ADD: The Solfege Train

[Tamsyn]

I apologize if it is inappropriate to post this here, but I've seen similar posts in the past, so I'm going to take my chances. 

I've been working on a music product for about a year to teach young children music, and I released it today.  You can find out more about it here:  http://www.teaching-children-music.com/2012/10/the-solfege-train.html

It's $25, and you can get $10 off during October with the coupon "Brillkids".

Oddly enough, the colors matching LMS was purely a coincidence.  In fact, the matching colors was a selling feature of LMS for me, since my kids were already used to colors.  I think these materials are highly compatible with Little Musician.  Little Musician is by far a superior product, with the curriculum all set out and all of the sound files, etc, etc, etc.  (I love LMS!!)  However, if you want some hands-on manipulatives, these printables are a great supplement.  Originally it was designed for just "Movable Do", but I have updated and added several files this last month for "Fixed Do" use.  I'll also be adding some files here on Brillkids soon to help you adapt LMS for "Movable Do" if anyone is interested.

It's a homemade product, but I'm proud of it.  Thank you for letting me share. 

[eschlem]

Hi Tamsyn,

Just bought the download.  Thanks for creating this product, I think it will be very helpful!!  Congrats!!

[Eliana]

Also purchased The Solfege Train.  As an elementary music teacher, there are lots of manipulatives here that I can use with my lower grade classes, not to mention my almost-3-year old.  Thanks!

[Kerileanne99]

Tamsyn!
Oh, congratulations of the release, it looks very cute! This is going to save me quite a bit of work as well!   
Going to download it when I get home. We are using both Soft Mozart and Little Musician, and I think the manipulatives complement both programs well, as our SM Solfege symbols are also color-coded to Little Musician colors...
Thanks so much

[Skylark]

Congratulations, Tamsyn!

Thank you for sharing your amazing work 

[Mela Bala]

Thank You so much for sharing this with us here on the forum.  Karma to you for the BrillKids coupon. You have put in alot of hard work and we really appreciate it.

Thanks

[lois1]

I just found this, thanks Tamsyn - it's great. I was going to ask if anyone knew where I could find solfege colour coded nursey rhymes.... 

Also to pick your brain...
We're using Little Musician, about to use Solfege Train...  What would be the natural progression?

I don't have the training you obviously do but I did teach piano when I was in High School to primary school age children. I have no experience with teaching toddlers but I do plan on teaching my little boy. I don't have access to any music groups & programs like Soft Mozart are beyond our budget. We have an upright piano which I would prefer to use rather than a keyboard. Which program or method would you suggest I go with? I'm talking about something that will happen in the next yr or so, not right away of course!

I personally started with the John Thompson course, (don't know if they are in the US) & dozen a day I think they were called.

Thanks in advance,
Lois

[Corinne2011]

Thanks! I just bought the solfege train. (And LM after trying the trial!).  It's great to have hands-on materials for those of us who are not musically inclined.  I haven't looked at the items yet.  Are there instructions, by any chance, on how to incorporate the material with LM????    (Again for those of us that don't have a clue!)

[Tamsyn]

Thank you for your purchase! 

There is a 48-page e-book that tells you how to use the materials, but mostly it is a manipulative set and not a curriculum.

I haven't addressed how to incorporate it with LMS yet, but I should!  I'll work on a blog post for that.

For my children, the materials have really supported each other, and we mostly use them in tandem.  I'm actually going to be adapting LMS to use movable do when we get to the 2nd semester, but we're only on day 40, so I haven't felt the rush for that yet.

The best example I can give for using the two together is for playing the nursery rhymes on the piano.  If you go to the "Play and Edit" section of LMS, under the "Music Notes" tab, and the "Children's Songs" folder pick the sub folder of songs in "C".  The kids can watch these songs, and see the music notes.  This is great for helping the kids sing the song in solfege.  That's the LMS side of it.  The manipulatives in "Solfege Train" can help the child play these songs on the piano when used with the piano insert.  If you don't have a piano, they are still handy for singing practice alone.

The video below shows my daughter singing and playing her favorite song, "Twinkle, Twinkle".  She can do others, but she insisted on this one for the video.  I attribute her rapid progress on the piano to her experience with Little Musician, as well as her ability to read.  She really loves music, and often practices with these printouts on her own.  I can't guarantee results of course.  My 5-year-old can do it too, but he only does it because he has to.  He would rather play with his legos. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/s9eqMGLhod0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/s9eqMGLhod0&rel=1</a>

Sorry for the poor quality.  When I tried to do a better version, my computer froze on me.  We really need to reinstall my computer.   

