Preparatory C (from 5+). Lesson 21
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A new look at distance learning and teaching music.
The picture from the new book "Kingdom of Tune"-2
Homework is a prototype of distance learning.
Many teachers, sending a student to study, prepare themselves for the worst. Of course, there are exceptions. However, if we are speaking of the majority . . .
As driving instructors say: On the road, it’s better to assume that every driver is careless. It is safer this way!
That is why experienced teachers never have high hopes for a student when they send him to practice his piano lessons at home. The main anticipation we keep in mind is just that our student won’t forget and “misinterpret” what was created in the class with the hard work of a teacher.
Will the child receive any help from the parents? Hm . . . A double-edged sword. Sometimes it is better to get no help at all than to have parents intervene and give a confused message. Besides, many parents would love to help but have no music education.
The perfect student--What is he like?
We would like to spend our lesson time with the student and give everything to the fullest; we get the result of a “plowman,” the seeds of knowledge of which would fall on the prepared soil. We want the student to come to the next lesson--and not only not lose, but multiply what we managed to give him.
Ideally, we want to receive more credit, giving the student everything we know and that we can do regardless of the low salary and constant dissatisfaction with ourselves. This is a rule of thumb of our profession. Often an excellent result compensates for the low income. A teacher is a profession of selflessness.
Therefore, if a student from lesson to lesson brings less than he “received” from us, we understand that our contribution is “Sisyphus’s labor,” and this causes each teacher not only dissatisfaction with his profession, but often deep disappointments and even emotional wounds.
The frustration of a professional musician. What is it?
This is not customary to talk about and not customary to write about. If the student has not learned the homework in mathematics or geography, this is a problem of education. However, if a student has not coped with homework in a music class--this is the personal responsibility of a teacher.
How does the teacher perceive the unpreparedness of the student?
First, a music teacher voluntarily or involuntarily casts doubt on his pedagogical abilities.
Second, a slow student is not only the lost emotions, enthusiasm and creative investment of the teacher. This is monetarily loss. Lost investment of the parents to whom you feel guilty. In addition, a potentially lost student. Eventually he will leave - you will lose income.
Nevertheless, the worst thing for teachers is the third: they understand that any student who drops out will voluntarily or involuntarily carry the bad news about them as teachers and music lessons in general.
Globally, the number of people who want to study music is rapidly falling due to the fact that people increasingly prefer social forms of communication and education. Moreover, "social" not only in the ordinary sense, but also virtual communication.
Music teachers, professionals who studied for a long time themselves, put great efforts into their development, today feel depreciated, unclaimed and often separated from the mainstream. A poorly performing student is the last straw for them, which often makes them even look for another profession.
Is distance learning making the situation even worse?
If you take the scheme described above and add distance to it, the situation looks catastrophic. Indeed, most often a student makes his main progress only while in the lesson with the teacher. If you remove that component or weaken it, it requires even more effort and time from a teacher, and the expected result is many times less.
However, distance is still necessary. What does it mean?
Our task is that, upon receiving the assignment, the student can, without the teacher’s direct presence, work independently and successfully complete what we want him to.
The very minimum we expect from a student working in isolation from us is the ability to perform a piece of music by "getting into the right notes on time" at home. If a student begins to play or sing even more confidently in the next lesson, then this is an incentive for everyone. Is not it?
Remote work at home is like a revival for music educators.
Musical development is based on an ear for music.
If there is no musical ear, the teacher needs to do a double job: in the development of both a musical ear and performance technique.
The development of hearing, voice, musical memory and the ability to master a musical text--this is what a student is able to do today by himself.
That is why it is so helpful to have a unique emulation software--the Soft Way to Mozart system.
The Soft Mozart system is based on the obvious fact that the Grand Staff is a system for integrating a sign with a sound. It allows each student at home to see, hear, play, and listen to musical notation on his own.
The key elements in this system are the extensions of the lines and spaces of the Staff, which help to develop universal musical skills applicable to playing any instrument.
The emulation software gives any teacher “confidence in the next lesson.” Even if the child learn to play different other instruments, but practice his music by notes on keys, he has already done a great deal of work at home, which can be relied on in the lesson. The teacher can focus on the development of specific, professional skills, and not pull two carts full of problems at the same time.
Let's look at a few video examples of what was said.
1. A 3-year-old child develops her voice using solfeggio for 5 months.
2. A 2-year-old child develops her hearing in order to master the violin.
3. A 4-year-old child works remotely on mastering a piano piece.
Behind the scenes of each of these videos is the work of a teacher.
Imagine this teacher: will he be disappointed when a child comes to his class after this kind of practice at home?
