System and method for teaching piano
a teaching system and piano technology, applied in the field of system and method of teaching piano, can solve the problems of inadvertently fostering playing mistakes for many students, wasting a considerable amount of practice time on pieces, and inhibiting students' ability to read
Active Publication Date: 2008-12-11
HENKEL BEVERLY
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- Abstract
- Description
- Claims
- Application Information
AI Technical Summary
Benefits of technology
This approach enhances students' ability to read and play piano music confidently by establishing a clear understanding of keyboard orientation, note recognition, and rhythmic concepts, reducing playing mistakes and improving overall musical proficiency.
Problems solved by technology
In the majority of such methods students spend a considerable amount of their practice time on pieces in the C position, especially with the right hand (even if the method claims not to use positions).
These associations often remain with the student long after they are no longer playing the easy beginner pieces and inhibit their ability to read since these note-finger associations are somehow more or less permanently fixed in their mind / finger responses to the notes they are seeing.
These prior learning methods therefore inadvertently foster playing mistakes for many students.
In addition, since in these older methods students are presented with either positions (usually C, D, E, F G and later G, A, B, C, D), isolated notes, or fragmented positions as in some more recent methods—groups of random notes—say two for the left hand (G and A, for instance) and three for the right hand (D, E, F, for example), the simple and logical alphabetical order of the keys on the keyboard and notes on the staff is not well understood often for years.
Another problem relates to the way rhythm is taught.
Few if any attempts have been made to address these problems effectively because until now these problems have not been precisely identified, understood, or defined.
Publishers of piano methods simply are blind to the problems they have been creating for many students for the last century.
This approach does nothing to teach rhythm (which results from the juxtaposition of notes having longer and shorter duration).
Furthermore, the use of visual / proportional representations and verbal recitations of measured instructive phrases to facilitate rhythmic conceptualization does not appear to have been included in other known piano instruction methods.
With regard to pulse, merely reciting 1 2 3 4 or 1 2 3 as done in methods of the prior art is helpful but not always reliable since people can say these numbers at an uneven pace.
Some piano instruction methods claim to disassociate finger positioning from specific notes, but such systems fail in that regard due to their excessive reliance on practice pieces which nevertheless mandate the use of the Middle C position.
This preponderance of pieces in the Middle C position together with the lack of alphabetical continuity in the way notes are taught places students at a disadvantage in terms of reading and developing confident keyboard and staff orientation Not only does reliance on the “C” orientation create encumbrances to note-reading development as well as false note / finger associations, the error is often compounded by jumping the student to a “G” position in which students often feel totally confused as the same fingers must now play these new and unfamiliar notes / keys.
Method used
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[0036]The method of this invention focuses on teaching students to read and play piano music. For a pianist, reading music entails knowing the letter names of the notes of a piece, simultaneously maintaining a steady pulse while reading the rhythm (note durational values) correctly and knowing which keys to play using logical and efficient fingerings. Due to the fact that for many students the confident reading of notes has been compromised by the previously-described problems created by faulty conceptualization of note-reading, learning new pieces becomes a chore of learning the notes for “that” piece and rhythm is often seen as something to “add on” later; steady pulse sometimes is non-existent in the early stages of learning a new piece. In this method, logical and engaging preparation in note reading, rhythmic understanding and practice, as well as keyboard orientation related to a piece always precede the learning of new pieces, so that students can integrate all aspects from t...
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A method for teaching reading of musical notes and playing the piano by introducing notes / keys in alphabetically sequential groups starting at the beginning of the musical alphabet with “A” in the middle set of seven alphabetical notes on the Grand Staff and middle set of keys on the keyboard and proceeding to a higher set of seven alphabetical notes / keys and then a lower set of seven alphabetical notes / keys. A separate page is devoted to each note along with an explanation of where the note appears on a musical clef. Notes are learned alphabetically in groups of seven alphabetically-sequential notes / keys rather than simply by finger position / patterns. Students are taught to play either clef (bass and treble) with either hand using musical pieces specifically designed to teach each note individually and in combination as it is added to the student's repertoire. The method initially teaches rhythm by reciting instructive phrases rhythmically in combination with tapping out rhythms. Eventually, rhythmic reading is expanded to include the use of visual / proportional representations of durational concepts relying on geometric shapes. Finally rhythm teaching includes time divisions along a continuum such as a measuring line and includes a discussion and explanation of counting symbols.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The subject invention relates generally to a simple, effective method for teaching students of all ages how to play the piano. More particularly, this invention provides students with a method for learning to read musical notes in combination with understanding musical rhythm.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Piano methods published during the last fifty to one hundred years have generally presented middle C as the first note that students read. Students then usually have learned the so-called “C position” for their fingers. In the majority of such methods students spend a considerable amount of their practice time on pieces in the C position, especially with the right hand (even if the method claims not to use positions). This means that students often learn false concepts, the first of which being that the right hand thumb's “job” on the keyboard is to play middle C, the second (index) finger plays D, the third finger plays E, the fourth (ring) finger plays F, ...
Claims
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IPC IPC(8): G09B15/02
CPCG09B15/003G09B15/023
InventorHENKEL, BEVERLY
OwnerHENKEL BEVERLY