Ancient Music

Ancient music is somewhat of a mystery. While several ancient civilizations had some form of musical notation, interpretation of that notation is up for debate. Music and dance is often reconstructed from artwork depicting musicians and dancers, instruments found in burial sites, or existing traditional music of the area. However, this uncertainty hasn’t stopped our music classes from enjoying explorations of what music may have sounded like in ancient times.

K – 2 students have been experiencing Pharaonic (Ancient Egyptian) music and dance through the story of Hatshepsut – one of the most successful pharaohs, who also happened to be female. Students especially enjoyed imagining how Pharonic dances may have been choreographed. Egyptian choreographers named their “moves” with evocative titles such as: “the successful capture of the boat," “the calf,” "the leading along of an animal," and "the taking of gold.”

3rd – 4th grade students have been recreating music from Native American traditions – singing traditional melodies using wordless vocalizations (also known as non-lexical vocables) and choosing appropriate accompaniment instruments, including drums, sticks, rattles, and bells. It seems the more these students get to bang on drums, the happier they are.

Finally, 5th - 8th graders have, of course, been working with ancient music in the context of their upcoming production of Gilgamesh. Scholars believe Mesopotamian music was based on the diatonic scale (like our major and minor scales), based on pipes found in archaeological digs. However, we have been using a slightly different arrangement of the diatonic scale than what our modern ears are used to – such as the Phrygian mode – to set an otherworldly, ancient mood in our music. Students were enamored of Phrygian music, calling it “spooky” and “sad.” Who knows, Sumerians may have loved this mode as well!

6th – 8th graders have been exploring this music in the context of creating the proper mood for a scene. They first analyzed how Edvard Grieg used different musical properties to set a mood in his own music for a play, Peer Gynt. Students loved the excitement built in The Hall of the Mountain King and are working to use similar techniques to set musical moods for battle and funeral scenes.

Recorder time

As many of you may have heard :), we have begun recorder study in 3/4 and 5/6 classes. 3/4 students are thrilled to have a musical instrument in their hot little hands, while 5/6 students have begun work with the larger, deeper-toned alto recorder. We first spent some time exploring the possibilities of the recorder through creating a "rainforest:" students were invited to investigate the different sounds they could get out of their recorders. They took their recorders apart, hummed and sang into them, blew through the fingerholes, found out what happened when different parts of the recorder were blocked. They made a wide variety of sounds--from frogs and birds to wind, water, and trees.

We have also been reviewing the basics of tone production and note-reading and will continue our belt program for soprano recorders. In the belt program, students can learn a series of songs of increasing difficulty to earn differently-colored “belts” to hang on their recorders, much like karate belts. We will be working as a class to help every student earn their first few belts, though some have already chosen to work on their own to earn them ahead of time. Once students have earned their black belt, they can earn further belts by helping other students earn belts.

The recorder is a true musical instrument (not just a toy for kids) with a rich historical tradition. If you’re interested in further listening, I’d recommend starting with the Pro Arte Recorder Ensemble, Marion Verbruggen, or Michaela Petri.

Parents: thank you for listening. Though first sounds from beginners can be less than sonorous, the recorder can indeed make beautiful music - even in the hands of students!

To Market, to Music

September was full of farm and table connections as we began our hard work (and fun play) singing, dancing, playing instruments, and composing in the music room. Kindergarteners enjoyed learning folk songs, rhymes, and dances centered on several "farm animals of the day." Their most-requested activity to review has been galloping in different ways to different sections while I played Schumann's Wild Horseman on the piano - a way for them to experience form and pulse in music. They have also been exploring their voices and instruments in the music room to provide accompaniments for books about farming and animals. (Many thanks to Val for providing me with several delightful books to use with the students.) Similarly, 1/2 graders had a blast working in small groups to sonically illustrate:

They were quite pleased with and proud of their final performances - and were able to use loud, soft, high, and low sounds appropriately to convey the mood of the story. 1/2 students also commemorated their trip to the farmer's market by "shopping" for various fruits and vegetables placed around the music room, then improvising vocally and on instruments, inspired by their choices (I got inspiration for this activity from Doug Goodkin's book Intery Mintery.) 3/4 students very much enjoyed drawing and journaling to Aaron Copland's Rodeo Suite, helping them to understand contrast in music and how different tempi, dynamics, and instruments are used to set mood in orchestral music. They have also been very involved in working in small groups to compose and solve musical problems, and have loved improvising on various classroom instruments inspired by folksongs about food and farm life. 5/6 students have been getting "postcards" from around the world teaching them songs about food as a way to review note-reading and instrumental composition techniques. They worked together to arrange a version of Diem a Ga - about the delicious Taiwanese delicacy of pig's feet - that was so beautiful I got goosebumps (another activity inspired by the geniuses at the San Francisco School). Finally, the 6/7/8 group worked to compose songs with a melody and accompaniment, either using a poem about food or eating that I provided, or their own words. Results ranged from a lovely guitar, drum, and vocal piece about the uniqueness of our school to a rap with spare xylophone and drum accompaniment with a very beatnik feel.

