Ah, the lies our piano teachers taught us! Okay, only one lie, the other concept is more of a "WTH, why would you teach it THAT way?". And before anyone gets offended, I was also taught this way- and understand that we tend to teach in the way we learned, so this teaching strategy has some deep roots. As a teacher, this strategy just didn't work for me, so through research, trial, and error, I've created my own somewhat unique ways of teaching this concept. And just to be sure I give appropriate credit, much of this is a synthesis of concepts from "A Soprano on Her Head" by Eloise Ristad (the sideways staff), and Max Camp's intervallic mapping concept from "Teaching Piano: The Synthesis of Mind, Ear, and Body". First of all- the lie. Middle C is NOT the middle of the piano (gasp!). Middle C is the middle of the grand staff- identical in both the treble and bass clefs and the same for all instruments. The symmetrical middle of the piano is D. Think about it- a half step up and down, black key. Another half step in both directions, white key, a third half step, white key, etc. That blew my mind when I figured that out, and while it is not the point I'm making with this post, it is important to realize that when positioning your new beginning student at the piano- especially as you move into the G position, but moving on... Middle C is the center of the musical staff: In the bass clef, the space below middle C is a B, the line below that is A, etc.. For the treble clef, the space above middle C is D, the next line is E, etc. The staff, at least for those of us in the US (where we don't use the solfege scale) is alphabetical, and makes total LOGICAL sense. As a matter of fact, if you enlarge the staff, and turn it sideways, the lines and spaces line up with the keys of the piano- I do often draw the lines on my piano keyboard in pencil for my young students so they can visualize the steps and skips as they play. So why, WHY do teachers (my own teachers included) use the insanely complex method of memorizing sayings to teach the staff? I truly have only had negative reactions to using this method: 1. It doesn't make sense- why aren't the lines and spaces for the staves the same? (Because middle C IS the same, and everything fans out from there) 2. It hinders sight reading- one note doesn't flow from the next. You have to get to the next note, figure out whether you're on the bass clef or treble clef, and then whether you need to recall the saying for lines, or spaces, and by the time a student has figured it out, any flow is gone. 3. If you teach your student that the staff makes logical sense, they will already understand how ledger lines work before you get to the point of needing to teach that concept. Middle C IS a ledger line already- an extension of the bass clef staff up, and the treble clef staff down. 4. And seriously, how much fudge do good boys need? Eye roll. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (treble clef lines) and Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always (bass clef lines). Okay, this one is just my own irritation. Why on earth are we teaching kids these insane sayings rather than pointing out that the bottom line of the treble clef is E, the next space is F, the second line is G, the second space is A, the third line B, etc? Especially when the clefs already have alternate names (treble clef aka G clef- it curls around the G line, bass clef aka F clef- it curls around the F line). So, here is how I teach the notes. For the piano, we start with C position- in each hand you have a finger on C, D, E, F, and G. I use marker notes- E for the treble clef (it's the center of the position). E is the bottom line, it sits at the (e)dge of the staff. The next space up is... You guessed it, F. The next space down is... D. I use two flashcards at a time and have my students logically figure out what the next note is, then add one more. If you can remember that E is the bottom line, you can figure out any other note on the staff, just by knowing your alphabet and being able to count. For the bass clef, I use D as my marker note. D is the (d)ead center of the bass clef staff. The stem for the C below is pointing up. This also allows you to show how stems work, but I digress. D is the center line. The next space up is... E. The next space down is... C. Again, any student who understands the alphabet should be able to logically figure out how the staff works with minimal prompting. Intervallic MappingWhen we learn to read, we don't read each individual letter in a word- we put them together in combinations that make sense- and the same concept also holds true in music. So, just to define, an interval is the distance between any two notes. This counts the starting note, any lines or spaces skipped, and the landing note. A second, which on the staff is a note going from a line or a space (using the top line of the illustration above, our starting note is a space note) to the VERY NEXT line or space (in the illustration above, it's the next line up). On the piano keyboard, you would go from one key to the very next key. A third goes from the starting space, skips the line, and lands on the next space- 1 (starting note), 2 (skipped note), 3 (landing note). On the piano keyboard, from your starting note, you would skip one note, and play the next one. I do often draw lines (in PENCIL!) on my keyboard so visual students can SEE where the lines and spaces are. As your student reads, you prompt them for the next note- "you're on the line, move to the very next space up, skip the line and go to the next space", etc. This way, your student is moving from one note to the next in a way that makes sense. Eventually it becomes easy to read the shapes- if you're going from a line to a space (or vice versa), your interval will always be an even number (2nd, 4th, 6th, octave). Line-line or space-space notes will always be odd (3rd, 5th, 7th)- which will also be the shape of your chords (root, 3rd, 5th, 7th (for jazz chords)). The staff makes sense, and teaching the logic allows students to: 1. Figure it out for themselves! They will truly UNDERSTAND, and take ownership. My primary goal as a teacher is to prepare students to be able to play independent of me, and by setting them up to figure out basic concepts on their own, they are one more step down the path of independence. 2. Allows for a more natural progression- ledger lines make sense, chord shapes make sense, the relationship of treble to bass clef notes make sense. 3. Sight-reading is easier. For many students, sight-reading is terrifying, but as a pianist, you will be called on to sight read, and being able to sight read well is a VERY valuable skill. Thanks for reading! Now go practice!
