[the actual solfegge names i.e. DO, RE, MI, etc.]

my 2.5 year old daughter has been playing the guess key game and gentle piano since i started the program with her last month.

Wow! What songs are you playing now?
Do you keep track of Guess key game?

i have some questions and a suggestion: when do i start teaching her the proper fingers to use when playing? so far, i have let her use whatever finger she likes and she usually uses her right index finger and thumb.

As a classically trained musician I was also concerned about using right fingers at the beginning of working with Soft Mozart, But the more I was working with the software, the more relaxed I was feeling, because when the time on right part of monitor was showing less points, my little students were more perceptive to any of suggestions. Most of the time they Even figured the correct fingering all by themselves!

Numbers on the monitor could be very helpful for you to understand a lot of things about your daughter's development.

There are some stages that I had noticed during my experience with program:

1. Stage of 'looking for' : amount of correct notes very low - time extremely high

2. Stage of building coordination: amount of correct notes is increasing and the time is getting closer to... amount of correct notes that had been produced

3. Stage of hearing the song (believe it or not, but on stage 1 and 2 a beginner even is not realizing, whet exactly is she playing!) On this stage she is becoming more perceptive to your comments

It is very important on this stage not just to play a song, but also sing it naming the notes with Solfeggio. I amways 'bribing' my students with extra points ('music money' in my class) to sing and play at the same time. It is very helpful for their eat/voice training and... memorization
.
You see, kids learn how to speak by using their almost inborned skill - speach memory. When they are singing solfeggio while playing, they memorize the solfa faster then their fingers memorize all the moves! It helps a lot, when they are trying to recall the song.

4. When they make almost equal amount of points/time, they are ready for the rhythmical suggestions. Singing the song alone is also very helpful on this stage

5. When the amount of correct notes is close to perfect and time is close to 0, the students are ready to memorize the music piece.

6. When they are making almost or perfect score on hiding the notes stage or memorization, they are ready to play the piece with metronome. I usually use rhythm section of my digital piano/keyboard.

7. When they are not struggling with 'metronome', we add some 'icing on the cake' - all the beautiful staff that makes piano playing delisious (staccato, legato, crescendo, diminuendo etc)

also, i started teaching her using only solfegge, when do i start introducing the letter names of the notes?

It is up to you! I was introduced to the letter names in 5th grade of music school (when I was 11-12 and, honestly, I didn't miss anything!) When you connect abstract sound to abstract letter, it doesn't make a ‘spark’. We need Alphabet names for theory sake and when learning harmony, but who cares how your child is calling the music notes when playing piano and reading music?

i understand that the purpose of using pictures for solfegge is to enable young children who cannot yet read to play, but my daughter is already reading very well.

We use the pictures for kids and adults to let them grasp the notation quickly as a whole. It is like pictogram, hieroglyphs in Mandarin languages. The last things we want to do is to overload our students with necessity to read letters while developing the motor skills. Usually beginners memorize the pictures pretty quickly and even kids from different countries learn the English names of the pictures, because we almost don't have other languages yet.

may i suggest adding a third option for displaying the notes: 1) letter names, 2) pictures for solfegge, and 3) the actual solfegge names i.e. DO, RE, MI, etc. for children who can already read? would it be feasible to add this third option in the next upgrade for the software?
thanks!

I am so happy that you are using the method already and willing to improve it! I am always opened to suggestions.

Also, please, watch some videos in this threat that I had recently placed for you. Picture worth 1000 wards!

New video about HOW TO DEVELOP PIANO TECHNIQUE AND SIGHT-READING SKILLS WITH SOFT MOZART was just published.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/xDpL0V3Y6jM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/xDpL0V3Y6jM&rel=1</a>

