Simpedia

Patti P., Hawaii

I’m new to SM since spring 2011, so mine isn’t a voice of vast experience with the method, but if a student comes back playing the “extra” notes, I just say, “Great, you’ve heard this piece elsewhere with the added notes!” and move on with the lesson. They feel validated and other students who don’t know the extra notes don’t feel they’ve missed something.

Mark T., Australia

I don’t know about other teachers but I always start my students on the basic version that is contained in their SHM and that Neil covers. Usually I find within the same or the very next lesson, those that know the piece are already adding the extra notes, or with some careful ‘controlling of the events’ other students not familiar with ‘Ode’ get it pretty quick. I usually don’t make them revert back to the simple version after that.

Lorraine W., California

I thought it was to separate the ear from the SM tool being learnt. It’s a test to see if we can focus on the task in hand. That’s how I viewed it, anyway.

Cindy B., Illinois

My understanding is that the choir sings 2 repeated notes to match the lyric, and the strings play 1 note in accompaniment to the choir. Since we’re laying the instrumental part, it follows that we’re playing a half note. It really doesn’t matter that much, though. If they prefer the double note version, I just make sure they are ABLE to play the half note version. It’s a CTE opportunity!

Mark M., New York

Whether this “real” way this particular piece goes or some other change a student might make from the way a piece is taught, my attitude is always to say that’s fine for you to do whatever you want as long as you can also always play the piece in the original way it’s taught.

The original way is important not only from the standpoint of integrity for the strategies for learning to play pieces but also for later on when the reading program will be introduced, so that what is seen on the page matches what is known thoughtlessly in the hands. Otherwise, it’d be like, in language, allowing a word to be chronically mispronounced, and then no wonder it would be for a kid to learn how it’s spelled on the page. But also allowing students their own variations gives the win-win of structure and flexibility rather than just one or the other.

Lori N., Utah

Maybe Ode to Joy is presented that way because it just fit the middle to top, top to bottom, bottom to middle pattern better to not have the first note repeat. But I’ve also felt that with Ode to Joy being the first place where students actually count while playing, having that first note be different from what their ear assumes it should be makes them think more about the counting and about some notes being long notes. It is a small exercise in choosing to slow down and look carefully at what is happening.

If it fits the student, you could do a separate little improv when learning Ode to Joy, asking the student to play any five notes of the same length, then play those notes again choosing one or two notes to be the long ones. Using the same five notes, choose different notes to be the long ones one or two more times. I wouldn’t have them count with this improv, just feel the difference in the lengths.

I’ve been impressed with how very small steps in this program build a solid foundation, bit by bit, for good reading and musicality. But there’s always room for inspiration – in our recent Utah meeting Neil showed us an approach to teaching Ode to Joy that utilized a different strategy and actually had two repeated notes at the beginning. The learning strategies are what make the difference between the way we teach in Simply Music and just learning to play by ear. Any number of strategies can be useful.

Jan D., Ohio

I have had this conversation with students before and have told them to listen to a recording of the 9th Symphony. The “Ode to Joy” theme appears with different rhythms. I also looked briefly at the score to satisfy my own curiosity. I’ve also seen other arrangements of Ode to Joy with the exact same rhythm as the Simply Music version. But, I do agree that almost all students want to do the other rhythm because that is what they are used to hearing, for some because of the lyrics of the hymn, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” I tell them the same thing about being able to play both versions (basically, I tell them the same thing about every song); as long as they can play the foundation version of a song correctly, go for it – change it, rearrange it, use it as an inspiration for their own arrangements, improvisations, and compositions.