think ab out the influenc e o ne p op ula r song can ha ve o ver millions), music has the

po tential to raise us collec tively to a higher leve l of thought and ac tion. But just like any lang uag e, it is a

learned skill. Ma y we a ll p rom ote its effec tive stud y and use.

================================================================================

Gregory Blankenbehler is a recognized expert in singing and music education

for children, and is the author of the popularSinging Lessons for Little

Singersmethod series.

With over 25 years of experience training, performing and teaching music, he

has performed in Italy, England and France and holds advanced degrees in

Music and Education. He is the music director ofJohn Adams Academyand

ma inta ins a large stud io o f voice and p iano students in the Sac rame nto,

California area. He c an be reac hed a t his homepa ge,www.GBMusic.me.


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1

INTRODUCTION

The Importa nc e of Early Learning in Music

The easiest and mo st effec tive t ime to tea c h a child anything is often during the first few

years, espe c ially be tween the ages 0-3. It s wide ly ac cep ted that young c hild ren a re a ble

to lea rn m ultiple languages in those yea rs effortlessly, and the younger they are exposed to

those languages, the more e ffortless learning seems to be.

We believe this holds true for tea ching the lang uag e o f music , at least in terms of d eve lop ing

a good 'musica l ea r'. Even if this deve lop ment in the c hild 's musica lity does not imm ed ia tely

translate into the child 's ab ility to express herself musica lly (through sing ing o r playing musica

instruments) due to limitations imposed by the child's age and physical development, we

be lieve that a solid founda tion c an nevertheless be built from a tender age.

The Promise of Little Music ian

For many pa rents, the tho ught o f teac hing m usic can be ra ther da unting, espec ia lly to those

who have ha d little or no b ackground in music. Parents who wish to deve lop their child ren's

musical abilities typically have no choice but to send their children to learning centers with

music classes, and this often can only be done from around the age of 3 to 5, thereby

missing out on the c ruc ial ea rly yea rs.


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Little Musician was created to empower all parents to help develop their young children's

musica lity during the early years - the period when lea rning c an be e ffortless. No music a

knowledge is necessary on the part of the parent, as information is presented in a

stra ightforward, fac tua l ma nner with no e xp lana tion necessary for the c hild to g rasp the c rux

of the lessons. All tha t is needed is for the p arent to interac t and have fun with the c hild .

Ab out Teac hing Your Young Child Music

If youre new to the top ic of tea ching your young c hild music ,

you may want to arm yourself with knowledge on this

imp ortant subjec t b efore beg inning to tea ch. For that rea son,

we ve enc losed a spec ia l Tea ching Your Young Child Music

bo oklet, designed to provide all the informa tion you need .

In case you dont have time to read the whole booklet, you

ma y wa nt to skim the c hap ters tha t interest you m ost.

If you think your young child is too young to learn music, or

wonder why anyone would specifically teach music, just read: Why Tea ch Your Child Music?

Many would argue that the best and indeed the easiest time to teach your child music is

while they a re young ! Young child ren love to lea rn. They a re na tura lly c rea tive and inquisitive

keen to explore the w orld around them in a ll its fac ets. Music is no excep tion!

To lea rn more a bout why you should

tea ch your child music , turn to Chapter 1 ofthe Teaching Your Young Child Music booklet.


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Basic Music Termino logy

While you go through this booklet and as we explain how Little Musician is used, you may

come upon some terms which you are unfamiliar with. Not to worry, weve included a list of

words and their definitions for you to refer to in such cases: visit Appendix 1 of

this booklet to lea rn more about Basic Music Terminology.


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2

GETTING STARTED WITH LITTLE MUSICIAN

Your Little Musician Lea rning System a lrea dy comes with a built-in curriculum. This curriculum -

organized as da ily lessons - allow s you g et sta rted with teac hing your child immediate ly a fte

insta lling the softw are. The curriculum inc ludes d ifferent kinds of lessons, whic h we w ill discuss

in Chap ter 3 of this booklet .

Step 1:

Insta ll the Little Music ian software a nd content.

The very first thing you nee d to do is to insta ll the Little Musician softwa re. Plea se refe r to the

enc losed Quick Sta rt boo klet to insta ll Little Musician o n your co mputer.

When you open Little Musician for the very first time after completing the installation process

Little Musician will perform a system check to see if your computer has the required system

spec ifica tion it needs to run smoo thly. This System Check Wizard will test to make sure you

speakers are working properly. Be sure your audio system is turned on. Once youve

com pleted the System Check Wizard , your Little Musician should be ready for use.


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Step 2:

Ac tiva te your key.

When prompted, key in the license key given to you. If you bought this product online, you

may find this in the BrillKids Offic ial Invo ice em a iled to you.

Step 3:

Read the Beginners Tuto rial.

