Andrea and kids - learning with Soft Mozart

I will post here my personal learning experience, along with my DS1 (3.5 years old) and DS2 to come (he's in my womb ready to be born in about a month so he's piano learning journey has begun also, right ? )
Posting a week to week progress isn't suitable for us, as I use the moments both for me and DS1 as they come throughout the days and weeks.
So I'll just review what has happened so far. We've been using SM for two weeks. At first I put all the stickers on the piano, but then, after reading Nadia's experience I removed some and it's much better. I haven't covered parts of the keys yet, to see DS1's reaction when playing and when playing some of the SM games.

My experience so far:
My DS1 loves the piano so much that I thought I should learn what I can while he's not at it and exercise when he's not around.
That's why until yesterday I did almost daily (trying to exercise 5 day a week in general):
- Hanon #1 exercise
- 5 fingers exercise
- Chromatic scale
- Do major
- Do-major triads
- Hot Cross Buns - did it in the last week, using both hands
After watching the Aristocats youtube video "Scales and Arpeggios" I tried to find the notes of the song (Do, Mi, Sol, Do, Do, Sol, Mi, Do etc.) as I want to play it on the piano and sing the notes and the lyrics for my sons. To my amusement and surprise I believe I did find them all for the right hand; to make it a game for me, I will try to write the notes down and look for the music sheet of the song to compare and find mistakes.

I also played the Guess Key Game from time to time and HCB using Gentle Piano (that's how I started to learn HCB, of course).

Yesterday (December 28th), here's how I did:

Guess Key School – 3 min, 535 points, 4 baskets
I always stop at 4 baskets as I find it hard to find the bemol and diez notes. I have little knowledge about what those notes are and where they are on the piano so I will let those levels for another time, after practicing more with the "pure" notes.

Fruit Lines - 24:08 min, Level 61, 1276 points
Now this is an amazing way to learn the grand staff and where the notes are! I loved to go through the levels and find out how you get used to passing from vertical to horizontal, from right to left, from treble to bass.
My fingers where telling me to stop when using them with right/left arrows But I enjoyed it so much that I continued till my brain said "That's enough lady! We, the neurons in the middle of your brain, are having a 'headache'!"

Note Duration School – 9:57, 254 points, Level 8
I like the way Hellene created the coloring code. Again, it took me some minutes of practice to understand the game and make less and less mistakes but I stopped when the game became more difficult.

hellene wrote: Keep in mind that in all our games we don't use up and down arrow keys in purpose: piano keys go right and left, when the notes moving up and down. This is why we use just right and left arrows to prepare kids minds for this essential rule.

Ouch! not such an easy job with some games, especially when you're absorbed in the game, just like I was!

(Note: I really did feel a pressure inside the brain, in the middle, after playing these games for so long. And this feeling indicates always that the neural net is working. Try learning Chinese for a long time during the day and you'll have the same feeling - my husband knows better how it feels like )

Andrea

Here's how DS1 has done until yesterday:

For the first day he was playing keys with all and any fingers. I taught him that we have a rule: just one finger has to touch a key. And he has learnt it. The first challenge (for me) was gone.
Each day he want to play the piano I just let him play the notes and hear the sounds.
Usually he doesn't like me to show him the five fingers exercise or anything on the piano when the laptop or SM software is not running. He just want to play by himself but, as you'll soon find out, there are exceptions.

After Mrs. Post, NadiaD and lzp11 and other BK moms and friends here talked about their experience, I used the PPT or LR files shared on BK forum to play them once or more a day. In few days DS1 started singing the Do major back and forth easily. He loves singing the solfeggio and touch something with his index.
The flashcards are not appealing for him right now. So I'm just using the files to show him on the laptop screen - he enjoys them more.

In Guess Key Game he has been looking more at the screen and less at the piano and has been pressing a key that he likes or finds easier to touch with his finger. But he has started to learn about the gnome and the spider and their roles. (Will start colouring their images and put them around the room, like Nadia suggested, good idea.)

I tried once or twice to teach him HCB with Gentle Piano. He likes to see the butterfly and also enjoys pressing (wrong) keys as the spider is moving along the screen and the staff - a thing that surprises him and delights him, in a way, I guess.

And now, here's the news: yesterday, the same wonderful 28th of December, I decided to play the piano without letting my son interrupt me and just let him know that his turn will come after I have finished learning. Guess what?
He came from time to time and watched (with great interest) what I was doing. The result?
Well, after I finished, I took him in my lap and entered the Gentle Piano, HCB. I showed him how to press the keys with each finger (3,2,1) or just one finger and singing out loud the note. Then I let him sit alone at the piano and I helped him find the notes always (me) singing them out loud so he could remember. Here's the score:
140 sec – 11 / 15 with more help from me
114 sec – 6 /15 with less help from me
89 sec – 6 / 15 with same less help from me

What I've noticed so far:
I think he has remembered the "Mi,Re,Do" sequence from HCB.
The only note he recognizes easily on the piano is "Do". That's the one he presses most in the Guess Key game.
In Gentle Piano: he likes to see the butterfly appearing. Not so often, but he tried to follow my instructions when he needed to press the same note more than once - occasion on which I discovered he was looking at the screen and paying more attention on the piano keys he needed to find. He still likes to press keys and see where the spiders appear (basically he looks at the piano, chooses a key, and then watches the screen to see what does it show).

For me, after seeing his progress in the last two weeks and mainly yesterday, I am glad. He IS learning. And I believe I am giving him an example when I let him watch me playing and learning piano. Maybe in time he'll want to do what and how I do it and will stop fooling around as, like Manda said in her son's case, I know he's able to do better.

