Anyway, to get to my point at last, with a well educated music teacher as a mother, why did you need the soft mozart programme for yourslef (you have said that you used it yourslef to learn to play)?
I would be fascinated to hear your story.I've been playing piano for as long as I can remember.. But I never really enjoyed it. To make a long story short(er), I HATED piano lessons. I hated the drills, I hated sitting alone in a room with a score of 'impossible' sheet music that I was expected to figure out, and most of all I hated having to take lessons with my mother and being reminded how 'lucky' I was, when most people couldn't even afford such a 'luxury.' And, I suppose a lot of it had to do with results.. As a child, I just didn't feel like I was making enough progress for the lessons to be worthwhile.. After all, since my mom was a teacher, it was obvious that there were students that were my age that were much more 'gifted' than I was. It all seemed pretty pointless.
Suddenly, I was given an option that dispelled a few of these burdens. I had an extensive library of music to choose from, so I finally started learning the songs that I actually had an interest in, and some of the aides supported me enough to 'step up' to more advanced pieces. And best of all, I could do most of the preparation on my own; Then, my mother would sit with me and show me the proper fingering (though most of the time, my hands could figure out what was best on their own after I became familiar with the piece), and encourage certain techniques that would polish the performance... And of course pull out books of varying difficulty from time to time to develop sight reading without the program. My only regret is that I never got a good routine down for practice. Sometimes I would go several months without a thought about the piano, then go for a few weeks, training everyday. All in all, it took me about three years to reach a point in which I was comfortable with reading almost anything from a book.
In the meantime, like I mentioned, I was a constant witness to Traditional lessons.. From the time that my mother taught in a Conservatory in the USSR, to private lessons in the US before SM. I would often work for her during the summers as a teacher's aide, doing various exercises with her younger students during group lessons.
It is easy to learn a piece using a computer program. I would be able to do the same thing with learning the guitar. I even think there is a video game out now that uses a guitar as a controller.
The problem I have is: the art.
A computer cannot teach proper technique, touch, tone, phrasing and human artistry that is music.
I am not impressed with either videos. Especially the one with the 6 year old playing Ode to Joy.I believe the program you're referring to is Guitar Hero. I've heard many great things about it, and SM has even been likened to it by a few of my students.. But I haven't had the chance to check it out myself. Once again, I must repeat that SM is NOT meant to replace the piano teacher, nor is it a 'miracle program' that can successfully replace every other method out there. However, if built upon by a good teacher that is well-versed in other useful teaching methods, it can be priceless.
All of the videos I posted just display specific aspects of the program. I'm afraid that I don’t have access to one that shows the 'final result.' However, I can't help but wonder whether anyone can ever FINISH learning about piano, or anything else for that matter.
The video of Wilhelm displays the most basic advantage of the program: A person with absolutely no experience with piano can sit down and learn to play a fairly advanced song on his own in 30 minutes. Yes, his fingering is atrocious. Yes, he lacks musical 'finesse.' Those are all things that can only be taught by a capable teacher.. But imagine how much more time and effort you could spend on those, in my opinion, rather enjoyable aspects of teaching, than the basic focus on memorization of the song when the program can take care of it for you in a very short amount of time?
The video of the three year old displays that the program can make valid piano lessons possible even for children as young as 3. I've heard of music classes for young kids that revolve around music appreciation, clapping to the rhythm, dancing, etc, but rarely making the music themselves.
Finally, the ‘Ode to Joy’ video shows how the program can train a student’s ear to play a song in any key, not to mention instill a sense of confidence in such a young child to even attempt such a task without feeling overwhelmed.
It is too bad that we don't have a teacher here with a decent level of experience with both to compare them fairly. And I also think it is relevent to ask about Ochy's experience and training to back up some of her comments. If you are going to make a critical statement about a type of method, then be able to back it up.It really is a shame that I never had the chance to obtain an ‘official’ education, so that I could easily say ‘look, I have a degree in Musical Pedagogy from so-and-such prestigious school, so clearly what I say has merit.’ But I am trying my best, and most importantly, I am giving you my honest accounts of experiences. Music has always been a huge part of my life.. So much so, that unfortunately I took it for granted as a child. However, I assure you that I’ve seen this program work, first hand. After all, it worked for me! Here are a few additional accounts from a couple of people that might have more ‘merit’ than I do:
Signed letter of approval written by nationally renowned pianist Yuri Rozum:
http://www.softmozart.com/Site/discussion.php?discussion=97 More on Yuri Rozum can be found on his website here:
http://www.yurirozum.com/ A letter from Victoria Lopez Meseguer, A Piano Teacher and Vicedean of the Professional Conservatory of Music in Joaquin, Madrid:
“To whom it may concern:
I write this letter to strongly recommend SoftMozart as a wonderful method for teaching music. And I speak of music and not only of piano because Softmozart helps setting the foundations of not only piano fundamentals but also ear training, internal rhythm, harmony and music memory. I find it my obligation to be alert of new possibilities for my piano students. I teach all levels but I am specially concerned about the beginning of education. First, because I am convinced that the younger the student, the better the teacher should be. Not only in the psychological approach but also because of the fact that one needs to have the final goals so clearly as to not introduce anything that could be a learning burden for a student in the future. After all, music learning is a spiral method. We teach the same concepts again and again and the only difference is the context, the music piece that the student plays. On the other hand, there are many methods that captivate the student at the beginning but makes them face a dessert after a year or two. I am thinking of teaching methods that provide the student with no reading grounds. Most of these students quit when they find themselves having to read what they think they can play by imitation.
