Becca Smith: "Fulfilled in Teaching My Children"

Ms. Becca I Knew I'd Be a Teacher

My name is Rebecca Smith and all my students and their friends call me Ms. Becca. I started playing violin when I was 5. I grew up in a very musical family. My mother is an excellent pianist and taught through all my growing-up years. All eight siblings played at least one instrument, and those gifted ones did several. 

I had excellent teachers and during my high school years we moved from Salt Lake City to Knoxville, TN for my father’s calling in our church, where we had an incredible opportunity to study with Mark Zelmanovich, the concert master of the Knoxville symphony. I was also able to be a part of the Knoxville youth symphony, a great program in the area.  

In the fourth grade I had written in one my school projects that I was going to be a music teacher when I grew up. After graduating Farragut High I went to BYU to further my education. I felt inclined to become more well-rounded and achieved a B.S. in Health Sciences. I have continually taught 1 or more students violin from the time I graduated high school. 

Serious Theory...for Children!?
After I had been married a short time, my sister-in-law was telling me about an amazing music program called Let’s Play Music her children were enrolled in. I was intrigued and the more I looked into it, the more I thought, "I’ve got to have my own future children do this!" The music theory and concepts that the program teaches were what I was most impressed with first, since I hadn’t heard of any other program that introduced these concepts so early! After a year (and a move back to Knoxville) I knew it was time to look seriously into Let’s Play Music because there were no teachers in Knoxville. I started teaching one class of four kids in 2007 while I was working full time and had a few violin students as well. Slowly I added more classes and have just loved watching this program bless the lives of children and their families learning and understanding music in such a fun way! 

Here Comes The Surprise:

Life can throw you some curve balls, for sure. My husband and I were surprised and excited when we found out during our first pregnancy we were expecting twins! With no parents in town at that time, I was nervous about how I would care for babies and keep the music classes going. But I said to myself, “Remember, you are teaching this for YOUR babies to do one day.” I did somehow work it out and got back into a great groove of juggling babies and teaching. 

Fast forward almost 2 years and, surprise! We were expecting triplets! I had

just started an amazing group of first-year students and knew I couldn’t let them down. I will never forget the great group of moms who were so sweet and understanding of my challenges. They were fine with starting 2nd year later the next year in January and going straight through the summer so I could “manage” my babies. I’m just in awe that I’ve been so blessed to teach awesome children in my community and to have my own family have a great start in music! Wouldn’t you know we have 5 boys and, wow, they need that balance of music to help them to do well academically and offset all the sports!

A Musical Community

The twins just graduated LPM this spring with the largest group of third years I’ve ever had: 17 students. The triplets have loved Sound Beginnings and will be starting red balloons this fall. I have absolutely loved being integrated into the community in this way and have enjoyed all the people we have come to meet. I think back to those few crazy years and remember feeling my head was just above the water. Still, I wouldn’t change a thing. I feel so fulfilled teaching my own children and grateful for the opportunity our family has had to get to know remarkable families in our community. These families are doing fantastic things with their kids and I’m so happy to be a part of it.

Learn more about Ms. Becca's classes in Knoxville, TN, at:  Beccasmusic.com

Jen Ellsworth: Hello, Minnesota!

Meet Ms. Jen:

Hello from chilly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! My name is Jennifer Ellsworth but all of my students call me Ms. Jen. I have been teaching private violin and piano lessons since 1995 but was blown away when I stumbled upon the Let's Play Music curriculum. I just HAD to be a part of it so I trained to teach in 2008 and then brought the exciting program with me here to Pittsburgh. I LOVE it! While teaching Let's Play Music is a big part of my life, my favorite job is being a mom to my three boys and baby girl. They are the reason that I started teaching Let's Play Music and my heart swells each time I hear them perform on their cellos together because of the foundation they received through this amazing program.

Advanced Theory…Through Play!

I was thrilled when I discovered that the Let's Play Music program was theory based. Back when I was first learning violin and piano I had little exposure to theory and was intimidated when I participated in heavy theory courses in college. 
When I saw what level of understanding that these five and six year old children were accomplishing in such a short time I was astounded and knew that my own children NEEDED this knowledge to help them in their future musical endeavors. 
 Not only were these children learning advanced theory concepts, but they were doing it through PLAY, the best way for a young child to learn! Without even seeing a class in action I registered to become a Let's Play Music teacher and have had a blast since then. It is truly the BEST program for children have a solid musical foundation...and it's just plain fun!

Delightful Surprises:

I think that the Let's Play Music curriculum does an amazing job at teaching difficult concepts in a fun and engaging way. But there is always a way for me to spice things up and keep it interesting! In Orange Roots my class might get to jam on "Cadence Blues" with a live electric bass guitar and drums. Or instead of playing the M&M's game to practice staff notes we toss velcro balls at a foam staff and guess the note it lands on. Maybe in Green Turtle Shells you will see a live performance of "Spring Bees" on my violin. You might have the real cowboy "Winston" show up to sing about his trusty Old Paint in Blue Bugs. Whatever we do I try to make it fun so the children remember it and apply it to their practicing at home.

