Book Book II Summary - The Maison System of Music

The family members are reviewed from Book I to develop a mental image of the keyboard through tactile learning. For example, the group of three black keys is the brothers' house. Georgy G and Andy A are the two white keys inside the brothers' house.

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The rhythm taught in Book I is reviewed. Rests, (beats of silence), are taught as well as time signatures, (a symbol designating the number of beats per measure in addition to what type of note gets one beat), through the use of kinesthetic activities. Matching games are used to expedite a child's ability to memorize rhythmic symbols and their meanings.

There is a question and answer review section at the end of Book II and various games which reinforce note, interval and rhythm reading that are to be laminated, cut out and played frequently. 

Color and body parts are used to teach the red treble clef line notes and green treble clef space notes. The higher the body part, the higher the note. For example, red line 4 is your shoulders or the note D. Whereas, red line 5 is the top of your head or the note F. Once again, the student plays a bean bag game to review the notes he or she has just learned out of sequence.

The interval of a step, (or next door neighbor) and a skip, (or leap frog), are taught descending using color. For example, red line G steps down to green space F or red line D skips down to red line B. It's imperative for a child to read notes descending as rapidly as he or she reads notes ascending in order to maintain a steady tempo when executing music. A scrabble game is used to reinforce the intervals. Odd intervals are taught using color. For instance, green space F up to green space A is a 3rd because it's the same color. A knowledge of spatial relationships is essential in order to acquire an ability read notes that are played simultaneously or in succession rapidly.

Karen Beecher