Solving the Mystery Behind Middle C

Happy Tuesday!  I am looking out from my window at the clearest blue sky and beautiful oak tree branches swaying in the wind....simple pleasures!  Have you ever had students ask why there was a line going through middle C?  I have.  I could simply say that that's the way it is and be done with it but there's no fun in that so I make it into a mystery that the students need to solve.  The best way to explain this is in dialogue form with a few pictures thrown in the mix.  There's obviously a lot more dialogue happening between myself and the student but I simplified as much as possible here.  From beginning to end this mini lesson only takes 5 minutes!

The Mystery Behind Middle C
Student: Why does middle C have a line through it?

Me: Ah! I am so glad you asked that.  There is actually a very good and logical reason for it.  In order to understand why Middle C has a line through it let's back track a little bit by revisiting the staff.  It will all make sense in the end.  Remember learning that the staff has 5 lines and 4 spaces?  Well, now that you are able to easily identify the staff and know it's purpose you are ready for a little more information.  A single staff is actually made up of 5 lines and 6 spaces.  (Place one plastic magnetic chip on the top line of the staff and one right below the bottom line of the staff).  Did you know that the area right above and below the staff is considered a space as well and these notes are space notes?  Go ahead and place a chip on the rest of the spaces of the staff.  How many space notes do we have?
Student: 6 space notes.
Me: Now place a chip on every line of the staff.  How many staff lines are there?
Student: 5 lines.
Me: So the staff is actually made up of 5 lines and 6 spaces do you see it now?
Student: Yes!

*Don't forget to have them clean up the board with the magnetic wand.  They really enjoy doing that.

Me: Music is made up of so many patterns which is one of the reasons why I love it so much!  Even the piano itself has patterns like 3 black keys, 2 black keys, 3 black keys, etc. The white notes are a pattern of letters from A-G that repeat as well.....ABCDEFG-ABCDEFG-etc.  Remember! A pattern is a group of items that repeat themselves over and over again without changing.

Me: Do you see a pattern on the staff itself?  I see a pattern of spaces and lines (starting with the topmost space) space, line, space, etc.  So even the staff has a pattern.  So cool!

*I pull out a blank grand staff and I have the student place a chip on the very top line and below the bottom line of the treble and bass staves to remind them of what they just learned.

Me:  Let's follow the pattern of spaces and lines that make up the grand staff.  I want you to place a chip on every space and line while saying the words "space" and "line".  Let's start with the chip you've already placed on the top space of the treble staff.  Ready?

*So the student is going along down the treble staff until they get to the middle area of the grand staff where there are two space notes in a row.

Me: Whoa!  That breaks the pattern of line and space notes and we can't break the pattern so what do we have to do to keep it going?

*The student may try to take away the space note below the treble staff or the topmost space note on the bass staff to keep the pattern going but I let them know that those notes cannot be removed since they are part of the 6 spaces that make up both the treble and bass staves.
Me: Hmmm.  Let's look at that middle space of the grand staff again.  Remember how I shared with you that Middle C is found in the very  middle space of the grand staff?  It's in between these two space notes.                                                      
*Place a magnetic chip in between the two space notes in the middle space of the grand staff.  Choose the same color chip as the space notes. The student will realize that having three space notes in a row breaks the pattern as well.
Me:  Does this continue the space/line note pattern?
Student: No, because there are three space notes in a row.  The Middle C note needs needs to be blue and have a line going through it but how do we make it a line note.  There are no lines in the middle space of the grand staff.  (I chose to alternate between blue and pink chips to help my kiddos see the space/line pattern more clearly but you can use all different colors or all one color if you have enough in your set to do so.)    
Me: Well, why don't we draw a line through it. (I cut a thin piece of black construction paper out and taped it to one of my blue magnetic chips instead of drawing a line in the space)
                                                      Student: Oh!  I didn't know we could do that!
Me:  Yuppers! We can.  It's called a ledger line.  Ledger lines are extra lines added in the middle space and beyond the grand staff lines.
*Once again, keep the information regarding ledger lines as simple as possible for now.  No need to overload the kiddos with information they don't need at this point.*
Me:  You have just solved the mystery behind Middle C's line. A line goes through middle C to keep the space/line pattern going on the grand staff.  Now we can continue with our pattern through the bass staff.

When my kiddos discover the meaning behind Middle C's line they get SO excited.  I've had parents tell me that their children came home from that particular lesson wanting to show them their discovery.  Those "Aha" moments give me such a thrill as a teacher!

Next time, I'll share with you how I get my students to easily recognize letter names of staff notes (besides memorizing flash cards which they do as well) and more importantly correctly locating them on the piano in relation to Middle C.  Stay tuned!  Piano blogger signing off.......

Locating Staff Notes on the Piano: Part III

Happy New Year!  It has been quite a while since I've blogged!  Moving is not one of my favorite things to do but we're all settled into our new home and I've slowly begun to build up my student base here.  It was very difficult saying goodbye to all of my wonderful students back in Frisco but keeping in touch with them has made it a bit easier.  I'm looking forward to teaching piano to a whole new group of kiddos!  Oh! I finally have a website up and running thanks to my amazing husband!  Check it out at www.msdaphnepiano.com.  Thank goodness I have a technologically savvy spouse or I'd still be in the dark ages.  It's still a wonder to me how I was able to create this blog all on my own.

Blogs are so interesting to me because we can have a particular audience in mind that we think we are blogging to but never know for sure who's actually reading it.  I imagine my audience to be college students majoring in piano pedagogy or parents wanting to find new ways of teaching their own children the basics of piano.  The idea of providing  an alternative method of instruction to youngsters that's fun and effective is so exciting to me!  Based on what my piano parents have shared  regarding my program as well as their children (some of whom have come to me from other teachers and organizations due to their dissatisfaction with the traditional methods of teaching) there seems to be quite an interest for something new.    For me it's all about teaching concepts in an unconventional dynamic way that leaves my kiddos feeling confident about their ability to learn and play the piano.

Anyway, I digress, back to business.......so last time I blogged I began to share with you what I do to prepare my students for reading and understanding notes on the grand staff.  The way I teach my students about the grand staff now is very different than how I used to teach them thanks to two of my kiddos who just couldn't seem to get the concept of notes on a staff and how it was related to notes on the piano.  Their frustration motivated me to think up new ways of explaining it and it's because of them that my past students had and future students will have a very clear understanding of how the grand staff works. 

I show my students a picture of a grand staff with no notes on it.  I direct them to the middle space between the the treble and bass staves and tell them that the middle space relates to middle C on the piano.  Then I have them play middle C on the piano.  For now that's all they need to know.  They don't need to know about ledger lines and how the middle space of the grand staff can house way more notes than just the middle C.  That information will come later when they need it.  As an education major I was taught to introduce concepts in stages and to only give as much information as was needed for each stage. 

After we've established that the middle space of the grand staff is middle C on the piano I then tell them that every line and space on the grand staff is a note on the piano ranging from Low F to High G.  I do get students who ask about all the rest of the notes on the piano and how to reach them if they are not written on the grand staff and I say we'll get to that in time.  I've found that children are very curious (which is why I love teaching them so much) and will ask tons of great questions that if I answered all at once would totally confuse them so I simply say, "Don't worry, when you're ready to play those notes I'll show you how to read and write them but for now we are focusing on these set of notes".  Next time I'll share with you how we solve the mystery behind the line that runs through Middle C.

I've decided to break this concept of note reading on the grand staff down into a few smaller blog entries rather than writing one humongous post so stay tuned and get your magnetic chips and wand ready!  We'll be using them quite a bit.  Until next time.  Piano blogger signing off.......