[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybi_mZ8W3RA?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=500&h=281]

How wonderful, to use electronics in music without having to look at a computer screen. 

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

A Continuation in the Series: Most Classical Music Education is Silly

This is what a yamaha site was actually Bragging about:

By the end of two years in JMC, students have built a substantial vocabulary of solfège, having sung 50 melodies and numerous chord progressions using the I, IV and V7 chords in the keys of C major, G major, F major, D minor and A minor. Aside from developing musicianship, these solfège experiences prepare children to play in these five keys. In fact, children experience singing in a key for approximately one semester prior to playing in that key.

WHAT!? In two years you only learn 5 keys, the subset of which translates to 3 black keys total, no more than 2 in any given scale. It probably takes them such a long time because they have to spend a Whole Semester singing in a key before they can play it. So crazy. Why do classical musicians so deeply believe that detaching music from the physical interface of an instrument is so necessary? 

This "piano methods explained page" almost made me throw up a little inside of my mouth.

However, I bet it answers a lot of questions parents have. The answers are really frustrating, but it’s good to know about what kinds of resources parents are looking for.

This "piano methods explained page" almost made me throw up a little inside of my mouth.

Why the Suzuki Method is incorrect.

It’s true that this very sentence has been ingrained in me by my Pace Piano teacher, Yoko Jimbo since I was a wee young one. But yesterday I realized that the idea that Suzuki is the wrong way and that Pace is the right way was never logically bridged in all that time.

First, a quick intro: 

As it’s been explained to me by the anti-suzukists—the suzuki method was born out of an attempt to understand the process by which musical prodigies learn music. It was observed that they didn’t rely on music notation but instead had a more intuitive understanding. Suzuki imagined a world where we learn music like we learn language, immersed in the experience of it which in music he believed the hearing of it. He thought knowing music notation too young diluted this experience. 

In the pace method, you begin learning notation systems as soon as possible. Starting with piano-roll notation at about age 3 and 4, you slowly transition to traditional western notation. Dr. Pace prioritized music literacy above music virtuosity. 

For years I was told this narrative. Music literacy above all else. Yesterday over brunch I came upon the following analogy:

We would never design an education system around any other kind of savant. If it was suddenly discovered that the most eloquent poets could not actually write, and instead just spouted poetry from their lips, we wouldn’t discourage people from learning how to read and write. Similarly, it makes no sense to eliminate the potential for greater musical understanding that can be achieved by becoming literate in its notation system. Statistically, not every one of Ms. Jimbo’s piano students are going to become the next great pianist. What she hopes for her students instead is that they will always love music and have deeper insight into its nuances and complexities to enrich their lives. And really, what more could you ask for?