The Kelly Kirby Method
Ear training is the foundation of this course. The child is first taught to listen and to distinguish indefinite high sounds and low sounds, and to express them with physical motion. These are followed by definite sounds.
Based psychologically on the teaching method of proceeding from the known to the unknown, and from the thing to its sign, the child learns to recognize these sounds as he does the voices of his own family. These sounds are given personalities, such as “Baby Middle C”, “Edith E”, “George G”, etc.
The child learns to produce these certain definite sounds on the piano by pasting the position of its key in the book.. When the unknown sound has become a known familiar quantity, he learns its sign, which is the notation.
Ear-training is also the first step when learning rhythms. Students listen and recognize strong and weak beats; then produce them with rhythm sticks, conducting motions, marching and clapping and counting note values.
When learning dynamics, the child again listens to distinguish the pp (pianissimo) when the baby is almost asleep in the “Lullaby”, from the ff (fortissimo) when the dog barks very loud in the “Bow Wow Wow” piece. Crescendo and Decrescendo are also taught with the technical names. Traditional music terminology is used
The course consists of four books with twenty pages (lessons) in each, arranged in loose leaf form. The child receives a new page with each lesson, and each book is a new color, encouraging the child’s progress. At the end of the course, after a test and report card, the child receives a Kelly Kirby certificate.
