The Mike Ellis Music Instruction, 21st Century Music Instruction

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Sir Paul McCartney, the most succseeful composer of the twentieth century, and still going,
is seen in this short video where reading notes is addressed.

Science - a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths
systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws. - dictionary.com
Music is an art. Transcribing music is a science. - Mike Ellis
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the
humble reasoning of a single individual. - Galileo

The following will deal with how music is taught, which is a science, as well as what music is, which is an art. Much of the information contained here is in consideration of how the conveying of music has been developed over the centuries and how it has been left unchanged from centuries ago, while technology and communications have far surpassed the evolution of music teaching. So often, music is taught "the way I was taught" without regard to possible advances and improvements that could have been made.

What Has Been

Imagine for a moment that your first encounter with language was not hearing it, but presented to you not only written on paper but written in shorthand. How much more difficult would it have been to learn?

Most beginning piano students are given pieces to learn that they have never heard before the first time the teacher plays these pieces for the student. When they go home they may not remember how a piece sounded.

Then add to that the fact that a half note is shorthand for two beats of sound, a dotted half note is shorthand for three beats of sound, etc. These shorthand techniques are taught very near the first lessons and need to be not only memorized, but understood by beginners who have never seen them before.

Now, consider this. From http://en.allexperts.com/q/Clarinet-2214/B-flat.htm we have the following:

Concert instruments are called C instruments, and include flute, oboe, etc. Bb instruments are pitched one full step below concert. The size of the instruments determines the pitch. Since a Bb clarinet is pitched one full step below concert, to play the same pitch, the instrument has to play one full step above concert. Therefore, concert C would be a Bb instrument's D; F would be G, etc

Even more complicated is is alto sax - it's pitched in Eb, which means it's pitched six full steps below concert, so it has to play six full steps above concert. A concert 3rd space C would be a high A for alto sax.

How confusing is that? Now picture a fifth grader being told this as part of one of his first lessons. Maybe they could have called a C a C and called an A an A on every instrument? What a concept. Then there would have been no transposing needed.

Before going on, you should read a short essay by Mike Ellis called "A Teacher Speaks Out". It's a discussion on the importance of reading notes on the staff line.

What Can Be

Click HERE for your first installment of 21st Century Music Instruction,
"Transcribing Music in Western Culture and the Introduction of N.U.M.E."

Which Chords Do They Really Use?
Have you ever wondered which chords to use in a song, or tried to "pick out" a song by ear, or looked up the chords on the Internet, only to find out that they didn't really sound right?
Now you can find out in a few pages what I learned over an eleven year period of picking out songs by ear. It will save you a lot of time and may even make a song writer out of you.
Although the third and fourth pages are geared toward guitarists and bass guitarists, go ahead and read through them. The fourth page shows the results of my eleven year, real-world, experiences with chords and songs. Just follow this link.

The one thing most people don't realize is that when the singer sings a song, there are chords being played behind the vocals.
There is nobody playing the singer's part on the songs you like best. The singer sings it. If you want to sound like the recording (.mp3 file, etc.), then you need to be playing the chords.
If you don't get to where you can play along with the original artists, then you will be MISSING OUT ON:
    the true magic of playing along with your favorite artists,
    learning what they did, so that you can do your own songs,
    bringing smiles to yourself and others.

Another thing most people don't realize is how easy learning chords can be. Sure, if you start by reading "Hot Cross Buns" on the staff line, it will take a long time to get to playing chords, if ever. But the Beatles (most successful and influencial band of all time) weren't trained by reading notes, they toyed around with chords and made up songs. The Rolling Stones members can't read notes. If they could play their songs with no formal training, then so can you. You won't believe how easy it really is, for piano or guitar.

The title of this section of this page is, "What Can Be" and it IS what can be for you.
See the picture below to be find out where you can order the books shown.

Copyright Mike Ellis Music Instruction 2018

What Has Been
Imagine for a moment that your first encounter with language was not hearing it, but presented to you not only written on paper but written in shorthand. How much more difficult would it have been to learn? Most beginning piano students are given pieces to learn that they have never heard before the first time the teacher plays these pieces for the student. When they go home they may not remember how a piece sounded. Then add to that the fact that a half note is shorthand for two beats of sound, a dotted half note is shorthand for three beats of sound, etc. These shorthand techniques are taught very near the first lessons and need to be not only memorized, but understood by beginners who have never seen them before. Now, consider this. From http://en.allexperts.com/q/Clarinet-2214/B-flat.htm we have the following: Concert instruments are called C instruments, and include flute, oboe, etc. Bb instruments are pitched one full step below concert. The size of the instruments determines the pitch. Since a Bb clarinet is pitched one full step below concert, to play the same pitch, the instrument has to play one full step above concert. Therefore, concert C would be a Bb instrument's D; F would be G, etc Even more complicated is is alto sax - it's pitched in Eb, which means it's pitched six full steps below concert, so it has to play six full steps above concert. A concert 3rd space C would be a high A for alto sax. How confusing is that? Now picture a fifth grader being told this as part of one of his first lessons. Maybe they could have called a C a C and called an A an A on every instrument? What a concept. Then there would have been no transposing needed. Before going on, you should read a short essay by Mike Ellis called "A Teacher Speaks Out". It's a discussion on the importance of reading notes on the staff line.