News letter Jan 8 2012

SPECIAL OFFERS: 10% off 6 months subscription www.pianolearningsoftware.com/Soft-Way-t...ENGWindows_p_23.html . Coupon MAYCONSERT

We offer free online lessons to all the beginners of ‘Soft Mozart’ with option to participate in our May 2012 recital and get certificates of accomplishments and free Soft Mozart T-shirts for successful participants.

If you don’t have the program and thinking of buying it, this is the best time to get 6 months subscription and join our community NOW to be ready for the first ONLINE INTERNATIONAL RECITAL.

LATEST NEWS

Dear Soft Mozart customers and music lovers,
We are starting 4-month-marathon of intensive piano/music learning with the guidance of inventor of ‘Soft Mozart’, piano teacher Hellene Hiner.

First online International Piano Recital had been announced from 15th to 31st of May.

If you or your kids having steady progress learning with our outstanding software, please, sign yourself In NOW: www.softmozart.com/forum/26-sign-up-area...-may-12-recital.html .

If you are thinking of beginning your learning journey, get the program and join us. With Soft Mozart you will be able to perform in May.

New video of 3-year- old Rachel playing Christmas recital had been added to our video library. 3-year-old toddler is performing several Christmas carols and some classical and boogie pieces

Our ‘Soft Mozart’ community is rapidly growing and we have many brilliant posts with personal stories, tips, suggestions, pictures, videos and even files from our piano learners that enhance our learning method big time.

We have first video of 17 months old kid learning music Alphabet! (Thank you, Sonya for the wonderful video!)

Music Alphabet

The music alphabet expresses the logic behind the language of music. Many think that this means that the 7 notes should only be expressed in their ascending order: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Ti. This is not so. First of all, in music there isn’t only one direction of movement. This means that the true music alphabet should be: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do, Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do. Secondly, each note in the music alphabet can appear first. Because of this, we must know seven sequences of notes. The music alphabet includes all of these sequences combined:
Cycle 1:

• Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do – Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do
• Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re – Re Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re
• Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi – Mi Re Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi
• Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa – Fa Mi Re Do Ti La Sol Fa
• Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol – Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti La Sol
• La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La – La Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti La
• Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti – Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti

My students are encouraged to recite this entire cycle, forwards and backwards from each note in 14 seconds, and they enjoy competing to see who can recite it most quickly. When reading, a speedy reaction is essential. Therefore, the ability to quickly recite the alphabet is at the foundation of fluent sight-reading.

Throughout the innumerable amount of note combinations and intonations, their relationship with each other always follows a concrete order. The Music Alphabet expresses the fundamental relationship between notes, accepted in all western music notation.
1. Notes can be positioned skipping a step. This sequence of thirds orients the second cycle. This helps to see and read a music staff where notes are positioned either on lines, or in the spaces between them. Here, the structure includes triads and sevenths, making reading much more simple.
Cycle 2:

• Do Mi Sol Ti Re Fa La Do – Do La Fa Re Ti Sol Mi Do
• Mi Sol Ti Re Fa La Do Mi – Mi Do La Fa Re Ti Sol Mi
• Sol Ti Re Fa La DO Mi Sol – Sol Mi Do La Fa Re Ti Sol
• Ti Re Fa La Do Mi Sol Ti – Ti Sol Mi Do La Fa Re Mi
• Re Fa La Do Mi Sol Ti Re – Re Ti Sol Mi Do La Fa Re
• Fa La Do Mi Sol Ti Re Fa – Fa Re Ti Sol Mi Do La Fa
• La Do Mi Sol Ti Re Fa La – La Fa Re Ti Sol Mi Do La

2. Notes can be arranged by skipping two steps. These sequences of fourths comprise the third cycle. Knowledge of these sequences helps to read melodies that "skip" along the Grand Staff and aids with chord inversion. It is much easier to memorize the fourths-fifths cycle of tonality and the positioning of flats and sharps.

• Do Fa Ti Mi La Re Sol Do – Do Sol Re La Mi Ti Fa Do
• Fa Ti Mi La Re Sol Do Fa – Fa Do Sol Re La Mi Ti Fa
• Ti Mi La Re Sol Do Fa Ti – Ti Fa Do Sol Re La Mi Ti
• Mi La Re Sol Do Fa Ti Mi – Mi Ti Fa Do Sol Re La Mi
• La Re Sol Do Fa Ti Mi La – La Mi Ti Fa Do Sol Re La
• Re Sol Do Fa Ti Mi La Re – Re La Mi Ti Fa Do Sol Re
• Sol Do Fa Ti Mi La Re Sol – Sol Re La Mi Ti Fa Do Sol

3. All other combinations of notes are derived from these three sequences, known as musical inversions.

As you can see, learning the Music Alphabet, even without singing it, is a very important aid to music development. The alphabet is a matrix for the voice and hearing, a foundation for quick reading from sheet music, and the framework for understanding music theory. This is the concentrate of the entire system of music. Learning the language of music without it is impossible.