There is a very useful Sta rt Guide acc essible from within Little Musician. To access it, c lic k on

the Sta rt Guide button. It is very imp ortant to run through the Beginners Tutorial. Dont skip

this step!

For more detailed information about your learning system, please refer to the Little Musician

ma nua l. You c an access the ma nual from within Little Music ian.

You c an a lso g et te c hnic al supp ort throug h the forum:

Forum.BrillKids.com > BrillKids Softw a re > Little Music ian Gene ral

Disc ussions

If you have othe r questions or c onc erns, plea se em ail us a t:

ww w.BrillKids.co m > Home > Conta c t Us

For questions not c overed in the Quick Sta rt boo klet o r Sta rt Guid e, p lease

see the c om prehensive Little Musician FAQs sec tion o n our web site:

www.BrillKids.com > Sup port > Little Musicia n


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3

THE LITTLE MUSICIAN CURRICULUM

Little Musician contains many different types of lessons, covering many different aspects of

music. In Semesters 1 and 2 of the curriculum, you will see these types of lessons - more tha n

onc e a session in som e c ases:

Chord Rec og nition

There are nine c hords tha t we wa nt your child to b e a b le to rec og nize instantly. (For you

musicians, these a re the C, F, and G c hords, in root, first inversion a nd second inversion.) The

chords are p layed with instruments, and sung out in solfge. Examp les are dom iso for the

C Ma jor (roo t) chord , and falado for the F Ma jor chord. Together, the nine c hords cove

a ll the notes of the C M ajor sca le (w hite keys). This is simila r to the Eguc hi method used in

Japan, which some consider to be the best way to foster perfect pitch and which

apparently has prod uced a ve ry high succ ess ra te.


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Note Sounds

This is the most b asic o f lessons, and lets your c hild assoc iate p itch w ith the written no te on

the musica l sta ff. It s a g ood w ay to show how higher pitc hed notes are written highe r and

low er p itc hed notes low er. Random instrument sound s are used ea ch time .

Solfge

These lessons teach individua l notes in solfge (e .g., Do, Re, Mi), with notes shown on the

musica l sta ff. Your child w ill sta rt assoc ia ting p itch with the note p osition on the m usica l sta ff

as well as with the releva nt solfg e syllab le. Sem ester 1 foc uses purely on C Ma jor. Sem este

2 introd uc es solfg e in F Ma jor. Lesson slides are forwa rded manua lly because we want to

enc ourage you to ta ke your time to interac t with your child . During the lessons, its very

imp ortant to sing o ut the no te you hea r, and - if po ssible - enc ourag e your child to sing it out

too.


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Exerc ises

These a re exerc ises which he lp train the ear (Hea r and Sing), and help to p rom ote sight-

rea d ing of notes (See a nd Sing ). Hea r and Sing exercises train bo th chord rec og nition, as

we ll as ind ividua l note rec og nition, enc ourag ing your c hild to listen to the c hord o r note , and

sing it out in solfg e. See and Sing exerc ises show no tes on the m usica l sta ff and encourages

your child to sing it out in solfge, similar to how your child would read out words o

sentences.


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Clap-Along

Clap-Along lessons are designed to give your child an introduction to rhythm and beats

During the se lessons, child ren songs (suc h a s Twinkle, Twinkle Little Sta r) a re p layed , and you

child is enc ouraged to c lap along to the bea t. Different bea t rhythms are introd uced as the

curriculum progresses.

Music Knowledge

In these lessons, your child w ill get to learn more a bout how m usic is made. First, your child

will be introd uc ed to d ifferent musica l instruments (e.g ., violin, trumpet, and c larinet ) - she w i

hea r wha t they sound like and see how they a re p layed . Sec ond , your child will lea rn mo re

about famous classical composers (e.g., Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven) and some of the

fam ous piec es they com po sed .


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Music Ap prec ia tion

The a im o f these lessons is to expose your child to c lassica l music, and through the exposure

let her ga in fam iliarity w ith (as well as apprec iation of) c lassica l music. These lessons inc lude

c lips from fifty of the most p op ular c lassica l piec es, suc h as Bee thoven s Fifth Symp hony and

Handels Hallelujah Chorus.

Rhythm

Rhythm lessons will introd uc e your c hild to rhythm syllab les, suc h a s Ta for quarte

notes/ c rotc hets, and Ti for eighth notes/ quavers. Rhythm syllab les are a g ood w ay to

learn how music notations on the musical staff indicate different lengths of time, and

the refore how rhythm is nota ted. Rhythm lessons sta rt from Semester 2.


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Sc a les

Throug h these lessons, your child will see and hear d ifferent sca les in diffe rent keys. Lessons

cover both major scales as well as the different minor scales (harmonic, melodic and

na tural), and a re p layed out using instruments as well as with solfg e voices. Sca les lessons

sta rt from Semester 2.

