Making Music Class

This is a specially designed class to engage small groups of young students in highly active musical experiences. In each class, students will practice singing, movement, and experiences in reading and using musical notation. Students will learn songs from the rich heritage of folk music.  Together in class, we will use these songs to explore melodic and rhythmic notation. Students will use the notes studied to create their own rhythmic and melodic motifs.  With the support of the teacher, the students will use sound from their environment, including body percussion, and basic household items to create original musical expressions, accompaniments for the songs we sing, and even their own, new musical themes.

Activities will appeal to visual, aural, and kinesthetic (physical) learners. In each class, students will listen, sing, and engage in musical movements. In relevant classes, students will learn Kodály/Curwen hand signs to instill a physical association with the melodic movement of the pitch. 

Activities for learners enrolled:
         Week of August 8: Working with quarter and eighth notes in the motif ♫ ♩ , sing the song “Teddy Bear,” make music through body percussion 
     Week of August 15: Working with quarter and eighth notes in the motif ♩ ♫ ; sing the song “Peas Porridge Hot,” have fun with rhythmic ostinato
     Week of August 22: Four eighth notes (♫ ♫ ) motif; chant the rhyme “Garden Gate,” make rhythms through body percussion or household items (plastic cups and pencil with erasers. See materials list for more information)
     Week of August 29: Using the quarter notes and quarter rest (♩   ♩   ♩   𝄽); sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb," listen to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg while (moving) to the rhythmic motif of the melody (♩   ♩   ♩   ♩    | ♩   ♩   ♩   𝄽)
     Week of September 5: Work with [mi, re, do] motif; practice hand signs that correlate with these melodic tones, practice reading [mi, re, do] motif from staff notation, and sing, “Old Blue.”
     Week  of September 20: Work with [do, re, mi] motif; practice hand signs that correlate with these melodic tones, practice reading [do, re, mi] motif on  the staff; sing, “Down By the Station”
     Week  of September 27: Work with [mi-do] and [do-mi] motifs, practice hand signs that correlate with these melodic tones, read these two differing motifs from the staff, talk about sounds moving UP and sound moving DOWN, and sing, “Phyllis the Camel” Student should bring materials to make a kazoo in class (see Learner Supply List)
     Week  of October 6: Work with motif [do, re, mi] but focus on repeated tones; practice using hand signs for these melodic tones; sing the song Long-Legged Sailor; "Sping" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons