User:Mickraus/Tobin Method

Tobin Method

The Tobin Music System is a teaching system that uses colours and patterns to teach music theory, performance and composition. It covers rhythm, pitch, scales, harmony and composition. It was created so these elements can be taught in a way that is approachable by both teachers and children. It was developed in the 1960s by Candida Tobin, a music teacher.

Early Stages
In the early stages colours are used to link the written notes with instrument stickers to give the children confidence in locating the physical note positions. Although this has been done before in, for example, coloured bars on xylophones and piano keys, the Tobin System takes this concept further by fully exploiting the inherent attraction of colours and musical diagrams to make the whole subject of learning music enjoyable and easy to understand. The system also employs musical games; for example, the children wear coloured arm bands and hold chimes of the same colour. In this way the teacher and other children can see who represents a certain musical note and hear the constituent notes of the three primary chords from a given scale.

Note Lengths and Rhythm
The various lengths of notes are explained as a pattern to show the relationship between a long note and shorter notes: [picture here]

Using these rhythm shapes, children are able to learn the traditional notes and relate them to each other as time values; for example, the eighth note (quaver) is seen as half the length of a quarter note (crotchet) which is half the length of the half note (minim) which is half the length of the whole note (semibreve). By colouring the shapes from left to right the children can experience the duration of the notes as they say the French time names. An added advantage of displaying relative note values in this way is that the children can experience fractional relationships thereby integrating music into their maths lessons.

Pitch
Colours are also used to teach the pitch of notes, specifically from the Great Stave of eleven lines rather than treating the treble and bass clefs separately. This approach eliminates confusion if the bass clef is introduced later. Again, colours and patterns aid comprehension and enable the children to learn the note positions on xylophones, recorders, keyboards and guitars. Experience shows that children do not become addicted to the colours as they are discarded once confident.

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Tetrachords and Scales
Tetrachords, major and minor scales, intervals and chord structures are taught using a pattern known as the Notation Ruler as shown below:

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This ruler can represent one string on a fretted instrument such as a guitar, but if the sharp and flat shapes are displaced upwards the pattern on a piano keyboard emerges.

Harmony and Composition
The Tobin System teaches practical music making on classroom instruments such as pitched percussion, recorders, keyboard instruments and guitars.

The Notation Ruler is also the basis for extracting the three Primary Chords from any key by taking the seven alphabetic notes from a given scale, including their sharps and flats as appropriate, and arranging them in a circle as below:

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== This example shows the scale of G major and once the notes are connected, the three Primary Chords are clearly shown. It is then a simple matter of identifying the relative minor chord by jumping either side of the tonic. Using these three Primary Chords the children can easily see which ones are needed to harmonise a simple tune by matching the chord colours with the coloured notes in each bar. Of course the melody notes can also be decorated with various passing notes for added interest and creativity.

Composition
Candida Tobin felt very strongly that, when creating their own compositions, children should not be encouraged to pick out a tune on a instrument then try and write it down. In her experience very few children in a classroom achieve anything useful doing that because they often use chord progressions for which they have no understanding. The teacher nearly always has to get involved by adjusting the work to make it tolerable, and the children seldom understand what they have written. However with the Tobin System the children choose a key, then find the three Primary Chords from that key using the circle above, establish a chord sequence then carefully select notes from each chord to create a melody. Passing notes can then be added to embellish the tune. All this is achieved with full understanding by teachers and children who derive great satisfaction from their musical creations.

History
The originator of the system, Candida Tobin Hon. FTCL, LTCL, was the Music Advisor for East Hertfordshire County Council during the 1970s and 1980s. She taught in many parts of the UK and overseas gaining practical experience in all types of schools. In 1974 she was invited to present her music teaching system to the 11th world conference of the International Society for Musical Education (ISME) [1] held in Perth, Australia. Her name appeared on the programme notes alongside other music educators including Carl Orff, Kodaly and Suzuki with whom she was accorded equal status. She was also a guest speaker at the Conference of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) [2] held in Amsterdam in 1976, and has also lectured in educational establishments in Canada and the USA.

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For many years Candida Tobin felt strongly that the majority of young children were denied the pleasure of learning to play an instrument and comprehend basic music theory because many teachers found it difficult to impart the seemingly difficult concepts in a way that all children could understand. This often resulted in music classes being limited to group singing or playing rhythms on percussion instruments without gaining a true understanding of what they were doing. As well as teaching classes of children she also ran training courses to introduce her system to class teachers in an attempt to improve music education in schools, both nationally and internationally.

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Materials
Candida Tobin’s teaching materials are published by Tobin Music Ltd [3] which is undergoing further development and refinement since the originator’s death in 2008.