Last Updated on September 12, 2021 by Rebecca
Composing your own music is actually a great way to learn how to read music!
Hands up if you've ever thought to yourself, “I wish I could compose my own music, but I can't even read music yet.”
Well, I've got good news for you! Composing your own music is actually a great way to learn how to read music.
Now, I'm not talking super advanced compositions, mind you. Like anything else, you have to start small and build your way up.
But if you're the kind of creative person who loves to make something of your own out of nothing… you're going to love using composing as a learning tool!
So let's talk about why composing your own music is such a great way to learn how to read music.
1. Composing your music gets you writing things down.
First of all, let's just talk about where I got this idea in the first place.
When I started teaching piano lessons, I used a method book series that had theory pages built right into the book. Every lesson had 1 page of theory, and 1 page of music to be learned.
So my students had pencils in hand from the very first day.
But the method books I was using are quite old, so they don't look very fun. (And they also focus heavily on middle C position, which can be problematic. But that's an issue for another post.)
So I recently decided to try the WunderKeys method books with new students in my studio.
It's a more modern method series that looks more fun, is slower paced, and incorporates educational mini-games into the lessons. All of which is great for engaging young students and keeping them excited about piano.
But after several months, I noticed that my WunderKeys students were struggling to read notes more than my previous students had ever struggled.
Now, this is based on a very small pool of students, so it could just be that these students were naturally going to struggle a bit more regardless. But all the same, it got me thinking.
Why were my WunderKeys students struggling more in the beginning stages than my previous students?
And I realized that the biggest difference between the two method series was the lack of theory pages in the WunderKeys books.
My new WunderKeys students never had to put pencil to paper.
So I started adding worksheets and composing activities into their lessons to make up for this, and things started clicking for them!
And when you think about it, this really isn't surprising!
When I used to work full time as an English teacher, students would constantly ask me: “Rebecca, why do we have to write this down? Can't we just take a picture of your notes with our phones?”
And I was constantly telling them, when you write it down, the information has to go in, bounce around a bit, and come back out. This means you're forcing yourself to slow down and engage with the information more. Which means you'll learn it better and there's less risk of “in one ear and out the other.”
The same goes for piano.
If you want to learn to read music with more confidence, you need to start writing notes on the music staff yourself!
2. Writing your own music is fulfilling.
Now, the next thing I noticed was how incredibly proud my students are of their compositions!
They write them out by hand (with some guidance from me), we test them out on the piano to see how they sound, and then I show them how I can notate their music on my computer. Once it's on the computer, we make any last minute changes, add a title, and then I print the final copy for them.
The final result looks professional, has the student's name listed as the composer, and even includes a copyright date.
Let me just tell you… these kids cannot wait to take these compositions home to show their parents!
And the parents love it too! The first time a student takes home their very first composition, I often get a message from their parents telling me how cool it is that their child composed their very own song.
3. Creating your own music is motivating.
Do you know what else happens when my students create their own compositions?
They practice more at home!
They are always excited to be able to come back the next week and perform their own musical creations for me, so they work extra hard to get their playing just right!
Last year some of my students even asked me if they could play their composition at the end-of-year recital so they could share it with more people. (I had been planning to ask them to do this anyway, but it was great that they brought up the idea themselves!)
4. Composing your own music requires higher level thinking.
Let's have a quick lesson about Bloom's Taxonomy. (This is stuff every teacher learns about in teacher's college.)
According to Bloom's Taxonomy, there are 6 levels of thinking skills:
- Remember
- Understand
- Apply
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Create
The first 3 are lower-level thinking skills, because they just require that you take knowledge in, and be able to regurgitate it. It's learning at a very superficial level.
The last 3 are higher-level thinking, because they require you to play around with the knowledge you take in, think about it, and put your own spin on it. This is learning at a much deeper level.
And basically, the deeper the learning, the more effective the learning.
Think about it…
- The likelihood that you'll forget something you learned if you only engaged with it in a superficial, lower-level thinking way, is pretty high.
- The likelihood that you'll forget something that you engaged with in a deeper, higher-level thinking way, is much lower.
It's the difference between simply reading a chapter in your textbook, or taking what you read and summarizing it, creating your own illustrations to go along with it, then presenting the information to the class.
Which scenario is most likely to keep the information in your brain over a longer period of time?
If you want to learn more about Bloom's Taxonomy, this video explains it really well:
So when you compose your own music, even if you're only creating very simple compositions, you're using higher-level thinking skills and engaging with the learning on a much deeper level.
Which means you'll feel more confident in your learning, you'll be less likely to forget what you've learned, and you'll be better equipped to use what you've learned in all your future piano learning.
5. Writing your own music engages your creativity.
If you're a creative soul, like me, you already know why this is important. For us creative folks, creating is not an option, it's something we need.
When we create things, whether it be a piece of music or a macaroni necklace, we feel alive and full of light. And when we go long periods of time without satisfying our creative drive… we feel dull and listless, like there's a hole inside us.
So if you want to learn how to create your music, now is the time!
Don't let the fact that you can't read music yet stop you.
Don't hang your head in disappointment and let yourself believe that learning piano has to be all work before you can get to the creative part you're craving!
Use your creativity right from the beginning to help you learn to read music!
Engage your creativity. Get it all tangled up in the learning process so you can feel happy and fulfilled and alive and excited and all the good things while you learn how to read music.
Trust me, you'll love the process a whole lot more if you go about it in a way that honours your creative soul.
6. Creating your own music is FUN!
Need I say more?
You get to take the things you're learning and play with them. You get to experiment, explore, and enjoy yourself as you learn how the music staff works.
And what could be better than that?
Ready to get started?
The good news is, you don't have to do it alone! I created Learn to Read Your Own Music Book 1 to guide you through the process of learning to read music by composing.
Order your copy today and start learning to read music!
And while you're waiting for the book to be delivered, why not get a head start in your learning? The posts listed below will help you get started on the right track!