The Joy of Ocarina

I have taught hundreds of children and adults to play the recorder. My third graders up in Eureka, Utah always sounded "pretty dang good." However, I have been searching for an instrument that was similarly inexpensive and had a more pleasant (rounder) sound with a range more comparable to a comfortable singing range (C to C). The plastic tenor ocarina (I thought it was an alto, but was informed it is a tenor) from St. Louis ocarina meets my expectations.The price is $10 which is about twice the amount I used to shell out for high quality Yamaha recorders. Anyway, I'm happy to have arrived at this instrument and I enjoy playing it at the bus stop when it's not too cold out.

Play is Okay!

Play is okay! Children learn and have learned for ages and ages through play—engaging, joyful, creative action. For some reason, however, teachers sometimes get it in their heads that learning requires work and that work is not play—is not fun. I suggest two points relative to this misunderstanding:

First, play is NOT the opposite of work. Think of someone who has a passion for hiking—researching to discover the best gear (shoes, backpack, sleeping bag, food) and places to hike—a set of crystal clear mountain lakes, for example. The actually hiking trip takes considerable effort; the path is steep and full of rocks. Somehow, though, the hiker enjoys the entire trip, both the challenge of the hike and the view of the lakes. This is play, recreation, fun. It is also a lot of work. Similarly, singing games are fun AND require considerable cognitive, kinesthetic, and social engagement. In fact, they likely would not be as fun if they didn’t require significant effort.

Second, many people enjoy their work.  Sometimes people say, “I can’t believe I get paid for this!” Some vocations allow significant levels of autonomy, creativity, and social interaction. Some people even have a knack for making the most mundane tasks, such as yard work or household chores, interesting and fun (this is called autotelic personality, by the way).  Work doesn’t have to be unpleasant or boring. In fact, if the work of learning is unpleasant or boring it will likely be less effective than if it involves ample opportunity for physical, social, and creative engagement.

The reason that children’s singing games have endured over time is that they naturally engage students in meaningful musicing and musical learning. In the process students learn far more about music and develop musical skills at levels far surpassing anything that could be accomplished through a music worksheet, for instance. Of course, a music worksheet might have a place once in a while, but if learning is the aim (and, of course, we all know it is), we will allow the joyful and creative play/work or work/play of traditional singing games.

Lesson Plans

It's important to plan instruction. However, you simply cannot plan everything that kids will learn; some might "get it" and some might not and kids will potentially learn much that wasn't even outlined in the lesson plan. Also, concepts such as dynamics and tempo terminology can be taught quickly if the children have already experienced the concepts musically (i.e. have sung songs in various tempos with variations in dynamics). Then, it's just a matter of naming what they already know first-hand. This reasoning can also apply to reading bubble (staff or "standard") notation in that students need to experience and name pitch patterns (solfege) prior to reading them or discussing things like rhythm trees and fractions. So, basically, identifying (naming) concepts is an important process, but can constitute maybe 5 percent of the lesson . . . if that much. The bulk of the lesson should be skill development--skills in singing on pitch and in rhythm, playing instruments, and moving/dancing ("rhythming"). Kids learn these complex skills over extended periods of time by singing/playing/moving to complex/engaging/memorable songs and singing games. This portion of the lesson (learning, exploring, and transforming songs) should take up to 80-90 percent of the time! The remaining 5-10 percent is some type of warm-up--something that focuses the children and drills skills. For example, echo rhythms, echo rhythm solfege, echo melodic patterns, echo melodic solfege, create rhythm patterns, guess songs from the rhythm or hand signs, imitate movements, or even engage kids in traditional choral and physical warm-ups. So, a typical 30-minute lesson plan for second graders might look like this:

Warm-up (5-10 minutes)

• Echo teacher-led rhythm patterns (common time)
• Answer teacher-led rhythm patterns (do something different from the teacher, still in common time)
• Echo student-led rhythm patterns (common time); students initiate three rhythms and then choose another student to take a turn

Learn a new singing game or dance.

