Hello everyone!
I just recently downloaded the program and decided to purchase it as I think this is one of the fun ways to learn to play piano.
I think this is one of the most innovative ways to learn to play piano, as it incorporates the best of the digital worlds.
My five year old son has been taking piano lessons twice a week for the past year at $70 per week. I was unhappy with what he is being taught as the context of his homework is coloring rather than practice what he learned from his teacher. To this day, all the songs that he plays are the ones that I taught him myself and he still comes home to color his books and trying to figure out how to read the score. After one year!!
Last night, he came home to do a homework that involved figuring out where the stems start pointing down. I did not see the importance of this as I feel that a five year old should be focused on the fact that he learns the joy of being able to play a song, not figuring out where the stems start pointing down or up. It's not like he will be composing music any time soon.
I have been against sending my son to this teacher for almost half a year by now especially after being asked by the piano teacher "who taught him how to play [insert song name here]?"
Yes I have been told that toddlers will take a long time to be somewhat efficient at playing piano.
Yes I have been told to be patient with his progress.
(But I am Asian!! lol)
I had to disagree, especially after seeing that my son has learned to play various songs from playing the "games" on Synthesia.
Then again there was the concern of being able to read sheet music, which was easily done by just turning off the falling notes (F5). Now my son is able to follow along by reading just the sheet music, not by watching the falling notes. My wife and I agreed yesterday that we are wasting our money by sending our son to this piano teacher. His last lesson with her will be tomorrow. I believe that learning to play the piano is like learning a language. Children are not taught how to read first and then learn to speak, they learn to speak first and then learn to read, and then the grammar, etc. In other words, I believe that learning something naturally involves immersing oneself in the environment first and then start learning about the theories and everything else that falls along which will be understood naturally over time. More of a reason to get rid of his current piano teacher as she has been doing this backwards.
I love Synthesia and I can't believe how easy it has made the learning process. The ultimate goal is to develop the proper muscle memory to play a song by heart and I believe that Synthesia has the right idea about it. Having said this, I have a few question:
Why are the stems all pointing up?
Is there a feature that enable them to start pointing down as they should starting the middle line and up?
I have searched throughout the forums, but there doesn't seem to be any discussion addressing this issue. I've read one post that explains that it is difficult to program for the stems to automatically "adapt" to change direction based on the location of the notes within the score. It's not that much of a big deal as I print all the midi files using MuseScore 2 and the ultimate goal is to have my son play by reading just the printed music sheets.
Synthesia is great to get a kicks start and incorporating fun into the learning how to play piano. I use just the sheet music for simple songs and for more complex ones, I allow my son to practice using the falling notes as they display which fingers need to go where. Then once he's comfortable with the finger movements, I take out the falling notes and then have him follow along the music sheet only, and then stop using it altogether and use only the printed sheet music for him to play. This has been working out well for him.
Another item on the wishlist, and this is more important than anything else, is having the capability of showing the finger number directly on the sheet music, as it is only shown on falling notes as of right now.
If I am missing something and these features can already be activated in Synthesia, great! Please let me know how it can be done. If not, I think you are still on the right track and keep up the good work. There are a lot of naysayers out there, especially on Reddit.com, but I know that Synthesia has been an effective tool in teaching my son how to play the piano.
Stem direction
No explicit, hateful, or hurtful language. Nothing illegal.
To spare you having to search through large numbers of posts on this Forum, version 11 will be focused on sheet music features. This goes far beyond correct stem directions. I think it will be a big leap forward for the approach you are taking with your son.
One thing that Synthesia can't help much with is improvisation. Just as you don't learn to speak just by reciting from written material, you don't learn music just by playing written pieces. It might be good to give your son some time in each practice session to play improvisationally. There probably are some structured ways to encourage meaningful improvisation as opposed to just banging on the keys but I don't know anything about introducing improvisation to young children (or even old adults). Maybe one of these books would be useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Discover-Beginni ... 1616770511
https://www.amazon.com/Discover-Blues-I ... 1616771577
While I understand your frustration with your son's music teacher, do understand that developing good physical technique from the outset is important if your son is to become an accomplished pianist. With some notable rare exceptions, most "home schooled" piano players will eventually hit a ceiling due to their haphazard technical abilities. As long as your just wants to play for fun, that isn't going to be a fatal handicap. But if your goal is to lay a foundation that your son can take as far as he chooses, then you should consider finding a teacher for your son that you have faith in. Unfortunately, a lot of what goes into developing good technique is not particularly fun. E.g. a lot of repetitive practice while paying attention to minute details.
And the point of the stem direction drill was probably to develop a recognition of stem direction as a quick clue of where a note falls on the staff. You do seem to appreciate the value in being able to read music. One needs to be able to glance at a bit of music and automatically translate that into performance. There are a lot of clues about how to perform music in the way it is written on the page. Dissecting the way music is written can help with learning to read it more effectively.
