Have you ever taken a good look at a piece of music…a really good look? It is made up of lines, dots, squiggles and a mish mosh of symbols….a beautiful piece of visual art that, when translated by the capable hands or voice of a musician, becomes an auditory treat….well, if\u00a0it is translated correctly.<\/p>\n
Like the written form of any language, in order to read music, we must be taught the basic components. We must learn them well, much like\u00a0learning the alphabet and the sounds each letter is responsible for.\u00a0\u00a0Later, we learn how those components can be arranged into meaningful groups. Our ability to read music has a direct influence on how well we can learn new pieces of music. Many musicians play by ear, which is great, (a topic for another day)\u00a0but what if nobody else is there to play the song for you in the first place? The ability to read music opens the door to many opportunities, much like the ability to read the written word.<\/p>\n
Sometimes children (and adults) have difficulty deciphering the dots and lines that sit before them on the music stand. They struggle with learning notes on the staff – the basic components of written music. Without a good handle on these basic components, it is difficult for students to work independently.\u00a0Learning new songs becomes a difficult task.\u00a0When learning is slow, frustration can set in.<\/p>\n
In some cases,\u00a0it is a lack of practice that is causing music reading issues for students.\u00a0\u00a0For that there\u00a0is an easy fix….more practice! \u00a0Note naming activities, flashcards and\u00a0extra sight-reading can get a student back on track.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0For some students, however, \u00a0there is a physiological reason for the misreading of notes.\u00a0 I have seen students who\u00a0struggle with note reading for a time,\u00a0only to find out that they have less than 20\/20 vision. After the fitting of the proper prescription…poof!!….\u00a0note reading issues have disappeared.\u00a0I can tell my own prescription needs to be adjusted when natural signs begin to look like sharps on the page!<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, sometimes the problem may not be so easy to diagnose. It is\u00a0 possible that a student struggling with note reading may have a visual perception difference. Perhaps it is\u00a0difficult for them to read black ink on white paper or perhaps dyslexia is coming into play.\u00a0These types of issues are more difficult to recognize but can be resolved once diagnosed.<\/p>\n
More and more is being understood about learning differences. If your child is having trouble reading it could be that a learning disability\u00a0is causing added stress for your child.\u00a0Learning disabilities can be overcome and note reading does not have to be frustrating. Awareness is the first step. Without diagnosis, children can be left feeling inadequate when really, they just need some specialized assistance.<\/p>\n
Some things to watch for:<\/p>\n
Does your child frequently name notes incorrectly? Especially notes that he\/she has already mastered?<\/p>\n
Does your child\u00a0have difficulty reading books?<\/p>\n
Does he\/she complain that the notes (or words) are moving around the page?\u00a0<\/p>\n
How are his\/her marks in school?<\/p>\n
Does your child squint when reading music?<\/p>\n
Does he\/she lean in toward the music when reading?<\/p>\n
\u00a0If you or your child is finding note reading frustrating, even after extra practice, have an eye exam done to ensure that eyes are healthy and vision does not require corrective lenses.\u00a0 You can also talk to your optometrist or an occupational therapist about the effects of visual perception on reading and what you can do to make reading less frustrating.\u00a0 If you think your child may have a learning disability talk to your child’s teacher or a psychologist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever taken a good look at a piece of music…a really good look? It is made up of lines, dots, squiggles and a mish mosh of symbols….a beautiful piece of visual art that, when translated by the capable hands or voice of a musician, becomes an auditory treat….well, if\u00a0it is translated correctly. Like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicboxfmc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}