Explore the rhythm in a familiar song using classroom instruments. Discuss specific rhythm concepts (tempo, isolate specific rhythmic patterns, etc.).

Play a familiar singing game if there is time remaining.

It is not difficult to connect the musical actions in this sequence to skills and concepts in any given elementary music curriculum guide. The key, of course, is to find interesting, authentic, engaging singing games and to be creative in exploring songs (see 100 Ways to Repeat a Song).

Guess the Song!

The other morning I tapped a song on the breakfast table and asked the kids if they could guess what it was. They guessed it! I tried a couple more. Then, they each wanted to play a rhythm on the table for the rest of us to guess the song. It's difficult to do. From the perspective of an elementary music teacher, what a wonderful activity for developing inner hearing and rhythmic awareness/proficiency! I used to do this in the classroom regularly. A couple of pointers that I learned from Susan Kenney may be helpful here: Have the students avoid shouting out their guesses. Rather, they can raise their hands if they know. Then, at the end of the song, ask someone for their guess. Don't say they are right or not, but tap the rhythm again so that everyone can test whether that song fits the rhythm--practicing inner hearing. Then ask, "Did it fit?" This allows the students to make the call. Extensions on this type of activity include having the students tap the rhythm together as a group and playing the rhythm on percussion instruments.

Elementary Music Curriculum: Simple or Complex

Keep it simple! What can be simpler in curriculum planning than teaching children a singing game like Bluebird or A-Hunting We Will Go? On the other hand, playing the singing game is a very complex activity for the children with so many interesting things that can happen while interacting with others and a delightful song to sing over and over until they know it "by heart"--a beautiful thing! In other words, simple curriculum planning can lead to the musical/cognitive/kinesthetic complexity that little brains and bodies crave. I think this principle works the other way around, too. Plan a detailed curriculum addressing concepts like high and low, fast and slow, syncopation, pentatonic scales, and so forth in a sequential manner and end up with simple, boring musical engagements for children. For example, a lesson addressing fast and slow tempi might require the students to draw a circle around the turtle or the bunny on a worksheet while listening to a musical excerpt--a simple, boring task that will be more likely to prepare children to someday work obediently on an assembly line than to collaborate with others in creating something new or solving a real-life problem. Set up the curriculum and the classroom like a factory and prepare factory workers (low wage employment nowadays for the factory jobs that haven't already gone overseas). Set up the curriculum as a creative, interactive space and prepare children for an engaging world of work and life. The nice thing is that interesting musical activities abound--they grow naturally as musical practices take shape and continue because they satisfy real needs for real people. In sum, look for the naturally occurring and complex musical practices in outside-of-school contexts (singing games, for one) and bring them into the classroom. It's easier than making up your own stuff from scratch and likely more engaging for the children. And it's fun. And that's okay.

Teaching a Singing Game

The best way to learn a singing game, in my opinion, is the most authentic: simply watch others playing it and then join in. However, when teaching in an elementary classroom, you will need to teach all of the students the singing game "from scratch" (although you could have the students watch a video of the game). So, there are a few approaches that seem to work, depending on the singing game. One approach is to first get the students into the proper formation (lines or circle) and then act as the one-who-is-it. For snowball-type games such as Rig a Jig Jig this can be accomplished with little or no instruction. The students will catch on quickly. After a few turns, someone else can start taking on the role of the one-who-is-it. Another approach is to teach the entire song by rote before playing the game. To teach a song by rote, sing the song for the students at least 10-12 times giving them something to do (see 100 Ways to Repeat a Song) or listen for each time they hear the song. The things to do should be connected to each other from one song to the next. For example, if they are adding actions, they should probably continue adding more actions throughout or something related, rather than all of a sudden switching to identifying specific rhythms. I outlined such a sequence in the post for Four White Horses. Then, after they know the song, on a different day usually, teach them how to play the game with as little talking as possible. You will discover many things that work. The important thing is to let the students make their own sense out of complexity as much as possible, give verbal instructions as little as possible, and keep it interesting by giving the students something meaningful and engagingly challenging to do throughout the process. Then, on subsequent days, play the game again. Eventually you may want to change the game or have the students change the game (see Four White Horses and Drunken Sailor, for example). You can also explore the song in more detail in order to address specific curriculum standards. For exploration ideas, see 100 Ways to Repeat a Song.

