Colour Staff

A practical and multi-sensory aidtowards the mastery of musical notation Margaret Hubicki Also.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ever warm thanks to all my deeply valued friends and colleagues for their continuing encouragement and requests for Colour-Staff throughout a very great number of years. Margaret Hubicki April 2005 2 . a particular note of gratitude to Andrew Quartermain who has helped very greatly in the editing of this edition. S. for services to music in 1987. F.A. London. Colour-Staff has since been validated in many schools and other learning centres. She created Colour-Staff. She was awarded the M.B.ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mrs Margaret Hubicki M.M. after a number of years of research. Mrs Hubicki is a Committee member of the ‘Council for Music in Hospitals’ and the ‘Music and Dyslexia’ Committee of the British Dyslexia Association.. 3 .B. F.E.A.R. She was also an examiner of the Froebel Foundation and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. She has also contributed recently to the publication ‘Music and Dyslexia’ (Whurr London 2001).. Margaret Hubicki was a Professor and Examiner at the Royal Academy of Music. Teachers of both child and adult beginners have been highly enthusiastic about the ability of Colour-Staff to help their students over the first difficult steps to a greater appreciation and love of music. to meet the needs of those students whose technical ability to play an instrument far outstripped their ability to read the notation which would allow them to explore the literature for their particular instrument.R.E. and formerly on the staff of the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music when it was based in London. Peggy’s ideas and words of wisdom were always at the back of my mind. for me. Yehudi Menuhin asked me to assist him on a project teaching violin to complete beginners. which subsequently became the BBC2 documentary called ‘Menuhin’s Children’. wearing the most splendid hat. The ‘ripple effect’ in life never ceases to amaze me. Colour-Staff has become an invaluable teaching aid for those learning to read music and has highlighted the importance of a multi-sensory approach to learning and teaching methods in general. benefited the children in their academic studies. I must have caused her enormous problems over my difficulties with the bass clef. whilst also increasing their general selfesteem. Rosemary Furniss 4 London 2004 .Hubicki is looking on kindly. guiding me through this challenge. the beginning of a wonderful friendship with a quite remarkable woman. ‘Peggy’ is a very gifted composer as well as teacher of harmony and music theory. It marks.‘Peggy’ . This programme has now developed into an educational project called ‘A Chance to Play’ and has enabled some of the children to overcome both mental and physical disabilities. love and commitment to this puzzle sowed the seeds for her thoughts on Colour-Staff.FOREWORD One of my treasured possessions is a photograph of the very first day of the Yehudi Menuhin School. Much later on in my life. I am seven years old. in turn. with the buttons done up completely wrongly! Yehudi has his arm around me and Margaret . Her approach to teaching made learning music fun and. I will forever be grateful for my friendship with Peggy which began on that auspicious day all those years ago .captured on my treasured photograph. in my new school uniform. Her incredible patience. I leapt out of bed to explore. it became clear very soon that things weren’t as simple as I had imagined.PREFACE Colour-Staff came into being through helping students in the Yehudi Menuhin School during its first year in London. One night I was dozing in bed when suddenly I heard something amazing. I was staying on holiday in my grandfather’s small cottage in Scotland. I followed the suggestion of a friend and decided to create a device myself. something added. I found the uniform look of black or white on the keyboard and in printed music didn’t seem able to show me how to play: I simply couldn’t see why 5 . and loved the sound he made. Having been given some pieces of magnetic plastic. yet completely lost when trying to read the treble clef! I wanted to find something which could help both these students to discover and understand the relationship between the two clefs. Black or white keys and notes together surely would make the sound of music! I was eager. but who was puzzled by the bass clef. One of them was a highly-gifted young violinist who read the treble clef with ease. I had become aware of the “magic” which lies within the sound of music – it seemed to glow like the radiance of colour in a crystal. I made little moveable symbols and painted each one using this same colour sequence and letter-named them. with Middle C floating in between forming the Great Staff. as there didn’t appear to be anything on the market. In itself. Following the success of this home-made device. though I had often heard him playing before. When we had returned to London. had begun many. I painted a baking tray in seven repeating colours to make an eleven-lined staff. I was left full of wonder and yearned to learn from this wonderful experience. somehow. many years before. I thought that all I had to do was to find out how the lovely pattern of black or white keys on the piano fitted the black or white notes on the printed page. Through this material the violinist and cellist began to see for themselves how the treble and bass clefs belonged to one another. Suddenly. I peeped in to find it was Grandpa playing the violin! What was astonishing was that. What lay in the background of Colour-Staff however. longing to learn – everything