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Método Suzuki Kindermusik

Publishing

www.kidsandmusik.com

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 Ediciones

Método Suzuki Kindermusik

www.kidsandmusik.com

English Edition

All Rights Reserved © 2014 by Lynnette Cartagena

ISBN 978-0-615-51214-3

All rights reserved, including the right to its full or partial reproduction.
For additional information, please refer to:

Kids and Musik Publishing

(787) 721-7746

Credits:

Copyist and editor:

John Márquez

Editors:
Irene Mitchell
Kathleen Jones
Adam Havrilla

Educational adviser:
Violeta Sánchez
Promusic & Arts Education, Corp.

English Translator: Enid Cruz-Mirabal

Composer of the day Section:

Cynthia Cartagena
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 To Paola, Paulis, Héctor Javier and Matías,

my inspiration in music education for children.

To my parents, Rosa and Héctor:

thank you for guiding my footsteps into the world of music.

To my sisters, Cynthia and Rosaly,

my best friends.

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 Introduction

Every day I am grateful to have the experience of teaching music to children. The
joy of watching students understand and appreciate music provides me with a
great sense of fulfillment.

My First Music Theory Book, Volume 1 has been designed for children from ages 4
and up. Students will be able to learn the fundamentals of music theory required
for their complete music development. Volume 1 is part of a series of educational
resources featuring fun activities, coloring sections, word-search puzzles, musical
math, Composer of the Day highlights, and full-color illustrations that make music
learning more enjoyable.

Parents, I encourage you to also study, do the work, and complete all assigned
exercises, because parents are the primary teachers in a student’s development.
Children imitate our behavior, and it’s thrilling to experience their enthusiasm as
they share their newly acquired knowledge through the help of My First Music
Theory Book, Volume 1.

In the final section of the book there is a lesson entitled, Let’s sing! In it, you’ll find
basic intonation exercises, which may be used, at the teacher’s discretion, during
earlier lessons.

I surely hope you enjoy, My First Music Theory Book, Volume 1. Please join me in this
exciting musical adventure!

Lynnette Cartagena

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 Table of contents

Lesson 1 Music and the staff 1

Lesson 2 Treble clef 6
Lesson 3 Bass clef 9
Lesson 4 Musical notes 12
Lesson 5 Note values 20
Lesson 6 Whole notes 21
Lesson 7 Half notes 24
Composer of the day: Guillaume de Machaut 31
Lesson 8 Bar 33
Lesson 9 Double bars and repeat signs 35
Lesson 10 Quarter notes 37
Composer of the day: William Byrd 42
Lesson 11 Time signature 44
Lesson 12 Eighth notes 47
Composer of the day: Johann Sebastian Bach 56
Lesson 13 Sixteenth notes 61
Composer of the day: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 69
Lesson 14 Rests 75
Lesson 15 Whole rests 76
Lesson 16 Half rests 79
Lesson 17 Quarter rests 81
Composer of the day: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 84
Lesson 18 Eighth rests 86

Lesson 19 Sixteenth rests 92

Lesson 20 Let’s sing: The note C 96
Lesson 21 Let’s sing: The note D 98
Lesson 22 Let’s sing: The note E 101
Answers 104

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 Music and the staff
Lesson 1

In the morning, we listen to the birds sing; at school, we sing songs to learn the ABCs; and in the
evening, mothers sing their babies to sleep with lovely lullabies. Music is all around us.

The word music comes from the Greek mousike:

“The art of the muses.” Music is the art of combining sounds
and silences to create melodies. We can all make music...
that includes you!

At school, you use the letters of the alphabet to write words and sentences, which allow
you to communicate with your friends. You write them down on a piece of ruled paper.
The same thing happens with music. Music is written on a staff. The italian composer Guido
d’Arezzo created the four-line staff. In the 13th century the five-line staff appeared as
we know it today.

The staff is a set of 5 horizontal lines which looks like this:

Always count the lines of the staff from the bottom up - just like flowers grow from the ground
up toward the sun.

Guido d’ Arezzo
Creator of the four-line staff

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 The Staff
Five lines and four spaces

Lines:






Spaces:





I sprout from the ground up toward
the sun

Can you draw and color the lines and spaces of the staff? Of course you can!
Remember to start from the bottom up starting with the number 1.

Lines:

Line five in blue 5

Line four in red 4
Line three in green 3
Line two in yellow 2
Line one in purple 1

Spaces:
Space four in brown 4
Space three in pink 3
Space two in blue 2

Space one in orange 1

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Now, build a staff tracing the dotted lines.

Once more

Indicate if the X is on a line or a space. See the example below.

Example: a. b. c.

x
x
x x

space

d. e. f. g.

x x
x x

h. i. j. k.
x
x x x

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Looking at the staves, indicate on which line or space the X has been placed.

a. b. c. d.

