Have you heard of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid?”, or “Big Nate”? If not, hit the bookstore and get reading… because they’re a total hoot.
But they are also part of a growing trend towards the use of Graphic Novels in early childhood literacy.
What are Graphic Novels and Why Do Piano Teachers Care?
Graphic Novels are books that have a very strong visual component built around the text.
Graphic Novels have been shown to increase motivation, engage reluctant readers and help struggling readers who need cues while reading (they can look to the pictures for assistance).
These are all very good things if you are an elementary teacher!… And all very good things if you can capitalize on this trend as a piano teacher too!
So, let’s see how we can make this happen…
How To Bring the Graphic Novel Craze Into Piano Lessons?
1. Use the pictures already in your method book, but expand upon them. Most (good) method books for young students also have pictures. Get your student engaged in the piece by first talking about the picture. But, let’s face it… these pictures aren’t always the most exciting thing to look at. So, allow her to expand upon the picture. Add speech bubbles, new stick-man characters etc.
Let her imagination run wild, but direct her with some musical ideas… ask “What do you think the tempo of this piece will be?”, “Do you think this piece will be major or minor”, “What are some descriptive words you would use to describe how this music may sound?”. Her answers can help her to elaborate on the picture and also serve to make some connections before she even starts playing.
If your method book is a bit “sparse” in the visual-appeal department, check out our WunderKeys method books. Our story-based approach captures piano students’ imaginations like you’ve never seen (can anyone say MORE practice?!)
2. Have your student create a “comic strip” above their music. Does his music sound as though something is running, or jumping, or… sleeping? Help him draw a mini-comic above to encourage expressive playing, as a reminder of dynamics, and to engage his busy mind while playing.
3. Give the notes a voice. One student of mine gave me this idea and I’ve used it for years. When an F# just kept coming out as a natural, he got fed up and drew a speech bubble coming out of the note head. He scrawled “Hey… I’m an F# Dude!” in the speech bubble. We had a good laugh and it was fixed… forever. Note heads in my students’ music often are given “a voice” with speech bubbles… cranking up the fun graphic-factor in their music.
And Finally…
4. Check out The Adventures of Fearless Fortissimo. A teacher wrote to us recently after giving her student this comic-based piano book and said “This week, as I walked up the sidewalk to his home, I was met by the most amazing performance I have ever heard from him! Both hands were excellent, and he concluded the piece with a ritardando and diminuendo that wasn’t written in, and made it sound great! I helped him understand the accents and the cresc-dim signs and accent marks, which we didn’t cover last week, and he applied them for one more performance. What a difference.”
Too cool.
If you’re interested in The Adventures of Fearless Fortissimo click to learn more. Each book comes with a story and 3-page full-color comic enabling your action-obsessed students to all get involved in the graphic piano book excitement!
Barbara says
Thanks for more fabulous ideas. I sometimes discuss the pictures in the books with my students, but letting them expand on it or draw their own will make it much more meaningful to the student. And I can see ‘voice bubbles’ showing up all over the place…solving lots of issues!
CHRISTINE NEALE says
Love the voice bubbles for accidentals – I will use it today!!
anna says
Cool idea to give the notes speech bubbles. Must…..do…..speech….bubbles…..for…..notes. Another thing I often have the kids do when a song is kind of boring or the title/lyrics are too babyish; I have the rewrite the lyrics. Some kids thrive instantly w/ this, but I enjoy it when I get to help kids find their inner lyric-abilities. They love singing their own lyrics so it revives their interest in many songs.
Colleen Branson says
Putting in lyrics can also often help with rhythmic learning.
Liz Melson says
Our spring recital was Saturday night. It started with some of the littles acting totally lost even after all their stage presence drill. One of them actually fell off the stage! (She was ok) I was obviously very concerned about how the rest of the evening would go after that. However, we finished well with Fortissimo! I have two 5th graders that were able to renew interest in piano through Fortissimo. They performed the first two pieces on keyboard with appropriate settings. It was definitely a win-win situation for students/teacher and audience. Thanks for following through with your innovative ideas and making them usable!
Andrea says
Oh those little ones are always so unpredictable aren’t they! I had one do an all out spontaneous break-dance on the floor one year as he was just so relieved that he was done (but forgot that everyone was still watching him… he was center stage). It caused a huge audience laugh that scared him big time and he ran off like a little squirrel. Hilarious. So glad that Fortissimo helped finish your night off with a (safe) bang! 😉
Juli says
Great ideas! I need to mention, though, that The Adventures of Fearless Fortissimo is a great idea for both genders. I have several female students who like to use my Marvel Avengers stickers on completed pieces. Thank you so much for your ideas and inspiration!
Mary says
I bought a tub of flocked stickers at Big Lots a few years ago-no one was interested until this last fall when a new student started. He loves to use the ones that look like speech bubbles and adds his own commentary when he finishes the piece. The results are hilarious some times!!!!
Lynnette Emme says
Love this! My student’s favorite book markers are mustache stickers for when they pass a song. They like to put the mustaches on the characters in the books. They also really like my collection of smelly pencils. It makes theory fill in stuff seem not quite so boring if they can smell cotton candy at the same time. I and my students love Fearless Fortissimo! Thank you so much for that resource!
Andrea says
Okay I need those mustache stickers… where do you get them Lynette?
Mae says
LOVE the Smelly Pencils Idea to use for Theory Books. I’m getting mine and setting them out for the kids to use! LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog and all the great ideas! Thank you, Everyone!
Alice says
Is Episode 3 in development?
Andrea says
Hi Alice – yes! The comic is drawn and we are on pace with the music for (likely) a fall release 🙂