Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
“How do I finally get my students to be able to read music without color coding?” In today’s post, we’ll look at the last stage of graduating from the colors: flashcards. Keeping reading to learn how to graduate from color coded music symbols.
So far in the Graduating from the Colors series, we’ve covered:
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Flashcards and Graduating from Color Coded Music Symbols
“How do you graduate from color coded music symbols?” Once you’ve worked with students using contour lines, clef mnemonics, edge notes, and ledger lines, they’ll be ready for flashcards:
- With some students you can use flashcards before the student hits intermediate level material.
- However, if introduced too early, other students will find that flashcards make note reading more confusing rather than less.
- This will be especially true for LD students.
- However, if you’ve been working steadily with the colors, most students will be ready for the flashcards when they get to intermediate level lesson books.
For example, this will be how you’d help a piano student graduate from the colors:
- Show the student the flashcard.
- Have the student say the note.
- Ask the student to play the note on the piano using the correct hand for the given clef.
This will help you know if the student has problems finding the note in the correct octave. Also, it’ll help the student connect the note with the sound of the pitch and its visual location on the instrument.
I break the cards into two decks.
- One deck has the notes on the body of the grand staff plus middle C.
- The other deck has the ledger lines above and below the grand staff, and most of the ledger lines between the two clefs of the grand staff.
- However, it won’t have middle C, which will be in the first deck.
- I’ll work with the notes on the grand staff first.
- When the student has mastered the first deck, I’ll start working on the ledger line deck.
The Three Questions and Graduating from Color Coded Music Symbols
“How do you graduate from color coded music symbols?” I start by holding up a card from the first deck and asking three questions:
- “Which hand plays the note?”
- “Is it a line note or a space note?”
- “What clef mnemonic do you use?”
Each question has a role to play:
- If the students confuse which hand to use, they’ll also get confused on which mnemonic to use.
- The “line/space note” question helps the students to pare down which mnemonic to apply.
- The answer to the final question will bring forward any confusion with the mnemonics.
Some issues you might run into:
- Did the students confuse the line mnemonic with the space mnemonic or vice versa?
- Or did they read the mnemonic top to bottom instead of bottom to top?
- Did they confuse the line mnemonic on the G clef with the line mnemonic on the F clef, and so on?
Relatively quickly, your students will be able to identify the notes without being asked the three questions.
Final Thoughts on How to Graduate from Color Coded Music Symbols
“How do you graduate from color coded music symbols?” By practicing with the flashcards until the students gains confidence.
- This means that you should take five minutes out of every lesson to do flashcard work.
- Once the students have gained confidence you can stop using the flashcards.
In addition, you can find apps and websites that’ll help drill students on the notes of the grand staff. Encourage your students to invest time working with a flashcard website:
Have fun playing!
Related Posts:
- 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
- How to Graduate from the Color Coded Music Notation: Part 4
© 2023 Geoffrey Keith
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