How Your Child is Already a Musician
Rhythm is an inherent quality in everyone. It is expressed in the way we speak and through our movement.
Rhythm is everywhere.
Rhythm is naturally apparent in language, especially through poetry and speech patterns. Even in regular conversations, we are utilizing rhythms when communicating. Since language and rhythm are so connected, I wanted to use this as a tool to teach rhythmic patterns to beginner piano students. This method helps students understand that they already use rhythms on a daily basis, showing them a new perspective on what they currently know. Students are then able to experiment and compose their own rhythms with phrases and transfer the resulting rhythms to their instrument. They can even begin to play and sing their rhyme at the same time, introducing new coordination skills.
Musical names and notations are quite abstract to beginner piano students and can be less engaging. This method captivates their interests in being creative with the instrument and helps to develop their musical ear by recognizing patterns. If young beginners are initially exposed to rhythm in this way, they are able to learn more complex organizations of beats before grasping any musical notation. This allows for their skills to progress at a faster rate and internalize more musical structures. Notation would be introduced after they can internalize these patterns.
I’ve had great responses from my students in learning this method. They have so much fun creating their own phrases and can quickly play them on piano. I’ve had students as young as five, progressing to the point where they can notate the rhythms of their phrases in musical notation.