Muscular Habits and Keyboard Perception
Wrong muscular habits and incorrect ways of looking at piano-playing, so often formed during the child-stage are generally to be traced directly to this desire of localizing-power on the part of the teacher. Instead of being expected to learn one thing at a time, the child is expected to learn musically to speak, read, and write at the same time.
Instead of being first shown how to produce sounds from the instrument and to recognize the element of time in their production, the music page is placed before the child's eyes and the child is asked to translate those written signs into sounds without knowing how to correctly set the keys in motion. The generation of sound and recognition of the sounds made should receive the fullest possible attention. The result of this struggle occurs when the student attempts to learn to do several things at the same time. The consequence of this multi-tasking is the mental struggle creates a muscular struggle.
No thought can be given to what really are the necessities of the key. By "necessities of the key" I mean the physical characteristics of the keyboard along with the physiological elements of the human being. What are muscular prerequisites for the treatment of the keys on the keyboard or piano. Instead of learning to read music, the child instead contracts the habit of spelling notes.
Instead of being first shown how to produce sounds from the instrument and to recognize the element of time in their production, the music page is placed before the child's eyes and the child is asked to translate those written signs into sounds without knowing how to correctly set the keys in motion. The generation of sound and recognition of the sounds made should receive the fullest possible attention. The result of this struggle occurs when the student attempts to learn to do several things at the same time. The consequence of this multi-tasking is the mental struggle creates a muscular struggle.
No thought can be given to what really are the necessities of the key. By "necessities of the key" I mean the physical characteristics of the keyboard along with the physiological elements of the human being. What are muscular prerequisites for the treatment of the keys on the keyboard or piano. Instead of learning to read music, the child instead contracts the habit of spelling notes.
Objective should be to create Music
A child should be made to understand that a definite musical-sound is what is required before the instrument is engaged.
Sequences of sounds should then be learned from the teacher's dictation, portions of the music, scales, and actual simple songs should be translated into the requisite motions at the keyboard.
In this way, the child begins by understanding that musical sense is required, and that this sense must be drawn from the keys. The "muscular habits of education" necessitate which physilogical components of the human body must be implemented in order to generate sound. Enough time should be set aside as a separate phase of education, to teach the written signs representing musical letters, words and phrases.
Habits that include not only the necessary habits of muscular coordination, but habits of mind as well as of body. Habits of musical attention, habits of muscular attention, and hand-eye coordination are to be acquired.
In this way, the child begins by understanding that musical sense is required, and that this sense must be drawn from the keys. The "muscular habits of education" necessitate which physilogical components of the human body must be implemented in order to generate sound. Enough time should be set aside as a separate phase of education, to teach the written signs representing musical letters, words and phrases.
Habits that include not only the necessary habits of muscular coordination, but habits of mind as well as of body. Habits of musical attention, habits of muscular attention, and hand-eye coordination are to be acquired.