How to Teach Music Online in an Elementary School

Although it is not considered one of the core subjects, like English or math, music is important to a child's education. According to Patrick Kavanaugh, renowned music educator, learning the language of music can increase reasoning abilities, help lengthen attention span and enhance mathematical spatial skills. An understanding of music can increase a student's confidence level and help create opportunities for positive social situations. Learning how to make music challenges a person's creativity, and that carries over to other areas of life. With the many online resources now available for learning the basics of music theory, a general knowledge of music is easily accessible.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Printer
• Piano keyboard for each student (not mandatory, but very helpful)

Instructions

How to Teach Students Music Theory

1. 

   Teach the note names.

   Teach the organization of the notes on the staff. Begin with treble clef. Notes are arranged from bottom line to the top line: E, G, B, D, F. The order of the notes is usually memorized in a sentence such as--Every Good Boy Does Fine. The spaces between the lines are: F,A,C,E. There are only 7 note names to remember, since they repeat all the way up and down the keyboard. Refer to resources for good web sites you can use to present and practice naming notes.

2. 

   Teach the value of notes and rests.

   Teach the values of basic notes and rests: whole, half, quarter and dotted. In beginning music, whole notes usually get 4 counts, half notes get 2 counts, quarter notes get 1 count. A dot beside a note adds half of its original value. So, a dotted half note gets 2+1 or 3 counts. Rests receive the same number of counts according to their names: whole, half and quarter. Pictures of these note values can be viewed in the web sites in the resource section of this article.

3. 

   Teach location of notes on the keyboard.

   Teach the relationship of the note names to their location on the piano or keyboard. Most pianos have a brand name just above the keys. The black keys are arranged in groups of two and three, alternately. Find the group of two black keys just below the brand name, and locate the white key that touches the black key on the left. This is middle C. From this note, you can locate all the other keys: A through G.

4. 

   Practice with simple tunes.

   Find simple arrangements that use only treble clef and simple note values. Most of these are written in middle C position. Look for arrangements that have the corresponding finger numbers on the notes. Have the students practice reading them on the computer screen. Then print them off and have them practice on the keyboard. A good source for simple music is:

   http://gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebiesFP.html

5. 

   Teach bass clef notes.

   When the students become fairly proficient with treble-clef-only songs, begin the learning procedure with the bass clef. Have them learn the bass clef notes on the staff--from bottom to top: G,B,D,F,A. (Go Buy Daddy Fresh Apples). Find simple songs that use both treble and bass clefs, have students read them on the computer screen, then practice them on the keyboard. For easy reading for beginning students, look for tunes that place both thumbs on or near middle C.

6. Learning the language of music is much like learning any other language. Proficiency comes with practice. Encourage the pupils to practice slowly and accurately and gradually increase the tempo as they become more comfortable with reading music. Take advantage of the hundreds of cost-free online programs for practicing note-reading and rhythm patterns.

References

• Raising Musical Kids by Patrick Kavanaugh

Resources

• Music Tech Teacher
• Music Tech Teacher
• G Major Music Theory