Piano Wizard. Mixed feelings

[ChrisSalter]

RenaissanceMum,

Sorry your piano teacher feels that way, but it is not uncommon, plus they usually are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with computer software, and certainly usually don't know Piano Wizard Academy.

As for the keyboard size, we have two ways to set that. One is the set up wizard in the opening menu, which asks you to play the lowest key and highest key on the keyboard, so it can "measure" the size of your keyboard (it goes from 1 to 7 octaves), then it defaults to the same size "visual keyboard" for the game. In other words, if I have a 4 octave C to C keyboard like the M-Audio we ship with most units, it will detect the range to be 49 keys (4 x 12 keys per octave, then 1 more to double the starting note of the last octave), and it will set the display keyboard to the same size. However, many times you want to see a different size keyboard than you physically have, either to zoom in and make the game objects larger (less keys, more room for each key, bigger on screen keys and game objects) or zoom back and see the 4 octaves in the context of a larger keyboard view (active keyboard range is highlighted, the keys outside of your actual range are grayed out.

ALL of this can be reset and played with once you click on Premier Mode and go to the Keyboard Tab. From there just click on Help and it will walk you through the various options.

So, you can just choose to input 3 (F to F) octaves, 4 (C to C) octaves on your full size keyboard, and it will just show that range in the game play as active, and match the visual display to that.

Again, a long explanation, much easier to understand looking at the help files or video demos of Keyboard Set up,

(http://www.musicwizard.com/includes/showObject.cfm?objectType=MultiMedia&noPadding=1&displayMethod=display&objectID=30)

but the answer is the keyboard sizes are completely adjustable to fit your needs and keyboard.

Thanks

Chris

[KL]

The teacher would prefer not using software for at least 4 months, but I really want my son to advance so that he can move past the remedial piano stuff, which is why I am considering supplementing with software. Thanks.

It sounds so much like teachers telling parents that we should not teach our babies to read... 

As Chris noted, it's natural that many teachers would say that, for many reasons which I won't go into.

To me, there is benefit to every method, and I see doing multiple methods as doing far more good than harm.  The key is really to get them to enjoy their piano lessons and want to play more.  I'm very confident that most (if not all!) children would find PW to be much more enjoyable than traditional piano lessons!

(BTW, having been trained the 'traditional' way myself, I'm not a very big fan of that method at all...)

[RenaissanceMum]

Thanks so much for your thorough answer Chris! @ KL I guess when you put it like that, the notion sounds utterly ridiculous. If he is capable of learning at a faster pace with software that will engage him, then so be it.

[clairemummy]

Dear Chris,

I have my own keyboard - model Casio Pixma, is it compatible with the PW software? My daughter in 17 mths now and i just took out the keyboard to let her play with it and she seems to enjoy it. My only concern is whether she can sit still to go thru the lessons? Are they too young to start?

Appreciate your feedback, thanks!

Audrey

[ChrisSalter]

Audrey,

I tried to look up the "Casio Pixma" online and there is only a Canon printer by that name I could find. The  is, is it MIDI compatible? Most keyboards costing about $100 or more are, and you will find it written somewhere on the keyboard ("MIDI"). If you find the name of your keyboard is different, look it up online to see in the specs if it is MIDI compatible. If it is, it will work. You may need a special USB/MIDI cable if it is older and still has "MIDI" ports (penny sized round input holes in the back is a clue) but most keyboards now use regular printer style USB cables.

The game can be played by anyone that knows their colors. As for your 17 month old, I would use "Free Play" mode where the hitting the keys generate the game objects, so no matter what they hit they are seeing results. It is also a great way to help teach her the colors, if she doesn't know them yet, but we have seen lots of 2 year olds playing the game, and anything that gets them having fun on the piano at that age and getting to know the keyboard is great.
I just found this video online, and though he is not using the correct fingerings yet (in the game and the videos when he is ready) you can see he "gets it" and is enjoying himself on his first song. What a great way to start your music studies.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/UY5LYuaBZl4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/UY5LYuaBZl4&rel=1</a>

So, my opinion is that your daughter is probably ready or nearly ready to start, I believe their minds are growing so fast at this age that music can only help them and delight them. I personally love that age, their personality begins to emerge, they walk and talk, and now can begin to play music!

Enjoy,

Thanks

Chris

[clairemummy]

Dear Chris,

Thanks for your almost immediate response to my quiries I think ill have another look and copy down the model no instead.

