The difference between a “Method” and a tool for it.
Yesterday I was sending a message to all my Facebook friends asking them to place the information about “Soft Way to Mozart” ® on their blogs and also to visit the page:
www.facebook.com/pages/Soft-Mozart/152883088098340
and click the LIKE button there.
One of the piano teachers and author of her own teaching method replied to me politely. She said that with all due respect to my “method,” she won’t promote it because her goal is to promote her business and she sees my invention as competition for hers.
It made me think . . . Is there something wrong with our company’s explanations if many teachers think of us as a “method of teaching piano and music” in addition to all the other different methods of teaching piano and music out there? I wrote to the teacher: “Ma’am, as long as you are using Grand Staff and traditional notation in teaching your students, our invention would be VERY useful in your class!” I so hope that my message will awaken her natural curiosity to find out more.
Through the years (even centuries), many piano teachers and the majority of the population developed the concept that music notation needs interpretation. “Methods of interpreting” a music score became the very essence of piano lessons. The process brought huge confusion about the etymology of the words “method” and “tool.”
What does the word “method” mean? “Method” (from the Greek μέθοδος — “a way through”) is a systematic set of steps that are required to perform a specific task or achieve a certain goal, a way of comprehending the truth.
Because I have been a piano teacher for many years, I am absolutely positive that all piano teachers see their ultimate goal as effectively teaching students to play the piano and READ MUSIC – not in exalting their own “methods.”
And if the targeted result is the ability of a student to play piano and sight read music, any tool that can accelerate the process should be welcomed with every teacher’s heart and soul! Right?
And now we come to a very interesting and unique situation in the world of teaching piano and music. Before “Soft Way to Mozart” ® existed, any music text needed interpretation – thus, an interpreter, usually a piano teacher. I know that’s the role I played with my students. Today, the interpretation of sheet music has become and unfortunately still IS the core of all teaching “methods.” And if a music score can become “visible” and understandable from the very start, these “methods” are simply losing the very foundation on which they all stand! We never like to lose our foundation, but because of “Soft Way to Mozart” ®, HOURS of time spent on theory and explanation are now unnecessary and could be spent more effectively.
I understand that the position of any piano teacher here is very uncomfortable. Just as I did when I taught before inventing “Soft Way to Mozart” ®, teachers are trying their best to create stories about sharps and flats, fairy tales about Middle C and all the notes on the lines and spaces. We have all developed our own gradual sequence of music pieces upon the “hand position” technique for students to remember, teaching them how fingers and keys are connected through muscle memory. And – boom! – now there is apparently a simple, visual way, and many teachers fear that ALL their previous work is suddenly a waste of time and energy.
Sometimes the situation reminds me of the period in human history when the auto was invented. Of course, the producers of horse-drawn carts and their supplements as well as hay-seller middlemen were pretty upset. So should people have stopped using cars to support their business? Not likely. While we may be more comfortable with “the way things have always been done,” perhaps it’s time to try a new tool – not a new method, just a different tool to help you achieve your goals for all your students. If it doesn’t work for you, you can always go back to your previous tools—but I’ll bet you won’t! Riding in a car is pretty nice.
I wish to hear YOUR opinion on this!