Keyboard

Keyboa rd lessons will introd uce your child to the keyboa rd , show ing how the d ifferent b lack

and w hite keys of the keyb oa rd correspond to the d ifferent solfge notes and m usic p itc hes

Instead of perceiving the keyboard as an overwhelming sea of black and white keys, your

child w ill see them in distinc t groups ma de up o f low er to higher oc tave pa tterns. Keyb oa rd

lessons sta rt from Semeste r 2.


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Rainbow Co lors

You will notice that many of the lessons show either notes or icons using a rainbow-colo

scheme, whe re C (Do) is shown in red , D (Re) in yellow, and so on. These c olors g ive you

child a very strong visua l rep resenta tion o f the p itch, which will help her rem em ber the no te

she hears through assoc iation. Co lor cod ing is pa rticularly useful for training the ear and to

help d eve lop perfec t p itch. The use o f colors will slow ly be red uced in Sem ester 3 onw ards

(and eventually disappear altogether) when the emphasis of the lessons shifts from ear

tra ining to sight read ing.

Flash Lessons

You will notice that on some days, the slides in some of the lessons may flash past very

quickly. For those unfa miliar with the right-bra in ed uc ation, this is the 'flash me thod ' where

information is delivered rap idly. Right-b ra in ed uca tors suc h as Dr. Glenn Dom an and Prof

Ma koto Shichida believe tha t very young child ren a re a b le to use the ir right b ra in ability to

absorb information at a rapid rate without needing to slowly process the information with

their log ica l left b ra in.


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The Struc ture o f the Curriculum

The Little Musician curriculum is spans a period of tw o years, with four sem este rs of six months

ea ch. Based on a five-da y week, eac h sem ester com prises 130 days of lessons.

Each day's session is made up of a number of different lessons. For exam ple, a day's session

in Sem este r 1 conta ins the fo llowing lessons:

Chord Rec og nition 1 Music Apprec ia tion (short) Note Sound s Solfge 1 Music Know led ge Chord Rec og nition 2 Solfge 2 Exerc ises Clap-Along Music Appreciation (long)


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4

USING LITTLE MUSICIAN

Session freq uenc y

The Little Musician lessons are designed to be shown to your child onc e a d ay. You may

choose to show the lessons again another time in the same day if you believe it is

approp riate g iven your child 's interest and a ttention span. If that is the c ase, we

rec om mend tha t you d o no t do so imm ed iate ly afte r the first session.

The curriculum is designed to be shown during w eekda ys, in c ase it's not

convenient for the parent to teach on weekends, and also to make it

ea sier to inco rporate into a regular routine. Weekends ma y be used to

catc h up on any lessons missed during the week.

Just 5 Minutes a Day

As mentioned earlier, ea ch da y's session comprises severa l lessons. The leng th of each

lesson va ries from a few sec ond s to over one m inute . The entire session lasts for a round five

minutes, dep end ing on how long you interac t w ith your child .

Sessions are delibera te ly kep t short for two main rea sons:


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Short Attention Span

Young children's attention spans are typically fairly short, often lasting no more than 5-10

minutes. It is fa r bet ter to keep the c hild 's enthusiasm for the long term b y let ting her keep

wa nting more, than to ha ve the lessons d rag on and fee l like a c hore.

Consistenc y is Key

We w ish to make it as ea sy as possible fo r you, the parent , to be consistent w ith the lessons

Which pa rent does not have five m inutes a d ay to spare? What matters the most in the long

run is whether you c ontinue d oing the lessons on a reg ular ba sis. Five minutes a day is fa r, fa

more e ffec tive tha n twenty minutes onc e every few d ays.

During the lesson

The m ost important thing to remem ber is to interac t w ith your child . Here a re som e ideas:

After solfge voices have been played, repeat them by singing out the notes againand enc ourage your child to sing a long if po ssib le.

During lessons that require manual forwarding of slides, take your time to sing back orta lk to your child a bout what is show n. Go b ack to the p revious slide or rep ea t the

slide if necessary (clicking the right mouse button and mouse-wheel, respectively).

Ta lk and c om ment about w ha t you a re see ing wheneve r possible. For examp le, if yousee a p icture of a viola, you c ould c om ment , "Tha t sure loo ks like a violin, doesn't it?".


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During Clap-Along lessons, help your child to clap along, by holding her hands, oreven her feet som etimes!

During Music Appreciation lessons, encourage your child to be the conductor of themusic . You c ould a lso t ry to identify instrume nts tha t c an be heard in the p ieces being

played, or encourage your child to dance or move to the music and clap along to

the beat!

During the Exerc ises (e.g . Hea r and Sing), prom pt your child by asking , "What note istha t?" before a dvanc ing to the 'answe r' slide. You c ould even ta ke a gue ss yourself - "

th ink it's a Fa... Let's see!"

