Melody, 5 year 1 month, USA, level 2

Mel02 wrote: We have be behind schedule. Thanks Helen for skype with us even when she didn't fully recover from sickness. We finally figured out it should be here to do posts for this year.

Melody went to Kindergarden this fall and we still need to force more routine discipline so we can have more time for things.

Melody has been doing Guess Key Game, it is hard for her to stay 5 minutes there. She did well in first couple of minutes then would be moving around.

We started use some screen to block the tree, so she would do it by most ear while still able to see the score. Most time, around 26 seconds, she was able to move the first tree. The score is about 300+ around 5 minutes.

She is doing the recommended songs "O Christmas tree", "Joy xx Sainta" and doing Hannon#2. And in Music appreciation, we are so impressed with "in the Hall of mountain king", we also spend some time there. For sight reading or music playing, I am trying to explain her the way of moving finger least and knowing where each finger is at. And avoid looking at keyboard and hand when looking at the music sheet.

And since we are doing stretch between 1st finger and other fingers in Hannon#1 and #2, we try to apply it to these over the songs playing. No finger move, just stretch to cover 6 keys or 7 keys.

Is this right direction?

We have been doing sight-reading for quite a while, sometime, it is not that she does not know the key, but her finger just play it own and at the wrong place. I figure she has to fix something for better play or shall we just wait for her to develop this naturally without putting "the least move" rule?

In the note duration part, she can do well in game, she once got to the final level 21. But she did not seem to map when in note duration to real world. And not really also by ear. Any suggestion here?

Mel02 wrote:

Teach her to think before pressing the key. Right (time ) number irrelevant in this exercise.

Is that we will ask her to announce both the note and the finger position?

I think, it is way too stressful to think and to say. Just ask her do not worry about the time, but to try to make left number with less mistakes.

And to know them easier/quicker, we will just apply the mosquito counting as in one of your exercise. Use relative position in sentence. At the moment of start another sentence, use absolute position.

This is very good idea! I wish to see the video on 'mosquito counting'

Yesterday, when we were studying the finger position for Jolly to the world, we find that we need something to make more sense of "least move" and we found its right scope. Melody just learned the concept of sentence in Kindergarten. And we find it just apply to music as well. We started to check the sentence in each music piece we had played, and would clap our hand when we thing it is a period. It seems Melody could almost get it alright for simple songs and she was very focused and excited.

It would be great to have the video! I am preparing to make a puppet tale on that!

Google sentence (in music) today, it seemed very complicated. I guess we will just use our simple way for listening to a pause for now.

I am not following you here. Need more details.

For the ear training with Guess Key Game, I think Helene mentioned that kid could sing the note then press the key. Shall we get them to fix their finger and then sing the note and think finger position too? Melody is using few fingers when doing Guess Key. Often move the hand away, then check the keyboard, then the index finger on, then away her hand again at the pleasure of doing right.

Do not worry about finger numbers in this game. To see and to sing is very attention consuming already. It will come naturally!