Classroom Instruction

HOW WOULD THE ADDITION OF PERSONALIZED PIANO KEYBOARD LESSONS ENHANCE STUDENT ACADEMIC LEARNING?

Imaging tests with fMRI and PET scanners show that “playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout.” Activity all over the brain is greatly increased in an instrument-performer as opposed to a music-listener. Playing a musical instrument engages practically every area of the brain at once, especially the visual, auditory, and motor cortices, in intricate, interrelated, and astonishingly fast sequences. It increases the activity in the corpus callosum, the brain’s bridge between the two hemispheres. Solving nonmusical problems should come easier since the information travels more quickly, efficiently, and through more diverse routes. (1)

A Boston College comparison of before and after fMRI brain scans in nine-to-eleven-year-old students having had an average of 3.5 years of piano lessons shows significantly more gray matter volume in the sensorimotor cortex in contrast to a control group of students with no lessons. The control group was also significantly outperformed in verbal and mathematical performance tests. (2)

Siting the National Association of Music Merchants, music education facilitates academic achievement in students. This includes the improvement of verbal information recall and retention, advanced math achievements, higher reading and English language arts skills, and an increase in average SAT scores. (3)

A study conducted at the Lucas Center for Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging at Stanford University indicates that sustained music training measurably improves the efficiency of the brain’s language areas to process pitch and timing changes common in the perception of both spoken words and music. (4)

AT WHAT AGE SHOULD STUDENTS BEGIN FORMAL PIANO KEYBOARD INSTRUCTION?

A general guideline offered by Dr. Robert A. Cutietta, Dean of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, is that systematic lessons start around age three and more intensive instruction with the goal of reading and performance start around age six, depending on the student. His outlook is that “musical experience at an early age is extremely important in a child’s developmental process. Like riding a bike or learning a language, these skills can be learned later in life, but they will never be ‘natural’ in the way that is so important for fluid musical performance.” (5)

WHAT WOULD PIANO KEYBOARD INSTRUCTION LOOK LIKE IN A CLASSROOM?

The Revolutionary Piano method allows the student to progress at his own pace with a Lesson Book that introduces one concept at a time. A Theory Book correlates with each page of the Lesson Book and reinforces the presented concept through a variety of writing experiences.

For the youngest students (ages three to five):

EQUIPMENT: one piano keyboard or one piano; student bench (not chair)
BOOK: one Lesson Book (class copy); student’s personal Theory Book
TEACHER: Music Teacher, Teacher Aid, or Volunteer Parent
TIME: average of 2 minutes for lesson and theory assignment completion

Private keyboard lessons could take place during another scheduled class period. The teacher would take a single student aside to the keyboard, present the lesson and complete the theory assignment. The teacher refers to notecards kept on the keyboard, one for each student, on which the current Lesson page is written with the date. The student would join the scheduled class task after the keyboard lesson, which should take one to three minutes.

Each student would require a personal copy of the Theory Book to complete each assignment after the short daily lesson. Examples of Theory exercises: Tracing the letters of the four spaces for the right hand treble staff; matching letter with its space; filling in missing letters.

For the older students (age six and up):

EQUIPMENT: one piano keyboard and bench per student OR one keyboard total for individual lessons during another class
BOOK: one Lesson Book and Theory Book per student OR one Lesson Book (class copy); student’s personal Theory Book
TEACHER: Music Teacher
TIME: class period

This class could be managed the same way as the young student class, with individual lessons on average about three minutes, including the theory assignment. Another format could be an entire class of students taught at once, with every student briefly receiving personal teacher guidance during the class period. Once his personal Theory assignment is completed, the student may explore the keyboard on his own. Once the class has reached an appropriate ability level, group direction by the teacher may be designated for the last portion of the class time. This may be all students playing simultaneously individual note names called out by the teacher, leading up to simple songs performed as a group. Introduction to tempo and dynamics could be presented as desired.

Teacher refers to notecards kept on the keyboard, one for each student, on which the current Lesson page is written and dated. If using the entire class group format, each student is assigned a personal keyboard. The assignment notecard for students using that keyboard are kept there, ready at hand.

There is value in individual instruction; there is value in group performance using additional skills. A combination of both is most advantageous for the students.

For the younger and older students, these short lessons are successful because they take place every day, or at least four days a week. Students progress at their own pace. If desired, students could practice at home using a personal set of books, if a piano is available in the family.

DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD BOOKS

The Revolutionary Piano Method is like no other published course for learning to play the piano, as it is based on the principles of Instructional Design. Each Lesson Book introduces one concept at a time and allows the student to become somewhat proficient before introducing another new concept.

The student uses a thinking process to identify lines and spaces and locate their corresponding keys. Because the student reads and plays without dependence upon hand positioning or fingering based on five-finger positions, actual learning occurs much more quickly. This is critical to the development of sight-reading skill and is similar to learning to read a language phonetically, rather than just memorizing words.

The student first learns all treble spaces, orienting on middle F (instead of middle C), since it is the first space of the staff. Then treble lines are presented using the known spaces. After considerable practice opportunities, the bass spaces and lines are introduced using the same procedure. After successfully playing each clef separately, the grand staff is presented for both hands playing together. Proper notes, rests, and timing appear in Level Two. More advanced performance opportunities of progressive difficulty allow the student to increase sight-reading and playing skills. By methodically increasing one skill at a time, the student should never feel overwhelmed.

There are two different series of method books: one for students aged six and older; one for very young students aged four and five, or even three (with very short lessons).