Orange Roots and Bamboo Shoots

If your child is in the third year of Let's Play Music, your family is beginning the final semester: Orange Roots.  At a recent symposium, Let's Play Music creator Shelle Soelberg shared with me her process for choosing the semester icon, Orange Roots.  

It's Always Been About Making Musicians

By this final semester, Soelberg hoped parents would now have the years of experience to understand what creating a musician encompasses, to comprehend exactly what it takes, and then have a glorious moment to bask in the satisfaction of the achievement.  How could that all be conveyed in a semester name?

By now, Mom and Dad, your child has attended at least seventy-five classes: 3,675 minutes of classroom instruction.  You've found babysitters for siblings so you could be in class on parent week.  You've arranged schedules and meal-times and errands so your child could get to all seventy-five classes on time.  You set up a daily practice plan and played with your child and assisted in hundreds of hours of practice.  You helped with homework.  You may have even laminated ten complete sets of puppets!

And now something wonderful and exciting is finally happening: your child is learning some serious music theory, performing some fantastic songs, and even composing and transcribing her own music. Finally, your bamboo has sprouted!

The "Bamboo Lesson"

Shelle shared the popular motivational allegory , the "Bamboo Lesson" with me, and it makes perfect sense that this final semester should be a celebration of roots.  Before I share my version of the allegory with you... I invite you to watch this fantastic stop-film of a bamboo as it grows one meter per day!

There once was a music parent who felt discouraged.

Her child had been attending Red Balloon music lessons, 

but it didn't look like her daughter was becoming a great musician.

She began to lose hope, so she went to speak to the LPM teacher.

The teacher said, 

"Come, watch this fantastic stop-frame film of a bamboo tree growing."
Together they watched one day of growth.
The sprout rose from the ground and grew three feet.
Over the next several days it continued to explode upward.
At the end of six weeks, the bamboo was ninety feet tall.

Then he teacher asked, 
"So, how long did it take for the bamboo to grow to that impressive height?"
"Six Weeks!" the parent excitedly replied.

"Ah.  This interpretation will definitely set a person up for disappointment," 
said the teacher. 

 You see, this bamboo was grown from a seed:
Shortly after  planting, a tiny and fragile seedling appeared.
For a year, the grower watered and tended the seedling in a heated greenhouse, 
but the seedling did not appear to change. 

For a second year, the sensitive seedling was kept warm.
The farmer carefully watered and fertilized it.
Still it appeared unchanged.

For a third year, the seedling was kept in the greenhouse and carefully tended.
Finally, it was robust and stable enough to transplant outdoors.

For the fourth, fifth, and sixth years, the seedling was tended.
Each spring, a few new shoots appeared.  
Each spring, the shoots grew a bit taller, and a bit stronger.

In the seventh year, during the wet spring, new shoots sprang up.
They grew three impressive feet in the first day!
After six weeks, they reached 90 feet tall.  
It took seven years for the bamboo to develop, unseen, 
the strength to produce the 90 foot shoots.

What was happening during all those years when there was no visible growth?

Underneath the ground, out of sight,

a  network of roots was developing to support the bamboo's sudden growth.
If at any time the grower had stopped fertilizing and tending the bamboo
there would be no amazing performance in the seventh year.

Growth takes patience and perseverance.

Every practice session counts.

You might not see the change right away, but growth is happening!
During the entire Let's Play Music program, 
your child is developing an enormous network of roots.
Your child is growing a musical foundation that will support future years of practice.
Your child's roots will support amazing performance!

How Deep Are the Roots?

In Let's Play Music, we train students with a wide range of skills for musicianship; creating a foundation like musical roots that will support the fantastic growth that comes in this final year and for many years to come. In every aspect of music learning in the program, we grew the foundational skills first. This is the way to cultivate more than a students who can play piano...but students who are musicians.

For all these years, Mom and Dad, you watered and nurtured your bamboo and didn't give up!  When the teacher was asking your child to audiate, and you had no idea what she was really hearing in her mind; it was like trusting that roots were growing unseen below the ground.   All the time spent on listening to the chords, perfecting the hand shapes for playing, and singing cadences may have left you thinking, "Why doesn't my child just play something amazing already, and stop with these games!?"  Well, that bamboo would have missed out developing a critical foundation without those games.