seemed most exciting. there seemed to be something different. I couldn’t wait to begin. Aged about five years old. However. The other was a young cellist who was perfectly at home with the bass clef. What was this and where was it coming from? I must find out at once! Breaking all rules. I developed the material further and called it ‘Colour-Staff’. tonight. I begged to have lessons so that I could play our piano and read the music we had at home. Sadly. Quietly opening a door. lessons did continue. it was as if I were banging my head against a brick wall. Margaret Hubicki April 2005 6 .not! Feeling lost. her perseverence and experimentation gradually enabled me to overcome my difficulties with musical notation. feel and sound of the various black or white patterns on the keyboard with their written symbols representing them in print. Understanding had indeed unlocked a door which opened out into another world. my teacher. although I was beginning to see that there were differences within the “sameness appearances of black or white”. whilst trying to make sense out of something which I simply could not understand. Many years later. My mother was aware that. told me that she had spoken to my mother saying.” However. I needed further help towards linking up the look. confused and shedding many frustrated tears. Thankfully. who became a valued friend. Eventually there came the unforgettable day when I found I could at last both read music and play it on the piano! It felt rather like the “magic” I had sensed that night when I heard my Grandfather playing his violin. “This child is so stupid it is a waste of your money and my time in trying to teach her how to read music. . Amongst the many users of the first edition of Colour-Staff were the following: “I think the idea is excellent ..B. F.A. . Its flexibility and diversity has enabled students to experience a ‘hands-on’..” Clifford Curzon C. brilliantly carried out.R. 7 . from chorus work to the particular requirements for teaching musical notation to children with special educational needs. I have been using this invaluable teaching aid with children who have moderate learning difficulties and behaviour problems for over a year.R. fixing the symbols in the child’s imagination as it does.” The Lord Menuhin O.A. “The unique importance to the beginner in music of Margaret Hubicki’s Colour-Staff is apparent on the most casual acquaintance with it. vivid and truly exciting approach to music reading.COMMENTS BY COLOUR-STAFF USERS The first trials of Colour-Staff date back to the late 1970s.R.B. however. (Watford School of Music) Original Colour-Staff sets have been in use in many schools and colleges over a long period.E. Amongst the many differing teaching applications. The use of Colour-Staff with special needs children has been as enlightening as it has been constructive and helpful.M. the entertainment for the children is immediate and enormous. L. like the blackboard. It is also an excellent way of imprinting the different clefs on the learner’s mind. “Quite apart from the teaching aspect.E. the following comments are particularly interesting. to be of equal significance in all stages of music right up to the higher professional standard.S. on closer examination. Mrs Hubicki’s invention fulfils a long felt need – one which has always been neglected in the conventional training of music in this country. and notes put on and taken off.M. It is not. only for the musical beginner but also seen. So brilliant an idea.M.” Brian Chapple G. It is useful to have clean staves which. . can be experimented with.M. K. composer and teacher (Clarendon School – Hampton) 8 . P.G.A. Andrew Quartermain M.D.The definition of colour on the boards and the way in which this introduces them to the staff unlocks what would otherwise be a strange and complicated language for them.S.M. and I cannot recommend its use strongly enough.D. The actual process of recognition of notes from the staff can then be extended – through use of keyboards – to performance. instrumental and creative skills. I have therefore combined the use of Colour-Staff with improvisation and basic composition projects where they are learning to read. The visual excitement and immediate clarity of Colour-Staff has been central to my work in this area. play and create at the same time.(Cantab). Pianist. It is an exciting and extremely valuable teaching tool. The physical aspects of the boards and stickers and the way in which these can then be applied to the keyboard (also through colour co-ordination) have proved to be immediately appealing to the children.G. The use of a colour panel and colour symbols in the Colour-Staff kit enable keyboard players to respond visually.WHAT IS COLOUR-STAFF? Introduction Colour-Staff is a multi-sensory musical ‘tool-kit’ designed to help people read musical notation and to understand how such notation relates to playing an instrument. the student and the parent to overcome this barrier and share involvement in the learning process. aurally and through ‘feel’ on the keyboard to patterns of notes in written music. between the enthusiastic student and their ability to express written music. or on a multi-sensory basis. because of the assortment of complicated notes and symbols. The use of colour. the student with material for practice at home between lessons. simply links the position of a sound on an instrument to its written symbol on the page – or for other identification purposes. Parents who are not musically trained often feel this frustration most in the practice time between their child’s individual lessons. Colour-Staff provides the teacher with all the equipment needed for either classroom or one-to-one teaching. It is 9 . They