It was so easy to teach the four main note lengths using shapes, fractional names and French time names to a pupil this week. My pupil had some knowledge of crotchet, minim and so forth but it was patchy and not consistent. I have nothing against the words crotchet, semibreve etc ..that only we Brits so fondly use but... they are abstract and the education system is missing a trick by not utilising the fractional names too. Also, we seem to be very fixed about teaching a 'crotchet is worth one beat' but this is not always true.. consider that in the time signatures, 2/2, 4/8, 9/8 the crotchet is NOT worth one beat! It is better to teach the children the truth from the beginning instead of having to relearn about the note lengths. 

Today, within minutes, using the shapes, the pupil was confidently naming the notes:

Whole note

Half note

Quarter note

Eight notes

I only had to explain how to clap, say and name the whole note, the rest of it came from the student herself as it is LOGICAL and of course, relates clearly to the maths lesson. 

We then explored how the shapes can be rearranged to compose rhythms which she then clapped perfectly in time while saying the French time names. She then went on to play her pieces and was saying the French time names as she played, all rhythmic errors and hesitations vanished! A rhythm task this week is to play around with the shapes and teach a relative about the note lengths.

The beauty is.... students have a secure way of working out rhythms and they will also be able to be introduced to ALL the simple time signatures in one lesson, because the fractional time names make it SO simple!

When we teach a musical concept, delivering the whole pattern makes for much deeper learning and more independence for the young musician. 

More on that another day...........