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Dyslexia

Differentiated instruction for dyslexic pianists

Learning to read and play music can be a difficult undertaking for students of all learning abilities. Students with dyslexia may have additional challenges when it comes to reading music, but they can certainly achieve proficiency at any level that they find fulfilling.

Dyslexic students are able to excel in piano. But like any other student, a dedication to learning and practice must be present as well as a strong support network at home.  

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) defines dyslexia as the following:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge (Adopted by the International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors, November 12, 2002).

It is important to note that the IDA also reports that students with dyslexia may have poor auditory memory for rhymes and chants. Dyslexic students may have difficulty “holding information” about sounds in their short- and/or long-term memory. Because the basic structure of music is based on repetitions and rhythms and a heavy reliance on memory, dyslexic students may have increased difficulty in learning to read and play music.

The good news is that I have wonderful successes with dyslexic students. I work very carefully and closely with dyslexic students to pace learning, lessons and practice in a fashion that minimizes frustration and strives to keep motivation as high as possible. We know that dyslexic students are very bright and often have very high intelligence. We do not treat them as “impaired” but rather as learners who do best when a variety of practices are employed that focus on building a strong musical foundation. There are many approaches to learning to play a musical instrument and it’s our goal to find the right combination of strategies for each individual.   

VIEW FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.europeansuzuki.org/web_journal/Music_and_dyslexia.pdf

There is agreement in the educational literature – both general and music – that a
multisensory approach is beneficial when teaching people with dyslexia.  The learner
needs to look, listen, touch, attend to hand movements and/or mouth movements, and
co-ordinate eye/hand movements.  In music, carefully worked out fingering is very
important.  Strategies such as listening to a new piece while silently practicing the
fingering, or singing the piece in one’s head before playing it are recommended. 
Margaret Hubicki and Tim Miles suggest that pupils need to be encouraged to “feel the
shape” of the pattern of music so “its performance will have line and a sense of musical
intent”.  Music may be memorised through listening to recordings, repetition, and
remembering the feel of the piece by the way the hands move.
 

Two main publications are to be recommended to those who are interested in music and dyslexia.  One is Instrumental Music for Dyslexics: A teaching handbook by Sheila Oglethorpe which is full of useful suggestions for teaching children with dyslexia and which she has condensed into an excellent article, Helping dyslexic pupils to succeed. 
The other is Music and Dyslexia: Opening new doors by Tim Miles and John Westcombe which is a fascinating set of case studies.  With the addition of four research papers by Leonore Ganschow et al, Birgit Jaarsma et al, Katie Overy, and Gill Backhouse, these comprise virtually all the literature in the field. 

Difficulties that can occur in music reading
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jlpertz/dys/M_D-EN.html

Dyslexic students can have problems with:

*Reading music accurately, without leaving out or adding tones. Not always in the same place in the score

*Accurate recognition of rhythmic figures that look alike.

*Accurate notation of music, especially in examinations, where the extra tension brings more errors.

*Writing music dictations (pitches, rhythm and/ or chords) as the pupil writes something else down than what he meant to do and he cannot see his mistake.

*Learning and remembering the concrete order of scales and arpeggios (triads, sevenths, inversions, etc.).

*Remembering a melodic (rhythmic) phrase and being able to sing or clap it back. Possibly his fantasy makes something else out of the original phrase, or he can only remember part of what he heard.

*Prima Vista reading of music either playing or singing.

*Translating written or illustrated instructions about technique (for example, fingering charts) from the book or the board to the instrument.

*Counting rests or measures of rests in an ensemble.

*Playing the accompaniment or counterpoint part.

*Reading words and music simultaneously.

*Transposing music.

*Reading from two or more clefs (as in trombone, viola, violin, cello.)

Conclusion
People with dyslexia may have the same capacity to handle information as those without dyslexia, but they often use less efficient strategies to do so.  It is therefore especially important for their teachers to be aware of each student’s particular strengths and weaknesses, and to be flexible in their approach.  Teachers should experiment with holistic versus step-by-step mastery with each student.  Children with dyslexia may well
have problems with rhythm and timing – these issues should be tackled carefully and sympathetically.  Learning to read music poses similar problems to learning to read language – different approaches need to be tried (eg multisensory, holistic/step-by-step) to discover what best suits each student, linking with any successful strategy used by the child for reading language.
 
Teaching programmes for people with dyslexia should be structured, sequential, cumulative, thorough and multisensory.  Plenty of listening to music, repetition of assignments, participating in group lessons, initially learning by ear, and building self-esteem are to be recommended for children with dyslexia.  These issues are all addressed by the Suzuki approach.  What is most important is for teachers to be as flexible as possible when teaching students with dyslexia – if one method does not work, another may be successful.  At the same time, all students will benefit from the use of the most flexible and effective teaching strategies, which teach to pupils’
strengths and encourage them to analyze their own learning style.
 

Adult Dyslexia Organisation information (2002). London: ADO.
 
Backhouse, G. (1994) Dyslexia in a professional musician. In T.R. Miles and J. Augur (Eds.) Music and Dyslexia: Cambridge Conference Proceedings. Reading: British Dyslexia Association.
 
Backhouse, G. (2001) A pianist’s story. In T.R. Miles and J. Westcombe (Eds.) Music and Dyslexia: Opening New Doors. London and USA: Whurr, 77-83.
 
Bigler, C.L. and Lloyd-Watts, V. (1979) Studying Suzuki Piano: More than Music. New Jersey: Summy-Birchard Inc.
 
British Dyslexia Association (1996) Music and Dyslexia. Reading: BDA.
 
British Dyslexia Association information (1999). Reading: BDA.
 
Clarke, N. (2001) Silver lining. In T.R. Miles and J. Westcombe (Eds.) Music and
Dyslexia: Opening New Doors. London and USA: Whurr, 33-36.
 
