Sept. 21, 2026

The Sound of Gold with guest Rebecca Wilson, creator of Wilbecks Music

Show Notes
Transcript

Are you a new piano student or piano teacher ? This is an episode for you!! Tune in today to learn how learning piano and or teaching piano for beginners is easier than you think. Rebecca has created booklets that help teach easy notes and note reading made simple to understand.

The Sound of Gold is broadcast live Mondays at 4PM ET / 1PM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). The Sound of Gold TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal, medical, financial, legal, counseling,

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professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services

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of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

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Hi, welcome to the sound of gold. It is so

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good to be back with you today.

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If you are tuning in live, thank you.

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And if you are watching the replay of this, thank

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you as well. It is presently Monday and Mondays are

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usually a little bit of a crazy day because we're

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recovering from relaxing over the weekend, which is not really recovering,

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but it's a Monday's Monday. I don't need to say

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much more about that because I know you understand. I

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am here presently in my home music studio. I'm here

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with my cats at my piano. And I have a

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very special guest with me today. Yet before I introduce her,

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I want to welcome you to my show, Sit.

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Back, Relax.

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And because it is a Monday or whatever day you

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tune in when you're watching this, sit back and just

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take a breath and just.

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We know that music heals our soul. Thank you. Music

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is so important. As I mentioned, music heals the soul.

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It's good for your mind, your body. It's good for,

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I find it's healing on all levels. And you don't

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necessarily need to be a musician to know that music

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has a great impact in our lives. No matter where

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we go, we always hear sounds around us. And for

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us musicians that do play an instrument, or for those

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of you out there that want to play an instrument,

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It is not that hard. You know, we, I think

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professional musicians that play and perform, it looks like, oh

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my gosh, they just do it so easily. They just

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play so easily, but it takes a lot of work.

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It takes a lot of time and energy and effort to,

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to create. And it's, it's created out of a passion.

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And as well as being a radio show host and

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playing and performing, I love, I'm also a student of

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music as well as a music teacher. And there is

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no greater gift that we can give as a music

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teacher and music inspiration than to make it easy to

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inspire others to learn music. Today, I have a very

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special guest with me who is tuning in actually from tomorrow,

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from all the way from New Zealand. I have with

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me Ms. Rebecca Wilson, who, if I said her last

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name right, or Williams, I'm sorry, who created this wonderful

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program that you and I are going to work with

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a little bit today. So Rebecca, I know you're sitting backstage.

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Please come out and join me.

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Hello. Hello. Good morning. Yes, hello. From the South Island

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of New Zealand. So good to see you. Good to

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see you too, Lisa. Yes, yes.

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And so, Rebecca, I know it's Tuesday. Presently, we're here

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in Florida, United States. It's four o'clock in the afternoon.

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Can you share with us what time it is there

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in New Zealand?

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So it's just gone eight o'clock in the morning and

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it's Tuesday here. So we are in your future.

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Ah, and the future looks bright.

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Yeah, it looks bright. It's great. I want to assure

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everybody the future is great.

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Oh, wonderful. Now, Rebecca, we're friends. You know, we've chatted

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before and it's such an honor to have you on

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our show today. And before we dive into this amazing

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program and this amazing creation you created. Please share with

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our audience a little bit about what you do and

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how maybe growing up, how you were inspired to get

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to where you are today.

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Yeah, well, it's quite a story. And I think my

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story as a child learning music is quite a common one.

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So I started learning piano when I was six years

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old and yeah, I want to talk about music reading today.

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So that's going to be the angle we're taking here.

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So my music teacher taught me to read music the

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traditional way using mnemonics. And I'll just explain that quickly

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to your audience. So with mnemonics, every time you see

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a note in music, um you have to use mnemonics

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to figure out what it is and for a piano

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player there are four mnemonics so depending on whether the

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note is in the treble or the bass or it's

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and whether it's on a space or a line so

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for example say if you see a note on a

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treble line and you have to go right which mnemonic

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do i use is it f-a-c-e is it all cows

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eat grass is it Every good boy does fine, or

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is it good boys do fine always? And so you

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have to know that for treble lines, we use every

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good boy does fine. So then you count up the

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lines from the bottom. Every good boy does fine. Oh,

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that's if. And then once you know if, then you

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have to know which note on the piano to play.