Consider using the d ifferent assoc iations desc ribed in the next Chapter ("Taking ItFurther").

Lastly, you will notice that the "Music Appreciation 2" lesson, which contains a longer version

of the musica l piec e, is a lways p lac ed as the last lesson in the session. If your child doe s not

want to sit still and just listen to the music, it is perfectly fine to let her wander around as the

music continues to p lay.

Afte r the lesson

If your child is still interested in continuing after the lesson is over, the first thing you may wish

to d o is to b row se a round the "Resources" sec tion. Here, you will find embed ded YouTube

videos of instrume nts, com posers and music apprec iation piec es. Brow se a c cording to theda y of the c urriculum you a re on, or ac c ord ing to the d ifferent c a tegories.


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In add ition, you c ould a lso d o the follow ing imm ed iate ly afte r the lesson:

Play the lesson again. It will not be exactly the same anyway, as many elements areeither random (like instruments), or rota te (like voices and p ictures).

Play the next day 's lesson. We only rec om me nd this if your child a lrea dy know s a lot o fthe m ate rial alrea dy.

Play specific lessons from the "Play & Edit" screen. For example, you might want to tryout m ore Hear and Sing e xerc ises, or explore m ore m usic instruments unde

Knowledge.


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Other Ac tivities

If have p iano o r keyboard , play chords like do miso o ften, and sing out d om iso a fter playing

If not, use the "Free Play" feature in Little M usician to p lay out the c hords.

Rem em ber: sing, and sing o ften! By singing free ly, you a re enc ouraging your c hild to a lso see

singing as a natural and care-free activity, instead of something to be shy or embarrassed

about like so many ad ults fee l tod ay.

Lastly, you may also wish to try out the music activities, listed in our "Tea ching Your Young

Child Music " booklet.


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5

TAKING IT FURTHER

Chord Toys

The Chord Rec og nition lessons conta in nine c hords which he lp to d evelop your child s sense

of pitch, and associations to these chords are made using the rainbow color scheme, the

position o f the notes on the sta ff, and the solfge name of the c hord.

If you wish, we would encourage you to make it even easier for your child to remember the

chords by p roviding a dd itional assoc ia tions to the chords.

You could add another powerful association by using a toy for each of the nine chords,

thereby ad d ing a physica l aspec t to the a ssoc ia tions. Simp ly choose a d istinc t toy or ob jec t

for ea c h of the c hords, and stick to it.

An example of chord toys provided by a Little Musician user,

showing Domiso, Falado, and Sotire.


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Here are som e guide lines to follow in choosing the toys:

Each to y should b e as unique as possible, espec ially in its shape. For convenienc e, keep the toys relatively sma ll in size so tha t together they are easy to

handle a nd d o not take up too muc h spa c e.

It is prefe rab le tha t the toys use neutral colors suc h a s b lac k, white, grey so the re is lessconflic t with the rainbow c olor schem e tha t a re used in the Curriculum for the chords.

Show the 3 chord c olors on the to y in som e wa y. For exam ple, you could a pp ly co lostickers on the toys, or sew color buttons onto them in the c ase o f soft toys.

You ma y a lso wish to label the toys with the solfge na me s (such as dom iso ) to ma kethem mo re easily identifiab le to you.

During the lesson when a c hord is show n, take out the correspond ing toy and let your child

fee l the toy and interac t with it. Play the chord sound aga in if necessary.

Solfg e Ac tions

Perhaps an even more powerful association you could use for remembering notes andchords in solfge is throug h hand ac tions and correspond ing parts of the b od y. Unlike the

Curwen solfge hand signs system used by some today which requires finer gross motor

movement with the hand and fingers, the system used here is designed to be suitable for

even infants and tod d lers, and req uire o nly gross mo tor movem ents with the arms and hands

In this system , each solfge syllab le correspond s to an a rea of the bod y (or areas around the

body in some cases), and the child simply puts her hands on those areas as each solfgesyllab le is sung out. Plea se see the c hart on the next page for the d ifferent b od y areas:


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These solfge Ac tions cove r two oc taves from a G (So ) to anothe r G (So ) two o c taves

higher. Most lessons in the c urriculum c over the C oc ta ve, so the solfg e ac tions sta rt from

the lap (Do) to the c rown o f the head (Do).

To use this system , enc ourag e your child to g ently tap on the approp riate b od y area

wheneve r you hear or see a note in solfge . For example, when 'Do' is p layed , help her use

her two hands to p a t her lap a s you sing o ut 'Do'. Simila rly, when the c hord 'Dom iso' is

played, help her use her hands to pat her lap, belly, and chin in sequence as you sign out

'Domiso'.


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6

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What age is Little Musician suitab le for?

Little Music ian w as largely de signed with infants and todd lers in mind.

