Integration: Whole Music — Holistique Pianism (6)

Why does your child have trouble reading music?

This was one of the most common questions I encountered during my teaching career, and I kept looking for answers.

I had never experienced these issues as a child, so it was difficult to determine why.

I am now almost certain how to approach this infamous conundrum.

(I would like to note that learners with different learning needs may benefit from different approaches. To avoid confusion, I will not address those cases here.)

First and foremost, I believe it is helpful for all of us to understand that “being able to name a note correctly” and “reading music” are not the same.

They are two distinct things.They have no direct correlation with one another.

We will never be able to read music fluently unless we can recognize groups of notes as one unit, just as someone who knows all the letters of the alphabet must do in order to read.

A baby first listens to people’s voices and begins to mimic them.

It takes time before they can read and write.

Learning music works in the same way.

The best approach is to begin by listening to music, moving to it, singing, and playing the piano, and then gradually progress to reading music.

When we play the piano, we are performing multiple tasks at once with both hands:r

eading music, locating notes on the keyboard, recognizing pitches, deciding which finger to use, how long to hold the note (rhythm), identifying the meter (beat pattern), tempo (speed), dynamics, and expression.

Even though complex elements such as rhythm, dynamics, and expression can be added later, there is still a great deal to handle.

The problem is that these elements are all linked together, much like the Earth’s ecosystem.

In most cases, if we disassemble them and break them down into tiny segments for learning purposes, we are unable to reassemble them.

Imagine you buy a Larousse cookbook (a traditional French cookbook), choose one of the most complicated dishes you have ever eaten, read the recipe, buy all the ingredients, and cook it.

The first challenge is that you have never eaten it before, so you have no idea how it should taste.

Second, you may never have used some of the ingredients before.

Third, even if you successfully cook the dish, you have no way of knowing whether it tastes “right,” because you have never eaten it before.

You can only tell whether you like it or not.

Would you want to try another one in the future?

This is probably what many piano students experience.

They sit in front of the piano and are asked to play while reading a book filled with small dots and symbols.

They must know which fingers to use and how long to hold the notes.T

hey are even asked to count numbers aloud.

They also have to use their fingers in ways they never would in everyday life.

How complicated!

Then we think that cutting everything into bite-sized pieces will help.

Unfortunately, it does not.

The problem is that we are giving them too much at once, and we continue to introduce new material before they have had time to digest what they already learned.

Forgetting is human nature.

It is nobody’s fault.

If we accumulate too many half-forgotten things while new things keep coming, the result is chaos.

We create our own confusion.

I witnessed this many times, and untangling it was difficult until I changed my entire approach.

Let me share my solution with you.

Once you understand it, it is quite simple.

I start by moving and singing to train the ear.

Then students begin playing the piano without reading.

I do not use the black keys.

Black keys are technically more difficult to play, and remembering their pitches is unnecessary at this stage.

I want my students to become familiar with seven pitches: Do to Si (Ti), or A to G.

You may choose either system, but I strongly recommend solfège note names.

They feel like a new musical language, whereas letter names are often harder for children to associate with sound.

The question of fixed or movable Do can be addressed after the pitches have settled.

How each person hears Do as a tonal center develops naturally.

I know that some teachers teach reading without using note names.If it fits your strategy, why not?

When students are ready to play the piano, they begin using music notation.

This depends on the student’s age and ability.

They start by learning more notes for the right hand and only a few for the left hand.

Left-hand notes are introduced gradually, up to five notes.

They remain within C to G for quite some time, until students can read and play fluently.

During the first few months, students learn only ten notes, finger numbers, and quarter and half notes.They do not play with both hands at the same time.

This is the most significant difference between my approach and the traditional methods currently in use.

After a while, students learn additional notes expanding to an octave, dotted notes, more rests, and the most fundamental and useful fingering patterns, such as crossing and changing fingers on the same notes.

Students master a wide variety of fingerings.

Through fingerings, they also learn technique.

While continuing to play hands separately, they gain experience and learn techniques that will be used later.They become experts at playing with each hand independently.

We all have a dominant hand.

This means that our non-dominant hand is less skilled than our dominant one.

From a neurological perspective, this approach is essential.

The right side of the body is primarily controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain, and the left side by the right hemisphere. In addition, movement is largely coordinated by the cerebellum, where the right side of the body is supported mainly by the right side of the cerebellum, and the left side by the left.

Hand dominance, eye dominance, ear dominance, and foot dominance are all involved in this process. Integrating all of these elements into one coordinated action is a highly complex task for the brain.

In young children, attempting to manage all of this at once often leads to confusion. The brain is simply asked to do too much at the same time.

This is not limited to children. For beginners of any age, playing the piano presents a large number of unfamiliar tasks all at once. When the brain is overloaded, it struggles to form clear and stable neural connections.

To avoid this, we reduce the cognitive load as much as possible. By limiting the number of tasks the brain must handle and allowing students to repeat the same actions, neural pathways can be built gradually and reliably before moving on to the next step.

This is the most productive way to learn.

Balancing both hands later, when playing advanced repertoire, is another challenge.

This stage provides the best opportunity to train each hand to become equally skilled.

As a result, playing with both hands together develops naturally and easily.

This aligns with how the brain works.

Students learn one concept at a time and practice it until they master it.

The steps of progress are so small that students do not even notice them.They simply continue climbing shallow staircases.

This approach avoids the stress associated with learning, often described as the “learning curve,” and makes each lesson more enjoyable.

Any child will happily repeat what they can already do at home.

This is an effective way to address both reading difficulties and home practice issues.

At present, all of my beginner students are thriving at the piano.

There is no rush around note reading, because they do not “read” notes.They play them.

Can you imagine how happy I am to finally have answers?

Integration is essential.

Just as whole food supports our health, whole music offers a solution.

Piano Fun is my current primary method, as shown in the picture.