Can a Video Game Teach Your Child to Play a Musical Instrument?
I learned to play the piano the old-fashioned way – my mother would drag me to weekly lessons taught by an elderly woman next door and yawn at the notes while my child’s fingers played a clumsy version of Für Elise. Since then, musical training has evolved. There are many video game apps that introduce kids to instruments such as piano, guitar, drums and ukulele, and with fun tasks make them practice – willingly . Just connect your iPad or other device to the instrument and watch them play. One reviewer of the app called Piano Maestro writes: “My kids literally quarrel over who will play the next piano.” Says a fan in the Yousician app, “I have to tell my child,“ Okay, you have to stop. ”As a parent, how can you not appreciate this witchcraft?
But professional musicians disagree over the use of video games to teach children how to play a musical instrument. The game can make little Lenny remember New World, but can it help him develop real musical skills that will last? This is not an easy topic: every child is different, every game is different, and every family has different musical goals. However, here are some pros and cons:
pros
Video games can give kids a starting point in their music. “Starting with the basics of music theory or notation is usually difficult,” says Adam Cole, pianist, conductor and co-director of the Grant Park Academy of the Arts . “There is a significant learning curve, especially when it comes to reading music, around using the eyes — they don’t move when reading notes in the same way as when reading words — and their coordination with the hands, which can easily send a beginner to run away at top speed.” Play, Cole says, can spark a child’s interest in music and then perhaps eventually lead to formal learning. And if games are what motivates the student, the teacher may know how to use the games and play in their instructions.
In the Slate parenting podcast ” Mom and Dad Fight,” host Rebecca Lavoie talks about how hours of playing The Beatles: Rock Band pushed her teenage son to play real drums. Now he is playing competitively.
Games can help children hone certain skills. John Ivers, head of composition and sound for social music platform BandLab , told me that games are great for practicing rhythm, musical notation and fingering, which are very important for playing. Apps like NinGenius Music can help kids master these skills – no tools required.
They are affordable and convenient. Music lessons can be a serious investment, and there is no guarantee that your child will want to do it. Play can be an easy way to learn.
Minuses
Your child can become a pony with one trick. The essence of these tool learning games is to nudge hobbyists to be happy with their progress. Your child can learn to play Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah piano and impress family members at their next family gathering. (The Synthesia piano playing description says, “Start playing immediately, even if you can’t read sheet music.”) But jumping into songs before learning “functional skills” – music theory, sight-reading, and listening – can get in the way of young musicians. Ethan Whitlow, a freelance musician from College Station, Texas, says that when you learn something by heart, you don’t develop real musical skills. According to him, many teenagers “stick to the piano for hours to learn one impressive song to look cool.” He thinks it is “terrible from a developmental point of view.”
“Think of it like learning a poem in a foreign language by memorizing a series of phonetic sounds without worrying about learning to read the words or learning what any of the words mean,” Whitlow says. “Now imagine doing this for years, learning verse by verse in this way. You could just learn to speak and read that language in that time, but you cared more about reading foreign poetry by brute-force phonetic memorization for the final product. You cannot visit this country and talk to people. In the end, when your memory of these verses fades away, you are left with nothing. You have not acquired any functional skills in this language. “
Your child may develop bad physical habits. Games and apps that teach tools are getting smarter. Some may listen to your child’s performance and give them feedback on how to improve them. But they cannot watch your child play. Good music teachers will make sure that the student does not develop harmful physical habits – they will check her posture, wrist position and foot height, and correct any problems in the process. They will examine her hands and fingers and decide if the fingering needs to be corrected in certain musical arrangements. If you start with the app without learning the ergonomics of playing a musical instrument, you may be setting yourself up for physical pain.
In addition, playing with instruments that are essentially toys, such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band, can injure your hands and wrists for extended periods of time (and sometimes even after the first song). Jamie Eads, a professional drummer based in Georgetown, Kentucky, says drums are especially dangerous for young percussionists. “When you hit a piece of hard plastic, it can really hurt your hand,” he says. “It doesn’t look like a training ground. There are no concessions. This can cause very serious damage. “
Children can lose interest without a screen. “What happens when the screen disappears?” Eads asks. Video games are designed to boost dopamine levels in the players’ brains. Playing a musical instrument outside of the game will probably not bring instant pleasure to the child – there are no blinking stars, no glasses, no accompanying music, or a group of applause. As Eads says, “They may feel discouraged and quit smoking because they just lack attention.”
Bottom line
Any entry point to music can be good, and games give people new access to learning. But getting stuck in a rut is easy. If you want your child to learn to play their favorite songs and be done with it, you may be looking for a game. But if you want your child to develop functional musical skills that will serve him throughout his life, you will need a real teacher for that.