But NOW you WILL really start to see the evidence of that watering and pruning and care: students who understand how music is put together and are ready to write their own songs.  Students who can talk about notes and rhythms using the correct terminology, and play correctly with correct counting.  Students who can harmonize a song (add chords to a melody) or hear chord progressions in music, and transpose it to other kids.  Students who ARE real musicians!

The "Chord Root" Lesson

The story of the bamboo forests and the importance of building a solid foundation (roots) is not the only reason we have Orange Roots as a semester name.

Students are now ready to learn how to build chords upon a root note.  You'll be learning this at Orange Lesson 5, but in case you get home and it's become a blur, let me run it by you one more time.

I. Choose Any Note.  We'll start the lesson by building a chord with three notes: a triad. (P.S. There's a song on your CD to teach you every triad.) You can choose ANY line or space note on the staff to begin; let's choose F for our example.

II. Add a Third and a Fifth.  You'll remember from our interval lessons that a third is also known as a skip.  So, a skip up from F is A.  A fifth up from F is C.  The top note is the "fifth", the middle note is the "third".  What special name do we have for the bottom note?  The ROOT! It's on the bottom, just like plant roots, and beautiful sounds grow out of it, just like beautiful flowers grow from roots.   

III. What shape do you see? Our chord is definitely looking like a snowman-shape.  It looks like a snowman because there are no gaps between the notes; they are all stacked up nice and neat.  We call this snowman-shape the ROOT POSITION.  Root position is super handy because it is super easy to identify the root: it's simply the guy on the bottom.  Since it's the root that gives a chord it's name, this is an F chord.

IV. Inversions. The reason this is an F chord is because it has F, A and C.  Even if those notes were in a different order, it would still be an F chord!  Let's try it...what if the F (root) were played on the TOP instead of the bottom? Gosh...now this chord has a very yellowy, bottom-heavy shape. We call this shape the FIRST INVERSION.  Well, drat, now when we look at something with this shape, how will we ever quickly identify the root?  The note above the gap's the root, it just has rearranged.  So...the root is STILL F. This is still an F CHORD.

V. Take it all the way.  That was fun, moving the F to the top.  Let's move the A to the top, too.  Well, now this thing has a very top-heavy, blue shape and we'll call it the SECOND INVERSION.  Even though it's a new shape, the note above the gap is STILL F, and this is still an F chord.  

Challenge Question: You just saw the F chord, and even though it was always the F chord (the root never changed), it was drawn with the shapes of what are commonly used for Red, Blue and Yellow chords.  So which one is it?  Now that you're in Orange Roots, it's time to learn that the SHAPE does not define the chord as red, blue or yellow.  It is the NOTES that define the chord.  In the key of C, an F chord is the BLUE chord (aka the IV chord because F is the 4th step up from C.)

Why Did We Do That?!

Now that you're a master of looking at these chords and finding the roots, you'll go through old songbooks and notice that our Red, Blue, and Yellow chords in the key of C are C chord, F chord, and G chord.  On page 1, you'll be playing the Primary Roots Song so you can see just how much jumping around your hand will have to do in order to play these 3 chords in root position all the time.  Jump your hand to C position, then F position, then G position! Whew!  (Mom and Dad, take the time to learn to play this song...it is not too tricky and teaches a great lesson.)  

With the blessed use of inversions, we can play the Primary Chord Song with the Red chord in root position, the Blue in second inversion, and the Yellow chord in first inversion.  You have mastered the hand shapes required to do these chord structures and you'll be able to play all 3 chords without having to move your hand away from C position.  Well, that is super helpful!


So, congratulations and welcome to ORANGE ROOTS! Our amazing musicians are really starting to shine now.

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

** Yes, folks, I changed the original bamboo lesson a bit because it didn't line up very well with the science of bamboo growth. In the original story, no shoot comes above ground for several years, and the very first shoot to ever come up achieves maximum growth rate and height.  In reality, it likely takes 15 years for a rhizome to mature enough to send up a culm of maximum height, and growing from seed is not a great idea (in part because bamboo flowers as rarely as every 50 years).  Bamboo is fascinating (read more), so I didn't want to propagate (pun intended) false data about it, but I do love a good parable when I hear one.  