This is such a fun way to teach. Remember, though, that what works for me might not work for you and your students. Be creative and try new things. Enjoy!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

This morning, Sophie (6 years old) is playing school with an assortment of dolls and stuffed animals all lined up on an easy chair; she's teaching them to sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm. She has sung through the song quite a few times and sometimes the stuffed animals are used to represent the animals on Old MacDonald's farm. Kids like imaginative play, of course, and it's pretty common to see them imitating adult roles (parents and teachers). This is a great song, at any rate, with some complex fast rhythms and simple pentatonic melodic patterns. Other environments could be represented by changing the person (Old MacDonald) and the place (the farm). Children could also draw pictures of the various environments/habitats developed. A single chord and/or rhythmic patterns could accompany the entire song.

Ring Around the Rosie

We stayed in Mesquite, Nevada last night on our way to Oceanside, California. In the motel pool Audrey and Sophie (ages 3 and 6) started playing Ring Around the Rosie. Their older brothers and I joined in. What fun! I have yet to come across children in North American who do not know this game. I used to play it with my elementary students. At an ETM conference I was introduced to the idea of singing the song in a round in concentric circles, each circle going a different direction from the one before and after. I used to do this with my students as well especially on days when there were multiple classes in music at one time. Older kids can, in this way, re-discover Ring Around the Rosie, in a way that is challenging and engaging. Of course, Landon and William (ages 11 and 9) were just fine singing the song in the pool because they were singing it with their little sisters. In other words, it doesn't always have to be challenging to be engaging (despite what the optimal experience or zone of proximal development folks say).

Learning by Playing Singing Games

Today in elementary classroom methods (a course for pre-service elementary teachers) we played a bunch of singing games and then brain-stormed concepts or skills that students might develop simply by participating in the singing games (Che,Che,Cha; Down, Down, Baby; Little Sally Walker; Draw a Bucket of Water; I Let Her Go-Go). This is what we came up with:

Social Skills (leadership, communication, teamwork, people interaction, come out of their shells, self-confidence, being a good follower, cooperation, following instructions)

Math Concepts (counting, patterns, memorization, right and left, spatial direction--over under through, sequences, classification)

History Concepts (drawing a bucket of water--when did they do this, where do the songs originate, connections with heritage)

Spatial Reasoning (over, under, through, up, down, circle, moving in a circle, 180 degrees)

Large and fine motor skills (jumping, hopping, skipping, dancing, clapping, etc.)

Coordination (self, with others, timing)

Creativity (making a dance, making a motion, group work, creating your own short individual dance, matching movements to rhythm)

Musical Skills (beat, rhythm, patterns, vocalizing, singing, dynamics, articulation)

Seriously, that's a pretty great list and demonstrates how much is going on in the brain/body when children participate in singing games. Super valuable stuff! Think, also, of intrinsic motivation. But, that's another topic . . .

Ken Robinson Part II

Here's a subsequent talk by Ken Robinson about the future of schooling. I like his suggestions towards that end that we need to replace the industrial, mechanized metaphor currently dominant in formal education with an agricultural metaphor. In the former, students are treated like products on an assembly line and in the second like plants, nurtured and given room to grow.