Line
Líneanumber
número Space number
Espacio número Space number
Espacio número Line number
Línea número

e. f. g. h.

Line
Líneanumber
número Space number
Espacio número Space number
Espacio número Line number
Línea número

i.

Line number ____

Please draw two staves by joining the lines together. You may use your favorite color.

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Did you know that your hand is like a staff? Your hand has five fingers just like the five lines of
the staff and the four spaces between them. Hold your hand down so that your thumb is line
number 1.

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2 4

Draw your hand here and color it. Number each of your five fingers and four spaces between
them. Your thumb is number 1.

Date: __________________________

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 Treble clef
Lesson 2

The treble clef gives musical notes their names. The violin, piano and flute all require the treble
clef for reading music. Just like your parents gave you a name when you were born, the clef
gives musical notes their names on the staff.

When I was born my parents called me:

Please write your full name

This is the treble clef:

!
Let’s color the treble clef.

Orange Pink Green Red Brown

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To draw the treble clef, you must begin on the second line of the staff. Remember to count
the lines of the staff from the bottom up.

Please draw the treble clef:

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6

Let’s do that one more time:

Use blue to draw the treble clef:

Use green to draw the treble clef:

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Draw the treble clef 5 times on each staff:



True or False:

a. To draw the treble clef one must begin on the second line of the staff.

b. The treble clef gives musical notes their names.

c. A staff have 4 lines.

d. The word ‘music’ comes from the Greek mousike.

e. A staff has 3 spaces.

f. The lines of the staff are counted from the bottom up.

I love the treble clef! Me too!

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 Bass clef
Lesson 3

The bass clef is a good friend of the treble clef. Children who play cello, piano and trombone
use the bass clef. To draw the bass clef, start on the fourth line of the staff. It resembles half of
a heart. Then, add two dots (one on top of the other) right next to it.

This is the bass clef:

#
Color the bass clef using your favorite color.

And now we draw it.

Step 1 1
Paso Paso
Step 2 2 Step
Paso 33 Paso44
Step

One more time.

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Draw the bass clef in red:

Draw the bass clef in purple:

Let’s draw 5 bass clefs. Do not forget the two dots to the right of each clef.

One more time.

Some instruments that use the bass clef in musical notation are,

Trombone Piano Tuba

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I read music using the bass clef: The cello

Color:

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 Musical notes
Lesson 4

Just like you use letters of the alphabet to write, musical notes are combined to create music.
There are seven musical notes, each with its own name. They are:

A B C D E F G
Let’s write the names of the musical notes.

A - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____

_____ - B - _____ - _____ - E - _____ - _____

_____ - _____ - C - _____ - _____ - _____ - G

A - _____ - _____ -D - _____ - F - _____

Do you know words that begin with the names of the musical notes? Please write some of
them to match the illustrations.

A __________________

B __________________

C __________________

D __________________

E __________________

F __________________

G __________________

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The musical notes that you just learned are written on the staff. Each line and space has its
own name. When you write the treble clef at the beginning of the staff the lines and spaces
are named this way:
Lines:

' ' '

`
 ' '
E G B D F

'
Spaces:

 ' '
'
F A C E

Write the name below each note.

Lines:

' ' '

 ' '

' ' '

 ' '

'
Spaces:

 ' '
'

' '
 ' '

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Let’s review the names of the musical notes on the lines of the staff.

Circle each example with the appropriate color for each note.

'
E - Green G - Yellow B - Red D - Blue F - Black

'
 '    '  '

' '
 '  '  '  
Let’s review the names of the musical notes on the spaces of the staff.

Circle each example with the appropriate color for each note.

F - Green A - Yellow C - Red E - Blue

' ' '

  '  '  
'
 '  '   '  '

Good job!

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Let’s try it with the musical notes in no particular order. Note that they are all on the lines.
Write down their names.

' ' ' '

 ' ' ' ' '
The following notes are on the spaces. Write down their names.

' ' ' '

 ' ' ' ' '

Riddle Me This

Fill in the blanks with the name of the note in order to guess the hidden phrases.

' '
  ' 
va nd rank went to the concert.

 '  '
My music teacher practices efore oing to work.

 '  '  '

The irls hoir id a great job !

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 Help the conductor find the musicians of his orchestra.
Draw a line across the maze in order to reach them.

Start

Finish

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 Match

 ' B

'

E

 '
C

'

F

'

G

 '
F

 '
D

 '
A

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Read aloud and write down the names of the notes on the lines of the staff.
a.

' ' ' ' ' '

 ' ' '
b.
' ' ' ' ' ' '
 ' '
' '
c.

 ' ' '

' ' ' '
' '
d.

 ' ' ' ' ' ' '

e.

 ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' '
f.
' ' ' ' ' '
 ' ' '
g.

' ' '

 ' ' ' ' ' '
h.
' ' ' ' '
 ' ' ' '
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