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So you probably need another strategy for that. So I

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guess you can imagine it's a very complicated strategy, especially

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for a little six-year-old or for a child because they've

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got to go through that process with every note. And

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I remember just being so confused trying to pull up

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the correct mnemonic from my mind for every single note.

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And because it's such a complicated process, I didn't actually

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learn what the notes were. I just had to use

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that strategy all the time. So I remember one time

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when I was seven, my music teacher had told me

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to learn this page of music, and I just remember

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at the piano in my practice time pointing at the

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notes and figuring out each one, and it just took

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me ages to get through the first bar of music.

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And then I remember looking at the rest of the

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page and just feeling dismayed that I still had the

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rest of the page to learn. It was just... Very slow, tedious,

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and certainly not fun for a child. And that's the thing.

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When we teach beginner students with adult-style logical thinking strategies,

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we're placing a really heavy cognitive load on them that

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they have to process when they're reading music. And because

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it's so confusing, it's too hard for the brain to

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take in the information about what the notes really are.

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So when students are taught with these kind of strategies,

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they often don't know what the notes are. All they

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have is the strategy that they have to use all

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the time. And it's kind of like trying to read,

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but you don't know the ABCs. And all the time

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you're trying to figure out what the letters are so

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that you can read because you haven't actually learned your ABCs.

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So it's a lot like that. So, you know, some

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kids actually are able to do it. Some kids are

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able to think in abstract terms and see patterns. But

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for most kids, they don't have this ability to think logically.

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It doesn't develop till they're older, till they're teenagers or adults.

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So when you're teaching little kids with these logical thinking strategies,

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you're making it really hard for them So, but anyway,

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for me, I kept persevering and I kept learning music

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and working my way up and eventually studied music at university.

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And I'll tell you, it wasn't until then. that I

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finally broke through in reading music. I'd been using this

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strategy of mnemonics all those years. It just took so

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long till I could finally become a good music reader.

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And it did help that I also started teaching music.

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music to my own little students and that helped my

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music reading but do you guess how I taught them

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to read music the same way I had been taught

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and guess what happened most of them struggled to read

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music and you know it's really frustrating when you're sitting

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with a child lesson after lesson and they're just struggling

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yeah you it's like they're stuck at a roadblock and

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you're trying to get them through the roadblock but They're

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just stuck there at the roadblock and you're stuck there

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with them. So I just started thinking, you know, something

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is missing here. I'm missing a step, not actually teaching

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them the ABC of music. And that's, they don't know

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what the notes are. So how are they going to

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read music? So I'm like, I've got to make a change.

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I can't stand this anymore. So I tried, I'm like,

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I've got to teach them in a way that makes

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it easy for them to learn. So I started teaching

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them the notes for stories and I found that it

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just really worked. I just started with a few notes

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and The funny thing is that it made the kids

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start loving the notes because now the notes had a

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personality and they started connecting with them and getting really

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into it. And also, I just found that it started

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putting the note knowledge into their minds, you know, like before.

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it was like the library shelves on that topic were empty.

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It was like going to a library to find out

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something and the library didn't have any books on the shelves.

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So my students were always needing to know the information

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about the notes, but their library shelves were empty because

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I hadn't put the information in there. But what I

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found with the stories was finally I was teaching them

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what the notes were and the information was good. going

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into their minds. And because now it was there when

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they needed it, they could go and get it. And

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they had the note knowledge there. So anyway, what I

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did was I decided, right, I'm teaching them four octaves

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of notes this way. So I expanded it out and

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I just, I kept, I worked on it for quite

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a number of years and sort of really got it perfected.

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And It just worked for them. And I only spent,

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you know, about five minutes each lesson on it, but

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I made sure that the information about the notes got

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filed into their minds and I made sure it was

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retained there and stored there. And I'd give them lots

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of practice at going to those library shelves and retrieving

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the information. So that when they had music in front

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of them, they were already good at pulling up their

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note knowledge from their minds. And so then when they

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had music in front of them, it was easy for

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them to read it. And just the difference with my

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students after making that one change and just taking care

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of that first fundamental thing, it was just absolutely amazing.

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It just opened the door of music to them and

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made Everything started to change after that. I could put

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new music in front of them and straightaway they could

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sight read it easily. And at home, practice wasn't hard

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for them. So instead of being like that seven-year-old Rebecca

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I talked about that just spent practice time struggling to

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get through one bar, actually they were using their practice

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time playing the music because it was easy for them.