The Yamaha Method-  additional info on Solfege
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryN9yNsX5A8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ryN9yNsX5A8&rel=1</a>
Ear First
The Yamaha Method employs "Fixed-Do" solfège (without altered syllables) in both ear training and keyboard activities. Fixed-Do enables a child to connect a specific pitch and syllable, such as middle Do (middle C), with a specific key on the keyboard. Aural training using Fixed-Do helps children internalize pitch, resulting in a strong relative pitch sense and, in many cases, perfect pitch. Consequently, in JMC classes one will observe students singing solfège by ear and eventually playing keyboard by ear.
Solfège is the core of the Yamaha Method; students absorb this musical vocabulary and use it in both beginning and advanced courses. Solfège becomes each student's first musical voice. In every class, teachers sing melodic patterns and chords that children imitate. Solfège sessions at the teacher's piano account for approximately 15 to 20 minutes of a 60minute class. Through singing solfège, students begin to acquire a sense of pitch, rhythm, meter, harmony, form, phrase structure, key, articulation, dynamics and mood.
By the end of two years in JMC, students have built a substantial vocabulary of solfège, having sung 50 melodies and numerous chord progressions using the I, IV and V7 chords in the keys of C major, G major, F major, D minor and A minor. Aside from developing musicianship, these solfège experiences prepare children to play in these five keys. In fact, children experience singing in a key for approximately one semester prior to playing in that key.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ihg9KA7bE5U&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Ihg9KA7bE5U&rel=1</a>

Oh!

I just saw your post. Thank goodness I see some respect for Solfegio,

Yes, this is Yamaha's big winning point!

Wow! I LOVE the price!
All pianos are good enough, and I think, this will be good,too.
Try to enlarge the photo of stickers for now and print it out. Unfortunately, we don't offer it for free for several reasons. But I don't want it to be an obsticle
[/quote]

They also have a 3 year warrenty that covers accidental damage for only $20; they said it would cover toddler accidents too!
[/quote]

Oh, boy  
You know, in my studio I have keyboards that is 14 years old. You have no idea how many toddlers they had been survived, I don't think these things are breakable  

"Fi-Fa-Fo-Fum, I smell the blood of a musician. . ."

Can we climb off our beanstalks and get back to empowering kids to love music instead of "gotcha"?

Thanks

Chris

You see, Chris, this is pretty essential staff and in a way is corner stone of all the problems in music education. Why?

It's like Roman numbers system in modern world of math. It's preventing our entire music system from further growth. 

Voice of human is a cradle of music. Solfeggio is a basic subject in all the respected schools of music.

To remove or cripplee this subject at the beginning of child's development, I think, is a huge mistake.

as long as we're not teaching them the wrong stuff

As a professor of music can't agree more!

If you're going to sing in "re major", you can't call the 3rd of the scale "fa" - that would be a minor 3rd from the tonic re.  You would sing "fi" which is a semitone higher.

Well, let's not point our fingers here and let's try to be NICE for a change! 

Who said you CAN'T sing fa # as a fa?
Entire Russian school of music based on that, and the world is listening to Tchaikovsky's NUTCRACKER on Christmas ok and hire Russians everywhere as pretty proficient musicians. 

Pentatonic or blues? They are improvisational genres and hadn't been meant to be written down. And even though classical notation had served the task!

But to instantly translate any pitch into a note and write it down in any Tonality is great! But, I think, to devide the melody into abc and what is tonica or dominanta is a bit slower process!

I've been thinking about downloading the demo version of SM for awhile now so I can compare it to PW that I bought about a year ago (which my kids still don't play.) I still have to get a keyboard: does this one look like it would work?  Where would I get stickers?  Does this keyboard look like it would work?  Thank you.

Wow! I LOVE the price!
All pianos are good enough, and I think, this will be good,too.
Try to enlarge the photo of stickers for now and print it out. Unfortunately, we don't offer it for free for several reasons. But I don't want it to be an obsticle

There are three variations possible on each line, or space. That is where everyone gets lost, keeping track of the possible variations, and then back again...

What or who exactly were lost?
Advanced forms of music?
Prodigies?

I like the metaphor that the notes got married and changed their names though! That was cute. Does the "Sharp" clan feud with the "Flats"? Lots of inbreeding there if you ask me!

Thanks

Chris

You are sweet!

How to get Free copy of Deluxe version:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ewlp2aeyddo&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Ewlp2aeyddo&rel=1</a>

Good luck!

Here all the free materials we placed recently in our Free Music school section.

