Why do children struggle with music? Launching nationwide Solfège seminars to address learning stumbling blocks and nurture musical sensitivity

Daisy Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Nerima-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Mika Ojima) held a seminar for instructors titled 'Enthusiastic Students and Teachers! Solfège Lesson Course' at Yamaha Music Yokohama Minatomirai on Friday, April 3, 2026. This seminar was conducted as an interactive experience where participants learned teaching methods to nurture children's sensitivity and comprehension, based on the contents of the book 'Students Will Change! The New Textbook for Solfège Instruction'. This event marked the start of their nationwide seminar tour. [Image: Scene from Mika Ojima's Solfège teaching seminar] ◼️ Organizing students' 'stumbling blocks' from the three perspectives of 'Reading, Rhythm, and Pitch' - They are supposed to be able to read the score, but it doesn't sound like music. - The rhythm is correct, but the flow stops. - They can catch the pitch, but cannot sing or memorize it. We often face such 'stumbling blocks' with children in actual lesson environments. In this course, instead of grasping these challenges relying merely on intuition and experience, they were organized from the three perspectives of . Teaching methods that verbalize 'why they stop there' and 'what is lacking' were introduced. The presented concept emphasized seamlessly incorporating Solfège into daily lessons to lead to enjoyable musical performances, rather than isolating it as a special, separate time. ◼️ Reactions from instructors: 'My perspective changed', 'I want to adopt this immediately' Participants shared feedback such as: 'My view of Solfège has changed, and it was a continuous series of moving moments.' 'If Solfège can be learned this enjoyably, I can already picture the children's happy faces.' 'There were many things I could immediately apply to my lessons.' 'I want to incorporate lessons where they don't just sit and play, but feel the music using their bodies.' ◼️ An increase in children who can't read sheet music? Challenges in music education and the importance of Solfège In recent years, it has been pointed out that an increasing number of children struggle to read sheet music despite taking piano lessons. Addressing these challenges, this seminar introduced a method that can be put into practice immediately while physically experiencing Solfège. It garnered high interest from the instructors. [Image: Experiencing sound using the whole body in a participatory format] ◼️ Future Schedule This seminar was held as part of a series to learn Solfège experientially, and we plan to hold it in various regions going forward. Currently, we plan to hold the seminar on the following dates: - April 26, 2026 (Ibaraki) https://daisymusic-ac.jp/seminar-koga-20260426/ - June 12, 2026 (Osaka) https://retailing.jp.yamaha.com/shop/osaka-namba/sheet-music/event/detail?id=8368 - June 19, 2026 (Hiroshima) https://retailing.jp.yamaha.com/library/shop/event/leafret/id-8411.pdf Details can be confirmed on each page. Based on the content of the book 'Students Will Change! The New Textbook for Solfège Instruction', we aim to popularize Solfège education that nurtures sensitivity and to improve the quality of music education. ◼️ About the Book 'Students Will Change! The New Textbook for Solfège Instruction' (published by Yamaha Music Entertainment) was reprinted about a month after its release in January 2026, generating a great response among music educators and piano teachers. [Book URL] https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4636120787/ Author Profile Mika Ojima CEO of Daisy Co., Ltd. / Representative of Daisy Music Academy. Completed the Master's program in Piano at Musashino Academia Musicae. She has taught Solfège to over 20,000 children to date and developed the original method 'Uta Hanon®', which enables students to read sheet music by singing. Her unique teaching method, established based on her teaching experience at the Musashino Academia Musicae affiliated music school, has received high acclaim from many instructors. Over 1,600 instructors have participated in her courses, and voices saying 'My students have changed' and 'Lessons have become fun' are received from all over the country. Currently, she strives to popularize and improve the quality of music education through courses and lessons for instructors nationwide.