How to Talk to Your Child About Practice

Long Term Vision

The first practice question that is sure to come up is simply: what behavior do you want to occur? Not too hard to answer, is it?  As an adult with perspective and vision (and access to lots of research articles), you know that your child benefits from her daily practice in ways she can't fully comprehend yet.  You want to see a cheerful response whenever you remind your child it's time to practice for the day.  

Question number two sometimes gets overlooked: what do you hope her motivation to be for that behavior?  That's what this article is about: creating a practice plan that doesn't plow ahead and leave this important  consideration in the dust.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

My biggest hopes are that my child falls in love with making music and finds a way to express herself and her creativity through this medium, that it becomes a great tool for her to relax and have fun with other musicians and family members, and that the allure of mastering challenges and creating beauty keep her gravitating to the piano of her own free will throughout her lifetime.  

A child who can tap into these intrinsic motivators will power up her own music practice for years! (even when she doesn't have me around to remind her.)

I'm guessing you are not excited to hear your child say, "I only practice so I can get my privileges," and  "I practice because I have to, because you're the boss."

You don't want her to quit music the day you are not there to give her a treat (extrinsic motivator) every day.  So what can be done?

Set the Stage
I suggest this step first because it's straightforward.  Set up your piano or keyboard in an inviting, uncluttered space.  Have your bubble and music player and alphabet pieces handy if they'll be needed this week.  If you want your child to gravitate to the piano easily, make it a pleasant experience to be at the piano. 

Why Do You Care?

Before making any other changes or plans, get a peek inside your child's mind.   Talk to your child about why you think practicing is worthwhile.  Side note: it is a great exercise for you to first pinpoint why you care about daily practice.

"Hey, come sit with me for a minute.  I'm so excited for this new semester of music to start up- you sure are learning a lot of things in class!  I've been thinking about practice...can I tell you what I notice?'

'I noticed how confident you seem when you're heading to class, fully prepared for the goals of the week. '

'I love how when you're all caught up on practice you really participate in class and show your teacher what you know.  You seem to have a lot more fun in class than on those days.' 

'It seems like you have a lot more fun at home, too, when we do it daily- it doesn't seem to be as scary or as tricky as it is if we skip a few days.  This is important to me, because I love seeing you have fun and I hope you'll love making music with me.'

'When you practice, I notice how capable you are at learning what your teacher shows you in class.  I get excited because I think you'll love some of the cool things you're going to learn next. You're so brave for learning hard new things.'

'Do you want to hear one more really cool thing?  Practicing music actually makes your brain bigger! and helps you be a better thinker and helps you learn how to work on hard things without giving up!  You're a kid who can think through hard problems and can work on hard things, even when they aren't easy at first. I'm so proud of you, and I'm proud of you when you struggle with something tricky, but you don't give up.'

Okay, reality check!  Some children can handle this whole conversation in one dose, and others might digest it better in small chunks.  I do think you do yourself a disservice if your child has no clue WHY you are asking him practice. 

Next, engage him with: 

Do you also notice that?  

Do you also feel that way?  

Can you tell me what it's like for you when you go to class prepared (or not)?  

Then sit still and listen!   If you bring up these ideas just after a successful practice, you may be rewarded with something like: "Why yes, I did really had fun playing that piece and I feel proud that I learned it in just one week.  My practice really did pay off!" 

Helping your child realize that he has fun making music and enjoys the challenge of mastering songs is your way of helping him discover the intrinsic motivation to stick with music.  

It comes from inside him: talking about the good feelings and experiences going on in there will help him be aware of it!  In the long-term, this will be a longer-lasting motivation than weekly stickers and prizes.

BUT... it takes years to nurture the intrinsic motivation. He's going to need you (extrinsic motivator/ coach) to help him stick with music lessons until he gets it.

Strategize Together

Practice time involves the student, so have the student help decide how to make practice time work.  Talk to your child about how this thing could be most enjoyable, and hear what he thinks would be enjoyable.  

