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Issue #3
Notes from The Music Hub
March 2, 2025
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All the Ways of Learning
Do you remember learning math in elementary school? I do.
I remember that some kids could do math in their heads quickly and other kids counted their fingers to complete addition problems.
It always seemed that the teachers frowned on counting with your fingers and that the "right" way to do math was to memorize all the facts in your head. And if you didn't do something the "right" way, you were somehow dumb or "less than."
As I grew up and started teaching, though, I found that I did not have the same perspective as the teachers I had as a young person.
To me, the point of learning is learning, not how.
Too much focus on the how and demanding that only the "right" approach be used can kill the love of learning. It can cause frustration that sucks the joy out of it.
How many kids grew up hating math because they were scolded and shamed for counting with their fingers?
The truth is that everyone learns at a different rate and with a different style. When I was in my elementary education program as an undergrad, I learned to teach math using manipulatives.
Fingers are just a different, built-in form of math manipulatives.
Manipulatives in math can make the concepts a little more concrete. And some learners need that - for a time. After those concepts are solid, they won't need manipulatives anymore.
If you've noticed, most adults are not counting change using their fingers.
So, what does this have to do with music?
Well, just like in other forms of education, there are old-school ways of thinking about how piano should be learned.
But a lot of those opinions are just opinions.
Now, I hold to an opinion that it is better to learn to read music than to not read music (and I can make a strong argument for that.) So, I'm a not a teacher who is going to only teach a "chord-based" approach to piano or start a student that way.
I focus on teaching students to read music because it is my opinion that that is the better way. But I will not look down on another teacher or a student who wants to learn a different way.
Because I want people to learn music and to play the piano. That's the higher goal!
But even among teachers who teach students to learn music, there are strong opinions about how to do that. What note should we start with? Should we focus on "positions" or not?
Is it OK to let students write in the letter names of the notes, or should we ban that?
In order to read music fluently, it is important to be able to read the notes quickly without needing to write in the letter names. Of course.
But that is a "we'll get there eventually" goal. It is a skill that might come quickly for some, and not so quickly for others.
And that is perfectly OK!
Writing in the letter names of the notes when you're struggling to read the music is a bit like counting on your fingers to do addition.
It's a help. You may not need to do it all the time, and you may not need to do it forever.
But until the day when your eyes, your brain, and your fingers can all process the written music in sync, writing in some letter names may be helpful.
So, I say do it if you want.
Sure, I would suggest trying to read the music without writing in the letter names first. But if it causes confusion and frustration, and practicing becomes more of a struggle than fun, it's time to write in the letter names.
Because the higher goal is having fun learning to play. Too much frustration can cause people to quit. And what good does that do anyone?
A dogmatic view of learning piano puts the method higher than the student, and I definitely don't agree with that.
So, feel free to write in the letter names if you need to!
What's new inside the app!
I am working on solving the problem with my video recording. It seems to be my phone recording too slowly. This week, I am headed to the International Festival of Music by Women where I will have a few pieces performed, and I am unable to fix the problem before I leave. However, spring break is next week, and I hope to get things done then. In the meantime, there are currently 19 beginner lessons (plus units at the Intermediate level) in the app to keep you busy!
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Happy Music Making!
Heather Niemi Savage, composer, pianist & educator
Founder of The Music Hub
