Musical learning in May

Kindergarten students have been traveling this month!  First, we went to London to play the traditional singing game London Bridge – but with a twist!  As well as singing and moving co-operatively, students who were “out” played the steady beat on percussion instruments to accompany their peers.  It is great to see the development of their instrumental technique, their sense of steady beat, as well as their sense of ensemble (working as a musical team).  Then it was off to the moon to sing Five Space Men.  Originally just a counting song, students expanded this piece into a work of art, improvising melodies on the xylophone to create “star music” while their peers improvised creative movement with their “alien skins” (colored scarves) floating high and low through the vast expanse of space.

Grade One students have been celebrating their newly acquired musical notation skills by creating their own music.  Partners began by using the rhythm notes of “ta (one sound on a beat), “ti ti” (two sounds son a beat) and “rest (zero sounds on a beat) to create a short phrase.  They then performed their composition for their classmates, who worked hard to demonstrate effective audience skills.  First, students clapped their piece, then played it on sticks, and finally used their written rhythm to improvise a melody on the xylophone. But then we went one step further by reading and playing someone else’s music – what an amazing thing to hear your idea played by another person! 

Grade Two students have also been using their musical notation, but this time for transcribing a piece of music that they have performed.  After singing Alligator Pie with a djembe accompaniment, students took some time to consider and write down the melody of the song, as well as labeling the beat and rhythm.  After adding a treble clef at the beginning, they were surprised to realize that their own written work was exactly the same as published music that you might buy in a store or on-line.  Then partners used their melodic notation to compose their own music.  Then their peers listened to them play it on the xylophone and wrote down what they heard.  Once the music was transcribed correctly, the group celebrated by singing the melody together. 

Grade Three students spent this month creating and perfecting a large piece of music inspired by Mem Fox’s book Whoever You Are and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.  We learned a song that affirmed common humanity of peoples around the world, acknowledging that joy, pain and love are the same wherever you live.  Students learned to play the “melodic chimes”, and then worked together to use this instrument to accompany the song.  As an alternating section, students performed a three-part xylophone piece, over which they spoke some of their most important thoughts about every child’s right to healthy food and water, a high quality education and the right to live with a family who loves you.  What a wonderful moment when all the students brought their individual parts together to perform the piece as a group!