[sonya_post]

Tamsyn,

Just have to tell you how much I love your printables. I received the Rhythm set when I donated for the Toys for Tots promotion. Then, last night about 2 in the morning after I promised myself not to purchase ANYTHING else for EL for at least a month - I saw that your sale was only lasting till the end of the month and so, well, I broke down, and well, at 2 in the morning I purchased this set as well. I justified it in that since I was painting my floors at two in the morning (I've been doing this off and on for 3 months), and we didn't have to pay someone to come in and do it, I saved us a whole bunch of money. And, since I was painting hte floors at two in the morning, it doesn't leave me time to make these on my own (which I have been wanting to do for the last 3 months - since I saws TmT's giant floor staff). It was exactly what I wanted and it was cheaper than hiring our floors to be done. So there.

I hadn't gotten around to watching the video for the Rhythm set until last night - I've finally gotten a chance to ge through it all today. WOW!

My 26 month old loves, loves, loves music. We started Suzuki violin a month ago. We've been having trouble with the rhythm patterns. This morning I printed your matching patterns on  A4 paper. We've been hopping and stomping - I knew he needed to see what I wanted but there is only so much time to make this stuff yourself and we already spend 3 hours a day on music, Thank you for doing the work for me!!! BTW- Beautiful job.

EDIT: The magnets - huge fan of magnets. Car travel, dogs, toddlers who bump things, just keeping small pieces confined - I seem to find less under my couch when I use magnets.

[sonya_post]

Hey Tamsyn,

 I am going out to purchase a bunch of paper for printing out all these glorious maniplautives you've created. Can you tell me how you organize them.  This is a LOT of stuff. I can see that unless I have a plan from the beginning, I am going to have to reprint it all in no time because it will all be lost.

[Tamsyn]

I store it all in a file folder box I stole from my husband.  He wasn't using it anyway.     I keep all of the little pieces, like the magnets and rhythm cards, in zip-lock baggies, which in turn are stored in the same manilla folders as the larger printouts that correspond with them.  For example, the magnet notes are in the same folder as the staff printouts, and the Rainbow Castle game cards are with the game board.  I mostly have them organized in physical form the same way they are organized in the e-product.  I originally tried to sort them by lesson, but that was really tricky because so many of the products are used for multiple lessons, so it was easier to sort them by type.

[Tamsyn]

Lois1 pointed out that I missed her question in a PM, I'm sorry!  I did miss it.

We're using Little Musician, about to use Solfege Train...  What would be the natural progression?

I don't have the training you obviously do but I did teach piano when I was in High School to primary school age children. I have no experience with teaching toddlers but I do plan on teaching my little boy. I don't have access to any music groups & programs like Soft Mozart are beyond our budget. We have an upright piano which I would prefer to use rather than a keyboard. Which program or method would you suggest I go with? I'm talking about something that will happen in the next yr or so, not right away of course!

Well, I don't know how great my advice is, but I can tell you what I am doing with my own children.  I highly recommend John Thompson as a method.  Dozen a Day is a good program too, like you said, but I am not going to require my tiny children to do technique exercises until they advance beyond playing simple melodies, and we aren't there yet.

Here are a few reasons I love John Thompson:

• He doesn't shy away from key signatures besides C, F, and G major.
• He doesn't shy away from requiring the hands to move out of "home base" position.
• He uses primary sources early on in the series.  Soon, if it doesn't specify "Arranged by J.T.", you know it's the original music by the composer listed.
• There really is something new every lesson.  For students who actually practice (we all know there are plenty who don't!), the John Thompson method will be an accelerated course.  "Grade 5" for John Thompson is much harder than "Level 6" in Alfred (the last book in each series)  There is less busy work.
• I like the history blurbs that many of the pieces have. (I admit other methodologies have this perk too)
• J.T. has endured the test of time.  I'm old fashioned like that. 
• I really like the duet book for the primer, "Teaching Fingers to Play Ensemble".  The local stores didn't carry this, so I ordered it online.  This is a fantastic resource if you play!
  
• (Most importantly) I really like the songs in his books.  They are cute and often clever.  They are real music.  I loved them as a child, and as an adult who taught for a few years from several other methodologies, I found that charm lacking.