witness the barrier formed. Colour-Staff’s vivid and adaptable techniques help the teacher. offering exciting opportunities for all age groups and abilities to explore and create music. The Colour-Staff keyboard. and the parent with an understanding of the learning steps that their child is undergoing. In other words the young musician finds their way into an understanding of musical notation kinaesthetically. It can be used in a number of teaching situations and for a variety of different instruments. Colour-Staff uses the diagram of a keyboard which provides a valuable background for many aspects of musical theory and is helpful to all learners whether or not they play a keyboard instrument. One of the most common frustrations for a beginner starting to learn to play an instrument is the actual process of reading and understanding the written music itself. however. in itself. Instrumentally. Throughout the centuries. music for the harp still uses red for its C-string and black or dark blue for its F-string. The student learns to match what the eyes see on a score with what the ears hear and the fingers feel as they play. visible colour has been used in musical notation. 10 . Colour-Staff enables the student to acquire a strong link between the visual. (Astute users may note. the note C was represented by a red line. This wonderful spectrum is used simply because of its familiarity to students.important to remember that this does not imply a relationship between any particular colour and any particular sound. aural and tactile shapes implicit in playing an instrument and the visual shapes and pattern of notes and symbols in written music. however. The multisensory approach of Colour-Staff is based on seeing and feeling these shapes and patterns and their relationships and repetitions. The colour sequence adopted by Colour-Staff today is that of nature’s rainbow. in some early manuscripts. The very act of putting these pieces in place is. as well as being part of the learning experience. a slight shift in the sequence of rainbow colours! This enables Colour-Staff to maintain the historical relationship in musical notation between the colour red and the note C. For example.) Colour-Staff provides a variety of differently shaped mobile symbols which are for placing on the staff boards and dummy keyboards included. a useful exercise for finger-work and sensory perception. represent low bass sounds. the five lowest lines and spaces. represent high treble sounds. The five highest lines and spaces. You play what you see. Students should also be encouraged to express their visual and aural reactions while working with Colour-Staff. 11 .A Guide for Teachers and Parents Colour-Staff allows patterns of black lines or white spaces on the staff to be clearly observed and linked to each instrumental position. called the treble staff. the bass staff. followed by the process the teacher should take with students. The fingers learn to play what the eyes see without having to remember the name and order of each note. This adds a further valuable dimension to the learning experience. therefore. The full Colour-Staff ‘kit’ is described in the next few pages. a brief section on the various symbols used in musical notation is included to assist parents as necessary. When used on its own it is shown as a short black leger line. This system means that those who have a poor short term – working – memory no longer have to rely on intellectual memory processes. or black and white. The line representing Middle C floats in between. symbols to represent what has to be played – the actual sound of all the individual notes and the relationship through time between them. A particular feature of Colour-Staff is the picture it reveals of the Great Staff’s eleven lines and spaces. the eye has to move in two directions – up or down for pitch and left to right to follow time symbols. As Colour-Staff is a multi-sensory tool. Finally. it would also be a good idea to encourage students to sing while placing colours and recognising notes. When reading music. This encompass the normal range of the human voice. Sound – or pitch – is represented vertically by ‘notes’ placed on the lines or spaces of the ‘staff’. whilst time – the different length required for each sound or rest (that is ‘silence in time) is represented horizontally along the ‘staff’. Written music uses black. Thus. a music teacher working with a whole class may use additional boards. Different situations may require differing combinations of these elements. © 2005 Margaret Hubicki Dummy Keyboards. with a feint line in between depicting Middle C line. Dummy keyboards are provided in sets of three to form nearly six octaves. © 2005 Margaret Hubicki Basic Great Staff Board. This Great Staff Board shows in heavy type the arrangement of black lines and white spaces used for printed two-stave music. Main Colour-Staff Boards Single Staff Board.THE COLOUR-STAFF KIT A number of essential elements are used to make up a complete Colour-Staff kit. The basic Great Staff Board shows in heavy type the arrangement of black lines and white spaces used for printed two-stave music. © 2005 Margaret Hubicki Great Staff Board with Middle C Line. 12 . whereas a teacher working on a one-to-one basis may find the basic Staff Board and keyboard sufficient. Colour-Staff Colour Sheets In addition to the Colour Panel. a further sheet contains rectangles and squares: Rectangles 2x A 1x A 1x 2x 2x B Squares 6x A 6x B 6x C 6x D 6x E 6x F 6x G B C 1x C 1x D 2x D 2x E 1x E 1x F 2x F 1x G 2x G 13 Colour-Staff Panels . place a black oval beside each of the three added indigo rectangles. explain that the A on the middle line of the Great Staff board is referred to as ‘Middle A’. Place them on the Great Staff board next to the corresponding indigo strips of the Colour Panel.Step Three Take the two wide and one narrow indigo rectangles marked A. A A A Ovals added to the Great Staff board commencing the transition to printed musical notation. Step Five To begin to translate colour into the notation of printed music. Also. A A A The rectangular sound-name A strips positioned on the Great Staff board. Step Four Point out to the student that the shape of the rectangle alternates between wide and narrow A notes an octave apart. 