6 Important Facts About Interactive Music Programs

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The mind of your child is a vessel that is getting ready for a lifetime journey of discovery. As I am writing these words, every second of your life the invisible, but ferocious battle is going on for the attention of your child. Most of us have no idea, how crucial this is. “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” we say. Sometimes we think that we have control over the cradle, but technology has something extra for our children, and this process is sometimes beyond our control. This is especially important to keep in mind when we give our children interactive technology to try out. I am talking about video and computer games and apps for smart phones and tablets.

The awareness (hopefully, the knowledge) about how interactive technology is affecting our children’s upbringing is very important these days. The skills that our children are getting are taking place in their “vessels” and will affect their entire life journeys.

As a music educator, musicologist, a creator of “Soft Way to Mozart” system, and as a developer of Elementary and Interactive Grand staff, I am also fighting for a place in minds of your children. My ultimate goal is to create a very special music experience in classrooms and households. My system promotes quality time for adults and children to team together, working on musical projects that stimulate their brains and souls.

I realize very well that the role of parents and educators in sorting through information is increasing every day. Only those who care and have professional education and skills can help children filter the information flow – visual, audio and tactile. The ability to differentiate valuable teaching tools and prevent any trash from getting in the minds of our children is a crucial task in education and upbringing today

Adults – parents and teachers – sometimes underestimate this necessity. Many mistakenly think that we have nothing to worry about: the companies that create such bright, colorful and fun interactive toys definitely know what they are doing; they are skilled professionals and won’t let anything harmful happen to our children. But the absence of hazardous parts that may cause physical harm to our children can’t guarantee safety to them.

We have to keep in mind that apps, video and computer games are usually created by teams of financial, technological and educational experts. What is more, the most important component – educational – is not the most powerful in such projects. More often you can see the fruits of the financial group: you find and are able to buy or download the products with the most attractive packaging and the most professional marketing and advertisements. We are absolutely sure that if big $$$ endorse the project, it is equal to the quality and effectiveness of the product. But artificially flavored drinks with the taste of strawberries are also professionally wrapped by highly paid designers!

The goal of any venture capital is immediate profit because money has to make more money. It is very hard to find an investor that would be interested in a long time partnership to promote the quality of our children’s education. It is especially difficult to find such an investor in the field of music education. It is no secret that music (for example, playing the piano) requires special knowledge and music educational background. For the majority of investors, music pedagogy--unlike reading, math or science--is not common knowledge. This is exactly why music games and interactive apps are created with immediate profit in mind and have little to do with real problems in music education.

Being a music educator for life, I worked on developing my system for more than 30 years. It took me 17 years to receive my music education and 9 years of learning about the most effective teaching tools in music. A computerized component of my teaching system was added in 2012 году after decades of refining all the components of piano and music classes, taught individually and in groups. My system had only one investment: its own merit. Today we show the world thousands of successful learners – people who grew up with my invention and achieved a real, well-balanced and effective music education. We are proud to present the world and piano competition winners – and properly developed children with special needs. I think, we achieved such results due to the fact that music educators – not financial institutions or programmer firms-- are running the company. Unfortunately, this is not the common practice for the industry.

When I see a new music toy on the market that has been developed by musically illiterate people, I take it with great concern. Many think that such toys can’t cause any harm – in the best case scenario, they may stir an interest in the child to make music. The problem is that the majority of people who download the software or apps have an ultimate desire to play the instrument and be able to read the music score. People want to have the freedom to choose any piano piece or song and play and sing it. The reality is that after working with ineffective teaching tools, they hit a brick wall and lose their self-confidence for good. They say to themselves: “It is impossible for me to learn how to play the piano and read music.” And they lose themselves. This loss is priceless, and no money can repair such damage!

