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Rote Teaching of Piano - A Second Lesson |
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by Joan S. Burrows
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n previous articles dealing with the rote teaching approach, An Introduction to Rote Teaching of Piano and Rote Teaching of Piano - A First Lesson, I explored the principles, advantages and initial implementation of rote teaching with piano students. In this article, I will follow the rote learning educational process a bit further with the same student.
Rote to Note
My student comes back and plays the pieces well that I wrote for her in
her lesson book. She also made up a song. She took “Autumn Leaves,” a folk
song learned at the first lesson, and composed a 2nd verse of words as well
as a new melody. The melody is similar in structure to the original, as she
did in the “Question and Answer” exercise. Encouragement by the teacher of
such creative practice develops more familiarity with the keyboard and
enhances listening skills.
I write it out in a new manuscript book so she can see how it looks on
paper. We get into time signatures and measures, and bar lines a little
sooner than is usual, but I explain them briefly. She is very pleased to see
her song written out, named and dated, with her own name as the composer.
Chords and Ear Training
She reviews the song, “Little River Flowing” in C, and I suggest trying a new chord for the last phrase, which descends 5432 and ends with the thumb on the I chord. I show her how to find the new chord, called a V7, by playing three notes of the nearest inversion, b-f-g, with the left hand. The 5th finger goes down to the nearest note, the 3rd finger moves up to the nearest note, and the 2nd finger takes its place, and the thumb stays on the same note as in the I chord. This becomes the “rule”for finding the V7chord in every key.
I point out that sometimes the nearest note is a black note. She plays these two chords, counting three beats on each one slowly, and then puts them into “Little River”. The first time through she stops and thinks, but forgets to return to the I chord. The second time is slow, but smoother. Then this always-thinking little girl asks why it is called a V7 chord. I ask her to find the 5th note in the key of C and she does: G. Then I ask her to play a chord on the note. As she does so, I ask her to add one more skip up to make a four-note chord. We count the notes up by skips: one, three, five, seven, and she is able to understand the seventh, and the fact that it is all built on the fifth note of the home key. Then she goes on to find a V7 in the keys of G and F. She has to listen carefully and to remember the pattern for finding the V7 from the I chords of these new keys, in order to include the black keys B-flat and F-sharp that are needed. Playing in all keys facilitates reading later – (no panic over 5 flats). The chords begin a simple harmony which leads to more complex and varied bass patterns later. Inversions of chords are played before naming them as such. Again, just concentration on listening is important.
A new song, “To New York” is very simple and gives more practice for the V7 chord. The melody is 132 132 1324321. This will take some practice at home to get a smooth change from I to V7. Becoming comfortable with the keyboard, including playing with eyes closed, helps prepare for keeping the eyes on the printed page.
Legato and staccato
My student plays another song, “Rain, Rain”, and I ask, "Which sounds more
like rain--legato or staccato?" I illustrate them for her, and she decides
on staccato and plays it that way, having just learned two new musical
terms, which I write in her book. She also plays it an octave higher.
"Sounds more like rain!" she says. Technique is begun with ease through
listening without "strange" marks on a page.
She plays
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” well, with the correct fingering.
She likes to play this one higher on the keyboard also. Next
come two nursery rhymes which she worked out by ear at home. She plays them
in several keys, remembering the flat in F and the sharps in D and A on the
first playing. The other keys are not yet memorized, but she finds them by
ear. She occasionally misses an accidental the first time, but always hears
and corrects it herself. All of these pieces are played with the I chord and
with alternate hands. The student learns fingering as the need is seen on
the keyboard, again eliminating another ‘step’ in trying to figure out the
numbers along with notation and other markings on the page. When she asks
about chords to “Twinkle”, I say there is one more chord to learn for that
piece at the next lesson.
I go back to “Little River” and ask her to play some sections a little
louder and some a little softer, wherever she thinks it sounds best to her.
She is not quite sure how to do this, so we talk about touching the keys
differently with each finger. She tries this on five notes, up and down.
Where does she think the 'river' might get louder or softer? Might she be
walking towards it and then away? This creative student then plays the piece
going soft to loud and back to soft--a good job for a first try. Then she
suggests that this one might sound better played legato! I write in her
lesson book an assignment to continue the five-finger exercise so she can
just concentrate on the dynamics (another new term for her), and not to be
concerned with a melody. Again, she will play in many keys, switching hands.
A Duetto
We end the lesson with a duet, “The Elephant Walk," The lower part is quite simple, all on low bass notes. She picks it up quickly, after which I play the upper part for her, which she can learn later. She will then know both parts and can teach them to her Mom and Dad, which she thinks is a great idea. I ask her to find some more songs by ear for next week, and we finish by considering some possibilities. Duets like this teach keeping the beat and listening to both parts – and they are fun!
Rote and Note
The joy of learning to play new pieces as well as familiar ones is a big step towards continued learning and pleasure through music. Rote teaching students learn to read music, but as a natural progression from hearing and playing the piano.
Last updated: 05/25/19