Roberta Brown has been teaching piano for 15 years. For 14 of those years, Brown used the traditional teaching method.
“My students were learning well, but I still wasn’t satisfied in that I found they weren’t remembering the pieces that they played,” said Brown.
Brown said expecting students to learn how to read sheet music before they can play the piano is like telling children they can’t speak until they learn to spell. Last year, Brown began using a new teaching method developed in Australia called “Simply Music.” The goal is to get students playing real songs right from the start.
“It would take years of traditional lessons before a student would get to the point that they can get very quickly with ‘Simply Music,’” said Brown. “They’re able to remember the songs better, and when someone asks them to play something now, they can play it without having music in front of them.”
The “Simply Music” sheet music looks more like connect-the-dots or a word puzzle. It’s full of roman numerals, shapes, symbols and letters. It may look funny, but Brown said it’s effective.
Hannah Chiaravalli, 11, is one of Brown’s students. Chiaravalli has been playing piano for about six years, but recently began learning with the “Simply Music” method.
“I can play a lot more songs, and a lot faster,” said Chiaravalli.
Brown said “Simply Music” is based on the premise that everyone is naturally musical.
“There are some people who say ‘I haven’t got a musical bone in my body.’ But when you hear people say that, ‘I haven’t got a musical bone in my body,’ there’s a rhythm to that. When we brush our teeth, we have a rhythm when we brush our teeth. When we walk, we have a rhythm when we walk,” said Brown.
Brown said the “Simply Music” method is especially beneficial for children with special challenges, like autism or ADHD. Students not only learn to play music, but often see improvements in speech development, motor skills, self-esteem, social skills and grades.
Chiaravalli has Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disorder that can make it difficult to understand how to interact with people. Her mom, Angela Pyszora, said she’s very smart but has sometimes struggled with the more social aspects of school. Learning to play the piano has helped.
“It’s given her a huge amount of confidence with her friends, because now all of her friends get together, and she can teach them and they can play together,” said Pyszora. “It just makes her feel good that she can do that, where she struggled with socializing in the past.”
“I think it’s helped me that a lot of people are interested in music, so a lot of people like music, so I teach them, and they enjoy it,” said Chiaravalli.
Brown said students do eventually learn how to read traditional music, but only after they’ve learned to play 40 to 60 songs and hopefully developed a joy for playing and confidence in their abilities.
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