I also want to address some of the criticisms I have heard of the John Thompson method.  Some say his books are too hard.  Boo hoo. 
Some are rightly concerned of the excessive fingering in his books, stating that the student will develop a dependency on finger numbers.  Well, that really is the case sometimes.  Some students get very comfortable with the finger numbers in the Grade One book, and have a rude awakening when they get to Grade Two and they can't rely on the finger numbers anymore, since there is a lot of thumb-crossing under, etc.  Even so, the First Grade book does introduce a lot of different key signatures, and it helps the student play proficiently sooner.  I'm using a color-coded method for my 3-year-old to help her play proficiently sooner, so obviously finger numbers isn't a big issue for me.  I think this concern can be avoided by starting flash cards when they start the "First Grade" book.  I didn't just require my students to say "A", they had to say the name, and play the correct "A" on the piano, whatever the octave.  I personally never developed a dependency on finger numbers as a child, and I credit my teacher for her consistent use of flash cards at every lesson, as well as sight-reading exercises out of other books.  Besides, being able to follow fingering is important. 
The other concern some have with J.T. is that the theory lessons incorporated in the book are sparse.  This is true.  I think Music Theory is very, very important.  I don't think I had a lot of theory in the beginning grades, but when I was older, my 3rd piano teacher had me go through a course and it was extremely helpful to me.  I will probably find a separate theory book for my children when they finish the primer.  I highly DON'T recommend Alfred.  Unless you know music theory well yourself and can correct the errors to your students, stay away.  I had some very interesting discussions with my students when, again and again, I had to tell them why the book was wrong, and why the authors might have tried to explain things the way they did.  I'm not ready to offer a better solution yet because I haven't done my shopping, but I assure you, Alfred isn't it.  I was sorely disappointed that such a popular series could get away with having so little scholarship.  95% of what Alfred teaches is correct, but if you don't know better, that 5% that is wrong can come back to haunt you later.   I'm pretty sure the Bastian books are good, but I haven't taught with them past the 1st grade level.

Okay, that's my J.T. review.  Backing up a little, what am I actually doing with my children?  Right now, both my 5-year old (who doesn't care as much for music) and my 3-year old (who is eating it up) are working in the John Thompson primer book, "Teaching Little Fingers to Play".  We are just starting this process.  This is the original book, since the company that now owns J.T. has come out with several of their own, such as the Disney melodies book.  I have colored the notes in the book to match the color scheme.  I am teaching my kids "Movable Do", so when a song is in G major, I color the "G"'s red, and if it is in C major, I color the "C"'s red, etc.  This has worked well for us.  Here is a video to show you what I mean:

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

The piano insert printable is free, and is available here:  http://www.teaching-children-music.com/2012/10/movable-do-piano-insert.html

Currently, I am simply requiring my children to practice every day, but I am not requiring them to sequentially work through the book.  Yet.  They have skipped around a lot, playing the songs that tickles their fancy.  They can choose to practice from the primer book, or the nursery rhymes from The Solfege Train.  I am starting to require that they play songs with both hands.  The songs in this primer book are already familiar to my children because I have been playing them for them for years, and we have a separate piano book upstairs with our story books.  It's one of their favorite bedtime story books because they know I'll sing to them.  Because of this early exposure, they are playing the rhythms correctly on their own, so I haven't addressed rhythm as much while we are at the piano.  We have separate rhythm exercises that we do away from the piano, independent of piano practice, so I am letting them focus their piano practice on the mechanics of playing the piano.  I require them to practice with the fingering in the book, and in the key the music is written.  (that's a side effect of having the "movable do insert" and the color-coded notes.  My son wants to transpose everything back to "C".  Too bad!  Oddly enough, my daughter will play the songs in keys like F# major if the insert has been left there, without batting an eye.)  Separate of the "Do, Re, Mi", my children are learning to identify and play "C, D, E" for me.  I always preface a new song by pointing out, "This song is in F major, so we need to move the "Do" behind the "F".  We have done the free material from Kinderbach, which has helped with identifying the letter names of the notes, so I am contemplating getting the Kinderbach program for Christmas to supplement everything else.
Anyway, this is our piano program.  I am planning on getting them finished with the J.T. primer by the end of the school year, and then mastering one of John Thompson's grade books every year after that.  If they move faster than that, great, but I'm not going to require more than that.  I've decided that the Grade 4 book is what I am going to require of each of my children, because if they finish that book, they will have the basic piano literacy I want them to have.  I will supplement John Thompson's books with my church's published music, such as the Primary book and the hymnal, as well as popular music my children may be interested in.  I bet if I bought "Tangled" music, my daughter would eat it up!  Note to self.
In addition to their individual piano practice, we do Little Musician at the computer, as well as "Family Music Time", where we do things like "The Solfege Train", rhythm exercises with percussion instruments, and singing nursery rhymes with our glockenspiel.

[lois1]

Thanks so much Tamsyn for all the info! You've given me some good ideas, what to expect/ hope for & a loose pattern to follow. I hadn't come across "teaching little fingers to play".. yes, I love J.T. too... but the characters have changed in the new books. They used to be elves I think    I just remembered that I used it to teach 2 adults to "play" (hmmm... that might be a euphemism) too

I didn't have much official theory training either but with the ABRSM exams, you couldn't go beyond Grade 5 in any instrument without having passed grade 5 theory. Dont know if it's still like that. I don't remember the exam being that difficult so something must have been going in over the years! I don't remember any finger dependancy either with JT... I'm sure there are holes to pick in every program. To be honest it's the only 1 I had considered since I used it & I hadn't done my homework as to what else was out there.

What are the flashcards that you referred to?

   

[Mela Bala]

I just had to bump this for new members here who are also teaching music.
After going through the manual I printed and bound months ago, I have to say it is amazing what you have put together Tamsyn. 

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