In all, we've had a great start to a productive year!

Field trips

We will again be taking advantage of Ann Arbor's cultural opportunities with field trips to area music performances this school year. Kindergarteners, first-, and second-graders will be attending
Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, which promises to be an exciting way to celebrate our musical "Global Citizenship" on January 28, 2013. 3/4 and 5/6 classes will be attending the Ragamala Dance performance on April 24, 2013 as they use myth, music, and dance together to communicate with audiences, touching on themes of Global Citizenship and Circle of Life.

Edit: Unfortunately, we will not be able to attend From Cass Corridor to the World, as school is not in session that day. Stay tuned for alternate plans.

Finally, the entire school will attend this year's Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra Youth Concert on March 13, 2013, focusing on nationalistic classical music from around the world, another great way to explore our global citizenship.

If you would like to help out as a chaperone at one of these performances, please contact me or your child's classroom teacher. Because of limited space on buses, chaperones may have to drive separately and meet us at the concert venue - either Hill Auditorium or the Power Center, both in downtown Ann Arbor.

What Do Music Teachers Do With Their Summer Vacations?

They go to music camp, of course!

I had the pleasure of attending the San Francisco School Level II Orff course for two weeks this summer. I learned a million-and-one songs, dances, and teaching techniques from around the world that I can't wait to share with my students. I honed my recorder skills, composed and arranged new pieces, and got feedback on my teaching. We started singing and dancing at 8AM every day and often didn't stop until late into the night. I also got to experience being a music student again--I have a renewed respect for the power and frustrations of individual and (especially) group work. Whew! What a summer! Back to recorder practice and lesson planning...

Kindness, Loyalty, Respect

5th and 6th graders at SK had the amazing opportunity to work with Chris DuPont and Betsy King of Community Records on writing and recording their own song.

Students brainstormed on issues that were important to them and identified their most pressing problem as the negative ways in which they were speaking to each other. Our expert song-smiths then helped students use the problem's impact and potential solutions to create singable lyrics. Students used classroom instruments (and chairs) to lay down a beat and their personal musical preferences to generate ideas for background riffs, interludes, and melodies.

The kids had a fantastic time--huddled around the microphone when our music room was transformed into a recording studio, composing lyrics while sitting on the playground, and watching Chris make magic out of the recordings with Pro Tools and his synthesizer.

The song premiered at Reflections Night, but took some time afterwards to make it into a shareable file. I am now so pleased and proud to present for your downloading and listening pleasure:

Kindness

We've got a problem with the way we talk,
Insult each other, we just can't stop,
Talking just so we can hear our own voice,
In the end, it's all just noise.

Kindness, loyalty, respect

Bullying and fighting happens every day,
This air pollution makes you want to run away.
It takes some patience now to change this mess,
We've got to learn to lay our words to rest.

Kindness, loyalty, respect

We can fix this, it's within our reach,
If we can listen first before we speak.
We can be the ones to take the first step,
We can start a revolution of kindness.

Kindness, loyalty, respect 

Reflections Night!

This Thursday at 7pm will be Reflections Night at SK, our annual showcase of music and art programs. I can't believe it's almost here! We've been hard at work in the music room to make the show fun and rewarding for students as well as parents. Back in April, I had K-2 classes brainstorm their most enjoyable activities or performances in music, then vote to choose the class favorites. Kindergarteners chose the Ballad of John Henry and a Chinese New Year parade. First and Second grade classes each chose a singing game and to play instruments or drums. Third and fourth graders chose to focus on the recorder song that would earn them their next recorder belt, "By the Fireside," rather than revisiting previous pieces. Our fabulous art teacher then worked with the students to create props for each performance.

I also aimed to include substantially student-created aspects in each performance, ranging from choreography by the Kindergarteners to an entire recorded track by 5th and 6th grade students. (We have been incredibly fortunate in having some musicians from Community Records work with the 5th and 6th graders, but more on that later.)  The process of creating a performance as a group has involved a lot of decision-making, conflict, and compromise. While this hasn't always been pleasant, students are learning important lessons in teamwork and musicianship. As a music teacher, it has been a bit scary to let go and let students decide, rather than telling them what to do and how it should be done. However, I'm often pleasantly surprised by the results. I hope this final project will represent the students' hard work and joy in music.