S1: E0 Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Season One
Episode 0
Let's Start at the Very Beginning




The Afternoon Ti podcast is live!  I sent it to iTunes for approval yesterday and within a few hours, it was approved and out there for all to hear.  To be honest, I'd anticipated it taking at least 3-5 days and was surprised to see it had gone live so soon.  I'm incredibly excited and also a bit nervous that it's all out there.  After all, it's one thing to talk and plan about taking a risk.  It's another thing to put yourself out there.




Episode Zero provides a little insight into who I am, how I became a music teacher and why I love what I get to do every day.

My favorite things about being a music teacher

Each day is a new day - and each class is a new class

We get a fresh opportunity to start over multiple times during a day as a result of teaching many class periods.  We have the chance to start fresh with each class period.  Refresh yourself throughout the day so that you can give renewed focus and energy to each class.  Try taking a mental check between classes, eat lunch, take a snack and take time to refresh mentally and physically so that you can be your best for each and every class.

Being a music educator means that we get to make music

We get to help our students make beautiful music and experience great music making.  Being surrounded by music every day is the absolute best.  Our classrooms are filled with singing, instruments, movement and teamwork.  We're so lucky!

There are so many ways to introduce and teach music

We can teach music elements in so many different ways and there is a lot of variety in what we can do to create music within the classroom.  In this episode, I share a list of all the many ways that material can be taught - there are so many.  Let's look at a possible progression for using a brand new song in the classroom over many lessons.

STEP 1 - Sing the song for students

There are a couple ways to do this:
a.  Don't explain anything about the song.  Simply sing it.
b.  Before singing a song for students, ask them to listen for something specific.
You can do this by asking them to identify how many times particular lyrics are sung.  The repeated lyrics becomes their part.  This is a great technique for call and response songs where the response is the same every time.

STEP 2 - Identifying the song

a. Once the song is familiar, sing it on a neutral syllable (like loo) and ask students to identify it.
b. Use Curwen hand signs to identify and sing the familiar pitches within a song while identifying the one pitch they don't know

STEP 3 - Name the unfamiliar and not-well-known

a.  Review the song using hand signs and tell students the name of the unknown pitch in solfege.
b.  Isolate a rhythm within the pattern

STEP 4 - Do something different with the information

a.  Play the melody on a barred instrument or recorder
b.  Add an ostinato while the class sings or plays the song.  The teacher should perform it alone while the class performs their part together.  Then perform it with 1/2 the class singing the song and 1/2 the class performing the ostinato.
c.  Add a complementary ostinato pattern - this can be created by the teacher ahead of time or by students with guidance.
d.  Perform the rhythm of the melody and perform it as body percussion (clap, snap, tap, stamp)
e.  Isolate one phrase within the piece.  Turn that phrase into a Question that everyone sings or plays and students create individual answers rhythmically or melodically to create a Question and Answer Improvisation for Section B.  This will lengthen and extend learning as students create using what they know.
f.  Add movement to the piece