|
|||||||||
|
Inga Y. Magid Inga Magid is currently on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA. She developed her first courses in 1994 as a result of a lifelong interest in music for children. Her goal was to produce a comprehensive, motivating beginner's music program that would train the ears and brain as much as the fingers. Inga Y. Magid About Her Method Everything felt different in America, from a new lifestyle to new music terminology and a new attitude toward music education for children. The idea of combining FUN with EDUCATION was new and exciting to me, and so compelling compared to the unpleasant memories of my own early music lessons. A variety of colorful music method books lined the shelves in the music stores. Each claimed to be the best and the most comprehensive. But I was disappointed to find that most books were geared toward older beginners who could already read and write. A large body of research confirms the tremendous benefits of introducing young children to many kinds of music. I wanted to use children's innate curiosity and their capacity for easy ear training at a young age to produce real results: a genuine understanding, love, and appreciation of music, and the ability to make music. My goal was to train the brain and ears as well as fingers. Young children really can READ music, play the piano, and train their ears while having a lot of FUN. I started my classes with the idea of making lessons look more like children's games than "lessons." Electronic touch-sensitive keyboards gave me the opportunity to explore using a small group setting. Children are accustomed to learning in small groups in preschool and school, and a group setting allows children to learn from each other as well as the teacher. Children challenge and encourage each other to keep up with the rest of the group. I wanted parents to be a part of the group too - to enjoy the class with their children, and to be partners in music at home. In class, parents would provide a sense of stability and security for the child, help their children participate, and handle tasks that require reading, such as finding pages or pointing in the book for reading and playing. At home, parents could reinforce concepts introduced in class and help keep the motivation on a high level between classes. From the beginning, I chose movable "Do" (as in "Do Re Mi") solfege singing in combination with the Kodaly sign system to provide the basis for the ear training. Children easily understood the Kodaly "sign language," and enjoyed "catching" me on gradually increasingly difficult patterns. Very soon, they could copy and recall a variety of the 3- to 5- note patterns. This system naturally moved us from singing and copying music patterns to reading these patterns on the music staff. Students developed a great sense of pitch and rhythm while learning to read music. The technique engaged the children's attention and stimulated their minds and creativity. The solfege-based ear training, along with the traditional note reading and rhythmic "games" made music so much more understandable and so much less intimidating. Since those first courses, specific lesson plans and lesson content have certainly evolved through the wonderful experience of working with thousands of children and parents. But the heart of the program and the basic methodology remain centered on the same core belief: children are remarkably capable musically - at a much younger age than most people think. With the right approach, children can take advantage of that potential and have a lot of fun in the process.
|
||||||||
|
|||||||||
Partnered with:  , Boston Central, BostonMusic.com |
|||||||||
educator, lecturer, and pianist. A native of Ukraine, she
holds a Master's degree in music education from Ukraine as well as an MA in
Piano Pedagogy from Webster University, St. Louis, MO.