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Season Three Episode 83 Barred Instruments within the Orff Approach If you ask most music educators about what they know about the Orff approach, most will mention something about the barred instruments.  These instruments are a tool used to facilitate learning within the Orff approach, though the process of teaching using the approach can be done with everything and nothing.  Meaning that you can teach using this approach with any instrument - voice, drums, recorders, percussion - or with no instruments at all - just your body. The barred instruments are just one tool to help guide student learning.  And I love them. I love the flexibility in how the bars can be taken off to create different scales and how they can be played simplistically with just tonic and dominant steady beats accompanying singing as well as playing ambitious polyphonic pieces.   This is the third episode focusing on the Orff approach.  The past two episodes focused on drums and recorders. I shared

Season Three Episode 81 Recorders Within the Orff Approach Playing the recorder is something I have truly needed time to learn.  It didn't come naturally for me.  In fact, if I'm being completely transparent, it wasn't an instrument I really liked for a long time.  Especially in those first few weeks when students are learning proper breathing and fingering.  I found it challenging to help individual students produce the right sound while keeping students who learned quickly focused on more challenging content. Last week I shared three pieces you could use with your students within drum ensembles!  Today I'm sharing three recorder pieces.  In the summer of 2018 I decided to play around with the soprano recorder almost every day and find different melodies and short phrases that I liked.  I would choose a specific concept to focus on - for example: BAG, meter of 3/4, 2-part harmony, and so on.  Then I would write down whatever ideas came to mind that day.  I'd

Season Three Episode 80 Drumming within the Orff Approach Sing. Say. Dance. Play.  Four words that are used to describe the music-making done within the Orff approach.  Drumming is a fantastic way to incorporate both the 'say' and 'play' aspects of the Orff-Schulwerk.  My students love drumming because it's physical, rhythmic, and fun.  I love it for the same reasons.  There are multiple ways to incorporate drumming into your classroom.  And one of the best ways is using speech!  If they can speak it, they can drum it.  If the speech is inaccurate (rhythmically), the playing will be too.  It's important to start with the words first before students ever touch the drum. With younger students, being able to play a simple poem or the rhythm of a piece that they already know is a nice extension.  Let's take the song 'Apple Tree.' APPLE TREE Process: 1- Speak the words 2 - Tap the words using two fingers on one hand and tapping the palm of t

Season Three Episode 79 Marimba Ensembles with Walt Hampton Walt Hampton Bio: Walt Hampton received his teaching certificate as well as Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Percussion Performance from Central Washington University.  He has served as Principal Percussionist or Timpanist with numerous symphony orchestras, and he frequently performs on drum set, providing backup for several notable jazz artists who tour the Northwest.  He is also a frequent performer on the guitar and bass, and an active composer. Walt has presented clinics and workshops on three continents, as well as national, regional, and state conventions for AOSA and MENC.  He frequently tours and performs with his student marimba bands, Rugare (elementary age), 'Baduku (middle-school age), and 'Bahuru (high-school age) performing a variety of styles, including Zimbabwean-flavored marimba music from his books, Hot Marimba!, Marimba Mojo!, and Son of Hot Marimba.  Walt teaches K-5 General m