How ever, like with Little Rea der, the suitab ility dep end s not so m uch on the age , but o n the

leve l of familia rity the c hild a lrea dy has with the musica l c onc ep ts being taught.

We have the refo re seen child ren from very different age groups enjoying Little Musician. In

fact, even adults who were previously unfamiliar with music concepts appear to be

bene fiting from it.

What if my ba by ca nnot ta lk/ sing yet?

Even if your baby/toddler is not able to talk or sing, you should still sing out to your child and

enc ourage her to sing a long as best as she c an. Listening to a 'live' voice is muc h mo re

effec tive tha n just listening to rec orded a ud io tha t's p layed out through com puter spea kers.

What if I c an't sing in tune?

Of c ourse, it would be p refe rab le tha t your singing is in tune. How ever, your singing is very

likely to b e better than you think it is, and the a dvantage of 'live' singing p rob ab ly outweighs

any pitch inaccurac ies tha t you might have. If in doub t, sing, and sing shame lessly! Who


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knows, you may even imp rove your sing ing the mo re you d o it! At the very lea st, you a re

giving your child the message that singing is a natural thing that is nothing to be shy or

embarrassed ab out.

Can this rep lac e music c lasses?

No. Little Musician is no t a substitute for music classes, especially where learning a musica

instrument is concerned.

However, we expect that Little Musician will likely make it easier for your child to learn an

instrument since many of the musical concepts that are required in the learning of the

instrument will a lrea dy be fam ilia r to your child . Having a bette r-developed ea r for music

and note recognition will certainly also help with any instrument your child may choose to

learn.

And lastly, Little Musician may also serve to give your child a much wider understanding of

music in areas which may not be cove red in the music c lasses.

What type o f music c lasses wo uld you rec ommend?

We like music c lasses tha t enc ourage singing in add ition to the learning o f music instruments

Classes which use solfge will most likely do that.

Group classes may also have an advantage over private classes if they incorporate group

activities like ensemble playing or group singing, or give your child opportunities to perform in

front of the o ther stud ents.


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If the c ourse involves exams and grad es, we w ould rec om mend you find out how m uch time

is spent on prac ticing set p iec es with the goa l foc used on d oing w ell in the exams, and how

muc h time is spent m ore on und erstand ing and enjoying the instrume nt or enjoying music . I

the course is more exam-centric, then consider whether this may help to diminish (or even

com plete ly kill) your child 's enjoyment o f music a nd p laying the instrument.

Why does Little Music ian seem unc onventiona l in ma ny wa ys?

There a re m any wa ys tha t Little M usic ian is unconventional, espec ia lly when c om pared to

c lassica l music training. For example:

No Note Stems - Most of the lessons om it the no te stem and show only the note headThe reason for this is tha t the a im of the lessons is to highlight how the p ositioning o f a

note on the musica l sta ff (highe r/ low er) co rrespond s to its p itch. We believe there is

greate r c la rity and foc us when d o no t dea l with note stem s and note va lues. To teac h

note va lues, we use ded ica ted rhythm syllab le lessons tha t a re introd uced in Sem este

2.

Different colors and icons for note heads - As discussed in Chapter 3 (Understandingthe Curriculum), we primarily use rainbow colored-notes for easier solfge association.

We also substitute fun icons like baby faces in place of note heads to make lessons

more enjoyab le a nd fun for the c hild .

Ac c identals instead of key signatures - Our general preference is to show accidentalsbe side the no te instea d of showing the key signa ture, in order to m ake the a cc identa

mo re ob vious to the c hild .

Other markings and highlight effec ts - You w ill a lso no tice that we o ften highlight or usecolors to emp hasize c ertain things. For examp le, when no tes are p layed , we often


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show a green highlight of the entire line or space of the staff in order to make the

note 's position m ore obvious.

Other things you m ay also w ish to no te:

Solfege system - For those fa milia r with solfg e, we chose to use So and Ti insteadof Sol and Si , a lthoug h you will be a b le to change this ma nually. We also use

d ifferent syllab les for b lack keys, suc h as Di for C# . Lastly, we chose to use the Fixed

Do system over Movable Do as this is more consistent with our efforts to teach note

and c hord rec ognition.

Note Names - In Sem esters 1 and 2, we do no t use no te names (C, D, E, etc .) a t a ll. Asmentioned, the focus is on solfge, so as to encourage the singing out of the

notes. Note names will be introd uc ed in Sem ester 3.

Treb le/ Bass Cle f - In Sem esters 1 and 2, we a lso foc us p rima rily on treb le c lef when themusica l sta ff is shown, and not the bass c lef. Bass c lef has more p rom inenc e in

Semeste r 3.

There a re prob lems with the sound !

