The goal is to improve note reading by Christmas 2021 significantly for every student, regardless what his skill level is. There are 3 levels that have to be mastered one after the other.
Note Spotter 40: Student has to be able to spot 40 notes per minute on the treble and bass staff, first without ledger lines and then with 2 ledger lines above and below the staves.
Then student has to transfer his note recognition skills onto the keyboard by using special assigned drills during the piano lessons. Finally Student has to sight-read melodies with 40 notes per minute by using the metronome.
Note Spotter 60: Student has to be able to spot 60 notes per minute on the treble and bass staff, first without ledger lines and then with 2 ledger lines above and below the staves.
Then student has to transfer his note recognition skills onto the keyboard by using special assigned drills during the piano lessons. Finally Student has to sight-read melodies with 60 notes per minute by using the metronome.
Note Spotter 80: Student has to be able to spot 80 notes per minute on the treble and bass staff, first without ledger lines and then with 2 ledger lines above and below the staves.
Then student has to transfer his note recognition skills onto the keyboard by using special assigned drills during the piano lessons. Finally Student has to sight-read melodies with 80 notes per minute by using the metronome.
Learning Aids
Use the following tools to improve your Note Spotting Skills.
Parental Info
Project description and hints for helping your child to master direct Note Spotting.
Click one of the pictures below to watch the video.
During an initial session with the parents, each student is tested for his present note spotter capability and he has then set his own goal that has to be reached by December 16th, 2019.
Students will be checked out once a week to verify the relative progress and a statistic with a visual graph will be kept for each student.
A stop watch with a countdown of 1 minute will be used during the weekly checkout.
Starting point of the red Graph shows the student’s note spotting capability at the beginning of the project. Then after his target is set, a black line will be drawn towards his selected goal. Numbers on the right show note spotting capacity in Notes per Minute.
The red graph shows the weekly progress along the time period of approximately 6 months.
Students that are absent over the summer brake will have their initial test taken when they come back.
Student can upgrade or downgrade his individual goal during the 6 months period but 40 is the minimum. There will be only one certificate and award issued at the end of the note spotter game that reflects the highest level achieved, 40/60 or 80.
First results show that students with good note spotting results do very well in learning new pieces. Sightseeing capacity is increasing nicely and the overall progress rate is doubled or tripled!
A huge advantage of Note Spotting is quantification. The student’s progress can easily be measured by just using a stop watch. Amazing!
How could we read a text without knowing the alphabet? We can’t.
How could we play music without knowing the notes? We probably could, but knowing the notes makes music playing easier and more fun.
Feedback of Parents and Students
I have dreamed of playing piano since my freshman year in college. Now at 51, I am realizing that dream and Mr. Hanspeter is the perfect instructor to achieve my longing goal! I feel truly blessed.
Bruce Radcliffe,
StudentMr. Hanspeter, you encourage me a lot. You motivate me a lot. You are very nice. I want to be just too like you when I grow up. I LOVE the way you teach piano. You play piano very nicely. Love, Jiya
Jiya Giridharan,
StudentMr. Hanspeter has enabled both my children to progress significantly in their piano playing. The extent to which they both improved under his instruction is amazing! He truly has a gift of musical magic with children.
Karen Rich,
ParentDear Hanspeter. You are a very good teacher and friend. I LOVE the way you teach me piano. You are very nice. I love the way you make everything fun. You are great at encouraging me so I can do it. I love how you tell me interesting facts about different things.
Adley Nalywajko,
Piano StudentThe way Mr. Hanspeter teaches piano keeps our child engaged during each lesson because it incorporates not only music theory but also in-depth information such as historical relevance, scientific components and computer exercises.
Ailie Chung,
ParentWe love the way Hanspeter teaches piano. Our son enjoys piano class more and more each week. Hanspeter is super knowledgable about piano so much so he created this awesome website too.