High/Low
Before teaching children how to read staff notes and to accurately locate them on the piano they need to know the concept of high and low in relation to the grand staff as well as the piano.
I can't tell you what an asset my master's in education has been in teaching piano quite effectively! We as education majors were always told to break things down into smaller pieces for our students. NEVER take your knowledge for granted and assume that your students should just get everything you're saying because you think it's easy. Use concrete examples as often as you can. The more hands on the activities the better your students will retain the information.
*Take a break from the piano bench and do this activity standing up:
Kids love change and the thought of leaving the bench for just a few moments gets them so excited!*
When teaching the concept of "higher and lower" here are a few things you can do:
-Have a container of a few items handy like a toy car, miniature figurine, magic wand, cool looking pencil, flashlight, big ball, rubber duck, plastic spider, toy ring, etc. Items that would appeal to whatever age you are teaching this to.
-Have your student hold an object
-Then take an object in your hand and place it higher than the student's.
-Tell the student that your object is higher than his/hers and that their object is lower.
-Do this a few times more with different objects. Sometimes placing yours higher and sometimes lower.
Why different objects? It maintains the student's attention and they stay very focused.
Reverse the activity:
-Hold an object at mid-length and tell the student to pick an object and place it higher than yours.
-Then have the student use the same object or another object and place it lower than yours.
High/Low in relation to the piano keys
Go back to the piano with your student
-Have the student locate middle C.
-Have them place a small object like a plastic google eye, shiny button, small polished stone, etc.. on middle C.
-Then place an object above middle C and ask the student if your object is higher or lower than theirs.
-Place another object below theirs and ask the same question.
-Remove the objects.
-You may choose to do this one or two more times or move onto the next step.
-Have the student pick any note on the piano and play it.
-Choose to play a note higher or lower than theirs and ask them if your note is higher or lower than theirs.
-Reverse roles: play a note and tell the student to play a note higher than yours and then one lower.
This activity from beginning to end will take no more than 5 minutes of your lesson time but it will be a very valuable 5 minutes that will lay down the foundation for reading notes off the staff and locating them on the piano. Stay tuned for Part II. Until then, piano blogger signing off.......
No comments:
Post a Comment