Making Musicians

how smart they'll get!

Oh, how I LOVE the music alphabet!  Josh is a Yellow Indian and we just started learning the names of the white keys last week!  I love to see him pick up a  letter, look at the picture, and find it on the key!  He is loving this simple game and having no idea how smart he'll get with his music alphabet!

Using your muscle for Cockles and Mussels

Aaaaahhhh, Cockles and Mussles.....  A fun song, lots of interest to the ear.  What?  Your little one doesn't want to play it?  If your little Mozart has decided this is not for her, and you've been 'muscling' (forcing, bribing) to get her to practice, try a different approach.....

Hopefully, she is tinkering a lot in preparation for her composition.  Let her tinker and don’t sit with her while she does. Tell her later that you heard it and liked it.  Don't 'make' her do anything else.  Tell her maybe you've been working too hard and she can have a little time off and then we'll work slowly back in. 

Wait a few days without saying anything at all, then casually let her hear you trying to play cockles and mussels.  Play it wrong or right, doesn’t matter, maybe a few wrong notes.  Make sure she hears you.  If she doesn't come in or ask about it at all, then bring it up at night or the next day.  "I was trying to play cockles yesterday and I think I got pretty good.  Do you want to hear me?"  If she doesn't, say, "OK".  And repeat the process with a different song in a few days. 

If she does, let her sit by you and watch you play.  Make a few mistakes.  If she doesn't correct you, say, "Of course, I still have to work on it, but I'll get better."  If she does, let her show you the right way.  Keep trying this approach until she WANTS to sit down and play SOMETHING. 

Then, when she does, make sure it's short....as long as she likes it or 5 minutes, whichever is shorter.  Do a lot of the playing yourself, make some mistakes.  Say, "Do you want to try these chords going uphill with me?  Do you think we can do it in 10 seconds?"  Then try it faster, faster, faster.  Try singing the melody while you play them - if you do it fast, she will laugh and think it's funny and if you guys make some mistakes, she will think it's even funnier.  Then smile and say, "I'm glad you played this with me today! That was fun.  Let's do it again tomorrow!" 

She'll stand up feeling better about piano than when she sat down and that's the point.  You can work from this point - more and more - just remember, enjoy the process!

Gook luck!

purple not-so-magic

Well, it happened.  My cute nephew, Sol, who is a 3rd year Let's Play Music student in Orem Utah finally hit his "I don't want to practice" wall.  (you all know this wall)  After cranking through Green Turtles and Yellow Indians playing every chance he got, Purple Magic lost it's magic.

So, my sister e-mails me and I'm giving her all the wisdom I can.....

Practice session begins something like - "OK, Sol, it's time to practice." then -  "I can't, it's too hard".  And it deteriorates until the whining and wailing win over mom's good intentions to practice and yet another box is left unchecked.  *sigh*

So, recalling last year when my own Jake was a purple magician, I gave her a game plan:

When he says, "It's too hard, I hate practicing, NO!" or whatever his most successful phrase has been in the past to deter you from practicing, try this:

"OK, well come show me what's so hard."  (Get him/her to sit by you any way you can).  Ask your child what is the hardest thing you have to practice this week.  When s/he tells you, see if you can break it into teeny, tiny bite sized pieces that don't seem 'too hard' for your child.  Say, it's "Away in a Manger".  Open up to it and say, "Oooo, this does look hard."  (Validate his cute little frustration!) then try "I'm not sure I even know where to put my hand!.....oh, look!  it says 'F position'.  Is this F position?" and put your hand somewhere that is NOT F position.  When s/he corrects you, (or maybe you'll have to throw him a bone) say, "Oh, you already know how to start this song, don't you!  Good for you!  I wonder if we could figure out how to play just the first 8 notes of this song.  See?  It's just baby steps going down.  Let's try."  Play it with your child (an octave lower with your right hand and point to the notes with your left hand) and when you finish, say "WOW!  That sounded awesome!  Let's do it again!"  When you've done it again, ask your child if s/he'd like to do it one more time.  Whether yes or no, say, "OK, I bet it will be easier for us tomorrow! We're done for today!"  As your child walks away in shock, s/he will be thinking, 'That wasn't so bad' and when you mention practice tomorrow, I promise, you won't get AS big a fuss! 

Then, the next day, start the same way if needed, but play those first 8 notes, and trick him into playing just the first 3 notes of the left hand!  He will begin to feel successful again and the resistance will gradually fade into an unpleasant memory!

This is a great method of distraction, validation and just a little trickery to get your little musician to enjoy his practice time.  It's all about feeling successful at the piano!  Even if it's a teeny weeny bit of success! 

And, when, in a week, he's playing "Away in a Manger" you'll know where the real magic came from!