Here are the elements of music:
- Melody
- Harmony
- Rhythm
- Form
- Texture
- Timbre
- Expression
Monday, October 26, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Keyboard
I made this giant keyboard poster labeled with letter names to help make connections between the notes on the string instruments and the notes on the keyboard. The white paper is cut from a large roll of paper, and the black is construction paper.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Music Literacy Word Wall
There are lots of new words for beginning band and orchestra students, so I made a music literacy word wall where students can see these words in a prominent spot in the room spelled correctly and with a picture. They are roughly grouped together by topic and then get added to the wall once we cover them in class. Here's a partial listing of the words, no pictures, sorry:
It's exciting to see students scan the word wall to try and find the answer to a question of the week or to use the wall as a reference when writing compositions and needing to check how to draw a certain musical symbol. They know that the words are there as a handy visual reference for them.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Composition #2--Pizzicato D-string Notes
My beginners' second composition of the school year is still pizzicato, but it includes the D-string notes, which they have just learned. Again, I type these all up so that students can see their piece in print and try out their classmates' compositions.
Composition #2 (D-string notes, pizzicato)
- Template for D string notes composition packet (Word document)
- D string VIOLIN (Google Doc)
- D string VIOLA (Google Doc)
- D string CELLO (Google Doc)
- D string BASS (Google Doc)
Monday, October 5, 2015
Storage Bins
I keep my supplies clearly labeled so students can easily find what they're looking for and put it back where it belongs. I have containers for:
- Pencils
- Rock stops
- Rosin
- Tubes (to help with beginning bow holds)
- Cloths
- Shoulder rests
- Strings
- Miscellaneous supplies
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Composition #1--Pizzicato Open Strings
Composition is an important component of my students' experience in orchestra. From the very beginning of the school year, students are composing music that they can play on their instruments and that their classmates can play too. I use composition as a way for students to dive into music literacy and to reinforce what they are learning about reading music. It is an opportunity for students to be creative and actually create music to play instead of just read what others have written. They start identifying as composers as well as string players. It's very gratifying to see how different all the compositions are from each other within the limitations I've placed for them (open strings, pizzicato, four measures, quarter notes/rests). I do type up everyone's compositions and turn them into packets so students can see what their classmates have created, see their own piece in print (they are published composers by the end of September!), and have lots of pieces to practice at home. We also feature a few student compositions at our winter concert. In their end-of-the-year orchestra surveys, there are always students who write that what they are most proud of with their work in orchestra that year are their compositions.
 | ||||
| My example composition plus check-list |
Composition #1 (open strings, pizzicato):
Template for composition packet:
- Template for open string composition packet (Word document)
- Open string VIOLIN (Google Doc)
- Open string VIOLA (Google Doc)
- Open string CELLO (Google Doc)
- Open string BASS (Google Doc)
Enjoy!
--
Links to other composition worksheets:
Supplements: Extra Music for Orchestra Expressions Method Book
I really like the Orchestra Expressions method book for beginning orchestra. It was designed with the National Standards for the Arts in Music in mind, includes music from many different parts of the world, includes pictures of children demonstrating proper playing position, begins with the fourth finger and works down to promote good LH position, and connects to other disciplines and history through timelines and art connections. It encourages improvisation, conducting, listening, movement, composition, as well as proper technique from the start. I especially like the authentic, varied recordings on the CD that accompany each piece in the book. They are performed on real instruments, and there are so many different genres of music represented on the recordings. I could go on and on about why I chose to use this method book with my beginning students.
But, as with any method book, there are a few weaknesses. Instead of introducing all four open strings at once, the book begins with just the three that all the string instruments share (A, D, G) and leaves E and C until much later in the book. The 3/4 time signature also isn't introduced until much later in the book.
To address these issues, I wrote a short supplement packet that corresponds to the beginning of the book but includes the C/E strings and the 3/4 time signature. I also added some harmony parts to familiar tunes that students can sing along to while they're playing. Feel free to use with your students!
Orchestra Expressions Supplement:
Contents:
- Rollin' on D and A
- Plucking Open E/C
- Waltzing Up High/Down Low
- Shake 'em Up
- Mary Lee (Harmony)
- Au Claire de la Lune (Harmony)
- Ode to Joy (Harmony)
- Bile 'em Cabbage Down (Harmony)
- Pumping Iron #3
- E/C String Level
- Sidestep Shuffle
- Crossword Puzzle
- Crisscross
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (Harmony)
- Jingle Bells (Harmony)
Once students have learned their D string notes, I give them a packet of familiar melodies they are ready to play, including a few with B on the A string. Students enjoy playing these familiar tunes, and they are a bit more rhythmically varied than their books at this point.
D String Notes Supplement:
Contents:
- Hot Cross Buns
- Go Tell Aunt Rhody
- Barcarolle
- All Through the Night
- The Huron Carol
- Dreidel Dreidel
- Jingle Bells
- Twinkle Twinkle
- Old MacDonald
- Lavender's Blue
- This Old Man
- London Bridge
Enjoy!
**See this link for the post about the audio files to accompany the Orchestra Expressions Supplement!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)