What is rote teaching?
Rote pieces are intended to be learned by imitation. Although the score (music on the page) to every rote piece can be found in the Piano Safari repertoire books, students practice rote pieces by using their ears, reminder videos, and various manipulatives that provide a visual representation of the piece.
The term “rote” might have negative connotations for some adults. Did you ever have to memorize information “by rote” for an exam? It probably wasn't very fun or engaging. The standard dictionary definition of “rote” isn’t very friendly, either: Merriam-Webster defines it as “the use of memory usually with little intelligence.” Fortunately, rote learning in a musical context is much different—and there’s nothing unintelligent about rote learning when it is facilitated by a well-trained teacher.
Why learn music by rote?
By the time children begin piano lessons, they have been exposed to music in a multitude of genres, styles, and settings; rote learning allows students to access the complex music they hear in their world without the prerequisite of note reading. Just as children learn to talk before they can read words, they can also learn to hear, feel, and execute musical concepts with proper technique before seeing and processing written symbols.
Some other benefits of rote learning include:
Rote pieces sound more difficult than they are and often use the breadth of the keyboard, which is exciting and motivating.
Because there are no notes to read, students can focus on technique. When a reading piece uses a technical concept first taught by rote, good technique happens almost effortlessly.
Students become comfortable playing without music in front of them, which prepares them for performing memorized music in the future.
Feeling and hearing the musical patterns in rote pieces actually helps students to read music later. The patterns are stored in students’ muscle memory as they learn by rote; when it’s time to read music, the emphasis can truly be on note-reading.
For further reading on the benefits of rote teaching, check out Dr. Julie Knerr and Katherine Fisher’s essay.
The Basic Rote Learning Process
Starting hand positions are always shown in the upper left corner.
All of my students—from preschoolers to retirees—learn by rote in addition to learning to read notes on the staff. The practice process for rote pieces, while not more difficult, is different from what parents and students might consider traditional practice. To clarify the process, I’ve created a basic guide to practice.
We learn rote pieces in our lesson; a rote piece will rarely be a YOYO (You’re on Your Own) piece. Students listen to rote pieces for a week or two before they’re taught to play them. This means that students will occasionally have a listening assignment to do at home.
To practice rote pieces at home, students should use the following steps:
Listen to the piece multiple times. The student should sing, move, and engage with it as they listen. The Piano Safari method includes a download code at the front of the book; you can store mp3’s of every piece in the book (both rote and reading) on your device.
Refer to the score in method book for the starting hand position and lyrics. Do not worry about reading individual notes! Students may point out that the notes move up or down, or recognize other broad patterns in the score. This is encouraged! In fact, I often leave the score open in front of the student to expose them to notation—this makes it less foreign when students eventually learn to read on the staff.
Try to play the piece using strategies taught in the lesson before using the reminder video. These could include visual aids in the method book, printable cards, or breaking the piece into small sections before attempting a run-through.
If using the Piano Safari method, consult the reminder video on YouTube for detailed instructions. Even if the student plays the piece successfully without the reminder video, it’s a good idea to review the videos to ensure that the student is using correct finger numbers and technical gestures.
Longer rote pieces use picture cards to aid memory.
In the next part of this rote learning series, I’ll go into more detail about each of the practice procedures for rote pieces, including how to actively listen to new pieces, how to break rote pieces down into manageable parts during home practice, and guiding questions to ask your young pianist as they review rote pieces at home.