Mikes Music Room – Music Articles

Johann Sebastian Bach was unique among the great composers in many ways.

Not only did he teach his family music and harpsichord, but several of his sons became famous composers in their own right.

Bach’s teaching method for the keyboard was valuable in that it gives us insight into a great master’s view of children at the piano.

Most of Bach great teaching pieces, the most famous of which is the Minuet in G (remember the Diana Ross version?) were written expressly for his children and appear in a volume called Anna Magdalena’s Notebook.

Since his children became famed composers, perhaps Bach had some great ideas on teaching children the piano. Of course, since musical talent is often inherited, perhaps he was also just starting with good material!

The first thing one notes when looking at Bach’s teaching pieces is that they are all good music. By that I mean that the music itself, regardless of the fact that it was written for a child’s capabilities, are of the highest musical quality.

I mention this only because so many piano methods today consist of utterly boring exercise pieces that kids are forced to play. Bach, in the wisdom of a great master, knew that to interest children the music must be enjoyable and tuneful.

Next, we see that the pieces are cleverly arranged such that the child is immediately using all five fingers of the right hand, spread in a row. Not only that, this five-finger position is used everywhere, so that the child is constantly asked to put their hand and fingers in this position, instilling the habit of good fingering immediately and automatically.

The child’s hand is rarely asked to make advanced finger moves, such as turning the thumb under the index finger. And the complexities of this type of fingering are gradually introduced, starting with the Minuet wherein the index finger occasionally is turned over the thumb.

And once again, Bach is clever in his design of the curriculum, for the further one goes in the Anna Magdalena Songbook, the more complex the fingering problems becomes. But at the beginning of the book, he avoids the more difficult positions until the child has had a chance to gain familiarity with easier positions.

In a line of piano teachers that reaches from Bach to the great Franz Liszt, from the late 18th century to the early 20th, Bach’s works for children are unique in their longevity, quality and understanding of both teaching and children’s psychology.

Like any intelligent piano teacher, Bach understood the value of starting with something very easy to understand and then building slowly to more complex levels.

His children benefited from this easy approach, and your children can too.

By John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2000 Walden Pond Press. Visit http://www.pianoiseasy.com to see the fun PIANO BY NUMBER method for kids. John Aschenbrenner is a leading children’s music educator and book publisher, and the author of numerous fun piano method books in the series PIANO BY NUMBER for kids. You can see the PIANO BY NUMBER series of books at http://www.pianoiseasy.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Aschenbrenner

Tags: famous composers, harpsichord, johann sebastian bach, minuet in g, Music, piano lessons, piano methods, teaching children, teaching method

The average person considers music to be a singular language. It is one of the oldest vehicles of communication, capable of expressing emotion and often having a profound effect on its listeners. However, the ability to appreciate music in its multiple forms is often ignored. We agree that bilingual people have an advantage over those who only know one language. In October 2001, the Juilliard School of Music, renowned for its unparalleled classical instructors and performers, added jazz to its academic curriculum. The world’s finest music institution is only one of a growing number of supporters backing a combined education in both classical and jazz for children and young musicians.

To express oneself in any language, one must first understand the language phonetically (learning by ear) before learning to read and write. To read and write a language, one must be familiar with its structure. In parallel, someone foreign to a language may have a more structured and scientific understanding than a native speaker. As a child, I was always fascinated when my uncle, a doctor of linguistics, would ask me, “How do you say that in English?” He was asking how to express the language colloquially and with English as my first language, it was natural to me.

Children learn foreign languages naturally by ear. On the other hand, adults tend to learn languages logically and methodically, referring back to their native language for comparison. It is obvious which method is easier; if one is brought up in a specific culture, it is easier to learn that culture’s language via naturally rather than via studious reading. Furthermore, when one understands and grows up in their native culture, one can understand the nuances of its language. For example, English speakers have varied dialects that differ depending on geography. There are noticeable differences in dialects between people from Canada’s west coast, east coast and the prairies. They all speak the same language but exhibit nuances that are inherent within their cultural structure.

Understanding music requires a similar method. Before learning to read or sight-read, one should be familiar with pitch. However, this is rarely the case in music education where the emphasis is on reading and not listening. Both classical and jazz artists employ a musical alphabet, but they use it in different ways. Jazz is a sophisticated language that is commonly overlooked in lieu of a “traditional” classical music upbringing. Growing up as the only Korean children in school, my sister and I were told by our Grade 1 teacher not to speak Korean at home, supposedly as it would confuse our understanding of English. Nevertheless, our father spoke English to us, and our mother spoke Korean. As a result, we can both understand Korean but not speak the language. This example demonstrates why I firmly believe children must learn both musical languages – that is, jazz and classical.

Oakridge Music Studios is a music education centre based in Vancouver, BC. The following music lessons are taught: piano lessons, guitar lessons, violin, cello, voice, singing, saxophone, trumpet. Music disciplines taught are: jazz, classical and pop music. Young musicians are encouraged to learn both classical and jazz – simultaneously – to excel and advance their music education. This unique bilingual teaching methodology of learning classical and jazz music disciplines is offered in a creative and imaginative environment to actively engage and unleash the young musician’s hidden music ingenuity and skills.

Please call us if you seeking music lessons in the Vancouver, BC area. —–
Oakridge Music Studios-a Vancouver music school
Learn Classical & Jazz Music
497 West 40th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5Y 2R5
tel: +1.604.321.1551 fax: +1.604.321.1555

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Tags: guitar, Music, musician, piano lessons, piano playing, saxophone, school of music, teaching method, trumpet, young musicians