A Year of MMG: Staff Slates

What's the goal of learning an instrument?  Enjoyment and enrichment, yes; proficiency and technique on the instrument, of course.  But beyond that, most musicians want to acquire technical skills that will help them if they ever decide to sing in a choir, learn another instrument, or (best of all) teach someone else.

Hence, sight reading.

When I was a student, I hated sight reading.  Mostly, probably, because I had been playing pieces (via the Suzuki Method) for long enough that I knew I had a great ability to listen and imitate.  Why did I need to learn the notes?  Who cared about them?  I dug in my heels, screamed and cried, hid and ripped up my theory books, and generally made life miserable for my mother, my teacher and myself.  Eventually, grudgingly, I realized what a useful skill it was, and I am now very grateful for the ability to read and sing music I've never heard before.

For this reason, I am especially sensitive to students who resist reading.  In fact, I don't even use the word reading.  We start with a picture and a song.

The picture is the Staff Slate, and the song is one included in the accompanying materials and written by Lidia Usami, a teacher from New Jersey.  As you sing up the scale, you point to and trace symbols on the staff: treble clef, lines, bass staff, brace.  Then you sing back down, more quickly.  The students hang on every word, and they love doing this.

Once they're familiar with the symbols, I play These Five C's, which can be found in the book in a slightly different form.  (The main difference is that I'm playing with one student on a smaller board with Magic Notes.)  I show them Ledger Lines and place the five C's on the staff, one or two at a time, emphasizing the symmetry of their locations.  They copy me.  We play Fine over and over to ensure the student knows where all five C's are located.  Throughout the process, I use the terms continuously: "That's right.  Treble C goes near the treble clef.  Yes, Low C has two ledger lines and goes all the way at the bottom of the bass staff."  This is better than testing them, because they feel less pressure, but they are just as likely to remember the word.

At the same time, I'm teaching the five C's at the piano.  We place the same magic notes on the keyboard, also emphasizing the symmetry.  I have some Magic Notes onto which I've glued Kid Counters (bottom center of the photo) which fit perfectly.  I will be forever grateful to Sharon Su for giving me that idea; they fit perfectly, and the kids love them so much that one year I gave them all their own set of Five C's for Christmas!

From here, it's a natural transition to Tap Tap, Plunk Plunk.  Originally a game for the violin, played with the open strings, it works well on the piano too.  We place the Staff Slate on the piano bench and bend down to touch Middle C.  "Tap Tap."  We tap the magic note.  We move the magic note to Middle C on the piano and play it twice.  "Plunk Plunk."  We repeat that with all five C's.  This step in the process is vital, because I've found that many intermediate and even advanced students have trouble with the correllation between keyboard and staff.

Once the students really know their five C's on the Staff Slate, we're ready to move on to studying the Grand Staff Cards!