My view for now is just to find a variety of things to do and show him related to piano playing and just let him play when he wants to and teach him with SM when and how much he's into it.

Note: As it will take me at least few weeks until I have a video camera (on a mobile phone) to record and show you how he's doing, I'll try to describe what's happening.
Andrea

NadiaD wrote: I still did not started to do anything organized myself , but I promise I will! I want the brain pressure too!!

You're doing an organized thing with your daughter, and you're waiting as you want a similar thing for yourself, ha?
Don't wait, Nadia! Just go for it! Be a child yourself!

Yesterday I said to myself: ''I want to play and learn piano too! Why let just my son do it? I took SM for all of us! I have the right too and I'm going to use it whenever I can! And my son will just have to wait for his turn!" And I did! And it felt soo good!

I wanted to use as many games as possible to understand a bit the structure of SM and also find where I stand and how much I'm able to practice.

Conclusion: I love this software and Hellene's ideas! She really did a wonderful thing by creating this product and I thank her again that I finally got the opportunity of buying it and using it

Andrea

Hellene,

As a musician, what is your opinion on Andre Rieu and using his concerts as a way of instilling children the love for music?

I'm asking you as I love his concerts and my DS1 loves to watch his videos. I saw it as a way to teach him about music by showing him what an orchestra is, to describe him things he sees and hears in such a concert. I like his style of making a concert, it helps me listen to this music with great interest and joy.

Florin said in one of his posts about taking a child to a classical concert. Until I find an opportunity to do that, I can show him DVD's with live concerts and Andre Rieu is the first that comes into my mind, though maybe his shows are more made for entertainment (?).

As a music illiterate, I can not appreciate the quality of Andre Rieu's interpretation and artistic views. It's appealing to my ears and to my soul, but I can't compare what he does to the original composition or to a different interpretation of the same melodies.

Andrea

andreasro wrote: I will post here my personal learning experience, along with my DS1 (3.5 years old) and DS2 to come (he's in my womb ready to be born in about a month so he's piano learning journey has begun also, right ? )

Believe it or not: you are absolutely right. Russian also use to say: to consider yourself an educated person you have to have at least 3 diplomas: your grand parents’, parents’ and yours.

Posting a week to week progress isn't suitable for us, as I use the moments both for me and DS1 as they come throughout the days and weeks.
So I'll just review what has happened so far. We've been using SM for two weeks. At first I put all the stickers on the piano, but then, after reading Nadia's experience I removed some and it's much better. I haven't covered parts of the keys yet, to see DS1's reaction when playing and when playing some of the SM games.

My experience so far:
My DS1 loves the piano so much that I thought I should learn what I can while he's not at it and exercise when he's not around.
That's why until yesterday I did almost daily (trying to exercise 5 day a week in general):
- Hanon #1 exercise
- 5 fingers exercise
- Chromatic scale
- Do major
- Do-major triads
- Hot Cross Buns - did it in the last week, using both hands

Pretty good for the start! Did you have any experience in playing piano before?

After watching the Aristocats youtube video "Scales and Arpeggios" I tried to find the notes of the song (Do, Mi, Sol, Do, Do, Sol, Mi, Do etc.) as I want to play it on the piano and sing the notes and the lyrics for my sons. To my amusement and surprise I believe I did find them all for the right hand; to make it a game for me, I will try to write the notes down and look for the music sheet of the song to compare and find mistakes.
I also played the Guess Key Game from time to time and HCB using Gentle Piano (that's how I started to learn HCB, of course).

Yesterday (December 28th), here's how I did:

Guess Key School – 3 min, 535 points, 4 baskets

Remarcable!

I always stop at 4 baskets as I find it hard to find the bemol and diez notes. I have little knowledge about what those notes are and where they are on the piano so I will let those levels for another time, after practicing more with the "pure" notes.

Carefully look at the notes with diez (sharps) and bemol (flats) when you’ll reach the same level next time. You will see tiny black quadrangle on the right or left side of the notes. It means that instead of playing white key you have to play closest black one that is on the right or left side of the white key.

Fruit Lines - 24:08 min, Level 61, 1276 points
Now this is an amazing way to learn the grand staff and where the notes are! I loved to go through the levels and find out how you get used to passing from vertical to horizontal, from right to left, from treble to bass.
My fingers where telling me to stop when using them with right/left arrows But I enjoyed it so much that I continued till my brain said "That's enough lady! We, the neurons in the middle of your brain, are having a 'headache'!"

Why had you decide to play ‘Fruit lines’?))) I usually give this game after ‘Note Alphabet’ one. You are pretty smart, if managed to get so many levels. Did you reach the end of the game and saw fireworks?

Note Duration School – 9:57, 254 points, Level 8
I like the way Hellene created the coloring code. Again, it took me some minutes of practice to understand the game and make less and less mistakes but I stopped when the game became more difficult.

In contrary this game is not as difficult as you think. When colors disappear, just look at the notes in the baskets and you will be just fine.

hellene wrote: Keep in mind that in all our games we don't use up and down arrow keys in purpose: piano keys go right and left, when the notes moving up and down. This is why we use just right and left arrows to prepare kids minds for this essential rule.

Ouch! not such an easy job with some games, especially when you're absorbed in the game, just like I was!

Now I want you to imagine, how mad I am, when some people (especially music teachers) are trying to tell me that ‘it is not big of a deal to coordinate music notes going up and down and piano keys going left and right. When I am training them I usually give them the games and make my point right there, when they start complaining about that.

(Note: I really did feel a pressure inside the brain, in the middle, after playing these games for so long. And this feeling indicates always that the neural net is working. Try learning Chinese for a long time during the day and you'll have the same feeling - my husband knows better how it feels like )
Andrea

LOL