Hey everyone,

I'm a new piano teacher, new to this site, and I'd like to get you guys' feedback on something:

I have one student who seems to have a bit of a mental block on learning note values. She's 7 years old, and has just started taking weekly lessons from me about a month ago.

I've tried drilling, but to be perfectly honest, that just doesn't work for a little 7-year-old girl. We need to have something fun and memorable if at all possible.

Any ideas?

I taught the Technics Junior Music Program for a few years, and they used a verbalisation system which proved quite effective:

Crotchet = "Tun"
Minim = "Half Note"
Semibreve = "Great Big Whole Note"
Quavers = "Ti ti" (pronounced "teetee")
Semiquavers = "Tukatuka"

Dotted Crotchet = "Tun dot"
Dotted Minim = "Half Note Dot"

Rests (whispered - open hands instead of clap)

Crotchet = "Rest"
Minim = "Top Hat"
Semibreve(4/4) = "Up-Side Down Hat"
Semibreve(3/4) = "Whole Bar Rest" or "Great Whole Rest"
Quaver = "sh"

Combinations flow off the tongue very easily with a bit of practice, i.e.
"Tun-dot Ti Tun Tun"

Hold hands together for longer notes and 'nod' them on the pulse.

Does she have a mental block when it comes to remembering the note name "Half-Note", or understanding that a half note will get 2 beats?

I've done something with all my beginners that has seemed to work really well. I get a small rectangular box, about (about 5 x 10"), put it upside down, and then cut up a piece of paper into rectangles that are then laid on top of the box. The largest rectangle has a picture of a whole note on it, and must be the exact same size as the top of the box. Half notes are of course half the size of the box. I tell my students that this box's magic number is 4, and that all the pictures of the notes on the box must add up to 4. The entire box must be covered with notes, but the papers cannot overlap. I then let them figure out what goes together. Four small quarter notes fit, 2 half notes fit, and of course a whole note fits by itself. Some (depending on age) may need help to realize that a half note and 2 quarters will also work. This really helps them as they learn about measures and bar lines and counting. It appeals to the visual/tactile side of note values rather than having to drill or repeat on end that a half note gets 2 counts.
It also helps then when I ask questions like "ok, so we have one quarter note. How many more beats do we need to make the measure full?" They just picture the box and the shapes of the notes, and can answer it pretty quickly.
I also have a smaller box representing a 3/4 time signature. Haven't done the 6/8 yet.

Susan Paradis has some rhythm worksheets you might find useful: http://www.susanparadis.com/catalog.php?...&subtype2=x

On this page she has a sheet called Rhythm in the Grid that is a nice visual.
http://www.susanparadis.com/catalog.php?site=piano-teacher-resources&type=Teaching Aids&section=6&level=x&subtype=x&subtype2=x

I have the students clap rhythms quite a bit. Seems to help them focus on timing without having to worry about notes. I also keep a basket of rhythm instruments beside the piano to use when appropriate. Sometimes I have them do one hand only, while I do the other. This is more challenging that it would seem.

For one student recently who has a great ear but a big mental block for rhythms, I talked to his mom aobut it. He can verbalize the right thing to do, just has trouble reproducing it. Our solution was that she gave him a small recorder to bring to lessons (probably a voice recorder - not great quality sound, but it works.) For especially challenging pieces, I play them for him, while he records. He seems to learn the rhythms better by ear, and can listen at home.

Don't give her music with combinations of note values. The mixture is overwhelming for young kids who are deciding note name and fingering and note value from the printed music.

Start with simple songs that have a majority of two or three note values. Music with rhythm patterns also seems to help them learn. Music with many repeated notes seems to help most.

Hot Cross Buns (you can see the "limited field" working):
RH ONLY
3 2 1 (hold)
3 2 1 (hold)
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 (hold hold hold)

1 hold produces a half note
1 hold hold hold produces a whole note
each number is equivalent to a "TA" count (quarter note)

Mary Had a Little Lamb
RH ONLY
3 2 1 2 3 3 3 hold
2 2 2 hold 3 5 5 hold
3 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 1 hold hold hold

You can draw a whole note first and clap 4 beats saying
"hold that whole note" - shown by 4 pulses under the note
__ hold
__ that
__ whole note
__

Draw a new whole note with a stem saying
"half note" - shown by 2 pulses under the note
__ half
__ note

Draw a new whole note with a stem shade in the note head
"TA" (quarter note)- shown by 1 pulse under the note
__ TA

etc....

This "Magic Counting" avoids doing the accumulative math of metric counting with a time signature. It is highly accurate and all counting is done to a steady beat which sometimes must be shown by demonstrating what a metronome helps us do. I believe that metronomes at early level should only set a steady beat and not pulse away counting an entire piece. The "heartbeat" should come from within the child: such as the heart beating and walking does, windshield wipers, dripping faucets.

Keep it playful. Rhythm clapping is a fun thing for most kids to do and in many school districts they are already exposed to rhythm clapping.

Good luck in structuring counting with this girl.

Corrected error.

Thanks for the advice, everyone =) I'll have to give your ideas a try and see what works in this situation =)

Here is a proven trick I used back in the day when I taught beginning band. It always worked.

I always started by explaining what a beat is and then explained that a whole note is equal to 4 beats. And that it was like the length of a 4 inch ruler that started on 1 instead of 0. 1--2--3--4--1 giving them the idea that the whole note actually ended on the beginning of the next bar.

Next will be hard to show here but I will try my best.
For this simple example O = whole note and b = half note and ( ) = a circle around the counting. Its hard for beginners to be counting in their head and tapping or playing a rhythm at the same time so I always had them count aloud and clap. very slow at first so slow they could not make a mistake.

First I would write a very simple rhythm
then ask them to write in the counting under the notes

O-------b---b---0
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Then have the student put one circle for each note around the counting.

O----------b-----b-----0
(1 2 3 4) (1 2) (3 4) (1 2 3 4)

Then simply have them count aloud and clap once for every circle.
If they have trouble have them slow down until they can do it correctly.

You can use this system to figure out any rhythm no matter how complex.

Let the students learn to draw note values for complete processing and understanding!

Subdividing from long to short durations:

It's a good idea to draw a notehead (whole note)
__ Hold
__ That
__ Whole
__ Note

then to show a stem (half note)
__ Half
__ Note

then to shade the note head in (quarter note)
__ TA

then to add a flag (1/8 note)
\ ti

then to add another flag (1/16 note)
\\ diddle

Increasing duration: to increase a note's value by half - add a dot

Dotted Half Note
__ Half
__ Note
__ Dot

Dotted Quarter Note
__ TA
\ "i"

Dotted Eighth and 1/16th note combinations
Loooong/short (uneven ti-ti's) (3 tied 1/16 notes + 1/16)

A dot lengthens by half of the notes value

Having "magic counting words" instead of math numericals makes understanding of countin much easier for precise durations. Doing the "math" is very time consuming and error prone in metric counting for young children. Fractions in math are not taught in the very early grades of public school so I wait until the math skills make metric counting including 1/16 notes understandable.

Magic counting words are the exact length when spoken aloud of the note you are counting/playing.