Practical Music Making in Years 7&8

PRACTICAL MUSIC MAKING IN YEARS 7&8

THE QUESTION:

Just wondering if anyone has any brilliant ideas regarding practical music. I teach Years 7 and 8 and feelI am not doing practical music making justice. I have 14 keyboards (lucky me), so have half the class on them at any one time, and the other half on another activity. (Usually "Crack the Code" puzzles of my own making - fairly successful if anyone would like copies - would work for Years 7-10). I have found that I have to go around each child on a keyboard individually and show them what to do. I usually don't get around all twelve in one half hour session.Many of them forget very quickly what they have been shown, so I'm going over the same ground week in week out; others are simply reluctant to persevere with anything that is not instantly successful andothers can't concentrate without my thumb directly on them!! Other ideas? Singing - nointerest unlessthe songwas written in the last fortnight or is "Country Roads". Singstar - quite successful, but not everyone will take part, and those who need to work on their skills are the most reluctant performers and participants. Guitar? Need tuning all the time (the kids fiddle) and the kids are completely unprepared for sore fingers and slow progress and give up very quickly. I'm thinking about recorder. Put my advanced children in a separate room with an arrangement in parts to teach themselveswhile Iwork with the rest in a very structured lesson. I just want some sort of practicallessons the kids will love; thatI can assess at the end of a couple of terms and report to their parents onthe progress they have made. I'm starting to think that it is impossible to teach 25 - 28 children at once when they are so varied in interest, ability, perseverance and prior knowledge. (Saturday morning classes have about 6 kids in each.) Has anyone got any fantastic ideas, please?

THE RESPONSES:

1) How about Body percussion, rhythm text and 'mystery melodies'. Give them guitar tab and keyboard music (single melody) and they have to help each other figure out what it is. You can use songs that are written in the last fortnight or coming up for may you can concentrate on NZ artists

2) I teach music in two primary schools, one which is a full primary and includes Years 7-8.

For the practical element of their programme I teach Marimba and include recorder as part of that. These children have learnt recorder from Year 3, and I find by Year 7 only those that really love the recorder still want to continue, usually in our Recorder Ensemble. We use a variety of Marimba books, and these often have a recorder melody line, or one you can adapt. You may find the marimba parts can be learnt on your keyboards, and glocks or resonator bells could be used as well. We only have 3 Marimbas, so only 8 children can play at one time. The rest of the class use tuned percussion or recorders/

There are some really good resources available for recorder teaching that are suitable for Years 7 -8. Where do you live? I am running a “Retro Recorder: Workshop in Dunedin on May 1st. If you are not too far away you could come along!

3) Have you thought about ukulele rather than guitar? You’d need a class set, but your students may find it a little easier than guitar.

4) I take songwriting sessions for that age group - they love coming up with their own lyrics at least - brainstorming topics etc. It's usually just poetry, and the more advanced kids will put melody (and sometimes instruments are used - guitar/uke - and it's great that you have some keyboards on hand) - some of the boys are keen to simply 'rap' theirs out. Usually pairs work well - better than bigger groups - and some prefer to work on their own. Then it's performance time. My workshops are only 2hrs, but yours could be spread over a term with other bits and pieces in between perhaps, and a performance at the end. If you take the pressure off (meaning, if they just want to 'chant' it out and use their bodies for percussion - or a bongo drum or anything else that works, or nothing in fact), they usually come up with something. Perhaps it could be a 'reward' after they've all learnt a chord progression on the keyboard??

5) Rhythm games can be a staple and very energizing and fun. Try the From Scratch Rhythm workbook for basic ideas that quickly get more advanced, and use whole bodies, beginning with stepping. If your lot wants to stay sitting, rhythm grids get quick results, which can begin with body percussion and move to percussion instruments and include vocal sounds – and include notation. You can get them creating rhythm grids and playing along to CDs.I agree with the ukulele suggestions – but make sure you get high quality ukes that stay in tune – and get a tuner!

6) I sense your wanting to engage this age group in music-making, when all they appear to want is to be able to have all the skills to replicate the kind of music they hear in their everyday worlds. This is challenging - however, aim to have them become creators of "new, unique" music-sound arts works to express their own ways of communicating through sound. Have you heard of STOMP? There are many STOMP groups worldwide and STRIKE is NZ's own percussion group. Look them up on YouTube.

