Being a musician is not just about making sound come out of the instrument. In fact, many things must be learn before a great song is played. The musicians in our violin classes in Miami learn how to properly hold their instrument and their bow. In addition to basic technique, they also learn how to read their music.
Music Reading can be Simple
Music is made up of a few different things. There’s the lines and spaces, notes, and various symbols. Sounds simple, right? It can be with our violin lessons in Miami! Our teachers guide students through their sheet music, and teach them how to understand any piece they find.
Our string player extraordinaire, Clayton, loves to teach about key signatures! The key signature is the section of music that tells the musician which notes need to be modified to fit into a cohesive sound. The way we modify those notes is with sharps and flats! If a note is sharp, the musician plays it higher, and if it’s flat, they play it lower. Certain collections of notes create a key, a cohesive sound that makes the music blend.
The key signature makes music more simple to read. The sharps and flats are placed on certain lines or spaces, indicating which notes will be affected. Without a key signature, sharps and flats need to be written on each note. In certain key signatures, the amount of sharps or flats can make the music busy and confusing. Using a key signature solves this problem!
Also, there is a certain order in which the sharps and flats are arranged. And the order never changes! The notes go in order from sharp to flat – FCGDAEB. Clayton’s favorite way of remembering this order is “Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Birds”. The order of sharps/flats is important, because Clayton teaches a trick for how to read key signatures quickly!
For sharp keys, the last sharp in the key signature is one note under the name of the key. And in music, the regular english alphabet is used from A to G and then repeated. So, for example, if there are three sharps (FCG), the last one would be G Sharp, meaning that the particular piece is in A Major. And for flat keys, it’s even simpler! The second-to-last flat in the key signature is always the name of that key. For example, in the key of E flat major, there are three flats in the key signature (BEA) and E flat is the second-to-last one!
Violin Classes in Miami Teach More than Music
Playing violin doesn’t just give kids something fun to do after school. Kids who practice music are likely to have higher grades, better test scores, and better time management skills. And it doesn’t have to take up their entire schedule. According to this PubMed study, it only takes one hour a week of music study to boost overall intelligence! Studies like these show that learning music enhances the language-related networks in the brain. And that makes it beneficial for kids and adults trying to learn a new language!
Studying music is especially beneficial for young children. Along with their foreign language skills, young musicians tend to have better grammar AND higher IQs. And during the early years, the brain is in the most crucial stage of development. Taking violin classes in Miami can improve the brain’s ability to process subtle differences between sounds. In addition to that, musical training can assist in pronunciation and vocabulary.
If you’re interested in violin lessons in Miami, contact us!
