Alto/Treble clef Note Reading & Remedial Note Reading
So I'm teaching high school violin/viola lessons (and middle school orchestra/lessons)... and I've been stumped trying to find ways to get students, one or two in particular, to READ music (granted, I think there are huge benefits to rote learning, but I do not want to rely on that...I think both skills should be developed and strong).
Example 1: Middle School viola student is playing Lully Gavotte from Suzuki series... there is a treble clef section, which is the same as a previous section in alto clef (with a shift to 3rd position). After a few weeks, student still struggles with just the treble clef measures. Asks me why it's even in treble clef...I say because it's an easy transition due to the repetition, will be needed to save paper, & space in the near future (and frustration of trying to read a gazillion ledger lines).
Example 2: High school student takes a long time to name note names (needs to count up on fingers from the open string...cannot conceptualize it away from the instrument very well). This becomes a HUUUUGGGEE problem when reading in 2nd/3rd position and treble clef, because the numbers lose the meaning they had to the student. Student no longer can read the music.
I've personally had to revamp my technique so I'm really good at problem shooting with those, however, sight-reading (and aural) learning always came fairly easy. When I began playing viola, I was just shown middle C on the page and on the instrument and began reading Eine Kleine.
I realize I haven't had to work through this problem as much as others and it becomes hard to find ways to "work" through it with a student.
(granted, they're not the most consistent with practicing).
I have tried:
- relating it to reading a sentence (have them read me one to make sure they can read that fluidly, then making connections to how we read).
- Drawing an example of what the notes are in treble clef as compared to alto clef on the same staff (different shapes for each clef, with the same note on top of the other...for the visual learners).
- Had them watch my fingers shift or play the passage (for visual learners, again).
- Practiced it slowly, changed rhythms, and talked them through it. (for kinesthetic learners)
- Made a diagram of ways to think about a note (Note name, how it looks, how it sounds, how it feels...with how it feels breaking down to a flow chart of String-->Position-->Fingering)
- Discussing finding a note or two to remember (like we would our teachers' or friends' faces)...then using them as points of reference or "anchors" to help determine the others.
- Discuss recognizing patterns...parts of scales...arpeggios...general shape or direction of the phrase...etc etc.
- Explaining fingerboard related ideas..."sister notes" (ones that are always in the same relation, like G & D are always across from each other)...Explained that numbers don't mean much...that the notes don't move, our fingers/hand move around to play them in different spots.
- Telling them they need to practice it more and just do it...find their own method to relate it. (because it's true, and I have arrived at a point where I don't know what else to tell them besides there isn't a magic trick to being able to read it).
I have even let some of the ones who are struggling write in a few notes names or fingerings (when there are jumps of more than a third, or just on the down beats/strong beats).
This is my first public school teaching job...and I could really use some stories of success and wisdom! Thanks!!
Replies (8)
I ask my students to SING the letter names and then the fingerings, not just say them. // It sounds like you're instructing appropriately, and trying lots of strategies. So,three things: 1) You can lead a horse to water but etc.,etc. 2) The time it takes kids to get stuff is the time it takes them. Novice teachers often have unrealistic expectations about learning rate, tend to think of how fast they recall they learned something. (An interesting exercise:find the teachers from your early days and ask them how the perceived your rate of progress, etc.,etc.) 3) You can't do it for them! If they "get" it, now they have to work on it. Sometimes a lot. You can review and provide additional resources, but you don't necessarily have to reteach or revise your instruction. Sue
I went the other way--am learning viola after having played the violin for many years--and I still find alto clef reading to be one of the hardest parts about the switch, which is otherwise going pretty well. (But honestly, I still love it when the viola part switches into treble clef).
I think there must be a surprising amount of variation in how well people can do clef switching, because I've seen it come much more easily to other players who aren't necessarily more skilled than I am in other areas.
I think you're being very creative and have tried a lot of good things already, but here are a couple things that have helped me get more comfortable with a new clef:
1. Transcribing a whole 69-measure piece by hand into alto clef (from bass clef). I blogged about this recently. It was tedious and Finale could have done it much faster. But now that I'm done with it, I really feel like the piece is inside my brain and my fingers, on the viola and in alto clef.
2. Imagining another staff in my head. Robert Gerle recommends this for reading ledger lines above the staff in treble clef. He draws another imaginary staff so that the high-E harmonic looks like an E that would be played as a first finger on the D-string. Somehow that just makes it instantly "look like an E" to me, whereas it didn't before and I had to count.
If you imagine alto clef as a staff below the treble clef and put the G-string G there, somehow you can get it to just "look like a G" instantly in your mind a little more easily. At least I did.
Have you tried flashcards and a timer? That might help, because what they need is just to make that instant association, like Pavlov's dogs and the bell (not that your students are dogs!). Start with those "anchor notes" that you spoke about. If they don't get the answer in the specified time, just move on and encourage them to get more answers next time, and give them an appropriate assignment to reinforce it. You can turn it into a game with small prizes that get better with each level of mastery. The ultimate reward, of course, is that they have so many more options and possibilities and can play music with a more interesting range.
I had a conductor who took the grand staff and marked overtop of it, in a bolder line, every transposition that could be made by an orchestral instrument as if they were all separate clefs. They moved up one line at a time. I don't know if that makes sense, but I'm afraid I can't show you the picture. It really helped me grasp transposing.
The above suggestion of going through a piece singing the note names is a good one too. I think you're right to use a combination of strategies. Too many and they may be overwhelmed, though.
I would add to above suggestions that focusing on reading intervals within a key works very well for my students who are having problems reading music- even adult guitarists who are very reluctant to even try reading music.
I make sure my students know where the open strings (or some other fixed point) of their instrument are located on the staff for the clef in which they are reading and to think of them as "anchor points". As long as they know basic scales and how to interpret a key signature they can sight read easy pieces just fine. As long as I always refer to the notes they play with their note names, they eventually learn how to read music very well.
Also, regarding the high school violist and treble clef, have you focused on the "shift" from alto to treble clef. Is it possible that the student is not so much confused as he is slow to recover from a brief, mental "stumble" across that clef threshold? I remember this being a problem when I was a young violist and I beat it with a combination of memorization and mental focus as well as thinking ahead.
Thank you so much and keep them coming!
Sometime over spring break I'm gonna make a list and start trying these with those students.
I started on viola reading alto clef alone for decades. A few years ago I *finally* started to read and play in treble clef.
What worked for me was two things: finding the "G" (where most viola music will shift into treble clef for the higher notes, and also where you shift into 3rd position most often), and playing a piece I already knew well written entirely in treble clef.
Granted, it took a month or so to get used to it. I feel quite comfortable reading treble clef these days except for notes below middle C for some reason. At that point, I may as well be back in alto clef again. :)
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April 10, 2008 at 12:35 PM · Good job so far, what you're doing is invaluable and I know it's not easy.
My students are elementary age but I stress the ability to read music and figuring out notes. So before we even begin playing a piece we go through these basic steps.
1. Clap and say the rhythm
2. Clap the rhythm, say the names of the notes (this will especially help you)
3. Clap and say the fingerings
Once these are done you can go on to pizzicato and then arco. This makes for very successful sightreading.
Having these steps is a lifesaver for me because it gives the students a sense of order, and it guides them on how to practice at home.
To get viola students to think in treble clef I think it's important to start by explaining the difference between high pitch and low pitch. A treble clef is needed when going into the higher register of the instrument. So you can say that the treble clef is a door to the upstairs portion of their notes, it might make them look at it differently than just this weird thing popping up in their music for no reason. After that point I'd go by rote rote rote.