Musique Savante™

Spring 2010

News Issue No. 8

In This Issue

Hi from Musique Savante

Notes from an Inventor: Michiko Yurko

One More Thing

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Hi from Musique Savante!                         

Have you ever seen frisky groundhogs?  A creek and a small section of woods are behind our home, and at this time of year the animal activity level goes into hyper drive.  Squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, chipmunks, birds, they’ve got spring fever.  I’ve seen that utter joy for spring in my music students, and it takes a creative instructor to teach to that energy!

Our favorite music games can sure help during seasons like this.  In issue 7 of the Musique Savante Newsletter, Karen Koch let us in on her experience of inventing My Own Music History.  Issue no. 8 includes a discussion I recently had with Michiko Yurko, author of No H in Snake: Music Theory for Children, the owner of Music Mind Games and an international clinician on the subject of music theory.  Michiko addresses her own journey of inventing music games.

One More Thing:

Have you attended a pedagogy conference this year?  For you folks in California, come and visit my booth at the Music Teachers’ Association of California convention, July 2-5, 2010.  I’ll have a gift for you.

Notes from an Inventor: Michiko Yurko

Do all inventors go through the same process?  Not exactly.  Michiko Yurko’s book Music Mind Games began as a master’s thesis topic in music theory.  She posited that children could learn theory faster using games than with just book learning.  Her professors would not accept her thesis topic, saying it was an education topic, not a theory topic.  Nevertheless, Michiko eventually decided to publish Music Mind Games on her own and to show that music theory doesn’t have to be boring!

We recently talked about her process of inventing:

Me: What was the first music game that you invented?

Michiko: Alphabet Cards.  After sitting through my college theory classes, thinking about the difficulties my fellow students and I had in responding quickly to the material, it occurred to me that having physical objects, like cards, to manipulate might speed up our recall.  Flash cards existed then, but no one had a series of cards that could be arranged sequentially in a game to understand theory.

Me: You’ve created 300 games in your career.  Did you make your own prototypes, or go to a manufacturer?

Michiko:  Since most of my games are paper based, I make my own prototypes.  Now I occasionally use a graphic designer to create the fonts and colors.  It has taken both word-of-mouth recommendations as well as many interviews to select a printer to get the right look for the materials.  Even so, my games are never really complete, because I’m always looking for the insight of the teachers and students who use them.  They guide me to be a better teacher and inventor.

Me:  I’ve said that inventing is not for the fainthearted.  There must be many examples, but can you tell us just one of the stumbling blocks that you’ve had to overcome in bringing your games to market?

Michiko:  Several years after my book No H in Snake: Music Theory for Children was published by Alfred, Warner Brothers bought my business, published Music Mind Games, Musopoly and Incredible! and they facilitated my work as an international clinician.  But when Warner Brothers was sold to Alfred, only Music Mind Games and Musopoly continued to be published.  Without having the other materials that had been available it would have been difficult for teachers to play the games, but I overcame that hurdle and am self-publishing those myself, again. 

Me:  What is your greatest joy in being an inventor?

Michiko:  It’s the expression on the faces of the students and teachers as they delight in learning by playing the games.  The laughter, the happiness of learning!  There’s no substitute for that.

Me:  As a successful educator/inventor, your advice could fill books, but if you had to choose just a few things to pass on to others in this field, what would they be?

Michiko:  I believe that music games will endure if they’re all about the pedagogy.  And successful music theory games have to be created co-operatively with children during actual lessons.  There’s no substitute for thorough testing, by a variety of teachers, with a variety of students.  For example, some of my games have taken more than 25 years to develop. 

What a delight it has been for me to learn the background which set the stage for the creation of Music Mind Games.  Michiko’s story illustrates perfectly that invention is truly a process of reaching our students with enthusiasm and joy.

Next Issue Lucy Chu of E-Z Notes speaks with me about the art of teaching music theory.  Watch for this interview!

Susan Kight, M.Mus.Ed.

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