Those o f you w ith older / slow er com puters ma y experience p rob lem s with som e o f the

lessons playing back smoothly, in particular, the Rhythm lessons or songs presets which play

out vo ic e a ud io in rea l time. These lessons req uire a lot o f com puter power which olde

comp uters ma y not have.

The sound qua lity o f the instrume nts you hear also dep end s on the qua lity o f your com puter's

sound c ard . Comp uters with old or low -bud ge t sound c a rds ma y rep rod uc e instrument

sounds (suc h as during the c hild ren songs) tha t sound unrea listic or 'com puterized '.


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APPENDIX 1

BASIC MUSIC TERMINOLOGY

Staff - This refe rs to the five horizonta l lines and four spaces tha t each represent a d ifferent

musica l p itch. This is c om monly shown in two sets showing t reb le notes above, and b ass

notes be low.

Clef - This refers to the symb ol a t the beg inning of the sta ff tha t indica tes the name and

pitc h of the notes on tha t sta ff. Generally, they ind icate whe ther the notes a re treb le

(deno ted by the treb le c lef), or ba ss (deno ted by the bass c lef).

Note - This could m ea n either the musica l nota tion to rep resent the p itc h and relative

duration of a sound , or to represent the p itched sound . Here is an examp le o f two no tes on

a sta ff:


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Chord - This is a c om bination of tw o o r mo re no tes, gene ra lly in ha rmo ny with ea ch othe

and played together or c lose tog ether.

Octave - An example that serves to illustrate this concept is the interval between one C (o

Do) note a nd the next C (or Do) note that is abo ve o r be low it.

Scale - This is a seq uence o f musica l notes in ascend ing or descending order.

Solfge - This is the system com monly used to teach sight-sing ing, where each no te is sung to

special syllables such as do, re, mi, fa, so, la, and ti.

Pitc h - This is generally used to indicate how high o r low in freq uency is a note.

Perfec t Pitch / Absolute Pitch - This refe rs to a person's ability to identify or rep roduc e a g iven

musica l note without a ny externa l help o r referenc e.


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APPENDIX 2

WHY I AVOID CLASSICAL PIANO

TRAINING FOR MY DAUGHTERPOSTED BY KL WONG ON THE BRILLKIDS BLOG ON MAY 13, 2011

I would like to set the scene a little b y exp la ining m y musical ba ckground, my a pp roa ch to

giving my d aughter musica l tra ining, as we ll as som e o f the thinking tha t went o n behind the

c rea tion o f Little Musician.

My Musical Bac kground

I sta rted lea rning the p iano a t the age o f six, along with my two olde r b rothe rs. Like eve ryone

else I knew learning the piano, I was taught the traditional way: learning how to read and

play sheet music, and most of the time learning pieces for the purposes of piano exams.

too k exam s a ll the w ay up to Grad e Five.

During those yea rs, despite go od exam results, piano wa s not very enjoyab le for me. At one

point, I even made up my mind to quit. But, because I never managed to pluck up the

courage to tell my m othe r of m y de c ision (I was ten!), I carried on w ith it.

I consider myself lucky to have continued because, after attending boarding school in

England (age thirteen), I actually started to enjoy playing the piano. One major reason was

that I stopped taking exams. Under the guidance of my teacher there, I learned to play

pieces that I truly enjoyed, like pieces by Gershwin. (I just loved the rhythm and jazzy feel!)

continued taking lessons until I left for university at eighteen. I would say I became quite

go od a t it, often winning schoo l com petitions and p laying a t sc hoo l rec ita ls.


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Classical Piano Training for Felic ity

Now that Im a dad, would I put my daughter, Felicity, through the same classical piano

training? My answer: No.

Firstly, I would take a long hard look at any system which focuses largely on getting exam

results. I fee l tha t this c an rea lly take the joy out of playing the instrument. Sure, the t ra ining

and p rac tice w ill ma ke you a b ette r p ianist, no doub t. But wha t Im fa r mo re interested in is

be ing a be tter music ian.

So, wha t d id my c lassica l piano tra ining ac tua lly tea ch me? In terms of p rac tica l playing skills

I learned to look at notes on a page, and to play them on a piano keyboard. I learned to

play m any such p iec es very well. I rec eived great ap p lause a nd adm ira tion w hen I played

those long and difficult Grade Eight Gershwin pieces, especially since I often played them

from memory.

But what about when I had no sheet music in front of me? Or, what happened when, with

the p assag e o f time , I c ould no longe r remem be r the p iec es? What w as I ac tually ab le to

play?

The answer: NOTHING!

Surely, I don t m ea n that litera lly, right? How about a simp le tune like Itsy Bitsy Sp ider ?

Come on! If I could play all those piano concerto pieces that well, surely I could play Itsy

Bitsy Spider !