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So what happened was they would master their pieces really quickly.

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So I could just keep giving them more and more

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and more music. So they were progressing through their piano

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books really quickly and taking in a lot of music

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all the time. And it was causing them to grow

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and grow musically. Like I had nearly had students grow

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before and they were progressing up, up, up the music

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grades really quickly. And, And it was just amazing. I

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now had 10, 11, and 12-year-olds playing at levels that

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previously my older teens were playing at. And it was

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just because the music itself was just passing through them

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and causing them to grow and progress. And it all

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came about from making that one change. Instead of just

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giving them a strategy to figure out the notes, I

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was being like a schoolteacher. Like think about when a

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child starts school, what's the first thing the schoolteacher does?

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She teaches them the A, B, C because everyone knows

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they need to know that if they're going to read

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and their whole education depends upon this. So we music

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teachers need to do the same. We need to teach students.

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our beginner students, the A, B, C, in a way

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that they will be able to take it in and

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retain and be able to retrieve that information.

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Rebecca, I'm going to interrupt you for a minute, and

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I love what you're sharing with us. We have an

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audience that are watching us, and we have an audience

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that are listening to us. So we have a scroll

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on the bottom for viewers that are watching us, For

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listeners that are not seeing us, can you share with

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us the name of your website if they want to

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tune in to your product?

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So, yeah, well, eventually I developed this into a product

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because I wanted other music teachers to be able to

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use it too. So if you go to Wilbix.com, it's

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called Easy Notes. And it's called Will Becks because that's

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my name, Rebecca Wilson, Will Becks. So it's willbecks.com. And

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if you look at the Easy Notes section and you'll

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see all the resources there. But if you're a music teacher,

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you want to get the Easy Notes Teacher Kit because

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it gives youâ so what I did was I put

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all the stories into two books and I called them

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Easy Notes. And they teach four octaves of notes on

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the staff and how they connect to the notes on

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the piano through stories. And then I also made some

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resources you can use. There's a magnetic staff and there's

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magnets with all the little characters in the stories so

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that the kids can have some hands-on activity just to

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strengthen the storage of those notes. Have you got it there, Lisa?

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Yes, yes, I do. And I wanted to share, and

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I don't want to interrupt you, but I want to

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share that I think I learned about you through Music

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Teachers National Association several years ago. And on the inside,

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I'm like this child. I'm like, oh my God, I

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have to have that. It makes it, it looks like

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it would be so easy to understand and to teach

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my students. And so- So I wanted to, I have

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it here because I want to show some of our Armians.

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And for those that are listening, we're showing kind of

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like a board. And I have the magnets and I

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have the books here as well. There's two books and

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there's stories in here that there's just, I'm like a

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kid in a candy store right now. I'm so excited

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to share this because it's so much fun and it's

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so easy to understand and to help students to name

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the notes. I mean, there are characters. There's magnets to show.

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You know what, Rebecca? Can we play? Can we play?

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Can we?

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Can you like? Yes.

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Like, I'll be the student, you're the teacher. Can we

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do a demonstration? I think that would be so much fun.

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Yeah, well, I would like to teach you a note.

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And her name is Bathby. And actually, this was the

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first note that... that I taught to a student with

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a story, and it was just my lightbulb moment when

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Iâ yeah, there's a little bugby there. Yes. All right,

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so I'm going to tell you the story. It's on

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page 17 of Easy Notes, but we don't need to

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see it. I'll just tell you the story, unless you

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want to show them. Yeah. So in the book, it's

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got the stories and the pictures of page 17. And

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it's got exercisesâ for the kids to practice those notes

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as well. The books are theory books, but they've got

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the stories and the pictures and they've also got flashcards

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as well. So when the kids go home, they can

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do the exercises and do the flashcards with their mum

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or dad. Yeah. But in the piano lesson, we, yeah,

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there we go. In the piano lesson, um, the teacher

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tells the story to their student and it's lovely because

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when you're telling stories to your student, it just brings

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in this lovely atmosphere in the lesson and it really

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connects you to your student. And, um, The students are

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just like that cat there.

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She wants to learn to play, to read music today.

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All right, so let's have a story. I'm going to

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teach you about a bee. So I've just written the

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story here. I'm going to read it to you. Okay.

