Adding Emotion to the Music and Learning to Hear the Dynamics in Different Pieces Once your child has mastered the first few songs in our course there are some fun games you can play to help your child discover different sounds and different emotions in the music.

The first step to adding dynamics or emotion to the songs your child is playing is being able to hear them in other music. Play several different pieces of classical music and ask your child to tell you the story the piece is telling. You might ask if the main character is happy or sad? What the weather is like? Where the story takes place? Etc. You can even take this a step further and ask your child to draw or paint a picture to illustrate the story the music is telling. This exercise develops very important listening skills.

You may need to demonstrate this next exercise for your child. Ask your child to make up a song that sounds like different emotions or settings. For example, ask your child to play a song that sounds like a storm and then a song that sounds like a sunny day. Ask your child to play a song that sounds like a huge giant stomping through the forest or a tiny fairy flying from flower to flower. Next, ask your child to play a song that sounds like a baseball player running from first to second base or a ballerina dancing on stage. It doesn’t matter what notes your child plays, you’re just trying to get them to play the “story” behind the music.

There are notations in written music called dynamics that tell the pianist how the composer intended the piece to sound. It’s not important that your child know the Italian names of the dynamics at this point. If your child can hear the difference and feel the different emotions each dynamic evokes then he/she will be way ahead of the game.

You can start with four dynamics:

Forte (f) Loud
Piano (p) Soft
Dolce Sweet
Staccato Brief and Detached

Take Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or one of your child’s favorite songs and ask him/her to play the entire song forte, piano, dolce or staccato. Then take each line and ask your child to play the first line forte and the second line piano, etc.

By continuing to nurture your child's natural love of music through the piano lessons you are teaching and fun exercises such as these you are developing skills that will serve your child well long after the lessons end. The special memories you're creating will be treasured by both of you.

Next time I’ll give you some fun games to help with rhythm and some exercises to help keep the rhythm steady. Playing with steady rhythm and counting aloud are some of the most challenging skills for young children to master. These fun exercises keep the kids motivated and help develop these important skills. 0 comments