Parent Involvement is Key

One aspect of  the Let's Play Music program that is dramatically different from any piano lesson, or even any group piano class: parents are required to attend with the child every other week!

Why? Because one prominent goal  is to establish music as a venue for parents to play with, love, and bond with their child.  A child who perceives music study in this positive light flourishes!

This recently published thesis by Adrienne M. Wills on relationships between parental involvement in music class and the musical home environment sheds some additional light on the excellent reasons for attending music class with your child.

• 86% of young students need parental encouragement in music making during class.
• Parent involvement during music class helped students feel more competent.
• Parent involvement during music class fostered a strong bond between parent and child.
• Parent involvement coupled with a musical home environment improved music retention, plans to pursue music, music achievement, and music aptitude.
• Participation in early childhood music classes enhanced the musical home environment.
• Parents and children begin to communicate and relate to each other in a more meaningful way as a result of shared music class participation. 

As you gear up to attend class with your child this month, be mindful of the wonderful benefits of your participation and clear about your intentions.

• Model enthusiastic participation and respect (you are being watched and copied!)
• Look into your child's eyes, smile, give frequent hugs, rock him on your lap.
• Endorse the spirit of playfulness in class and at home practice. 

Your child's first experience with music will delight him because he sees your delight in being with him.  He will sing when he sees that you enjoy singing, that you enjoy hearing him sing.  For years, he will rely heavily on your nurturing and shared enjoyment.  Over time, he will discover his own joys in creating music, and blossom into a lifetime love of music.

Kind regards,
Gina Weibel, M.S.
Let's Play Music Teacher

Practice Comic

Mozart...Funny

Sound Beginnings FREE Classes

August 12-15 is the week of Sound Beginnings! SB is especially for 2-4 year olds with a parent. Younger siblings may also enroll at a reduced rate.  SB is perfectly designed to prep your child for Let's Play Music when she is 4 or 5.

If you would like a free trial, this is your chance to come have fun with the whole family for 30 minutes, find out if our class is for you, and register for fall by the August 15 deadline.

SOUND BEGINNINGS free classes 

MONDAY       AUG 12, 9:00-9:30
TUESDAY      AUG 13, 10-10:30
WEDNESDAY AUG 14, 5:30-6:00 PM
THURSDAY   AUG 15, 11:00-11:30 AM    

 Click the button to register for one!

Wondering what Sound Beginnings is all about?  Check out the fabulous video:

Music!

Music in the News

The Windsor Beacon of Windsor, CO recently visited the studio of Let's Play Music teacher (and Gina's good friend) Kimberly Seyboldt. This is what they found.
Kimberly Seyboldt, owner of Let's Play Music in Windsor, poses Thursday in her teaching room in her home. Let's Play Music seeks to teach kids music fundamentals culminating in being able to compose music. / Sam Noblett/The Beacon

Kimberly Seyboldt has a passion for music, and she shares that passion by taking elementary school-aged children and turning them into composers at her Let’s Play Music business.

Seyboldt has operated Let’s Play Music in Windsor for six years after moving to town from Tucson, Ariz. She has since grown her home-operated business from just four students in the first year to 34 musical learners in the program currently.


"What sets Let’s Play Music apart from normal music lessons", Seyboldt said, "is its interactivity."


“She teaches them difficult music theory concepts through song and dance,” said Amy Brown, a pianist and mother of three children who have been through the program. “They don’t even realize that they’re learning it.”

The learning takes place through a structured program based in the teachings of music masters Zoltán Kodály, Carl Orff and Émile Jaques-Dalcroze.

Seyboldt teaches the principles of Kodaly through the association of sound to body by using hand symbols to teach the solfège symbols. These are the set of ascending notes commonly known as do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and ti.

Orff’s teachings are learned via instrument with the progression of percussion, voice, tone bells and piano. The Dalcroze principles are used to teach rhythm through movement, which the Let’s Play Music curriculum does through with puppet shows set to classical music.


Taking classes every week, students are enrolled in the program for three years, which mimics the school-year schedule. It culminates when the students compose their own song at the end through the use of the various instruments they have learned, including voice.


One focus of Seyboldt’s teachings, and the one she believes is most important, comes through strong parent involvement. Parents are asked to come to lessons every other week for the first year and then to move to once a month in the second and third.  A lot of the success is due to the parents and what the kids do at home,” Seyboldt said. “I feel lucky to have dedicated parents.”