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All right. On a cold day in Treble Staff Street,

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because they know that the treble clef up there with

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those five lines, that's the street in Treble Staff Street. Okay,

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so the story goes, on a cold day in Tribble

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Staff Street, the warmest, coziest place to be is right

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in the middle of the staff on the middle line.

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If you were there, you would be as snug as

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a bug in a rug. So Lisa, I want you

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to get that little Bugbee magnet and she's really cold.

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So I want you to put her on the middle line.

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Can you figure out which line is the middle line? One, two, three, four, five.

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So the middle would be right here.

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Yeah, the third line up. Is that the third line up? Yes.

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One, two, three.

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Oh, good. I can't quite see. Yeah, so there is Bugbee.

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She's nice and warm and cozy on the middle line

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of Treble Staff Street. Very good. So Lisa, have you

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got a little lily pad picture with three black stripes?

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I do, I do.

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I have my lily pad here.

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Yeah, so what I would do is I would get

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them to put that on the piano, so down on

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the piano, just on the three black notes, just above

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the middle. So yeah, just above the middle, yeah. And

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I have lots of those pictures, yeah, that go on

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the piano and it kind of makes a Google map

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on the piano and the kids learn where to put, yeah,

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so I just put them standing up on the three black,

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you know, sitting down on the three black notes. Right.

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Putting them down there. Yeah, very good. So the story

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goes that when the day warms up, Bugbee gets a

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little bit hot there on the middle line so she

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flies down to the piano and and sits above this

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lily pad with three black stripes, enjoying the sunshine. So

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can you put her on the white note that's just

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above that lily pad? So if I was there in

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the lesson with you, I'd point to that note that's

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just to the right of that lily pad, and I'd

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get you to put little Bugbee there. Oh, very good.

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Could you play that note and make Bugbee sing? Yeah,

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there she is. Sitting just above the lily pad, enjoying

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the sunshine, singing a little song to us. So, Lisa,

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could you please put Bugby back up on Treble Staff Street?

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Do you remember where she goes?

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Yes.

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There she is. Snug as a bug in the rug

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on the middle line. And now can you make her

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fly back down to the piano? And she's going to

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sit above that lily pad, enjoying the sunshine. and make

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her sing a little song to us. So I think

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we're all well done. So what we've done right there

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is just quite simple, right, and quite fun, but there's

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actually a lot of pedagogy going on behind that. And

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so I talked about how it's like we have library

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shelves in our mind.

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Yes.

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When we learn something new, it's like putting a new

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book into the library shelves of our mind. Pardon me.

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And so when we learned about Bug B, it's like

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I filed a new book into your mind. And that

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book was called Bug Bee. And if you open that book,

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it would have all the information about that note. So

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if you open the Bug Bee book from your mind,

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not my Easy Notes book, if you got that book

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out of your mind and open it, it would say,

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Bug Bee sits on the middle line of the cell

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and her name is Bee. and she sits on this

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note of the piano. So the story has connected those

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three pieces of information. It's where the note is on

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the star and what the name of the note is

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and where it is on the piano. So the story

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has connected those three pieces of information and it's put

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it into your mind, right? So now you've got a

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little book sitting on your library shelf you know where

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bug bears and you know all about her. So in

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the psychology of learning, this is called encoding. And when

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new information enters into the mind, this is called encoding.

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And it's really easy to encode new information into the

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mind when you attach meaning to it. Like it's really

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hard to learn random facts, you know, like to a beginner, right,

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the fact that, that note on the middle line of

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the treble is called B and it's linked to that

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note on the piano. Those are just random facts and

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it's just really hard for them to learn it. But

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as soon as you pick up a little story and

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attach meaning to those facts, it makes it really easy

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to take it in and learn it, especially for a child. So, like,

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think about when you meet a new person and you

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see the face for the first time and you hear

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the name, right? So what you do with that information

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right then is going to determine if you're going to

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remember it or not. So if you encode it by

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attaching meaning to it, it's more likely to enter your mind.

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If you do nothing, that book is not going to

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enter your mind. So it's like... Recently I met a

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man at a church lunch, and he told me his

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name was Sir Deesh, and I thought, I am never

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going to remember that name. But I took a little

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bit of time to think, how can I remember it?

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So I imagine him as a really important man wearing

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a top hat, who I had to address as Sir,

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and I imagine him holding a dish of food from

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The Sound of Gold with guest Rebecca Wilson, creator of Wilbecks Music

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