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I do try to keep this blog limited to my professional exploits and experiences, and not to make it too personal, but with the passing of David Bowie, I have found myself grieving in a way that I have found surprising. As I consider the why, I have realized that David Bowie is so huge of a part of my musical and mental landscape. Ironically, it all starts with Jim Henson. My mother went to high school with Jim Henson, and was a huge fan. We saw all of the Henson films and shows- including the Dark Crystal- which was way to scary for my 5 year old self. When Labyrinth came out in 1986, we of course saw it. I was 8 years old. Amidst the grey, dark, colorless world, one figure glowed- David Bowie. It was love at first sight! And he also did the music! At this point, I was playing the piano, and LOVED music. There was an instant connection for me. That same year that Labyrinth came out, my family and I moved from Idaho to Maryland. This was a huge deal to me. Although I was born in Maryland, we left Maryland when I was 1 to move to Knoxville, Tennessee, and we moved to Idaho Falls when I was 3. We had lived there for 5 years- I was 8 when we moved. While the parents were glad to be moving back home, to me, Idaho WAS home. I was in the 5th grade when I started school in Maryland in 1987. Labyrinth was still my favorite movie, and for some reason, David Bowie became such a huge deal for me. That year for Halloween, I found a wig similar to the one he wore in Labyrinth (it was green, but still the same style), and made up a costume that went along with it. That same wig resurfaced later in the year as part of my OM competition play- Rumplepunk (yeah, probably best not to ask about that). That year, my Christmas request was for the "Let's Dance" album. I have very clear memories of dancing alone in my bedroom in a small 3 bedroom apartment in Frederick to that album. Three years later, we'd moved to our permanent home, and I was in middle school when Vanilla Ice sampled "Under Pressure" for his hit "Ice Ice Baby", which of course I listened to and enjoyed. This weird number 1 hit introduced me to Queen, and led me back to David Bowie. Kate Bush's concept album "Hounds of Love" led me to explore the idea of an album telling a story (before Pink Floyd did it with "The Wall"), and that led me to explore "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars"- which came out 12 years earlier in 1971. I have not seen the film- I keep thinking I need to have a David Bowie film festival at home. By the time I hit college as a music major studying performance, the concept of Ziggy Stardust- of creating an alter-ego was and still is the way I deal with a lot of performance anxiety. Thanks David Bowie! That was incredibly helpful! On the other hand, hearing Iggy Pop for the first time (Nightclubbing, Lust for Life), I thought he was another David Bowie alter-ego. FYI- Major Tom was always my favorite. "Space Oddity" is such a fantastic song, and I am both sad and grateful that he was included in "Blackstar". As I have continued to dwell on the passing of David Bowie, and the strange hole left in my soul by a man that I never knew, I have asked myself- is there another artist out there who has influenced me as much as David Bowie? No. There are so many that I love: artists I aspire to be such as Diana Krall, or Norah Jones, artists who bring me back to a specific time or place like Tori Amos, or Nirvana, artists who have taught me that art and music can create positive change like Del McCoury (who I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to), or Bono. There are artists who've been around since I first became aware of music like Madonna, MIchael Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, and Steve Martin (thanks Muppet Show!), artists who've shown me that even though I spend a lot of time working with kids, I don't have to do "kids" songs (thanks Joe Craven!). I've got friends making names for themselves- Laura Burhenn, Jessica Mussen, Louise Fury, Jody Mosser, Michael Russeck for whom I am emotionally invested and rooting for. The list goes on and on, and while I love these people, it is David Bowie who engaged me while I was very young, and remained relevant throughout my entire life. I am so grateful for all he has taught me and will continue to teach me I'm sure.
There is actually one other for whom I will be devastated when he passes, and that is... Sir Elton John. I hope he lives a long life, because I can't handle losing him too. |
Amy Riffle-Kouyeasis a professional pianist, teacher, singer, and Music Director currently residing in Snohomish, Washington. She is the Director of Music at Peace Lutheran Church in Monroe, WA, and also teaches private piano, voice and ukulele lessons at The ARK in Snohomish, WA. |