Klarinet Archive - Posting 000132.txt from 2006/03

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Help with teaching
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2006 06:38:38 -0500

Bill,

How old is the child? Has she had previous musical training?

I have never met a student incapable of reading which space or line a
notehead is on. I have met more than a few who don't want to spend
the time to learn how to read which space or line a notehead is on,
especially those with previous musical training that over emphasized
playing by ear. Not that I'm against playing by ear, I just find that
sometimes it can be a crutch which becomes a serious problem when the
student starts playing in ensemble.

With younger students, I always have them practice reading note names
separate from playing music, a technique I learned from my best
solfedge teacher many years ago (learn the correct solfedge syllables
and *then* worry about the right pitches, he always said). I usually
start out with something simple in half notes and whole notes on the
staff and then progress to something that looks really hard on the
staff (only reading note names), finally learning ledger lines later
as the student progresses. It can even become a game based on speed
and accuracy. I can't know what you are doing, but my experience is
that many students are frustrated by trying to learning to read note
names *and* learning to play the right notes, properly, on their
clarinet at the same time. I almost always separate these two skills
and later combine them, particularly in younger students.

There is also the possibility of a learning disability. If the child
is particularly young, even the possibility of an undiagnosed
learning disability (this possibility exists in any child, but is
much more likely to have gone unnoticed in a younger child). If none
of the above suggestions help, I would explain the problem to the
parents (I would not, however, mention the possibility of a learning
disability, unless you are a professional able to truly diagnose such
a problem). They might say, "Oh, yes, she has problem in reading as
well and they are working on it.". They might be given a data point
for future reference. They are likely to give you some very good
suggestions as to how to overcome the problem.

Best of luck,

-Adam

At 11:47 PM 3/7/2006, you wrote:
>Has anyone any advice to offer me about teaching a child who cannot read
>music in the sense that she cannot identify which space or line a
>notehead is on? I think of this as being the musical version of
>dyslexia (although I have no idea what's actually going on).
>
>For example, she can count and she can touch the notehead accurately
>with the point of a pencil, but if the notehead is on the 2nd line, she
>cannot tell me "This note is on the 2nd line" or "this note is on the G
>line".
>
>She has an ear, albeit not perfect pitch, and she sings on pitch. Are
>there any 'standard' methods for dealing with this sort of problem?
>
>Thank you,
> Bill

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