Simple Ways to Repeat a Song

This evening Audrey (our three-year-old) was singing Twinkle Twinkle on a neutral syllable. I said, "Let's sing it like cows!" And we did. "Moo moo moo moo moo moo moo . . ." Then I said, "Let's sing it like cats." And we did. "Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow . . ." Then I said, "Let's sing it like dogs." And we did. "Bark bark" or "Arf arf". Then she said, "Let's sing it like dinosaurs." And we did. "Graur, graur, graur, graur . . ." And on and on we went for about 20 repetitions of the song (tigers, snakes, etc.). At some point Sophie (out six-year-old) joined in. What fun! Eventually, Audrey started throwing in some non-animal options and we had to figure out how to sing it like broccoli. "Broc-lee, broc-lee, broc-lee, broc-lee . . ." Anyway, my point is that it is easy to find ways to repeat a song and it's also fun to engage the imaginations of children in this way. And, even though we weren't really thinking about curriculum, we addressed singing on pitch and exploring various tone colors or timbres. We also sang Old MacDonald Had a Farm, Bingo, and How Much is that Doggy in the Window? They liked the last one a lot, because they threw in the "bark bark" part at the ends of phrases. I was pointing at them, cueing the "bark bark" part. Eventually Sophie insisted that she sing the song and point at us for the "bark bark" part. She changed the tune a bit, but wasn't concerned about getting it "right" and, really, her tune was just as good as the original. In the Missouri Music Curriculum there is a requirement that all students learn to follow the cues of a conductor. What a fun way to address that! Of course, I'm not suggesting that we adhere strictly to a set of standards--that tends to take the complexity and enjoyment out of musicing with children. Rather, think about what will be engaging musically and interpersonally and then, if you feel it's a must, look at the Grade Level Expectations and see what you've addressed through authentic musicing. Then, if there is something that was missed, creative elementary music or elementary classroom teachers can always take the same songs and repeat or explore them in new ways that will address the remaining standards.

Singing Games

One approach to teaching elementary music is to focus on traditional singing games and dances at least in the earlier grades. In my experience, this approach is extremely effective in engaging children in joyful musicing. Singing games in elementary school have intrinsic motivation, meaning that the motivation to participate is contained within the game; students want to play the games over and over because of the game's inherent strategies and challenges. In fact, the teacher usually tires of the games before the students do. And, really, to help children develop the ability to sing songs with others it is essential that they sing the same songs over and over. If you try to have the students simply sit and sing the same song over and over, chances are they will become bored. Also, in the singing games are plenty of opportunities to develop interpersonal and communication skills. My recommendation for Kindergarten through at least third grade music is to have 80 to 90 percent of the time devoted to these singing games. Of course, this doesn't mean that the students simply play the games over and over, but includes activities in which the games are explored rhythmically and melodically and changed or extended. In this blog I discuss how specific singing games can be applied in this way in the elementary music classroom as well as integrated within the regular elementary classroom.

Creativity

A graduate student reminded me about this Youtube link to Ken Robinson's increasingly popular discussion of creativity and public education. We so often hear music advocacy statements that claim music education increases creativity. However, that all depends on how music is experienced in schools. The types of singing games/experiences I am promoting in this blog are, I believe, the types of complex, engaging, interactive activities that will, indeed, allow for and encourage creativity.

Musicing

Whether you follow Christopher Small or David Elliott--musicking or musicing--the idea (in my mind) is the same. Music is an action . . . not an object. In this blog I'm interested specifically in musicing by and with children. I believe that children become musical by musicing (vs. learning musical concepts). Anyway, that's how my four children have developed their musicality--by singing, playing instruments, and dancing at home informally and for enjoyment. Yes, fun and games!!! Too often in school, children are subjected to a music curriculum devoid of meaningful and joyful musicing and, so, they really don't learn much or develop musically. Plus, they don't sing individual songs enough times to really know them. If you're a music teacher, how many of the songs that you sing in class could individual students sing at home (the entire song)? How many of the songs that you sing in class would students WANT to sing at home . . . over and over. The other day, our oldest daughter, Sophie, who is in first grade came home singing, "Wake up you sleepy head and go and find the cattle", etc . . . over and over. And, she played a game along with it . . . by herself. Her teacher had given her a special gift, a memorable song. Thank you, Sophie's music teacher!