Enrichment that Lasts a Lifetime

I hope that as I teach the children in my studio that not only will they grasp the conceptual part of the program but that they will develop a love for music and and the enrichment that it provides for the rest of their lives. I hope that after they finish their time with me that they can feel empowered to continue their musical journey and turn that spark of excitement into a passion for the music they create. One of my favorite things is receiving emails or letters from former students (now in college!) telling me that what I taught them at the beginning has fueled their desire to continue excelling in music and given them a love for what they create and share with others. That is a teacher's dream (or at least mine, anyway!).

- Jen Ellsworth, B.A.

Let's Play Music Teacher

2011 National Visonary Teacher Award

**In addition to her Let's Play Music and Sound Beginnings certifications, Ms. Jen has training in Suzuki and traditional violin and piano methods as well as a B.A. in Elementary Education from Arizona State University.

To see her local classes in action or to sign up for a class with Ms. Jen in her new location of Rochester, Minnesota (starting fall 2015), visit the blog (www.LPMwithJen.com).  We love seeing Let's Play Music spread to more and more states every year!

Educating the Complete Musician

Now that you've begun Let's Play Music class, you might be wondering, why aren't we on the keyboards yet!?  Why isn't my child doing drills and building up a big repertoire of performance pieces already!?  What's the holdup!?  Is my child falling behind in the music world!?

I often tell people, "we're not just a piano class, and we're not just a voice class, and we're not just a theory class...we're a complete musicianship program."  Our program is intentionally broad, and covers so much more than technique and repertoire. 

Why Musicianship? 

Can read music...but not improvise?

Imagine if your child could play a fancy piece of piano music beautifully, but he struggled to learn new songs or pick out a melody by ear.  

Or perhaps he doesn't seem to notice discordant mistakes until the teacher points them out.  

Or perhaps he plays his lesson repertoire just fine, but is baffled at the thought of improvising or creating music, wondering when his lessons are going to teach him how to do that.

On the flip side, what if he could sit down and easily play 'The Itsy-Bitsy Spider' by ear, but really felt overwhelmed trying to read any new songs from sheet music?

In each scenario, the student is learning from lessons that lack different elements of musicianship needed to create a complete musician.

At Let's Play Music, we nurture all aspects of musicianship before your child graduates into specialized programs like private lessons. We are building a foundation for broad musicianship that pays off in the long run.  It seems that there are so many elements to be taught, but luckily activities of each type are complimentary to each other: skill in one task helps a child have success in the others. 

The Big 5 Skills of Musicianship

I tried to put into words what defined lessons that would output a musician instead of a one-song-wonder. Luckily the concept is summed up in this interview at www.easyeartraining.com with Dr. Chad West. 

Dr. West is a leading expert and author of a recent article defining FIVE core skills that define musicianship. They are:

• Executive
• Notation
• Rhythmic
• Tonal
• Creativity 

Executive skills are the obvious ones: how to make your fingers actually technically play the instrument. 

Notation is also pretty straightforward: how to understand written notes and music theory in order to play what was intended. 

These two skills are the external skills of musicianship; progress in these skills is easy to evaluate because the results are external (the student's output is measured.)

Executive and Notation skills are the main focus of many school and private music lessons, often at the expense of other skills.   Students may take lessons for years, but still feel unmusical.  

After lots of practice with executive and notation skills, they are probably amazing at reading and playing music, but may still not feel like they can create music.

Our programs don't neglect tonal/ear training that often get left behind. Singing is necessary for feedback on how students are audiating, so we include singing as an important element of musicianship.

We believe a student is never too young to take what they know and create new music.  Teaching chord theory early empowers students to make new music and better understand the music they hear in daily life.

What Do We Cover?

Note reading AND ear training !

-Music theory: playing in 5 keys, transposing, understanding chord inversions, chord progressions, triads, creating scales and more!

-Ear training: interval recognition and singing, chord recognition, chord progressions, and melodic patterns

-Playing by ear: taking ear-training to the keyboard

-Sight singing: solfege, note-reading

-Vocal training 

-Dictation: melodic and chords/harmony

-Sight reading/ piano playing: two-handed repertoire in 5 keys, piano technique 

-Improvisation: melodic improv, chord style improv

-Ensemble playing and singing: harmonizing parts, following a conductor, listening to multiple parts at once

-Analysis of simple and classical music: puppet shows!

-Listening to music from various styles: class musical CDs

 
-Arranging and composing: students complete a piano composition to perform 

You're probably saying "Hey! when I was a kid, my piano lesson didn't cover all of that!" Life is better now! Our programs are carefully crafted and designed to help you raise a well-rounded musician.  

You CAN Teach Talent

With all of these skills in place, folks will be saying "he's a talented musician!" and not just, "he can really play piano!"

To answer the questions, "Why aren't we on the piano yet?" and "Are we falling behind!?" the answer is: We are taking the first year of class to train the ear and brain for success on the piano. We're training the large and small muscle groups, too, through harp and bell performance. We're fundamentally internalizing how music works, through a variety of types of training, so that when we play piano, we'll be truly successful as whole musicians.

Now remember, when your child asks, "What will be doing in class today?" simply and honestly answer, "fun songs and silly games!"  It's the perfect venue for all that hard work we're not telling him about.

-Gina Weibel, M.S.
Let's Play Music Teacher