We are planning to place there more free songs for those who still hazitant

http://www.doremifasoft.com/frmusc.html

Now let's see what we can do with just one song:

Learning to play with RIGHT HAND
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/e1qwmu0EITo&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/e1qwmu0EITo&rel=1</a>

Learning to play LEFT HAND
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/N5a6AWstupk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/N5a6AWstupk&rel=1</a>

Learning correct fingers:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kyhpb4PGNJI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Kyhpb4PGNJI&rel=1</a>

Learning to play with 2 hands
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/3N6hHDtfnmE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/3N6hHDtfnmE&rel=1</a>

Selecting and cutting a section of the song
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/z2V58q6-I_0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/z2V58q6-I_0&rel=1</a>

Memorizing
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/wunbGynLO7I&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/wunbGynLO7I&rel=1</a>

Here is the videos about how to work with the core of the system - with Gentle piano.

You may download free demo of Ode to Joy here: http://www.doremifasoft.com/sotoreplandm.html

Print out the piano keys (attached to this post) inlarged (to be like piano guides).

Connect your piano and computer: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/jMiUk0Um2GA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/jMiUk0Um2GA&rel=1</a>

Tune the program to have the best quality of the sound: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/d--w2BR-taU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/d--w2BR-taU&rel=1</a>

You are ready to go.

More passionate posts about solfeggio. I think it proves my point, that there are multiple approaches, each with its own drawback, but getting the kids singing and some notion of pitch relationship is GREAT. The problem is actually NOT in solfeggio, but that it is based on classical music theory, and so shares the inconsistencies and quirks of that system, i.e., the overlaps between diatonic, modal and chromatic scales. The major scale, its modes and variations, (including blues scales and minor scales) is still the touchstone for so much music, but its variability makes for quirky definitions and relationships, especially when you get to harmonic theory . . .

With music, there is no "arriving". If Bach was still working out things on the art of the fugue on his deathbed, then I think we can safely say music should be a lifelong deepening education. To insist that one or another approach will "damage" the kids is as if we tatooed this information on their foreheads with hot branding tools. Kids learn about Santa and survive, their knowledge of the world grows infinitely, a metaphor or approach in the early stages does not stick anymore than the story of the Easter bunny, once new better deeper understanding is available, they can discard the earlier story/metaphor/approach and get to a deeper one. This can and should go on their whole lives. There are dozens of scales that can be overlaid to the chromatic 12 half note scale, there never will be one solfeggio that portrays the nuances of all those approaches. If you focus on the major scale, you will have trouble with modulations, if you focus on the chromatic, you ignore one of the central touchstones, the major scale and its inner relationships (modes).

Use them all, but for goodness sake, don't preach any one approach as "gospel". They are parts and pieces of an infinite puzzle, and we should delight in the different approaches rather than marry any one. We can all have preferences, even strong opinions, but let's be tolerant and not try and frighten or intimidate new parents that they will damage their children's musicality by accidentally choosing the "wrong" solfeggio.

Maybe the best thing we can teach them is that tolerance and curiosity to explore new and different approaches and find what works for them.

Thanks

Chris

 

There are 7 notes of scales, Treble and Bass cleff, line and spaces notes, Chris. From here we can build all the rest. Otherwise it is a chaos in heads and in education.

 

The hardest thing in life to do is to simplify things, We say all the genious ideas are simple.

 

Where do you see the passion? This is just facts,

 

 

 

OH and there aren't really 24 "tonalities".  There are 12 major keys and 12 minor keys - that's only 2 different tonalities, or to use a different word, 2 different scales, starting on each of the 12 different notes.  And all these can be sung using both fixed and movable do, but much easier singing movable do - you just start on do for major, and la for minor and then off you go.  With fixed do, if you want to sing in C# major, you'll be singing the seven sharps like fi instead of fa, si instead of so.

The other tonalities are the other 6 modes:  dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeloian, locrian and of course ionian which is just the major scale again. Dorian is starting on re, phrygian on mi, and so on. But you MUST sing the same intervals between the solfege notes and you will get a different scale starting on each note.

tonality
ListenRead phonetically
Dictionary - View detailed dictionary
noun
1.tonality
2.key
3.mood
4.mode
5.keynote

Things are not as complicated as you see, dear Fludo

Yes, there are 24 tonalities/keys,modes whatever - 12 MAJOR and 12 MINOR



And kids learn MAJOR scale a little more advanced abd literacy friendly way, when they call all the diatonic notes their real names. As for sharps and flats I tell them that in Re MAJOR fa and do 'got married' and their last names are sharps. It works!