One thing that Synthesia can't help much with is improvisation. Just as you don't learn to speak just by reciting from written material, you don't learn music just by playing written pieces. It might be good to give your son some time in each practice session to play improvisationally. There probably are some structured ways to encourage meaningful improvisation as opposed to just banging on the keys but I don't know anything about introducing improvisation to young children (or even old adults). Maybe one of these books would be useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Discover-Beginni ... 1616770511
https://www.amazon.com/Discover-Blues-I ... 1616771577
While I understand your frustration with your son's music teacher, do understand that developing good physical technique from the outset is important if your son is to become an accomplished pianist. With some notable rare exceptions, most "home schooled" piano players will eventually hit a ceiling due to their haphazard technical abilities. As long as your just wants to play for fun, that isn't going to be a fatal handicap. But if your goal is to lay a foundation that your son can take as far as he chooses, then you should consider finding a teacher for your son that you have faith in. Unfortunately, a lot of what goes into developing good technique is not particularly fun. E.g. a lot of repetitive practice while paying attention to minute details.
And the point of the stem direction drill was probably to develop a recognition of stem direction as a quick clue of where a note falls on the staff. You do seem to appreciate the value in being able to read music. One needs to be able to glance at a bit of music and automatically translate that into performance. There are a lot of clues about how to perform music in the way it is written on the page. Dissecting the way music is written can help with learning to read it more effectively.
Hello Jim,
Thank you for your thoughtful insight on the value of a teacher when it comes to getting the proper technique and form. I agree with you a 100% that my son will be needing a teacher and we're actually looking for a replacement.
I was upset with the fact that the "homework" that my son came home with for the first six month were only coloring books. He was not even able to read the music let alone play anything.
I know the importance of being able to read sheet music, as I learned to play the piano since I was eight years old through I was 12 years old. I took various instrument lessons throughout my life and also took up choir throughout high school and college. I also took music theory classes along with composition classes as I was always fond of music.
Having said this, I still feel that my five year old son should concentrate on learning to play easy and simple songs, like the nursery rhymes and other types of simple children's songs. I am hoping that he has the drive to play them well and most importantly, that he enjoys playing the piano. I am not looking to turn my son into a pianist, I just want him to find joy in playing the piano so that he has a natural drive to play well, hence the practices and drills coming naturally. I just feel that shoving theories and methods of reading music will help him in any way.
What I forgot to mention in my original post, is that my son came home with a set of homework - the stem drill - without even understanding the concept of what his teacher wanted him to do. So I spent almost two hours explaining to him the concept of the stem direction, which he finally understood and his eyes just lit up like stars. I feel that if he continues to learn and play long enough, the concept of the stem direction would come naturally. Looking back to the lessons I had when I started playing and until I got good at it, I don't think I ever had to learn anything like my son's current teacher is teaching him. All I remember is that I had series of books that I had to come home and repeat over and over until I was somewhat decent at it.
Of course, I started when I was eight and since my son is only five, the ability to grasp and understand will be greatly different. But I still feel that sending a student home with homework that he does not understand is wrong.
As we will be replacing his teacher, I am counting on Synthesia to help him find the joy of playing and learning new songs.
Thanks again for your input and have a great week!
Thank you for your thoughtful insight on the value of a teacher when it comes to getting the proper technique and form. I agree with you a 100% that my son will be needing a teacher and we're actually looking for a replacement.
I was upset with the fact that the "homework" that my son came home with for the first six month were only coloring books. He was not even able to read the music let alone play anything.
I know the importance of being able to read sheet music, as I learned to play the piano since I was eight years old through I was 12 years old. I took various instrument lessons throughout my life and also took up choir throughout high school and college. I also took music theory classes along with composition classes as I was always fond of music.
Having said this, I still feel that my five year old son should concentrate on learning to play easy and simple songs, like the nursery rhymes and other types of simple children's songs. I am hoping that he has the drive to play them well and most importantly, that he enjoys playing the piano. I am not looking to turn my son into a pianist, I just want him to find joy in playing the piano so that he has a natural drive to play well, hence the practices and drills coming naturally. I just feel that shoving theories and methods of reading music will help him in any way.
What I forgot to mention in my original post, is that my son came home with a set of homework - the stem drill - without even understanding the concept of what his teacher wanted him to do. So I spent almost two hours explaining to him the concept of the stem direction, which he finally understood and his eyes just lit up like stars. I feel that if he continues to learn and play long enough, the concept of the stem direction would come naturally. Looking back to the lessons I had when I started playing and until I got good at it, I don't think I ever had to learn anything like my son's current teacher is teaching him. All I remember is that I had series of books that I had to come home and repeat over and over until I was somewhat decent at it.
Of course, I started when I was eight and since my son is only five, the ability to grasp and understand will be greatly different. But I still feel that sending a student home with homework that he does not understand is wrong.
As we will be replacing his teacher, I am counting on Synthesia to help him find the joy of playing and learning new songs.
Thanks again for your input and have a great week!
When looking for a teacher see if you can find someone following the Suzuki teaching method. We have friends who's children did very well with this - both from how much they learned, as well as with how much fun they are having. A big part of this method is learning to perform a song for an audience from the start - which is a totally different situation then when learning to just play for oneself at home or "for the teacher".
Also if the teacher or school provides an opportunity to play in groups, that can be very helpful too. Learning to play with other musicians develops a lot of skills that you don't get when playing solo.