3 Instruments To Keep Close This Year!

It never gets old to see surprise and delight in the eyes of students when they pick up and play an instrument.  Include an instrument, any instrument, into your lesson and it immediately becomes a class favorite that students talk about and ask for over and over.  What's even more exciting is when I discover or rediscover an instrument that I, the teacher, can use for my own purposes.  I love finding new and interesting ways to integrate instruments into my instruction and am always on the lookout for ways to include a click, shake, scrape, ring, or thwak into my lessons.

I wanted to share three of my favorite instruments to use in the classroom and a few different ways to utilize these little gems in day-to-day instruction.  Whether you have a room that looks like the inside of the West Music warehouse or are teaching from a cart with barely room for a CD player, you can easily incorporate these instruments into your daily routine.

#1 - The Shekere

This is an instrument that has been sitting on my shelf unused for years.  Of course students would get it down for certain projects or songs but the shekere never found a place in the daily life of my classroom.  Then last Spring I went to an amazing workshop with Chris Judah-Lauder, a  brilliant, Orff trained teacher from Texas.  I learned a lot that morning but one of the things that Chris kept doing was walking over and picking up the shekere.  She would use it to keep the beat during exercises or group songs.  It wasn't too loud but the timbre was easy to pick out from the group.  When we would do large group works she would often play the steady beat as she walked around and kept the song going.

LET'S DO THE INSTRUMENT BAR DANCE!

Do you want to use the barred instruments in your classroom more often but just don’t have the time to get them ready between classes or to set them up in the correct pentatonic scale? Spring is my favorite time of year, especially in Kindergarten because the students finally get to learn how to take care of the “big” instruments.

It was about my second or third year of teaching and requesting additional instruments that I had the revelation that I couldn’t do everything and I needed to prep the students on my expectations on how to take the “bars” off of the instruments and why we had to be careful. The lesson “Let’s Do the Bar Dance” emerged!

Demonstrate how to grab each end of a bar and lift straight up like a helicopter. Ask a student to watch and notice what happens to the “peg” when you take the bar off wrong (use one hand and lift at an angle). He/she should notice that the peg bends. Ask the class what would eventually happen to the peg if everyone always used one hand and it kept bending 15-16 times a day. Someone will say “it will break off” and I quickly go into my options once an instrument is broken: put it in the closet - but then someone wouldn’t have an instrument to play, fix it – but I’d have to drill out the old peg and that is a little scary because if I didn’t drill straight I’d ruin the instrument and then have to throw it away or buy a new one - but the school doesn’t have $2000 (I love using a Bass Xylophone for this lesson for the cost perspective)….maybe our best option is to take care of the instruments!

Have the students stand behind an instrument. If you don’t have one instrument per student this is a perfect lesson for students to double up on an instrument or to take turns. If students need to take turns develop some type of signal to rotate. Review how to grab the bar with two hands and ask the students to take one bar off and then to carefully put it back on in the same spot. Ask them to take off another bar with two hands, then ask them to move and dance in their spot with it. After 8-10 seconds ask them to carefully put it back on with two hands. Take off a different bar and dance with it! Repeat the process a couple more times – reminding students they have to use two hands and lift straight up! Eventually, while you are asking them to take off different bars and dance add some background music during the instructions! You could use anything with a fun, strong beat. My students love the following found on iTunes:

·         AfricanTribal Music and Dances (Album) Percussion Instruments (song)

·         WorldMasters - Beat the Drum (Album) Beat the Drum (song)

·         WorldMasters - Beat the Drum  (Album) Africa We Go Go (song)

·         ExperienceAfrican Music: African Drumming, African Soukouss Music and West African DanceMusic  (Album) Beat the Drums (song)

·         ExperienceAfrican Music: African Drumming, African Soukouss Music and West African DanceMusic  (Album) West Africa Drums (song)

Favorite Music Education Resources

You all have a book like this...one that is coffee-stained, dog-eared, and almost falling apart. These books are the ones that we love so much we use them all the time! Today, I'm writing about my top ten favorite music education resources, ones that I use repeatedly and that have helped immensely with writing lessons, putting together programs, and more! Click on each picture to purchase the book on West Music. Here goes!

"An American Methodology" by Eisen and Robertson

This resource is a GREAT introduction to the Kodaly philosophy. It includes processes for using preparation, presentation, and practice strategies, specific ideas for each stage, and tons of songs and singing games! It also includes art music examples, which are great for expanding students' listening and literacy skills!

"Lesson Planning in a Kodaly Setting" by Rita Klinger

This is such a great resource for lesson planning, written by the late Rita Klinger. Even if you haven't been Kodaly trained, it has lots of great suggestions for writing lessons, creating transitions, and more! I've used it as a required resource when I've taught Kodaly Level I because it is truly so helpful.

Creative Ways to Use Instruments Every Day!

Ask any student what their favorite lesson in your class is and I bet you that 90% of them will tell you that they love any time they get to use the instruments!   Instruments are fun and exciting and make any lesson sparkle!  Sadly, I think that many of us leave our classroom instruments in their plastic tubs, cabinets, or closets far too much of the time.  Here are a few ideas about how to pull out and use any instruments you might have in fun and exciting ways!

Rhythm Echo/Reading – The Next Level
I’m sure that many of you spend time teaching rhythm patterns by having students echo your example or read notation along with flashcards.  It’s great practice for kids to echo patterns and helps them work on listening even as it improves coordination, steady beat, and rhythmic understanding.  It so easy to add in body percussion in the form of a clap, pat, snap, or stomp.  I love saying something like “I’m going to give you a rhythm and you need to take my words and turn them into claps.”  Students hear “ti-ti, ta, ti-ti, ta” and then they pat the rhythm they hear. You can have them turn your words into pats, claps, snaps, or anything else you want.  Kiddos can click their tongue, pat their tummy, nod their head, blink their eyes, and so much more.  You can easily do this with rhythm cards as well.  Ask students to read the cards and along with saying the words out loud, ask them to clap the rhythm at the same time.

The next step is to take your words and put them onto an instrument.  Give your students rhythm sticks and then have then click the patterns that you speak to them.  Start with easy patterns and increase the difficulty slowly as they speak and click along.  To take this even further, ask them to find a new way to use the instrument.  Maybe they play on the floor, maybe they click the ends of the rhythm stick together, maybe they play behind their back… the possibilities are endless!  In the next lesson you can spend 5 minutes doing the exact same thing with tambourines, drums, wood blocks, etc.