The question is how to determine the real teaching tools from the gimmicks? I always start my teacher training with the same phrase: “All effective approaches are similar and are built on common sense. Each ineffective approach is different.” Here is the list of how you can differentiate the merits of several different teaching apps:
The look of the product can say a lot about the effectiveness. Here some hints for you to consider:

1. Pictures. Start your analysis from the advertisement pictures. Take a close look: if you see smiley faces of children and adults at the piano happily looking at you, this product is most likely a fake. I have nothing against the bright and wide smiles in advertisements of dental products. But my experience as a music educator tells me that people who are involved in making music don’t smile at photographers – they are simply busy having the best musical experience they can possibly have. The staged pictures are the first red flag.

2. Authors. Find the time to investigate who are the key players of the company. A lot of websites have such information about the developers. Who developed the app? If the authors are financial groups and/or programmers, ask yourself: would you trust the future of your children to people that have no idea how to teach them? You won’t trust a car technician with your child’s health, would you? Why should you be so quick to trust your children’s educational wellbeing to people who aren’t educators?

3. Concrete results. Glory to You Tube! As never before, we can type the company’s name in a search engine. If most of the video materials are commercial, it means only one thing: the company has great financial backing. Good for them! What does it mean to you and your children? Nothing. Learning is an experience. If the result of the experience is a well-made commercial video, you are dealing with gimmicks: the educational products should be thoroughly tested. Otherwise they are potentially harmful for your children. Can you afford to allow such a tool in your children’s vessels? I don’t think so.

What is the essence of the quality of the teaching tool? The secret is simple: you have to see the concrete results in the people who use the product. It is not enough for me to see beginners that press a couple of keys on the piano with a computer orchestra accompanying the effort. I have to see how that interactivity brings any beginner to intermediate or even professional/advanced levels.

There are important rules that we have to consider in investigating any effective approach. One ought to rely on the past experience of any individual, develop current skills and plant the seeds for future knowledge and skills.

1. If you see on the screen of your smart phone, iPad or computer any program that offers the traditional Grand Staff to a beginner, the picture has nothing to do with the person’s personal collected experience. All the written languages on Earth are linear, and we learn to read in any language by dealing with one line of text at a time. It is not an accident: our eye sight works this way. Five lines of music text require completely different rules of the game. The skills needed to follow all these tracks of information simultaneously are not given to us by nature and should be developed gradually.

2. The app that has all the notes and piano keys color coded in individual colors leads to a dead end and has no link to the future. The essence of music sight-reading is dealing with the lines and spaces of the Grand Staff. If coded individually, the notes can be placed in one line and recognized accordingly. This is the dead-end approach. It solves the immediate problem: to receive your money from your wallet. And no matter how much you spent, you wasted every penny. The high price of such an “investment” is lost. Instead, believe that you CAN make music with your own hands.

3. Observe whether or not the app/program has just an entertainment agenda in mind. Of course, the creators assure you that your children will get positive vibes, and this will promote their musical education. Be careful! Do not fall for that! Smart education ought to be involved in the process of the creating, developing and improving certain skills. The lack of these features turns our children into blind consumers, who are unable to create anything. The assurance that the entertainment is only fun is not a proper understanding of what fun actually is. We ought to educate our children about what the true definition of FUN IS. The ability to influence the world around them by using their creative energy will help them in the long run. But it takes an extra mile to achieve such a goal. Genuine education and upbringing should be gradual and should progress coherently: from the simple to the advanced, from the concrete to the abstract and from the general to the detailed. This was described by the greatest teacher – John Amos Comenius in the 17th century. Nothing has been changed since!

Look closely at your children: if they are involved in any activity, what do they get? The fish or a net to get one? Will the activity help build the future? Will it enhance their lives? Take a more active role in selecting what your child is doing. This is not just a form of play – this is the information to put into his vessel, which is supposed to serve his needs for his entire life!

If we are so worried about the nutrients in our children’s food, why shouldn’t we take care of the nutrients of their education? You are the one that is responsible for what your children will find in their vessels during their journeys: something that will be useful for the rest of their lives? Or needless trash that will do nothing for them?
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