The Beauty of Acoustic Stuff

We are near the end of the school year, so it's Student Choice Day in Music Classes. 

So far 100% of my classes have chosen Exploration in Instrument Centers. They never get to do this. Well...not never, but certainly they receive guided instruction in the majority of classes and don't get to simply explore without me looking closely over their shoulder as much as we would all like. 

As an aside - the students in my school get music classes once every 8 school days, for 45 minutes per class. 180 school days divided by 8 (days in the specials rotation) = 22.5 music classes. 

22.5 classes x 45 minutes per class = 16.875 hours of music instruction per year.

Our students are at school for approximately 6 hours per day. Not all of that is instructional time. 

Take out 30 minutes for lunch, 45 minutes for special area classes, 20 minutes for recess, and 20 minutes for transitional activities, and they have approximately 245 minutes of overall instructional time in the regular classroom per day. That is about 4 hours. 

So - [prepare to have your mind blown] - 

Students come to music class instruction in a full year for the approximate equivalent of what they get in the regular classroom in less than one week of school. (That is only if they don't miss music class for field trips, assemblies, or some other special event. )

You can see why the majority of music class time is spent on direct instruction rather than exploration. 

However - never underestimate the power of play as a learning experience. 

I had an epiphany today: I am super-glad that I was raised in a house with an acoustic piano, several banjos, a dobro guitar, and various band instruments. Besides playing in the dirt, playing kick the can and riding my bike, playing on musty, heavy, mechanical musical instruments was a favorite playtime pursuit as a child. 

Especially the piano. 

A wonderful, heavy, clunky upright acoustic monster. 

Take off the front panel and you can see all the mechanical "innards". Delightful. 

Our goal sentence for music classes this rotation: 

"I will cooperate with others to choose music activities to enjoy together. 

I will show respect and make beautiful sounds."

The first day of the class rotation, I was interested that the kindergarten classes explored the instruments very differently than the first and second grade students. The second day, I noticed less of a difference, and I'm not positive what the distinction was. I will say that I believe each classroom gains its own distinct personality based on the classroom teacher's teaching style, their personality, the students' learning styles and the students' personalities and previous experiences. 

These first clips are kindergarten students from the second day. I placed visuals for them to read in each instrument center and this could be the reason for the difference between today and yesterday. 

Some of the children may have actually been attempting to read, but more than that, I think the visuals prompted them to create new music based on their experiences. The first day I did not do that, and the kindergarten students were much more inclined to simply make their hands go as fast a possible and create noise, rather than 'music'. So having a visual prompted them to think and listen, with a much more musical result. I thought this was very interesting. (Those of you who have read my writings before know that I am a learning nerd at heart. I love watching how people think and learn.)

In this first kindergarten video, two girls are singing a familiar song and alternating between playing the rhythm of the words, or playing the beat. Although I suggested that they could work together, they are creating their music spontaneously without any guidance from me. 

These two boys created a "Music Class Chant" and came all the way across the room to announce to me that they wanted to perform it for me. All I can say is, DAY. MADE.

One of the two decided he would go even further and create another chant. 

He requested to do this one as well, and his friend INSISTED he do it as a solo. :) LOL.

This was actually the first one these boys requested I listen to.  They begin by playing the beat and then morph into playing the rhythm of the words. The fact that they do either one of these things correctly at any time is something I celebrate. It is early and they are young. 

They will master the distinction between the beat and the rhythm next year in first grade.

These mini-performances are all important. I hope they left feeling as good about it as I did. 

I think they probably did. 

And as one of my flute heroes says: 

"The most important thing is the feeling they have when they go out the door." 

~ William Bennett

Now we move to first grade. 

I really admired this student's combination of pitches and his gentle manner. 

How I wish I had caught this student's "spider fingers" before he placed his hands on the keyboard. 

He looked like the proverbial famous piano soloist, limbering up his digits for the big recital. 

Both boys made beautiful sounds, imo. 

Notice how these two first grade girls are arranging. And cooperating. <3

Does it bother me that they don't perform the rhythm patterns exactly correctly each time? 

Nope. 

I'm just pleased as punch that they are excited about reading music. 

Practice will polish this over time. 

Here's an example of first grade collaboration and orchestration. In her excitement, the student had a hard time explaining for the camera what she had already told me (and I asked her to tell me again). 

After I turned off the camera, she said "No, but, well, yes, it IS Engine Engine, 

but we did it differently."

Children who take piano lessons love to show you what they have learned. When I asked this first grade girl to demonstrate what she had learned in piano lessons, she was very proud to do so.

These second grade girls are demonstrating the wonder of peer modeling. 

Remember, this is all happening at this particular instrument center in the span of about 4 minutes. 

Then they must stop and change to a new instrument center. [There are 9 centers in the room.] 

So after a demonstration of the beginning of Beethoven's Fur Elise by ear, 

the second girl does a pretty good job of imitating her friend. Gotta love that.  

By the way, the girl who modeled the tune does not take piano lessons. 

She figured it out herself. 

Here is my last video for now. 

Right before playing this for me, this student said "I love music! I'm gonna be a rock star!" 

Although there is some notation in front of him, he is not trying to read it; he is improvising these melodies. It's interesting that he stays pretty much in the mi-so-la tone set, which is what is on the written pattern. I never said he had to do that, but it shows his desire to create structure in his improvisation. 

I think he finds that as pleasing as I do. 

I need to tell you about one more student, a first grader. 

When he was at this instrument center, he explored the xylophone for awhile and then - *EUREKA* - 

He turned to me and said - "LOOK! DOGGIE, DOGGIE, WHERE'S YOUR BONE!" 

[while gesturing and pointing in rhythm at the notes.] 

He was so enthralled with the fact that he recognized the song he knew in the music that was printed there in front of the instrument. It wasn't just a lightbulb that went on - it was a laser. 

These are the moments music teachers live for. 

There is a lot of background sound on these videos. If you have made it this far, good for you. 

You obviously like the beautiful sounds of acoustic stuff, like we do. 

You might just be cut out for teaching music.  ;o)