"Well, you know I am excited to see you practice every day, so help me figure out what we can do to make it work really well and be most fun."

'I guess I like it best if I practice after dinner. In the morning I'm too sleepy.'
'I guess I better just do it in the morning... when I get home from school I just want to play.'
'I do like to play duets with you...that always makes practice more fun.'
'I want you to give me a prize so I can look forward to it.'
'If you help me play the games from class as part of practice, that would be fun.'
'I like it when I have a few minutes of free time to play my own stuff.'
'I like it if you play for me sometimes, so I can just listen.'
'I like it if you give me stickers to help me see my progress.'
'I like to decide the order of what I practice.'
'I like to set a timer so I know when I will be done.'
Etc.


Warning: Your child might not be able to put the above statements into words. You can read those statements to him and say "Does this sound like how you feel?"


A Written Practice Plan

Draft an agreement with your child.  Write it down, because little people have fuzzy memories when it comes to promises to practice. 

We will agree to practice after dinner and set the timer for 15 minutes, and we'll be sure to play duets at least once each week and Mom will provide cute stickers to mark of practices.

Your agreement should include a caveat: What will we do if our preferred practice time doesn't work out one day? Make a plan, because this will happen! 

What will we do if, for some reason, we miss a whole day?  Decide in advance. It will happen!

And what if your child doesn't follow through? Ask HIM for some ideas of what the result should be.

'Johnny will agree to come to the piano nicely when I remind him.  If we are too busy one day to practice in the morning, he agrees to practice before bed.  If Johnny has a tantrum he will not have any playdates that day.'

What about the adult's roles? Ask him for ideas about what you should promise to do.

'I want to be helpful to you, so I'll promise to remind you when I notice practice time is coming.  Do you prefer a 5-minute or 10-minute warning?  I'll also agree to sit by you for the first 2 practices each week, so you can get help if you need it.'

'It will break the agreement if I call you to practice and you throw a tantrum.  If you want to practice at the alternate time, will you agree to talk to me politely about it and we can decide if it will work?  If you decide not to come to the piano at all one day, that will also break the agreement- what should be the consequence if that happens?'    

For some students, the consequence of being unprepared for class may be enough.  Your child might still need extrinsic motivation (supplied by you) to get it done.  

Do what works with your parenting style.  'Can we add to the agreement that in our family, each person will practice before they play computer games?' 


Jump in, But Be Ready for Bumps!
Post your agreement and start having fun!  When the day comes that your child doesn't want to practice, lovingly inquire (and make guesses about) what makes practice hard. 

'Okay, Johnny, we're here at the piano, but you seem to be having a hard time getting started...

'Are you feeling a little nervous because this is a huge song and you are not sure where to start?  Perhaps if you just figure out the right hand for these 2 measures, and play those measures 3 times, that's enough of that song for today. '

'Are you feeling worried that this might not sound right, because you don't know it well yet? Yes, there might be a lot of mistakes today, but I love hearing your work through hard things and not give up.  Let's find the tricky part and just practice that a few times. '

'Are you feeling like this song is not much fun to play, because it's really hard and slow right now?  Yeah, songs do take a lot of work at the beginning, but I know you get faster and smoother every time you play it...and that means more fun every time!  How about if you work on this for a few minutes, and then play one that you know really well. ' 

'Are you still thinking about playing with that toy you just had, and wishing you could keep doing that right now?   Yes, that was fun, it would be nice to have more time to do that.  You'll be able to play again in 20 minutes.  I bet if we play this song a few times, you'll start having fun at piano, and the 20 minutes will pass really quickly.'

'I'm noticing that you really need to wiggle today! How about if you play through the assignments, and do five jumping jacks between each one?' 

If your child can sense that you really understand why this is so hard for him right now, he is more likely to listen to your suggestion for moving forward. 

The Unilateral Decision

Hopefully your child was able to understand some of your wisdom and reasons for encouraging daily practice.  If he's having fun in class and having fun bonding with you around the piano, he has probably bought into the practice agreement, and isn't surprised that you follow through daily to check if it's getting done.