Nope. I basica lly wouldn t have a c lue how to p lay it! Sure, I could g ive it a good guess. But it

would involve a little hunting a nd p ec king, and a lot o f praying tha t I d p lay the correc t note


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You see , for all those yea rs, I wa s taught (and taught ve ry well) only how to transla te notes

on a pa ge onto the keyboard through my fingers. I see a note, and I know which key to p ush

And even if it s a d ifficult p iec e, if you give me som e time to p rac tice , I could d o it very well.

But if you do nt show me the note s on p ape r, then how am I supp osed to know which keys

to push? Just from know ing wha t the melod y sounds like? Sorry, doesn t he lp ! I can transla te

the music no tes tha t I SEE onto the keyboa rd, but not the notes tha t I HEAR (whethe

externa lly, or internally in my hea d).

That s bec ause, even though I can rep rod uce a very co mp licate d p iec e o f music in my

head (complete with all the different parts), I basically have no idea what those notes are.

wa s simp ly never tra ined that way.

Introduc tion to Solfge

I a lwa ys admired people who c ould just improvise a nd p lay any tune on the keyboard . This

was especially so because I sometimes played in a band and composed music, and not

being able to do that wa s a severe handicap . It daw ned on me , when looking d own a t the

keyboard, that d esp ite a ll those yea rs of lea rning the p iano, I ba sica lly d idn t rea lly KNOW it

at all! I c ould op erate it m ec hanica lly, sure, but without a ny de ep understanding o f it.

Ma ny years ago, I had a Filip ino sing ing tea c her who c ould a lso p lay the keyboa rd. He never

took any piano exams, and could never play some of the pieces that I could. But he was

som eone w ho rea lly understood the keyboard . He und erstoo d it as we ll as he und erstoo d his

ow n vo ice. The keyb oa rd wa s like an extension o f his bod y. Just na me him any song , and

hed be a b le to play it even if he had never played it be fore. A song wa s too high to sing to?

No p rob lem ! He d just transpose it dow n insta ntly.

So I asked him how he d id it. And tha t, sad ly, was the first time I hea rd about solfge (o

solfegg io , as he c a lled it).


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What s that? I asked .

You know , like: Do, Re, Mi, Fa , So he rep lied .

Oh, from The Sound of Music ? I asked. Yes! I know tha t song ! I c om mented

enthusiastica lly, thoug h I still had no ide a how a song from a pop ular musica l could he lp .

My igno rance o n the subjec t was plain to see. Since the da y he enlightened me how solfge

works (and that solfge did not come from that song!), I have always kept in mind the

importance of learning solfge.

Yam aha Music School

Fast forward many years to when Felicity was born. I was already thinking of how to train her

musica lly. I knew only one thing. Classica l piano tra ining (at lea st, the wa y I was taught) was

not the best way to he lp her deve lop musicality.

I had hea rd ma ny good things ab out the Yam aha Music School, so I enrolled her at a ge

three, in the Music Wonderland course. It wasnt really about learning the piano. It was

more c onc erned with music ap prec ia tion a nd exposure. One yea r la ter, the piano-playing

beg an with the Junior Music Course . In her first lesson, Felic ity was ta ught to p lay Midd le

C .

Excep t it wa snt c alled Midd le C .

It wa s Do .

The other striking d ifference between th is course and trad itiona l piano lessons is tha t singing

forms a b ig part of it. In fac t, the seq uenc e is this:


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o LISTENo SINGo PLAY

Yep , playing c om es last.

By labeling each of the notes with solfge syllables, students read and reproduce music by

singing out the notes. Its only after that that they play the notes on the keyboard (often

while singing).

In the Yamaha Junior Music Course, there is a huge emphasis on learning solfge. In every

c lass the re would be solfg e singing exercises, like w ha t you see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiNrltqxnBE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryN9yNsX5A8

(As an aside, heres something interesting to note for all of you familiar with the right-brain

flash c a rd me thod for teaching b ab ies skills such a s rea d ing and ma th. Often, when Felic itys

Yamaha teacher plays out the notes, its all very fast, and the children are expected to

repeat or guess the notes very quickly following her demonstration, with no time to think o

ana lyze. This rem inds me of the right-b ra in flash method where informa tion is delivered

rapid ly in order to b e a cc essed d irec tly using the intuitive right b ra in without the log ica l left-

brains interference. Maybe whoever designed these exercises in Yamaha compared notes

with Shichida?)


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The Most Important Instrument

You see , solfge is designe d for singing. Compare singing C, D, E, F, G (See, Dee, Ee, Eff

Gee) w ith sing ing Do Re Mi Fa So and it should be o bvious which system is mo re prac tica

for singing.

And tha t s one of the grea t things about lea rning solfge : It enc ourages the use o f the m ost

important instrument that we will ever have - our VOICE. Frankly, Im now astonished that a

lot of music education completely ignores this vital instrument and, instead, just focuses on

tea ching trad itional instruments like the p iano and violin.

