The other night we were getting ready for bed and my son, Nathan, wanted to mess around on the piano. I let him have his fun and then showed him the C Major Pentatonic Scale without telling him what it is. He was able to use the scale after breaking it down into a few steps. Mom was so impressed that we got to jam for a few extra minutes.
The next day I wanted to try that again with him and see what he could do. Keep in mind that I’ve shown him around the piano a little bit and that his pentatonic lesson was about three minutes long. What impressed me was that he was able to follow a few rules and then discover how the rules made playing music easier. That’s what Music Theory is all about. There are a ton of fine-print details in music and each one is a guide on how we can manipulate sound to our advantage.
While playing with Nathan I tried to avoid a few things. First, I didn’t want to play “over” him. Some of my notes are played very softly because I didn’t want what I was playing to dominate over his melodic lines. I also didn’t want to correct him when it came to notes or timing. Learning is easier when it is fun, so enjoyment takes precedence. When it came to errors I didn’t want to point them out. He’s just getting started and having positive reinforcement helps any student, so I continually pointed out things he did correctly. Constructive criticism can always come later.
Let me know what you think of our little jam session in a comment below. Thanks!
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