Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

New keyboards educational for band students

A music enrichment program, involving keyboards for young players, is being implemented at Gurdon Primary School, as well as Cabe Middle School.

Bruce Burson, assistant band director, said Thursday at Rotary, "This is an exciting way for students to actually learn about keyboards, learn math and science, and develop an interest in musical instruments."

Burson said the main goal of this MIDI-Music-Mathematics-Science keyboard programs is to get children to "appreciate and like music."

Burson said nine keyboards have already arrived at the middle school, with one more due over there. There will also be 10 keyboards more for the elementary level students.

"This should really help our band interest, as the exciting news is these students will learn five years of keyboarding before they get to the sixth grade.

Burson said friends of his from New York described to him the keyboard program as a keyboard lab for fifth graders. They learn each hand at a time and then can put them together for regular two-handed playing on their own.

The school will use popular rap or pop song poetry and keyboard beats to get across math and science concepts without it seeming like a chore. The hope is the students will enjoy the program so much they won't realize they are also learning and the learning will come easier that way.

The keyboards also have the sounds of trumpet, clarinet and more, in regard to traditional band instruments. Students will play either individually by headsets or as a group with speakers.

"When they are on headsets," Burson said, "I can actually tune into each individual to see of he or she is staying on task. This enrichment program will be offered to the general student body of the age group targeted. It is for everyone."

Burson said studies show students involved with music and learning seem to do better academically.

"The math part gets a little complicated, but if we can get 13 percent to understand our concepts they will draw several more into the understanding."

Band Director Alan Wimberly said he and Burson would have to watch the dancing going on with students. They are not particularly against it, but "the rooms are too small for that so we have to try and stay on task."

Wimberly said, "I wish we had a bigger space because I would enjoy catching a groove myself."