Estimated reading time 4 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do your students mix up the ledger line notes? Read more to learn the process of how to graduate from the color coded music notation.
This post uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the article.
How to Graduate from the Color Coded Music Notation: Review
The post How to Graduate from the Color Coded Music Notation will be our fourth installment in this post series. Parts 1 – 3 dealt with contour lines, clef mnemonics, and edge notes respectively:
- How to Graduate from Color Coded Music Notes: Part 1
- How to Graduate from the Color Coded Sheet Music: Part 2
- How to Graduate from the Color Coded Music Score: Part 3
In the last installment, part 5, we’ll discuss using flash cards.
How Long Does It Take to Graduate from the Color Coded Music Notation?
Readiness for graduating from the color coded music notation will vary from instrument to instrument. To learn more, click here.
Clef Mnemonics, Ledger Line C’s, and Graduating from the Color Coded Music Notation
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
The example above shows how to graduate from the color coded music notation by transitioning from the colored notes to the clef mnemonics on the treble and bass staves. (For more info on how clef mnemonics work, click here.)
- On piano, the first and easiest ledger line to identify without color will be middle C. Middle C has a different look when compared with the other notes on the treble or bass staff.
- Thus, many piano students can start with middle C when shifting away from the colored ledger lines. Say to the student, “Middle C is the only note on the ledger line, can you remember that it’s C orange?” However, this approach won’t work very well on an instrument that uses a lot of ledger lines, such as the guitar.
- To the left side of the staff in the example above, you’ll see what I call the ledger line Cs. The ledger line Cs sit on the ledger line two lines above the staff, on the ledger line two lines below the staff, and on the ledger line right in the middle.
This gives a quicky set of ledger line reference points for piano students. However, for anything more detailed than that, you’ll need to use modified clef mnemonics.
Ledger Lines and Graduating from the Color Coded Music Notation
Rather than create a whole new set of mnemonics for students to learn, I’ve repurposed the ones we’ve already got.
- For example, the mnemonic Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (see the examples above) can be moved up an octave. This helps the students to learn the notes above the staff.
- Likewise, the mnemonic can be moved down an octave to cover the ledger lines below the staff (see above).
- The clef mnemonic F A C E for the treble clef space notes can be repurposed in a similar way (see above).
- Also, this will work equally well for graduating from the color coded music notation for the notes on the bass staff (see below).
If a student needs it, you can color code the ledger line mnemonics in the manner of the first example in section 4 above. However, by the time you get to doing the ledger lines, many of the students will be ready for color-free examples.
Conclusion
Color coding the music will help LD, ADD, ASD, and special needs students to be able to interact with the score in meaningful ways. In due course, students will be able to graduate from the color coded music notation.
Related Content
- Color Coding Music for Success
- Playing the Piano with Color Coded Notes
- Playing Piano with Color Coded LH Notes
- How to Color Code Music Notes for LD & Special Needs Distance Learning
- Color Coded Quarter Note Clapping
© 2023 Geoffrey Keith
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