The Psychology of Music

The Psychology of Music infographic

Brush Up on Piano Skills

August is here, and that means Let's Play Music classes are starting up soon!  If your child has already completed year two (yellow arrows), a few weeks of brush-up practice can really help your youngster get back in the groove for the upcoming purple class.

The Student Helps Decide
Just as we suggest for the school-year, chat with your child about practicing and have him be part of the decision-making.  Which days will we be in town to practice?  What time of day will we practice?  How many days will we practice (perhaps 5/week).  Make a chart to keep track of each week.  Your child might want to draw a simple 5 shapes to color in, or you might want to make a table or use any variety of printable charts.

Why are We Doing This?
Talk up the joys of returning to class.  "You learned so many great things last year, I really want your fingers to remember what they could do, so you can learn some new fun things!"
Be understanding of your child's feelings.  "Remember how last year it took a while to learn the chords, and was really tricky.  It might feel tricky at first because we haven't practiced for a few weeks, but I'm so excited for you to have fun playing these songs again."
Help him remember his favorite things from class. "I remember how much fun you had playing this song last Spring.  Let's practice it a few times so it can be fun again.  Your teacher is going to be so surprised to see that you're even better at this than you were last Spring!"

Design Your Practice
Even without a weekly assignment from your teacher, you can put together a nice practice routine with these guidelines.  Once you decide what you'll work on (let your child have some input as to what he thinks needs work), write it out on his chart so your he knows the assignment.  Choose one item from each category each week. 

• Warm up each day with a review of the Red, Yellow, and Blue chords.  Use "Primary Cadence"; choose block, marching, or broken style.  Or play the "Primary Chords Song".  Or practice shifting between 2 chords (red, blue, red, blue, red).  If each hand is perfect, move to hands together.
• Work on technique, focusing on curved bubble-fingers and individual finger control.  Play "The Caterpillar Song", "Do Re Mi" (remember the pops?), "Bug Scale", or "Scale in and Out"
• Polish up some repertoire with chording.  Although some of these songs are written for right hand, your child should try it with left hand instead, or both hands if each is perfect.  Use "Love Somebody", "Lullaby and Goodnight", "Tingalayo", or "When the Saints Go Marching In." Several Green Songbook songs would be fun, too.
• Polish up some repertoire with two hands.  Remember to start by playing only one hand (Mom, you get to play the other hand for a nice duet.)  Then get back into playing hands together.  Use "I'm an Indian", "How to Skip", "Practice Everyday" or "Hickory Dickory Dock."
• Learn something new. Be adventurous! Try learning the melody with right hand to Green songbook songs like "Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck", "Halloween is coming",  "Johnny's Hammers", or yellow songbook songs like "Love Somebody." Although the notes are printed small, your child (with a little bit of help) can probably figure out the melodies to almost all of our songs, remembering to take it slow and look at steps, skips, and intervals.  Mom, you can play the accompaniment for a duet, and if your child learns the right hand really well, learn both hands to WOW your teacher!

 

Be There. Have Fun
Now that you have a practice chart and a list of things to work on, be there with your child as he gets back into the practicing groove.  Cheer for all the bits he remembers well, and take it slow on the bits he has forgotten.  Focus on having fun (sing! be silly! be surprised! play your duet! play along with the CD!) and remember that a few giggles with your child will buy mounds more success than approaching the new year with tears or fears.  See you soon!

Making Musicians by the Numbers

Teachers attended the 2013 Symposium in Mesa, AZ

 Classes are about to begin for the year, and you can rest assured that your child is among the lucky group receiving the very best in early music education.  Ever wonder just how many young musicians are getting their start in Let's Play Music?

In 2012-13, the total number of students enrolled was 4,577.  In May, 942 Orange students graduated.  That means if your child entered a composition in our contest, she was competing against nearly a thousand other talented students!  Revisit the winners of the 2013 competition HERE.

Students were taught by our fleet of licensed teachers, which has blossomed to 261 active teachers across the USA (find one near you), with over 50 new expected this next year.  Once a  few amazing musicians are trained in any area (like the graduates featured HERE and HERE), Let's Play Music quickly spreads.

As numbers of teachers and students rise, Let's Play Music has reinforced the infrastructure of the corporation, implementing a system to continually improve and perfect our student materials and curriculum.  Our excellent teacher support and continuing education programs mean that today is a fantastic time to jump in as a Let's Play Music student or teacher. 