Occasionally a child may announce he just doesn't want anything to do with music lessons.  Take time to be curious: is your child feeling over-scheduled? Feeling negative pressure associated with music lessons?  Just wishing for more playtime?  Nervous about attacking challenges?  Sad that others got a prize in class and he didn't?

Was he originally interested, and what caused a change?  If suggesting these ideas strikes a chord with your child, perhaps he can finally understand his own feelings and find out what he thinks (he may not know exactly) and help him find a strategy to get what he needs while still meeting your request for practice.

In the end, it's up to the wise parent to weigh the benefits of musical education and decide how important it is to the family.   As the parent,  you can make music lessons a unilateral decision (no voting!).  You've probably already made decisions about going to school or church and certain behaviors.  Your children learn that "that's just the way we do things in our family, and it's not up for a vote."

'Johnny, I can tell that you don't enjoy practice right now.   I really care about you, and I know there are so many great things that will come to you if we stick with the music program.  I have many dreams for you, and musicianship is one gift I want to give you.  It is very important to me that I do my part to be sure you have this gift, so I would be too sad to let you stop music lessons.  I'm going to do everything I can to help you have fun and catch my vision.  I am pretty sure that one day soon, you will!' 

Long-Term Vision

Your long-term vision is to have a child reaping the many advantages of musical education, all the while loving the adventure.  


Right now, he is young and the challenges of learning music are new.  He loves practicing music because he loves and trusts you, he loves his teacher, he is excited about prizes, he has fun with you at the piano, and he wants to avoid the consequences of missing practice.


Over time, an exciting thing will happen- he'll start finding his own enjoyment at making beautiful music, he'll find joy in overcoming the challenges of learning new material, and he'll feel the pleasure of creating.  He'll practice because he's intrinsically motivated to practice, and because he's caught your long-term vision. 


I wish you the best as you help your child catch on to your long-term vision this year!


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

What Type of Musician is Your Child?

Would you like to have more ease, peace, and fun during piano practice time?  

Would you like music time to go more smoothly- with less yelling, arguing or bribing?  

Read on to explore how understanding your child's experience and perspective can give you one tool for welcoming the joy you seek.

At the 2013 Let's Play Music symposium, teachers attended a workshop featuring the book The Child Whisperer by Carol Tuttle.  Tuttle's goal is to help parents and teachers have ease with children, through honoring the true nature of each child. 

The 4 Types

Tuttle identifies 4 Types to be profiled (not personalities, but inherent natures). 

All children have all types within them, but lead with a dominant one.   

To get a better pinpoint on which type matches your child, read more in The Child Whisperer or get a glimpse with this brief summary:

• Type 1 : fun-loving, social, and spontaneous.  
• Type 2 : thoughtful, emotional, and in-touch with feelings. 
• Type 3 : physical, active, energetic, and love challenges.
• Type 4 : intellectual, efficient, exact, and analytical.

Type 1: Practice Must be Fun

The fun-loving child wants practice to be FUN.  She'll love to pretend she has laser-beam eyes firing at her book, to put fancy stickers on her daily practice chart, to give high-fives at the end of every single song, and to play imaginative games you invent to make practice go by.  "At the end of this song, let's do jumping jacks!"  Because everything is more fun with a friend, she'll love playing duets with a parent or sibling and performing regularly to any cheering crowd.  Although having a daily practice time is always a good idea, this spontaneous child loves to pop in and play a song or two of her choice in short bursts whenever it suits her.  She won't mind if you propose a short impromptu play time at the piano randomly during the day, and she'll have more fun with you by her side.   When composing time comes, she'll have lots of short ideas and needs to have all of them appreciated and validated before cutting it down to the themes that will become the piece.  If you feel your relationship with your Type 1 is strained, it may be a sign you need more laughing, hugging, and cheering. She feels loved by having fun with you and she'll have a long relationship with music if she identifies it as one of her playful outlets.