One can learn the alphabet in different ways: it can be laid out in the form of flashcards, or recited in a rap with some neutral musical accompaniment. I have developed a computer game named Note Alphabet that trains the student to fit the notes into the proper sequences through a Tetris-style interface. All three cycles should be taught until they can be recited automatically. The student should be able to recite it starting from any point, and in a very quick tempo. The result is an ability to quickly name a note that is next to a step, over a step, or two above/below.

With the aid of the alphabet, music sounds can be perceived on a stable level similar to that of human speech. The person gets used to not only hearing sounds, but also to guessing their names. The sounds that we hear are gradually decoded into their names and symbols (notes), which we can sing, play, and write down on paper.

A Coach, a Map, and a Compass

The reading of a music text is based on the knowledge of the organization of sounds in a system. Knowledge of this system is just as important in music as knowing the multiplication table is in mathematics.
Speech is the most natural focal point for the understanding of the system of music sounds. Giving each sound a name, we rely on speech and articulation to familiarize ourselves with the relationships between pitches. Simply speaking, at first we should memorize the names of the sounds. Playing them and singing them aloud, we adhere their names to their absolute pitch.

After learning the sequences of notes one way and the other, one step at a time, skipping steps, and skipping two steps, we look upon the Grand Staff with different eyes. It is no longer splattered with various notes on lines and on spaces. We see it as the framework of the entire system, where each note can easily be found so long as you know the rules. Seeing a note, we find its tonal equivalent in a fraction of a second, regardless of whether the melody is moving up or down, whether it is smooth or jumpy.

In such a music staff, it is just as comfortable to find things as it is at home, where everything is familiar even in the shadows. A systematic perception of notes is the single path to competent sight-reading. Seeing how it all is built, a person can easily understand the world of music. The music language becomes a part of one’s daily creative thoughts.

The music alphabet is especially important for playing the piano. The keys follow the very same system of music. Outside of the system, they seem to be "unknown space," where it is dangerous to be because of its unpredictability. I still remember that tension and inner fear – what if I press the wrong key? This didn’t just interfere with practice; it made it impossible to think about music at all.

Don’t assume that this is an exaggeration. We know that the fear of making a wrong step hinders the movement of a person. Playing on the piano involves the coordination of our 10 fingers in a vast auditory space, separated into thin, multiple pieces. The fear of falling into the wrong place is the main cause of the clenching up of hands. The space will only become yours when you know precisely where you are and what is around you.

Constantly practicing a bunch of works, etudes and exercises, and especially scales, learning harmony and Solfeggio, professional musicians usually work out the Music Alphabet on their own. Yet I am sure that one’s music education should start precisely from the alphabet. Only then will all students understand how the system of music is built, and will easily learn the language of music.

Read more about it in Hellene Hiner’s book ‘You CAN be a musician’ www.pianolearningsoftware.com/Book-You-C...wnloadable_p_36.html

TIP OF THE WEEK:

We made a video that would help you to learn Note Alphabet in 20 seconds.
Watch this and learn music theory as a poem!

SUCCESS STORY:

‘Ok, so here is a quick update of my first week using Soft Mozart!

It has been a really exciting and enjoyable week! I am really impressed with the software and can now understand how it can help to accelerate learning of the piano as well as making it much more fun and enjoyable. I have some basic experience of learning piano in the past - but I have found that I have made more progress and much more quickly using this software than I ever did previously when just playing the piano alone. I managed to practice for between 15 mins and 45 mins on most days, although some days I did not have time because of other commitments.

The ability to measure progress, both in terms of number of correct notes and timing is extremely helpful. I am recording the date and score for each time I play a piece. This is very motivating - it puts me in competition with myself - I want to beat my previous scores and constantly improve! So I am more disciplined and try harder to keep focused. This means that each time I practice I get more out of the time spent. I found that it was much better to spend a shorter, more intensely focussed time than spending too long and losing focus. I will keep this in mind when starting to teach my toddler - keeping focused on the activity is suprisingly tiring, so we will stick to 'little and often' especially at first.

What was also a big hit for me was the way you can practice one hand along side the computer playing the other hand at the same time. This was so much more enjoyable than just playing one hand at a time without the software. It means I have been able to focus on improving particular skills at a faster tempo using each hand separately, before moving on to both hands together which is a more complex stage involving reading the music and coordinating two hands.

So, I have noticed my scores improving steadily…
I also practiced about half of the Christmas carols - some are more difficult than others. I plan to move onto the other half over the next week whilst the Christmas mood remains!

Overall, I am very very happy with having purchased the software and can immediately see an improvement. Thanks Hellene!’ Senior Boarder LZP11

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