16 . Step Seven Teachers and parents may. Black ovals replace indigo symbols on both the dummy keyboard. A (It is left to the discretion of the teacher whether or not to rule a faint Middle C line on the student’s manuscript paper. at this point.) A Beginning to apply notation 17 .. and by finding an A on a piece of printed music.Step Six This step marks the transition into black and white notation on its own... encourage students to translate what they have learnt on the boards to manuscript paper. . The student should work through the earlier steps using black ovals alone – in the same way that coloured symbols were used – to show where A is found on both the dummy keyboard and Great Staff board. A By drawing A’s on manuscript. and on the Great Staff board.. the student is starting to complete this cycle of the learning process. Play Middle A which will. with the same amount of the Staff Board extending on either side of the keyboard’s most central point. centrally above the dummy keyboard. play A below Middle A and immediately above this place a wide indigo A rectangle on the first space upon the staff board as shown below. stand the Great Staff board on the music desk of the piano or electronic keyboard. of course.Step Eight To find which A sound on a keyboard (or on the dummy keyboard) belongs to which A line or space of the staff. 18 . place the narrow indigo A rectangle on the Middle A line of the staff board. Immediately above it. sound on the keyboard but be silent on the dummy keyboard. This space will always belong to the Sound of A below Middle A. This line will always belong to the sound of Middle A. Next. Finally. play A above Middle A and vertically above this place a wide indigo rectangle on the third space down from the top. This space will always belong to the Sound of A above Middle A. A * A A A *A * A Middle A Relating keyboard A sounds to space and line locations of A on the Great Staff board. Similarly. forming a progression of sounds. they are played one after the other. where notes are written one after the other.Step Nine It is helpful for the student again to draw on to manuscript paper. where two or more notes are written above one another they form a single sound when played together. 19 . the student will be able to see that. this time placing the three positions for A. By playing – or singing – the student can also now observe that. sing it and. It is always known as Middle C. ensure that the student can name it. this space is larger than on Colour-Staff’s board – which can be a source of great confusion even to practised musicians! C * C C *C C * C Middle C Noting the relationship of Middle C to the Bass and Treble staffs. using the same series of steps as for sound-name A (pages 19 to 23).Stage Two . It is therefore feasible to cover the full octave range of notes. for learning their respective keyboard and Great Staff positions. finally. For each note. to a white note of the keyboard to the right of A. see it with the eye. 20 . write it on manuscript paper. in sequence.Sound-Names B C D E F and G The student can now understand the relationships between keyboard positions for the sound-name A and its notation and locations on the Great Staff board. This important aspect of Colour-Staff is shown below. with the Middle C line equidistant between bass and treble. The interval between the treble and bass clefs can be clearly seen as a thin line. In printed music. When learning sound-name C. feel it in the finger. Step One Each of the sound-names B C D E F G belongs. Take each note in sequence. belonging to the most central C on the keyboard. the student’s attention should be drawn to the fact that C on the line immediately above the Bass (lower) Staff and C on the line immediately below the Treble (higher) Staff is always one and the same. it is helpful to remind the student that the colour of the sound-name symbol repeats at every octave. words can be selected from the letters A B C D E F or G. For example. the word ACE can appear three times on the Great Staff board. the student can be encouraged to identify patterns which help to relate one sound-name to another. 21 . followed by the student singing the sound-names and writing them in black on manuscript paper. As each sound-name is learnt. although the same size rectangle . A typical word might be ACE.Step Two The student must work thoroughly upon one sound-name until the relative positions on both keyboard and Great Staff are clearly pictured in mind and felt with the fingers. The student’s growing familiarty with such relationships can be encouraged by placing the approariate symbols on both the Staff board and the keyboard. Only then should the student learn a further sound-name. Step Three Whilst it is important to ensure complete familiarisation with each sound-name in sequence.that is. As with single sound-names. either as a set of three spaces at the bottom of the Bass Staff and at the top of the Treble Staff. E C A E C A E C A Developing relationships between sound-names through use of word patterns. wide or narrow . or as a set of three lines in the middle of the Great Staff.repeats only every second octave.