Type 2: I Know Exactly What to Do

Your Type-2 child is a planner.  He can see details and how they add up.  At practice time, he'll want to discuss with you exactly how many reps he'll need to do of each drill each day to meet the weekly goal, and he'll care a lot about knowing exactly what the weekly goals are. He'll want to plan out what order he'll do the songs  before starting each practice, and have a vision of exactly how long it's going to take him at his own pace.  Encourage him and let him know that he will be able to achieve the weekly goals, even when they seem large.  He cares about making life flow easily, and will want to be in on the discussion about when the practice time will be happening each day.  This sensitive child will like to hear you tell him about your feelings and emotions.  "I am happy to see you trying so hard, even though I can tell it is not always easy."  "Thank you for singing and snuggling with me in class- I sure do enjoy spending time with you."  He will enjoy singing with you or playing duets with you because it gives a sense of connection and bonding.  When composing time comes, he will feel most confident if given as many details as possible about what is expected and how the process is going to play out.  "Please come next week with four bars of melody and some block chords to harmonize."  If your Type 2 child is unhappy in class, he likely wants to talk about his feelings and be understood, without being rushed.  Reflect back to him to show that you understood. "Are you feeling nervous because you think it might sound bad the first time?" The great news is that this type of child has the patience to practice and make steady progress.

Type 3: I Can Do This!

Your determined Type-3 child is adventurous and self-motivated once she decides she wants to do this.  She loves creating results, and will appreciate if you film her each time she masters a song and put stickers on the pages so you can look back frequently and celebrate her achievements.  For the same reason, she'll love to put on mini-recitals with photo documentation.  This child will enjoy manageable challenges like striving for a perfect practice record every week, and she'll enjoy sticker charts to show her progress.  If she has a hard time getting to practice at the agreed-upon time, it's possibly because she's excited about another pursuit she's equally passionate about in the moment.  Show respect for all of her passions, and remind her of what she's accomplished.

 When she feels downhearted, reflect with her. "Remember when you could not tie your shoes, but you kept trying, and now you can do it so easily? I think if you stick with this scale, you will be able to do it very soon."  Help your child be very aware of the weekly goals.  If she is enthusiastic and puts in two hours straight to complete the goals on the first day, it may be fine to let her take a few days off to pursue other passions (but a refresher just before returning to class is a good idea.)  This is also the child most likely to request advanced options from the teacher and have the drive to achieve them.  Provide her with recordings of various piano music. She may hear a song she loves and let you know, "I MUST learn to play this song!"  Get her the sheet music and she will! 

Type 4: This is Serious Business

Your analytical child wants respect from you, and enjoys being taken as seriously as another adult.  Include him in the discussion of when and how to practice and let him know that his ideas are taken seriously.  You may be surprised at his problem-solving.  "I think the best way for me to practice without being interrupted by the little kids is if you let me stay up to practice after they are in bed."  This Type enjoys perfecting and polishing his songs, so if he is ever frustrated when the group class puts a song away, assure him that he can keep working on it at home.  For the same reason, he may get frustrated when his progress is not quick and perfect.  Assure him, "It seems you are frustrated that it's taking a long time to learn this part.  I think your progress is right on track, and it was expected that this part would be tricky.  It's okay to feel frustrated, and it doesn't mean you're not a good pianist." Because he longs for respect, ask before offering too much advice on his work.  "I heard a few mistakes in that last song; would you like me to help you notice them, or do you want to keep working on it alone for a bit longer?"  Your thoughtful child may easily fall in love with the beautiful mathematics and theory of music as well the satisfaction of playing polished pieces and mastering technique.   He is the most likely Type to appreciate knowing the many ways music lessons can affect and improve his brain and school success.  He also is the Type who will enjoy knowing the purpose of each activity in class- what theory it is teaching and what skills it helps him practice. If your Type 4 child is not enjoying class, he may feel like he's not being included in designing how to go about learning and practicing.  The great news is he'll be able to handle a mature and respectful problem-solving conversation; if you take him seriously he'll love to find the solution for making things work.

Let's Play Music!

Now as you head to class and practice time, keep your child's experience, needs, and perspectives in mind.  Many parents are aware that each of their children go about music learning in a slightly different way, often different from how the parents themselves would work through it.  Respect your child's nature while guiding him through this wonderful and sensitive period.  Let's plant the seeds of love for music and offer a platform for bonding between parent and child.

For more ideas, grab your own copy of The Child Whisperer, by Carol Tuttle.

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