I spent some time today experimenting with my kids….they are being so patient with me as I keep changing things around on their piano lesson books. I adjusted the colors even more because when I put them on the piano there wasn’t enough contrast. I also am waiting to put colors on the black notes until they start using those piano keys just to keep it more simple looking for them. Riley, my 12 year old commented, “Okay mom (monotone)…..” after I asked him to try out a newly colored song. After he got done he said, “Sorry mom I am not much help because I just sight read the whole thing and memorized it and didn't look at the colors.” I watched him play it on the piano for the first time and just buzzed right through it, peeking every so often at some of the colors :). I am so glad that he does have a really good ear...the second time through went even better.
Here are the colors I used on the piano keys. They look a little different when you print them out than what they show on the screen with my printer. I stuck with the basic colors on the white keys (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown) and then lighter shades on the black keys (light blue, grey, pink, light orange, light green.) It is similar to what Annie Wang does in her Rainbow Piano Technique books except I used the same colors every octave and the lighter shades are further away from their darker counterparts. These colors also go really well with the basic colors of a Crayola marker set of which I have many (just got a couple more for $.01.) I took a marker and colored in their regular piano lesson book. At first I was a little worried about coloring in their book but I figured if it ends up helping, it is worth it. I get really frustrated with either having to write the letters or the finger numbers in their books in order for them to learn the pieces. In the end they don’t really learn the music, they are just playing it enough times with help from me during our piano lessons that they end up memorizing it.
As I have been experimenting with the colors they are paying more attention to the keys and the sheet music and can play it after a couple of times through on their own. Sometimes I have to correct their counting or fingering but I take into consideration that they are looking at new things, i.e. colors on the page and on the keyboard for the first time.
"Bugle Call"
Bastien Piano Basics
Piano Book Level 1
by James Bastien
I “colored” a couple of songs for each of them after they went to bed tonight. I find that they are playing through them faster than I can color them. I tried coloring the stems of the notes and then circling the notehead on the whole notes but that was a little crowded so I am trying for the first time tonight just putting a dash above the treble staff or below the bass staff showing the color.
It does take a lot of time with the songs as long as they are for my kids, but it is cheaper than buying new books. A huge advantage is that I can start leaving off certain colors one by one at their pace to eventually get away from the colors all together.
I have my two kids in different piano lesson method series because they are at the same level and they were competing a lot. They started memorizing the songs while listening to the other one practice so when it was their turn to practice the piano they were just playing the songs by ear, and of course messing up in the same places (kinda funny when I think of it).
I find that they are turning into better sight-readers using this Rainbow Piano Technique. I have found that sightreading is the MOST valuable of all the skills I have as a musician. I have to pull teeth for them to play with style and dynamics right now but once I get them comfortable with the new note-learning method we will work on that. I don't want to throw too many things at them at the same time and frustrate them.
Let me know what you guys think.....
Lacey
Amazing Kid Musicians