Ignoring the voice seems to g o ha nd-in-hand with ignoring solfge , and I think tha t has partly

got to do with the fact that many music teachers today themselves were never taught

solfge and the refore would not be c om fortab le (or even know how ) to tea ch solfge. And

think thats such a pity, because teaching children to sing solfge is so easy and natural

which little child has reservations about singing out loud, even if it may not be in tune? If

using the voice wa s enc ourag ed and fostered from c hildhood , I be lieve children would grow

up to being less self-consc ious about singing. (And I would prob ab ly invest in ka raoke bars!)

Anywa y, just b y sitting through so ma ny of he r Yama ha c lasses, I ve a lrea dy p icked up a lot

myself, and can ea sily ma p mo st m elod ies into solfge no w. So, too, c an Felic ity, to som e

extent. When she sings a tune , I wo uld som et imes ask her, Now sing tha t aga in in do re m i.

(She has never hea rd of the term solfg e, even though she knows a ll the syllab les.) She

would do so, som etimes with am azing accurac y.

When I show Felicity a simple piece of written music, she can often sing out the melody.

Som e o f you may have seen the vide o w here I wrote out w ords like c lap on a do od le

board and Felicity (at 12 months) would read out the words. Now, in a similar manner,

would p lace b lack dots (rep resenting notes) on a m agnetic b oa rd w ith the musica l sta ff lines

and she w ould sing out the no tes for me.


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Like Tea ching Children to Rea d

That brings me to a n interesting m eta pho r that I ve noticed ab out teac hing solfge.

Imagine looking through a musical score and being able to read it (by singing it out, o

having the melodies reproduced in your head) as easily as youre able to read a book

(aloud or in your head). Know ing solfge is like being a b le to read wo rds.

Conversely, not knowing solfg e is like no t knowing how to rea d o ut words. It s like a ll you re

able to do when encountering words is to type them back out on a computer, and let the

com pute r rea d the wo rds out for you. In both cases, you have becom e dependent on that

ma chine / instrume nt to be ab le to hear the words or music. By having foc used on training

our fingers to operate an external instrument instead of training our own musical instruments

(our ear and voice), weve effectively outsourced the most crucial part of musicality, with

d ire c onseq uenc es.

And simila rly with writing. Knowing solfge is like being a b le to write out the w ords tha t you

spea k or hea r. When listening to music , you know w hat notes a re being p layed (a t lea st

relatively), so you re ab le to write them out. Without solfge , the c hanc es are, you d b e

quite lost. It s a b it like listening to som eone ta lk but not being ab le to ta ke dic ta tion

because you have not ma stered the alphab et.

I am, therefore, thoroughly convinced as to the benefits of solfge towards developing

musica lity and a g oo d e ar. Tha t s why I conside r any musica l training (fo r any instrument)

that does not include the tea ching of solfge to be severely lac king.


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Dont Get Me Wrong

Just so tha t Im no t misunderstoo d and people d on t go awa y with the wrong imp ression, let

me say a few m ore things about m y be liefs:

Not all classical piano courses were created alike. It may well be that the teachers I had

were simply not very good and if I had had the fortune of having had a better teacher I

might ha ve a d ifferent view or experienc e. I must say, thoug h, I thoug ht I had g ood tea chers

at the time a lthough I now quibb le w ith their methods.

Classica l p iano training, even thoug h it has the shortcom ings me ntioned above , d id give me

other benefits. From it, I got a solid ground ing in music theory, grea t d exterity with my fingers

and g ood hand-eye coo rdination.

Even with classical piano training without solfge, one can still be reasonably musical and

de velop a good ea r (though in a d ifferent w ay). Despite not know ing solfge, I, for examp le

still managed to com pose m usica ls in co lleg e a s we ll as pop -song s tha t w ere sung by Asian

pop -sta rs, amo ng o ther musica l acc om plishme nts Im p roud of.

Im not saying that classical piano training cannot help a student acquire skills such as

p laying b y ear, or having a d eep sense o f understand ing o f music . Indeed , I know o f peop le

who we re trained c lassic a lly, without solfge , and who can p lay by ear. It just appea rs to m e

muc h harder to do so tha n with a solfge -based system . I believe those p eople I mentioned

had natura l talent that enab led them to d o so d espite not ha ving the benefit of solfge.

Im a lso no t saying tha t lea rning solfg e is a panacea for all p rob lems. Solfg e itself has

prob lem s. For examp le: Should one use the fixed -do or m ova ble-do system , and how do

we app ly solfge syllab les to acc identa ls (like C sharp and E fla t)? How eve r, these p rob lem s

(to me) a re m inor com pared to the be nefit tha t solfge b rings.


45/45

Solfge is proba b ly not the only wa y to develop a good ea r and m usicality. However, it s

the easiest and mo st fun wa y that I know o f.

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