How old is JD in the video? It is inspiring

Claire does well concentration on her Reading and Math programmes so am excited to start her on something new. She surprises me everyday with new words

Audrey

[ChrisSalter]

Audrey,

I just found "JD" online last night, it says he is 2 and this was his first song at the game. They are sponges at this age, but what you see on the video I have seen many times. As I said in other parts of the forum, we do not advertise below 3 because developmentally kids are all over the map, and you don't want people to feel bad if their kids cannot do it. There can be a lot of difference between 2 and 3 that is perfectly normal, and parenting is tough enough without putting pressure on ourselves or them to be better, faster quicker at everything. That being said, the cognitive development is both somewhat independent of age and subject to stimulation and influence, which most parents on this forum know. (Stimulation is one thing, pressure and anxiety another, we are for the former, soft styles of engagement and encouragement.) Because we have the Free Play mode that can engage even babies on their parents lap, and such simple ways to start the game with means of controlling and slowing things down, we feel that the issue is "doses" of music, in other words, through gameplay, a child may gradually involve themselves deeper and deeper into the music, most of this happening subconsciously. Actually, I believe even learning basic things like letters and colors can and usually are experienced by a child as "play", i.e., they are modeling and engaging in a game of call and response, seeking your smile as a reward for connecting the dots in their heads, as well as the pure joy of discovery for its own sake. We just wanted to emulate those common language and modeling interactions and learnings in a musical and still playful environment.
If you get the game, please share your experiences and joys with us online as well!

Thanks,

Chris

[ChrisSalter]

For those of you following some of the discussions on Piano Wizard, there is an update to Brillkids Piano Wizard Academy Offer, posted here for your convenience.

http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-music/how-can-music-dramatically-affect-your-child's-development-and-lifetime-success/msg63964/#msg63964

[radiocat]

Here is a video, how to teach your child Fundaments of Solfegio

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

[Fludo]

Sorry but this is awful!  Is this Helene from doremifasoft? 

The first part of the video the child is learning the notes in order which is fine but it's better to start with learning just a few sounds - usually mi and so, then adding in la. 

But the last part is just plain incorrect.  She's singing the notes starting on re but using the SOUNDS as if she's starting on do!  REALLY BAD, WILL STUFF UP ANY ATTEMPT AT EAR TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please, those of you with no musical knowledge, be very careful what resources you use to teach your kids!

[Fludo]

Hmm.....it appears this video was posted by Hellene on Youtube just 4 hours ago.....I think we all know who "radiocat" is.....

[radiocat]

http://softmozart.on.ufanet.ru/smbookeng/music09.htm

"A moveable "Do" is just as nonsensical in the science of music as a moveable "A" is in the alphabet, when each letter that we start from could be "A." 

Once, the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodali (1882-1967) invented a system of relativity for choir education. The system allowed illiterate people to learn to sing in choirs without having to waste time on learning all of the notes and their tonalities. Kodali applied the very beginning of learning, the sounding-out stage, but limited it to the very minimum in order to simplify things. Instead of notes, he implemented seven hand signals for the conductor’s use. It was as if he reduced music to the simple relationship between the seven steps of harmony. This system, as there wasn’t any better, was embossed into good practice specifically for people who didn’t have access to musical literacy.

Unfortunately, Kodali’s invention, originally created for a strictly utilitarian purpose, was carried over into music classes in countries that use the Alphabet System, thus worsening music education. Singing in Solfeggio has been assigned to only one scale – that of "Do!" No matter what tonality music actually sounds in, the Tonic is called "Do." It has become impossible to sing Solfeggio in any other tonalities. Solfeggio’s connection to Kodali’s system hasn’t improved it, but has reduced it to the singing of seven notes. Ever since, all other tonalities have been studied without practical application, exclusively with the help of the Alphabet System and without vocal sounding.

There is a simple solution to this problem: take away the moveable "Do," but keep the most important element of Kodali’s system – familiarization of tune with the assistance of hand signals. Of course, starting music education with the one simplest tonality, Do Major, should be allowed. The use of Do Major to teach the relationship of the different steps to each other is entirely justified. But the singing of real music comprises of all of the notes in Solfeggio in all 24 tonalities, and should be a crucial stipulation of any music education."

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

[radiocat]

On this video is a renowned Russian music teacher Maltzev with his little students, As you see, kids hear perfect pitch of every transposition that their teacher takes.
It is very sofisticated plays of minds and well developed music ear, Such education bring kids into playing in ANY tonality, writing ANY melody by ear and being really proficient in what they are doing:

[Fludo]

In the moveable do system, do is only the tonic if the song is in a MAJOR KEY!  If it's a minor key, la becomes the tonic.  If it's in the Dorian mode, re becomes the tonic.  In this video, you said the solfege as if you were singing the dorian mode (re, mi, fa etc) but the pitches you sang were just the MAJOR SCALE AGAIN!!!!!  (which by the way means you MOVED re!)

It sounds like you have a fundamental misunderstanding of pitch training.  As I said, whichever system you use, fixed do or moveable do, the intervals between each pair of notes must always be the same.  do - re is always a tone, re - mi is always a tone, mi - fa is always a semitone, fa-so is always a tone, so - la is always a tone, la-ti is always a tone, and ti-do is always a semitone. 

[Fludo]

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.

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