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Note reading

I'm wondering if anyone could speak to the introduction of note reading in Paul Rolland pedagogy. I know we have the chapter on rhythm training, (I really enjoyed Calvin's session, by the way) but can anyone speak to when note reading would be introduced, and how? How would a Rolland pedagogue approach this for younger, 4-5 year old students vs older students or class instruction? Are there Rolland resources for note reading (for example one of the standard Suzuki go-to resources would be "I Can Read Music")?

3 comments

3 Comments

Aaron Jacobs

Jun 30

Here is a quote from the Preface from Prelude to String Playing: "The materials presented in the main text may be learned by imitation (rote), by the conventional reading approach, or by a combination of both. The format is so arranged that the student first may learn materials by rote or tablature, then learn the same material by note reading. The tablature, including new visual aids, is presented on the left side, and regular notation on the right side of the same page. A 'Cover Sheet' is provided to mask the unused part of the page for better visual comprehension and to insure that the student actually reads the notation when the teacher wishes him to do so."

Aaron Jacobs

Jun 30

Replying to

To my knowledge, Paul Rolland did not commonly teach children of 4-5 years in age, if at all. In my own personal approach with this age, I teach songs by rote but begin the exposure to notation as soon as possible, working on rhythm and pitch separately. Then, I find that if I focus on pitch names rather than finger numbers during the rote teaching of songs and in developing the student's understanding of the fingerboard, then note reading progresses much easier and logically later on. I hope that's helpful!

teresa tyce

Jun 29

This is my question as well. I frequently have students coming into my ensembles with minimal reading skills. I will check out the "I Can Read Music" book.