Ganschow, L. Lloyd-Jones, J. and Miles, T.R. (1994) Dyslexia and musical notation. Annals of Dyslexia. 44: 185-202.
 
Gilpin, S. (2001) John and his cornet. In T.R. Miles and J. Westcombe (Eds.) Music and Dyslexia: Opening New Doors. London and USA: Whurr, 57-58.

Harris, P. (1993) Improve your Sight-reading. London: Faber Music.
 
Hubicki, M. (2001) A multisensory approach to the teaching of notation. In T.R. Miles and J. Westcombe (Eds.) Music and Dyslexia: Opening New Doors. London: Whurr, 85-100.
 
Hubicki, M. and Miles, T.R. (1991) Musical notation and multisensory learning. Child Language Teaching and Therapy. 7(1): 61-78.
 
Jaarsma, B.S., Ruijssenaars, A.J.J.M. and Van den Broeck, W. (1998) Dyslexia and learning musical notation: a pilot study. Annals of Dyslexia. 48: 137-154.
 
Lauridsen, B. (2002) Introducing music reading to beginners. Piano Journal. 23 (68): 13-17. 
 
Miles, T.R. (2001) The manifestations of dyslexia, its biological bases, and its effects on daily living. In T.R. Miles and J. Westcombe (Eds.) Music and Dyslexia: Opening New Doors. London: Whurr, 1-8.
 
Miles, T.R. and Westcombe, J. (Eds.) (2001) Music and Dyslexia: Opening New Doors. London and USA: Whurr.
 
Oglethorpe, S. (1996/2001) Instrumental Music for Dyslexics: A teaching handbook. London: Whurr.
 
Oglethorpe, S. (2003) Helping dyslexic pupils to succeed. Piano Professional. 2: 7-9.
 
Overy, K. (1998) Can music really “improve” the mind? Psychology of Music. 26(1): 97-99.
 
Overy, K. (2000) Dyslexia, temporal processing and music: the potential of music as an early learning aid for dyslexic children. Psychology of Music. 28: 218-229.

 

Music and dyslexia

by Jenny Macmillan

Dyslexia is a broad term covering a wide variety of conditions.  There is no universally accepted definition.  People with dyslexia may have significant difficulties in reading, writing, spelling, number work, short-term memory, sequencing, auditory perception, visual perception, motor skills and/or spatial skills.  The crucial element in diagnosis, as defined by the British Dyslexia Association, is the discrepancy between the intelligence of the child and the child’s performance in literacy-related skills.
 
Children with dyslexia encounter specific learning difficulties when studying music.  However, an examination of the special education literature reveals very little published research into music and dyslexia.  This article discusses what is known about the value of multisensory learning, and identifies the benefits of an holistic approach but also the
importance of the step-by-step mastery of skills.  It examines the difficulties associated with rhythm and timing, and compares notation and language.  Finally it discusses the benefits to dyslexic children of the Suzuki approach to learning a musical instrument.

Problem areas for people with dyslexia
Anecdotal reports suggest children with dyslexia often experience difficulties learning to play a musical instrument.  This is not surprising, for they may encounter problems in one or more of the following areas:
• auditory skills
• motor skills
• spatial skills
• visual perception
• timing skills
• short-term memory
• phonological processing
• co-ordination
• concentration
• organization

• sequencing
• working at speed

People with dyslexia may suffer from:
• low self-esteem
• frustration
• exhaustion
• anxiety
• fear of failure

Additional common problems for those with dyslexia when studying music include:
• learning notation
• sight-reading
• melodic and rhythmic repetition
• maintaining a steady beat
(From British Dyslexia Association and Sheila Oglethorpe) 

Reading music
For many dyslexics, reading the written word is a skill that develops only slowly. Music uses a completely different written language and one in which many of the signs have more than one function. Take the simplest symbol, the line. It can be used vertically or horizontally, it can be long or short, straight or curved, have meaning on its own or in combination with another symbol.

For those with visual discrimination problems, reading music, with its associated signs and symbols, may always present problems. Enlarging music, making spaces bigger and signs and symbols more distinct, can be useful and copying music on to colored paper may help those who find the contrast of black on white too great.

Multisensory teaching is an effective way of helping dyslexic pupils and a group instrumental lesson naturally uses a multisensory approach, as it involves pupils learning from interaction in terms of body language and listening to each other.

Two of the essential ingredients for progress for the dyslexic musician – a clear learning structure and the identification of short-term attainable targets – are fundamental to group teaching and are well provided for in the Associated Board’s new Music Medals programme, specifically catering for pupils taught in groups.

The most important thing appears to be avoiding an overload of information that cannot be processed as quickly or as efficiently by dyslexic students. They need to have opportunities to prepare rather than be hit with everything in sightreading all at once. Many things can help: here are some suggestions (courtesy of an ASTA session by Judy Bossuat)

1) Enlarge the music

2) Put corresponding colours at beginning and end of lines (ie green at end of one line and beginning of next line, then blue, then green etc) to facilitate the eye finding the next line

3) Darken the middle line of the stave, and the first ledger lines above and below

4) Rewrite the music so that all the stems go the same direction

5) Make sure that the music is written in proportional notation (ie that half notes occupy twice as much space as quarter notes) to facilitate rhythm reading.

6) Keep similar fingerings in similar passages


http://www.resourceroom.net/gtld/ida_music.asp
If individuals with dyslexia have difficulties with literacy skills, they might also have problems with musical notation, even though they may have a good musical ear and a good sense of melody and harmony. In many families, the first chosen instrument is the piano. For the first year of lessons, all is well and the piano performances are enjoyed by all. Then there is a reluctance and finally a refusal to continue. Why?