Creation of the Animal Notes to Aid in Teaching Piano to Young Children
The seven basic musical tones go by several names. Here in American they are given the names of the first seven letters of the alphabet. In many European countries they are named do, re, me, fa, sol, la, ti. What they are called is only a tool that enables an individual to learn where they are located on the Grand Staff of music and how to find them on an instrument or vocally. This sounds logical enough, but it is not all that easy, especially for young children.
In piano, learning begins with the nine notes, middle C and the four notes below and above it. To make note reading easier for my young students I started giving each of these notes names starting with the letter of the relative note. Each animal has a story with it that helps to identify where it is located on the Grand Staff. To further help the children I started drawing little caricatures of each animal’s head and in the case of the fish, the whole body. With the help of my niece and one of my sons, we were able to produce the books you see on this site. What a blessing they have been for the last twelve years of my teaching. They have not only made note reading simple for my young students, but the children have fun while learning to play. The animals and their stories can be used to assist in the child’s learning of the basic and important elements of music theory.
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