How to Buy a Piano

Although our Let's Play Music program is very piano-intensive, we don't use them during the entire first year.  That means you've got a whole year to shop around and get ready!

The minimum requirements for your Let's Play Music experience are:

• The piano or keyboard must have full-sized keys.  Your child will build muscle-memory reaching the exact distance between 2, 3, 4 or more keys - those distances are exact.
• The piano or keyboard must have at least 5 octaves (61 keys).  Your child will have enough range to play everything in the LPM curriculum.

Electric keyboards are used by most teachers in class.  If you choose to purchase one for home, they can be found at yard sales, on Craigslist, at black Friday sales, and at many stores.

• Since keyboards don't need tuning, you probably won't run into a "bad" used one, but it is a good idea to download a free pitch pipe for your smartphone and check that the keyboard is tuned.
• The 'master tune frequency' should be at 440 Hz. On some keyboards this can be changed and make your keyboard seem out of tune.  Some keyboards also have transpose functions or pitch bender wheels or joysticks- if these get damaged, your keyboard will be out of tune.
• Although rare, a faulty cable could change the power delivered (and resulting sound) resulting in an out-of-tune keyboard.
• In our classes we rarely use the myriad of fun programmable functions, except in 3rd year when playing ensemble pieces like "Song of Joy".  So choose a keyboard that makes you happy.

Keep in mind, however, that a better piano is more likely to be exciting for your child to play, and you may want to start with something better, or upgrade after the Green or Yellow semester.  Most families choose an upright for their first acoustic piano and only upgrade to a grand piano years later if the need arises.

The largest of the uprights is the studio piano, which is 44 inches or taller.  Slightly shorter uprights, 39 to 42 inches tall, are referred to as consoles.  Spinets, 36-37 inches high, do not have great sound and have an inferior action configuration to consoles and studios.

 

• Make a point of visiting reputable showrooms to play some low, medium, and high chords and scales on various pianos- notice the different tone (mellow, bright, loud, soft) produced by each piano.  Tonal preference is very subjective and your opinion and budget matter more than the expert's when making a choice. 
• Also take notice of the touch (the movement and resistance as you press down) of the keys on various models.  This will be dramatically different from the electric keyboards.  Find a touch that is pleasing.
• Once you've narrowed it down to 2-3 choices, be sure to have your child test drive the pianos and help you choose which one is exciting to him.  You're in this together!  If he is already in Green or Yellow semester, he can play several songs on each piano to get a feel for them.

If you love the idea of the acoustic piano, but want to buy a used piano, be aware that it is possible to get stuck with a bad piano.  Remember some tips from the piano technician's guild: 

• Buy a used piano from a dealer if possible (reconditioned, with a warranty)
• If buying from a private seller, coordinate to have a piano tech guide you and check for problems (just as you would have a used car checked by a mechanic!)
• Beware of: single keys that are out of tune, single keys that seem to be playing 2 notes, buzzing or rattling sounds, plastic components, and deep grooves in the hammers.
• Beware of "free" or extremely cheap pianos- they likely have serious problems that would be expensive to repair in order to provide an enjoyable and quality instrument.

One final instrument you might consider is a digital piano.  With a full keyboard (81 keys),  touch sensitivity that mimics acoustic pianos, and pretty great sound, digital pianos are becoming very popular.  They add lightweight portability and relieve the need for tuning.  When your musician becomes very accomplished in years to come, he will still likely desire a switch to an acoustic piano.

• Sample the digital piano both with and without headphones on to see how it sounds each way.  The option of playing with headphones can be a very attractive bonus!
• Test the touch of the keys - do they feel like an acoustic piano?  Is the sound sensitive to how hard or fast you strike the key? After striking a key, does the sound reverberate for a few moments (like a piano) or stop immediately (like an electric keyboard)?
• Play a glissando.  How many notes can play simultaneously, and do you notice notes dropping?
• Does the sustain pedal have differing levels of sensitivity or is it just on/off?

Whichever style of instrument you decide to purchase, be sure to have it ready before Green semester lesson 1, set up in a comfortable and easily-accessible place in the house.  Your child will be practicing at least 5 times each week, so build excitement by making the instrument and the surroundings inviting and uncluttered.  If the process of buying an instrument seems daunting, your local dealer may also rent pianos and digital pianos so you can fall in love with your instrument before making the commitment.  Good Luck!