Reading Notes – Intervals
Found in: Reading
Kelly T., Canada
I need a little clarification please in the intervals section of note reading. We put the intervals in the fingers; go through songs in their playlists saying the intervals. Then once we look at intervals on the page, and say them, perhaps writing the interval beneath them? Are we taking these then to the piano and saying and playing them? If so, how does the child know where to start (pitch) and with which finger–I don’t recall a reference to scanning for the lowest note in the stream to put your finger 1 on or using the actual pitches the notes represent.
When they were writing, coming up with their own streams, the kids went up and down as far as a fifth from any note prior–so they would go all over the staff. Obviously these couldn’t be taken to the keyboard nor put into fingers.
Sheri R., California
When they first start this process, yes, they plunk their hand down anywhere they feel like, and be sure they do both their left hand and right hand for each line so they don’t ever think treble clef refers only to right hand, etc. A subsequent lesson soon will start with them learning exactly where to put the hand so they actually play the correct pitch written; for now they are just getting used to playing intervals on the piano while speaking them aloud.
As for writing you can tell them to put a note at the beginning of the staff and one at the end a fifth higher or lower and tell them to stay within those borders in order to be able to play their own streams.
Cindy B., Illinois
Kelly, as long as you’re using the playlist songs to play with interval reading, the student already knows what note and what finger. If you’re referring to the streams of interval reading in the reading notes book, I understand your confusion. When the student is reading a stream of notes in the lesson, it doesn’t matter what note they start on, as long as they read and play the intervals correctly. That works when only 1 student is reading, but it doesn’t work for a group, nor for homework, though, does it? The teacher can’t possibly be watching every hand in a group, and obviously isn’t home with the student.
So as far as a group exercise – I’ll tell them what note to start with and then when all have finished the line, I’ll tell them what note they should be on if they did their intervals right. In the case of homework, I’ll have them write the note name of the 1st and last note above the corresponding notes in each line. If they start on the correct note (any octave at this point) they can check their own accuracy. Have they arrived at the correct destination? As is the case with most of the method Neil has given us all the tools we need but to carry them out in a way that teaches, requires us to become generative teachers of generative students!