One way I have worked successfully with Years 7-8 is to use text as the source of motivation and be more creative about the music process and outcomes working with them in 2 large groups, rather than to try to teach them how to play an instrument conventionally, get them to want to locate sound sources and ways of playing (that may be quite different from conventional ideas) and make up their own sounds to accompany a song they have written.

Take a current issue - something that is local that has appeal for these students. It could be the local river and a problem of pollution of the water by nearby farms or the drought at present, or it could be to write something for the World Cup (there's been an offer from Martin Sneddon to NZ to get songs to him) - Rowing or Rugby - and in small groups, locate and use words to write simple 4 lined stanzas with say a chorus that sums up the theme or key idea or write an advertising jingle (See Into Music 2). This can involve looking at some NZ contemporary songwriters such as Bic Runga - see Into Music 3, Sweet 1 and II and other resources dealing with NZ composers and songwriters.

If you have apple computers -Garagebandis a great sequencing programme where students can make up their own backings for simple songwriting - while the second group are working on an "acoustic approach" in small groups using Stomp-type sound sources (the video of STOMP is available at your video outlet store).

Go with the BIG IDEA that everywhere around us there is sound and we can make sound pieces from unconventional materials. In this way you are developing their abilities to listen, to play in ensembles, to create their own music (and to graphically notate also) and to have them learning the key elements and devices of music (such as repetition to grow their works) all of which you can together assess both formatively and summatively.

I guess it pretty much depends on what you believe about learning and teaching music-sound arts, especially if the students coming to you have a very wide range of abilities and experiences in music. This is just another approach!

7) In case it is helpful:

SOUNZ has the From Scratch Rhythm Workbook:

As well as Phil Dadson’s later book on making and using ‘slap tubes’.

THAT could lead to a whole lot of creative music making!

If you are after recordings of Strike and other percussion-rich music:

Or

Also: the Ears Wide Open resource from SOUNZ has a really wide range of resources including lots of very practical material:

8) Lanikai (made by Hohner) ukuleles are fab. We got a class set through the Rock Shop, but I'm sure many other retailers sell them. I teach uke to Year 7 and 8s in Dunedin. Feel free to email me for some uke resources.

9) A lot of my Year 9 classes have very limited music making skills too so I

usually start with a Blues Riff that is really easy to pick up onkeyboard, guitar and then adding a beat. If you have glocks or xylophonesthey can be added too. The good thing about the Blues is very quickgratification and "real"music, which can be added to, improvised around and generally experimented with.

Once the keyboardists have the notes in the right hand they can learn the

chords in the left hand then split the players up into melody and harmony.

The Into Music 4 has a couple of good Blues tracks that the kids can play

along to. Once they get these Blues sorted into is a very easy progression

into rock n roll which most kids love.

10)I was an intermediate music specialist for many years – I know how difficult this can be!

Some things that worked for me:

•Combine a PK project with UC – start class together with teacher directed work on a composer/style/piece of music

•Set a follow-up task where students can work independently – more meaningful than worksheets!

•Divide class in half – one half to work on research/follow-up and other on keyboards (I used headphones so the room is quiet)

•Swap at half-time

• Relate each task – eg study Beethoven and set up a scaffolded keyboard task re Ode to Joy where beginners learn to play the tune and more advanced players can add funky accompaniments using keyboard functions. Encourage able students to improvise/compose counter melody/add bass line etc

•At various points, buddy more able with less able players – it’s amazing how much that helps!

•Try simple keyboard duets using buddy system

11)Definitely ukulele, nice soft strings, no need for different sized

instruments for different sized children- good resources available, online

tutorials, and YouTube clips of cool people playing ukulele to help hook

them in. Affordable for many families to buy - reasonable one eg $40 Mahalo,

and there are great electronic tuners available easy for students to use.

Kala are the best I've found - about $28 on Trade Me -they are chromatic so

can be used for other instruments as well but have a ukulele C or D tuning

function that is a doddle, my 7 year olds are using it to tune their own ukes

now. When they tune up themselves they don't fiddle, also good to buddy

the more capable students with newer learners and they peer teach a bit.

With 5-7 year olds I have one child on a uke the other helping get fingers

on chord and singing then they swap often with simple tunes with regular chord changes some students only play the c and F chords the others who come to the after school groups play all 5 or so chords.

Also consider Irish D whistle instead of recorder, almost identical

fingering, doesn’t screech as much just as cheap and The Pogues and Irish

pub songs may have more appeal as children can play along with some sound

tracks.