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Rachel May
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My kids are starting to try to compose their own music. I'm providing sheets of blank staffs (is that the correct plural?), pencils, a piano, and willing fingers to try to play what they compose. Last night, two were disappointed that the music on the piano didn't sound the way they thought it would.
Now my kids are very young, know only basic music theory, have played piano for less than a year, and might not want to become the next John Williams  , but I'm wondering if there is anything I could or should do to help fuel/facilitate their interest? I'm pretty clueless here.
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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MacBeth
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Hello, it's Libby filling in for MacB. since she doesn't know about this sort of thing 
That's great that they're composing their own music! And at such a young age, too! So fun.
Perhaps they should work on listening very carefully to intervals played on the piano, (telling you if the intervals are happy or sad, or sound dissonant or consonant) and maybe you could even have them write down what they hear on staff paper. The more they do this, the better they'll get at listening to what's in their own heads and putting it on paper.
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MacBeth in NY
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Rachel May
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| Posted: Jan 24 2006 at 8:36pm | IP Logged
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Libby,
Thanks for the advice! They just covered intervals in their theory books (they're in the Bastien primer level so it's still within my comfort one), so we can work on that pretty easily. Now, I will go look up what dissonant and consonant mean. 
Any hints on where to buy blank staff paper for cheap? Can I just get it at the music store? We're currently making tons of photocopies from one blank page in their theory book. It's a bit awkward since the book is larger than my printer/scanner and I have to hold it while it copies.....soooooo....slowly....... 
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Rachel
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MacBeth
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We use The Staff Paper Generator and print it on our printer.
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MacBeth in NY
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Rachel May
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I tried a test page, and it turned out great. Thank you, thank you!
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Rachel
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Kathryn UK
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Loads of music paper to print out here, too.
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Rachel May
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Kathryn,
Thanks! I finally had a chance to print out the page recommended for elementary use. They'll have to draw in the clef signs, bar/double bar and braces, but they could use the practice. We'll see which they prefer.
This week we had compositions titled "The Day Jesus Died", "The Rosary", and "Betsy Ross". I'm saving them for our portfolio review in May.
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Rachel
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JennGM
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Rachel,
This is great what you are doing with you children. I've been thinking about this post for a while. When I first starting taking lessons age the old age of 11 (it was the first time we got our piano in the house), I composed a piano piece. I just had a tune in my fingers and head. My piano teacher helped me write it out on paper and work out the rhythm, as I had made a waltz but not always was sticking to 3/5 time!  But I wrote that 1) after knowing where notes corresponded on the piano to the staff lines and 2) in front of the piano, picking out a tune.
I was thinking back to when I had to compose music for class and it went hand in hand with ear training and sight singing. So working on solfeggio with your children would help in this. Teaching the intervals such as 3rds, 5ths, (Do-Mi, Do-Sol), both singing and what it sounds like on the piano, then seeing how it's written.
Were you sticking to one line compositions or chords?
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Rachel May
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jenngm67 wrote:
| Were you sticking to one line compositions or chords? |
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Oh, Honey, I'm not doing anything but trying to support their latest obsession!
They write in chords or single notes in both bass and treble, they use rests (lots of bass rests ), and they use all sorts of crazy rhythms that I'm sure somehow could be divided into measures, but I'm not focusing on that.
What got me to ask this question was their disappointment that what Bill or I played (we ignore the rhythms and just go for the notes) didn't sound like what they thought it would. I've from time to time heard beautiful music in my head that I would love to put onto paper, but I haven't the skill. I don't expect them to become great composers, but it is nice to be able to pick out a tune that you have heard or thought up.
The solfeggio is a good idea. We did it a little in choir in high school. It's similar to Libby's suggestion, right? Or am I not remembering correctly?
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Rachel May
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jenngm67 wrote:
| My piano teacher helped me write it out on paper and work out the rhythm, as I had made a waltz but not always was sticking to 3/5 time! |
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I thought waltzes were 3/4. Did you mistype that or am I all confused? (My being all confused would not surprise me.)
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Rachel
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JennGM
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Rachel May wrote:
jenngm67 wrote:
| My piano teacher helped me write it out on paper and work out the rhythm, as I had made a waltz but not always was sticking to 3/5 time! |
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I thought waltzes were 3/4. Did you mistype that or am I all confused? (My being all confused would not surprise me.) |
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Oh yes, What a typo! Thanks for catching that. Clumsy fingers and bad proofreading!
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JennGM
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Rachel May wrote:
| The solfeggio is a good idea. We did it a little in choir in high school. It's similar to Libby's suggestion, right? Or am I not remembering correctly? |
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Yes, similar to Libby's, except I'm suggesting some singing of the notes...a little Do, Re, Mi like from "Sound of Music." Just another step.
Your house just sounds like so much fun!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Rachel May
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Come over any time, but be prepared to witness the truth.....
I like the singing idea, but I'd better get the piano tuned again first. I was lamenting the other day that the kids' choir at church is for the school only.
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Rachel
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Composing Music
