Sometimes piano students shy away from learning “music facts” because they see them as rules they have to follow. Teaching music facts in a way that is interesting to kids offers creative perspective to children in piano lessons. This is important so they don’t fall into the trap of slavery to “music rules” to be “good students,” without learning to play creatively; or, so they don’t go to the other extreme and ignore learning musical facts altogether.

The musical symbol called a fermata, for example, means to pause. It’s kind of like stopping at a traffic light. In print it looks like a bird’s eye, but this analogy doesn’t really help students in piano know what to do when they see one. Young students will remember that this musical symbol reminds them of a bird’s eye, but they don’t remember what to do. Fermata is the Italian word for “Stop.” When the fermata is placed over a note it means to pause or stop on that note, and then resume the normal tempo.

If you think of the fermata as a musical stoplight, imagine you are traveling along in the music at a moderate to lively speed when you suddenly come to a note with a “stop light” over it that is red. What do you do? Don’t park your care and get out! Don’t run the red light! Just wait at the intersection with the car running until the light turns green, and then resume your musical journey at your previous moderate to lively tempo. The idea of a fermata is to create anticipation in the music, or a feeling that the melody is coming again, but you have to be a little patient and wait for it. This creative technique adds interest to the music that kind of teases the listener’s ear.

Now it’s true that as a parent who may find red stoplights more that just a little annoying, this explanation might sound disingenuous. But I guarantee it’s a creative idea that will work for your piano student. And who knows, when your piano student becomes a driver they may view stoplights as just fermatas there to make their journey more interesting! You’ll be making the world a better place.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You’ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f’ree internet newsletter so you can download f’ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

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