I also find my obligation to dive into the real XXI century, meaning that the students of today deserve
the possibilities that the rest of the curricula offer to them: technology. I was startled to know the results of the investigations of Rauschen in 1997 where he compared the results in spatial-temporal outcomes of a group of children who had taken piano lessons, a group of children that had taken computer lessons and a group of children who had taken no special lessons apart from traditional school subjects. The study found that those receiving piano lessons indeed scored 34 percent
higher on tests measuring spatial-temporal ability. Then followed the children who had received computer training.
Well, SoftMozart combines these two trainings. To start with, children just stick to the piano no
matter how young. I have seen three year old children waving goodbye to their parents without even looking at them as they left and begging for more after their lesson. And this is a very good start for any teacher. In respect to the advantages of the method I would like to highlight::
7. It doesn’t interfere at all with my traditional teaching. The teacher has a reason to exist with constant indications about fingering, hand position and relating concepts from one piece to another.
8. The chosen pieces are also “traditionalâ€. Bastien, for example, is one of the most famous methods in
Spanish Conservatories.
9. Fruit Lines and Guess Note are two games that also help train absolute ear. After more than twenty years of teaching I have found no better method for this. The child constantly listens to the sound of a note with no boring sensation because he thinks he is only playing with a video console game when in fact he is receiving constant listen-recognize feedback about absolute pitch. Some children just respond to sound. To be able to recognize these children at so early stages is an invaluable tool for a teacher. Any other method to work these that I can think of would involve an active respond from the child, and we all know that the shiest children can be the best hidden artists.
10. Note duration makes rhythm not only a mental process from the mathematical point of view but also a fast muscular responding process, as it should eventually become in the future for any pianist. The child thinks and feels the rhythm and it is hard to tell what comes first.
11. Small children can spend years in music movement lessons before starting piano in traditional teaching. Now I see no reason why they should wait for so long before playing piano, provided the piano keys weight is appropriate for their muscles.
12. With respect to Gentle Piano these are the rest of the advantages I see:
a. The vertical disposition of the staves compared to the horizontal simply mean that what is on the right is on the right and what is on the left is on the left. This sounds absurd but the fact is that with
traditional teaching a piano students needs to face orientation indications that contradict natural laws.
Some parents are concerned with this fact (so what will happen when he faces a “normal scoreâ€?). I just press a key on the computer and the students faces the “normal scoreâ€. And the student just plays because he also recognizes his favorite toy if we turn it around. The important fact is that he has understood in a natural way the direction of the music on the score and the direction of the same notes on the piano.
b. Some traditional teachers say “ok, but art has nothing to do with thisâ€. My answer is always the same one. Your first obligation is to teach the student how to read and now the linguistics. Your second obligation could be letting him read a best seller or take his hand and dive him into Shakespeare. Well, I don’t know of any Language teacher who wouldn’t appreciate all this help in teaching their students how to read. This can only result in having spare time for the “artistic processâ€.
c. The evaluating process is an instantaneous thing. The competition is not with the teacher. The teacher doesn’t correct things as “not a do or a fa but a miâ€. The teacher can teach and correct other more important things and doesn’t need to accompany with words every sound of the piano. After all we keep telling our students that music and silence go together. The fact that the teacher is in your team and that the competition is IN the computer, is another pedagogical approach that I find invaluable.
d. Group individual teaching. That is another advantage. I can switch from one to another many times
in a very short lapses of time. This allows me to make a correction without directing it to the child that
needs it. I speak aloud and all of them listen to it but the one that needs it is the one that understands
it better.
e. The fact that the creators of this method keep upgrading the software and are always ready to listen
to suggestions and keep in touch with the teachers who use it is really important for me. I wish I could say the same thing for other creators of software that I use for only Solfegge training. I have found myself using the songs of SoftMozart in the traditional layout for solfegge singing. The child first reads and sings the piece with the solfegge notes and then learns it on the piano.
I can only recommend SoftMozart for any teacher willing to have an invaluable aid in teaching what for
so many people is the reason to not have continued with piano education: boring approaches or just the intrinsic difficulty in beginning of the learning process.
Victoria Lopez Meseguer
Piano Teacher and Vicedean of the Conservatorio
Profesional de Musica JoaquÃn Turina de
Madrid
Calle Serrano 226 Duplicado
Madrid 28016
Spain
vlmeseguer@mac.comâ€
Finally, this past year, the Moscow Conservatory, which as we’re all aware has had many prestigious students over the years, recently published a book in Russian named “How to Teach Music in the 21st Century†that included a 22-page article written by Olenka about the Soft Mozart program. Unfortunately, an adequate translation is still in the works, but here are several scans to give you the idea:
<img src="http://img.photob...cket - Video and Image Hosting"> <img src="http://img.photob...cket - Video and Image Hosting"> <img src="http://img.photob...cket - Video and Image Hosting"> I really must apologize for such a lengthy reply, but I felt that a lot might be cleared up if these points were addressed.
Cheers!