It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 12:24 am


A new kind of floating keyboard

A discussion forum for anything even marginally Hauptwerk-related.
  • Author
  • Message
Offline

Andrew Grahame

Member

  • Posts: 961
  • Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:51 pm
  • Location: Sydney, Australia

A new kind of floating keyboard

PostSat Aug 05, 2017 6:53 pm

For my day job I'm a specialist school music teacher working across several primary schools. I teach classes of students from Kindergarten to Year 6. Keyboard skills forms a significant part of my work. Each of my schools is equipped with 30 basic Casio keyboards. Sometimes I use the keyboards with headphones, but I also run whole-class or small-group activities with the keyboards played out loud.

As a part-time teacher in each school I don't have a classroom exclusively for my own use. Each school has a "music room" where I teach and store equipment, but I share these spaces with others. I share with before-and-after school care, other teachers, and - in one instance - with weekend users. I've been doing this now for many years so I am well versed in the skills of operating in shared learning spaces and liaising with other users.

Using tables to support the Casio keyboards isn't straight-forward. I have access in each location to mobile collapsible tables, but I can't rely upon them being where I want them, or even available, each time I turn up to teach. Having to drag heavy tables out of storage, or repositioning them following a placement created by other users, is a hassle. Lesson time is limited, and often it's easier for the students to sit on the floor to play the instruments. While this is far simpler and saves a great deal of time and effort, this arrangement creates problems for hand position, as the keyboard is too low.

Recently I began using inexpensive plastic storage boxes to support the keyboards. This raises the instruments to a suitable height for students - sitting cross-legged on the floor - to comfortably reach the keys.

On the first day when these boxes went into use at one of my schools I asked the first class to leave the instruments in place when they left. As the next class entered, a student exclaimed "The keyboards are floating!"

This class hadn't previously seen the new setup, and in a quick glance from the classroom doorway the clear plastic boxes weren't readily seen, so it actually did look as if the keyboards were hovering above the floor!

Image

Andrew
Offline
User avatar

engrssc

Member

  • Posts: 7283
  • Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2005 10:12 pm
  • Location: Roscoe, IL, USA

Re: A new kind of floating keyboard

PostSat Aug 05, 2017 7:46 pm

Great idea for kids. Wouldn't work so well with seniors at a nursing facility. :wink:

But introducing seniors to a keyboard would serve to exercise fingers, hands and even hand and eye coordination. Haven't heard of that being done.

Rgds,
Ed

Return to General discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests