Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Neglectful
I promise I'm not purposely neglecting this blog. It's just the holidays are nuts...aren't they? My husband and I have been visiting family for the last three weeks, so I haven't been home to arrange a new song. I'm going to though, I promise. Soon. In the meantime, does anyone know of a good/cool/fun/interesting way to teach kids about time signatures? I had a piano student ask me about it at our lesson yesterday and I felt like my explanation was totally confusing for him. I'd like to hear some better ideas!
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5 comments:
Wow, just found your blog through sugardoodle.net and I am so excited. My son just turned 6 and he's in kindergarten. He has shown extreme interest in the piano. We have an electronic keyboard and he will sit at it for long periods of time fiddling with the different tones and songs, etc. He'll also turn the pages in the Children's Songbook and say, "Mommy, can you show me how to play this one?" I have talked to a few people about piano lessons and nobody seems to want to start him until he's at least in first grade. I'm afraid if I wait too long, his interest will dissipate and it will be even harder to get him to want to learn. So, I have found a few basic piano lesson books at thrift stores and I am hoping with my limited knowledge that I can teach him how to play some basics until I can start him with formal lessons. I know he won't be quite at the level of playing these songs yet, but I am SO excited to have found this resource to use in the future. THANK YOU for being so kind and willing to share this!
THANK YOU for sharing these arrangements! I play the flute and TRY to play piano, but I really stink. Persevering though... I play the piano at home, especially for FHE, so I can sing along with the family and most of the songbook is still too difficult. This is a lifesaver. My 4 yr old might stop laughing at me now.
Anyway, I usually just teach the top # of the time signature first. When my students progress to counting/reading eighth notes (which happens pretty fast with flute)I then explain the bottom portion of the time signature. That way it references the type of note and they can visualize instead of having to muddle with fractions and dividing up a bar to illustrate the point. By the time they can read eighth notes, it's more of a "Oh, that makes sense!" and we're movin' on.
Found you through Sugardoodle also and have shared on FB with my piano teacher family/friends.
I am most excited about these arrangements for myself. Time to brush up on my piano.
Not sure how to reply to comments but for Keesha look into Let's Play Music teachers in your area. It is a wonderful preschool/kindegarten intro to piano playing. My son has loved it. He is 5 and learning to play the piano. check it out here http://letsplaymusicsite.com/
@ Keesha, too bad you don't live by me! I love teaching 6 yr olds. In fact, one of my 6 yr old's just moved away and he was my fastest learner. Don't give up, keep trying to find someone that will take him. I started playing when I was only 5.
@ Hidigal, thanks for the advice, I will have to try explaining the top portion of the time signature first and teaching about the bottom number later with my newest student.
Thanks to everyone for commenting! I love knowing that these songs are actually helping other people.
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