G’DAE Primary Book for Violin™ with G’DAE Teaching Tools™: An innovative approach that provides A Colorful Beginning!

Developed by a violin teacher, for violin teachers!

G’DAE Complete Lesson Set includes lesson book, games and accessories to make learning to play the violin FUN!

THE GREEN BOOK with G’DAE Music Note Color-Coding helps young beginners read and play 20 familiar songs!

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Our Philosophy:

To Read or Not To Read (Music, that is)? The preschool and early school years are an ideal time to begin musical training. But for pre-readers, learning an instrument also requires developing a new cognitive skill: reading music. Some early childhood instrumental programs overcome this hurdle by teaching students to play by ear. Eventually music reading skills become necessary, and many students taught exclusively aurally become so good at playing by ear that they find it difficult to learn to read music later.

Begin with Color… Over the past 25 years, a color-coding approach to early-childhood music-reading readiness has become popular in Europe. Colors relate the notes of familiar songs to their location on the stringed instrument and to symbols on the printed page. This method is not available or widely known in the U.S., possibly because the lesson materials are culturally geared to Europeans, have additional solfège pedagogy demands, and do not start with music familiar to American preschoolers.

A Bridge to Music Reading… To adapt this proven teaching method for American preschool and early-elementary violin students, G’DAE!™ beginners’ lesson materials for the violin create a bridge to music reading for pre-readers and early readers. Developed by an MTNA Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Violin, G’DAE!™ materials associate colors, names and characters with each string on the violin. Simple and familiar tunes are printed with colored notes and finger numbers taking the place of the musical staff. The rhythmic meaning of note shapes is learned from the start via colorful flashcards, games and exercises. Gradually, the notes are moved onto the staff, which is also color-coded at first, and finger numbers are removed. As the student starts to understand how to identify notes by their position on the staff, they are ready to “graduate” to an elementary-level violin method book. G’DAE!™ materials thus serve as a launching pad for pre-readers into standard method books, not a self-contained continuous method with its own unique teaching philosophy on an exclusive learning track.

FAQ’s and REVIEWS

FAQ’s:
Q: Are G’DAE MUSIC lesson materials a substitute for the Suzuki method of teaching violin?
A: Some teachers prefer to introduce music-reading instruction earlier in the violin lesson progression than the traditional Suzuki Method does. Most 4- to 7-year-old students are capable of learning to decode the meanings of printed symbols and applying this to playing music on the violin. There are currently very few options in method books for students in this age range that also introduce music reading skills. G’DAE materials were developed to fill this need. Suzuki teachers may choose to use some of the ideas or games in the Primary Book to supplement “Book 1” materials or when introducing music-reading to their students at a later point.
Q: Do you have a book for the next level?
A: Yes, check out our Green Book of First Songs for Young Beginners which contains 20 more songs using the G’DAE Color-Coded Staff, presented 3 ways each to progress from fully color-coded notation to standard black-and-white notation.
Q: Is the G’DAE MUSIC method available for adults?
A: We developed G’DAE Music materials specifically to meet the need for an approachable, age-appropriate violin teaching method for pre-readers. While adults may enjoy learning to read music via color-coding, they will progress faster and be able to play a wider variety of music sooner by starting with a standard method book. Here are our recommendations for adult beginners.

Reviews:
“I AM IN LOVE WITH THESE MATERIALS! I’m recommending them to all my fellow violin teachers. I’ve been trying to teach my own 3 yr. old daughter, and it was turning into a power struggle until I introduced the G’DAE stuff. You guys have really created a fabulous tool here for teaching little ones.
“The Bow-Nut Donuts are unreal. I can’t believe how effective they are.” ~ L. Park, Utah
“I bought the starter packet and my daughter loves it. The best thing was the animal colors and the associations to the strings that really clicked for her. She has blazed through the exercises on her own and even wrote her own song! Is there any chance you have or you’re working on a book for the next level?” ~L. Pressly, Colorado