Review by Dr. Anne Margaret Wright (Psy.D.)
If you don’t consider yourself musically talented, please keep reading because this program is designed for you! Simply Music is not a program written for students and teachers who have had 20 years of classical training - although I think they would still find it to be a very valuable tool. It is written for the novices, like me, who love music and wish we could play, or play better. I’ll give just a quick history and description because other, more brilliant, reviewers are looking at the overall program in more depth, and I want to focus on using this excellent program with students with special needs.
Neil Moore didn’t play the piano the way his teacher thought he should. He didn’t read the music score and play what he saw; he listened to the teacher play the piece, and then broke it down into patterns. Between lessons he would work out the patterns and figure out the piece. Then at the next lesson, he would pretend to read the music while playing the piece. His teacher was not fooled. This was not how to learn! However, after complaining to Neil’s mother, they decided to let him use his own unique style of learning. Although he became an accomplished musician, Neil did not learn to read music until he was an adult.
The Simply Music program had its origins with a blind student. Neil had been asked to teach a boy who was blind to play the piano. Certainly, the traditional methods would not work! But what if Neil could somehow break down the system that he had used to play, and teach this system to his young student? You guessed it! The results were astounding and this wonderful music program was born.
The nuts and bolts of Simply Music involve a student either doing an independent study program or working with a Simply Music teacher. There are books, videos, cassettes or CDs, music books, charts, etc., all to guide you through the process. Did I mention the process is upside down? Traditional, classical music programs start by spending weeks or months (or years) teaching how to read music and play the scales. For those of you who enjoy frustration, I highly recommend that method. However, for the rest of us who want to learn to play the piano, I love the Simply Music approach. Neil starts with a very brief introduction, and then teaches the student to play a song, with both hands, in the first lesson! He uses patterns and symbols that make it easy to understand and easy to play. By starting with success, the student has fun right from the start, while they are learning. Don’t worry, learning to read music and all of the boring stuff comes later, but not in a boring way. Neil makes an excellent point about why he uses this method. He says that babies don’t learn to spell and write before they learn to talk, so why would we ask kids to learn to read music before they learn to play? And these are not "Dick and Jane" kinds of songs, but a full repertoire of beautiful songs from a variety of genres. I’ll confess that I love this method because it is close to how I learned to play the piano in junior high school. My teacher taught me how to read music, but it was too slow for me. I would take the music home and decipher a little bit, memorize that part by breaking it down into patterns, then learn a bit more. Start with the right hand, and then add the left. That was a long time ago and I’ve forgotten most of what I used to know, but this process makes more sense to me, and is much more fun!
What really struck me about the Simply Music program, though, is how wonderful it would be for my son, Benjamin. Benji is almost 4-years-old and has Down syndrome. His fingers are a little bit shorter than other kids‚ his age, and his gross and fine motor skills are behind. He has cognitive delays and will probably never understand the more intricate concepts in music. However, music absolutely speaks to Benji’s soul. He listens, sings along, smiles, swings, dances, and imitates any music he hears. We usually have some music playing because it is such a special part of his day. We also use songs to help motivate him, such as a "clean up" song, or songs to sing while we clean him up after dinner and give him a bath. He only speaks a few single words, but he can sing along with whole songs! What if, using the Simply Music program, I could teach my beloved son how to play the music he adores so much? He understands patterns and could learn to repeat the patterns pretty easily. He would have success from the first lesson without having to decode the complicated musical language. He could learn many songs and be able to play any time he wanted to. This would be nearly a miracle. I don’t think he is quite ready yet - but in another year or two, look out!
What about for your child with special needs? I think this program could be a major breakthrough for children with a variety of cognitive delays or learning disabilities because of the method of learning. The child does not have to be able to decode the entire musical language to learn how to play many songs. Later, as they are ready, they can learn to read music and develop more of the nuances, if they choose. It could also be wonderful for children with many different physical disabilities, because the songs focus on keys that are close together, and on patterns, making it easier to play the pieces, but still producing big results. The program can be adapted to meet the unique needs of your child. He or she can go faster or slower, more review or less, more difficult pieces or easier, as needed. Keep in mind, the program was started to teach a child who was blind how to play the piano!
What if you want to teach your kids to play piano, but you are not a musician? Not a problem! The self-instructional materials could be mastered with no musical background. The only danger is that you will likely want to join in the fun and learn to play along side your child! There are also Simply Music teachers across the country who can teach the whole program to your child. Another danger, though - you might decide you want to become a Simply Music teacher. Again, no problem! You don’t need any background in music. There is a teacher’s course that takes you through everything you need to know, helps you set up your business, and includes frequent phone consultations with Neil Moore to help you every step of the way. I think the toughest part of the Simply Music program, is deciding which course is right for you! The rest is smooth sailing!
Dr. Anne Margaret Wright is a licensed psychologist, a 15-year specialist in the mental health field, and the co-founder of Cyber Educational Consultants who work with Touro University International. She is an educational program review board member for The Old Schoolhouse magazine.
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