Author Archives: Meryl Danziger
April 23rd, 2015 by Meryl Danziger | | No Comments »
All I’ll reveal is that this is Annabel. I’m inviting you to “play” along and see how much you can deduce. More explanation will follow on the next post!
January 12th, 2015 by Meryl Danziger | Tags: Erie Canal, fast, learning, music house, nycmusichouse.org, organic, singing, slow, song, teachable moment, tempo | No Comments »
Today I printed out the song “The Erie Canal for Josh. We’d discussed the song and watched the video of how locks work, so he’d become excited about learning the song itself. Josh is a 6-year-old intellectual. He loves learning of all kinds and enjoys being challenged. He’s also a very good reader. I started […]
January 10th, 2015 by Meryl Danziger | | No Comments »
The violin is one of the hardest instruments to learn. There are no frets, so you need to rely entirely on ear and feel. A lot to ask when your fingers are far from your eyeballs, way down at the end of the fingerboard trying to navigate an alien landscape on their own. At the […]
November 30th, 2014 by Meryl Danziger | | No Comments »
Yesterday, 7-year-old Natasha got a look on her face. I know that look. It’s always followed by a question: “Can you show me how to play … [Insert song title]?” But she has never followed through enough to find out whether she will be able to do it – usually not even getting as far […]
August 15th, 2014 by Meryl Danziger | | No Comments »
Babies, toddlers and young children exhibit behaviors that are considered to reflect innate musical ability: singing and making up songs, moving to music, and being generally lit up by it; uninhibited about trying musical things, and absorbing music through play. But when the child is “old enough” for formal lessons, all this gets left behind. Lessons are […]
July 12th, 2014 by Meryl Danziger | Tags: exploration, musical discovery, Piano, sustaining pedal | No Comments »
My piano is little: 64 keys and only two pedals. Max noticed the pedals and asked me what they are for. I encourage kids to try and figure things out as though I weren’t there: Suppose you were stranded on a music island, just you, the instrument and some tropical fruit. What would you do? […]
June 25th, 2014 by Meryl Danziger | | No Comments »
Julien’s musical impulse is to create on the spot – Improvisation. This is the activity in which he seems to be most engaged and from which he derives the most musical nourishment.
May 30th, 2014 by Meryl Danziger | | No Comments »
Here is Charley, this time accompanying herself on a three-chord song at the autoharp, ENTIRELY BY EAR If you missed hearing Charley at the piano, please look for “Charley and the Chord Factory,” and you’ll see how variety can “spice up” music learning!
May 18th, 2014 by Meryl Danziger | Tags: chords, music house, over the rainbow, Piano | No Comments »
Music House is all about finding ways to approach music that work for each individual learner. Charley is SO motivated to accompany herself on this song that she uses both her eyes and ears to push through the difficulties of locating all TWELVE chords. Guided by letter names above the lyrics, she forms the chords, but ALL of […]
April 9th, 2014 by Meryl Danziger | | No Comments »
Cole, at age 8, was able figure out almost anything by ear, including an impressive chunk of the Rhapsody in Blue, among other things. He never took a “real” piano lesson, and on his own, managed to develop a comfort and facility at the piano that I could only envy. He also composed constantly. Here, […]
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