Adaptive Piano/Guitar
For a beginning student, piano or keyboard is an excellent instrument of choice for developing a foundation of musical skill. The careful selection of appropriate, incremental and obtainable goals - ie. subskills patiently taught and reinforced, help the student to make progress at his/her own pace in a relaxed, supportive environment.
The use of visual aids, manipulative materials, rhythm instruments, musical games, movement and singing is an integral part of our music program for all students. Adaptation of instructional techniques, which are tailored to the learning style of all students, may include the following:
- Use of task analysis, ie. breaking instruction into smaller steps, creating more manageable and easily obtained goals.
- Experiencing rhythm patterns through movement and beating on large drums
- Reinforcement of concepts through rhythm instruments, movement, singing and musical games
- Playing pieces on the keyboard using musical software in our computer lab.
- Use of color coded notation
- Emphasizing an aural approach to learning written notation
- Playing flashcard and large board games games to reinforce music reading.
- Focus on the student's preferred songs and favorite types of music
- Using pitch and rhythm patterns from the songs students are leaning
- Encouragement of creative expression via improvisation and composition
- Giving the student a clear, simplified part in ensemble settings
- Pacing the lesson to maintain attention through a variety of activities which vary the level of concentration needed
- Providing structure and organization through a binder that includes weekly practice sheets, repertoire pieces, recital programs and a reward system for visualizing and reinforcing progress
In general, it is best to wait until the student is older (usually at least 10 years old) before beginning guitar lessons. When the student is ready, several of the teaching strategies described above for piano instruction are used in the guitar lessons to facilitate learning and promote success.For example, structure, encouragement, pacing and division of skill areas into manageable subskills are important considerations for all learners and especially for those with special needs.
In addition, guitar students' music preferences are a key factor in how they are taught. Whenever possible, student's favorite songs are used as a basis for their instruction. If these songs are complex, chord structure is modified not only for the overall song, but also in terms of how they are played. For example, instead of fingering complete chords, many chords can initially be played with one or two fingers.
Modeling strums with use of visual cues such as arrows pointing up and down is another teaching strategy used in the guitar lessons. Strumming technique can be developed by initially strumming on just the first beat, then beats 1 and 2, then beats 1, 2 and 3 and then on all 4 beats..
An excellent learning tool for students is a software program that can slow down a recording of a song they are learning to play on the guitar. Not only does this give the student the ability to play along at the slower tempo the software can isolate a challenging sections of the song for repeated practice.
Attainment of skills contributes to building positive images and self-esteem. Because instruction is adapted and paced to achieve continuous progress, students not only enjoy playing their chosen instrument, they are also proud to share their music by jamming together and performing at our music parties and year end recitals.