Pikachu Helps Catch the Rhythm

My deepest apologies for not blogging regularly. It's been tougher to juggle all the balls this year - between my ARMTA Calgary President duties and jazz piano lessons (not to mention a full studio), there has been a lot on the go. I have two young brothers who started lessons with me this year. They went through the Yamaha program last year. Excellent ears, not so strong on note reading, but they are getting there. Rhythm reading has been a bit of a challenge for them. Enter Pikachu.

Both boys love Pokémon, those cute little creatures that pop out of Poké balls and are used in Pokémon matches. Clapping and saying "ta", "ti-ti", "tum" and "ta-ah" to their songs just wasn't working for them. Last week, the younger boy and I were talking like Pikachu when an idea formed in my mind:

Pi = quarter notePi-ka = half notePi-ka-chu OR Pi-ka-pi = dotted half notePi-ka pi-ka = whole note

This is the extent of Pikachu's actual vocabulary. Both boys nailed the rhythms to their songs on the first go round, thanks to that cute, yellow, electrical Pokémon.

I guess the moral of the story is, when conventional methods don't work, find something the student is passionate about and milk it to the nth degree!

Arigato gozaimasu, Pikachu. We couldn't have done it without you!

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