Learning to play an instrument can be challenging. Children at a young age especially have difficulty learning and playing instruments because of a difference in learning ability, or the presence of a learning disability.
One problem children encounter is visualizing sheet notes and then trying to associate those notes with the corresponding keys of the instrument. The problem is further compounded when the child is trying to read and play sheet music with a fast tempo and with notes requiring quick manipulation of the fingers. A teacher can instruct the child how and where to place his or her fingers on the instrument, but more instruction is needed to facilitate the development of the child's musical coordination.
Finger-holed woodwind instruments, such as recorders and simple flutes, are commonly used to teach children how to play an instrument. The recorder, due in part to its simplicity, low-cost, and portable size, is a popular choice among schools and music educators alike.
Like other instruments, the selection of the correct notes requires the manipulation of a multiplicity of fingers and underlying holes, some being opened and some being closed to address each discrete note. Those selections need to become a muscle memory based upon visualizing the sheet note. However, as stated above, some children may find the abstraction of the sheet notes difficult to convert into reliable finger positions.
One technique for facilitating the association of sheet music with the physical fingering exercise is to provide numbers or other indicia corresponding to the particular finger holes to the music score. That is, each sheet note is given an underscore or overscore with the finger-hole numbers to be keyed. This is disadvantageous in that the child's attention shifts from the note to the number sequence and the association between keys and sheet notes on the page is never really made.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method for teaching woodwind instruments having multiple finger holes, like a recorder, that clearly indicates the correct finger positions to be manipulated for each note in a manner understandable to a child. The system and method should also desirably allow for direct association between each sheet note and the keys to be played.