It is in this sense that the distance between the teacher and the student is necessary! Learning is a two-way road. No need for the teacher to shoulder everything! If students can rely on their own strengths and study at home, develop their skills, hearing, voice, musical memory--this is a gain for everyone.
This approach to homework gives a professional a lot of room for transferring his creative skills, developing a repertoire that it is both delicious and nutritious. Moreover, most importantly: so that everyone's eyes are shining from excitement in such classes. Therefore, teaching music would become a very popular activity both among children, among parents, and in social networks.
Everything else comes and goes, but music is eternal.
1. Triads: learning to play with two hands "rainbow", moving hands from octave to octave.
Video example:
2. Exercises for setting the hands of Olga Mikhailovna Egorova: "Ball rolling". This exercise develops control over fine motor skills and small muscles of the hand. It gives beginners a feeling of flexibility in the fingers and reinforces the skill of controlling fingers 2-4 in various combinations.
Video example:
Bass Staff Puzzle®
Goal:
These modules help the player to memorize the position of any music note on the Bass and Treble staves. Watch video tutorial.
Rules
Use Left or Right arrow on the computer keyboard to place music notes on corresponding lines and spaces of the Bass or Treble staff. Use the Space key to make a note fall faster if the note is in the correct position. The correctly positioned note images compose a picture and give you points. Every completed picture opens a part of the portrait of Mozart in the right part of the screen. You have 49 different pictures to open Mozart's portrait and finish the module. Beginners should start by only playing for a short time. Please, contact our professionals for your customized guide lines playing this module!
Computer control keys
LEFT arrow - Move falling notes left or down.
RIGHT arrow - Move falling notes right or up.
Space key - Make note fall faster.
A - Switch the program to Alphabetic (A, B, C ...) note names
I - Switch the program to Italian (Solfeggio: Do, Re, Mi...) note names
Ctr-X - Exit the program.
Note name convention
Soft Mozart®uses both Alphabetical music notation - C, D, E, F, G, A and B, and “Solfeggio” or Italian music notation - Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La and Ti.
Program Keys
To switch to the Alphabetical name convention press computer key A.
To switch to the Italian name convention press computer key I.
All Italian names have special mnemonic symbols to recognize and remember note names:
We recommend...
...the use of the Italian (Solfeggio) note name convention by any beginner or child. Its note symbols are very easy to identify and remember, even by those who can't read yet. And most importantly, Italian note names are specially designed for singing. The singing of note names helps any beginner to form a crucial musical skill to connect a pitch of a note with its name, and tie together his or her ear, voice and brain.
Tips
- Play several notes in a row correctly (the number depends on the module stage) and the program will switch to the next level of difficulty. You will get more points for every correctly played note, but the notes will move faster.
- If you make two mistakes in a row, the module will switch to a lower level of difficulty
Few words...
These modules train and develop a basic skill in music reading - to attribute any note name to a corresponding line on the Bass and Treble staves. The original design asks the player for a momentary reaction in recognizing correct lines. In the advanced level only the subconscious vision of the correspondence of lines and notes may help the player finish the module successfully. An advanced student can finish this module in 25 minutes (13 minutes module time); beginners should start by only playing for a short time. Please, contact our professionals for your customized guidelines for playing this module!
For ages 5+ it is best to play Bass Staff Puzzle® for 10 - 15 minutes.
Don't forget to write down the result after each lesson!
If your child is growing faster or slower than our plans suggest, we encourage you to contact us at admin@softmozart.com to start learning with our certified professionals.
1. Reading from a sheet: Nursery Primer. London Bridge - we play R, L and P for 2, 4, 5 and 6 presentations (no pictures). If possible, sing solfeggio.
Video example:
2. Gentle Piano®- A play to be performed. Favorite Classic 1 "Largo": R1, R3, L1, L3
An example of one of our students:
1. TEASER: Antonio Vivaldi "Spring" from the series "Seasons".
Download LMZ "Spring" file in C Major and add to the library Gentle Piano®
Play R and L
2. An example of an orchestral performance:
The first track of this video:
Visit our Soft Mozart forum and start your progress diary here. Use the current year section. This is the place for you to ask questions and share your experiences.
At least 2 photos and 1-2 videos of the listed activities will count towards your child's credits for the graduation DIPLOMA. Please upload the video to You Tube, copy the address from the BROWSER window and paste it into your Progress Diary. Do not forget to indicate the year and type of work in the description of your Soft Mozart Academy photo / video.
Sincerely Yours,
Hellene Hiner
Video success: A 3 year old girl teaches her 2 year old sister to play "Hot Cross Buns". State of Iowa, USA
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