These 2 songs were both performed by Mrs. Fisher's 3rd Grade Class at Georgetown Elementary. Very spooky and kinda gross song, ghost of tom is first sang in a two-part round, then in the second clip sang with a simple bordun accompaniment on various size xylophones and glockenspiel. This class is talented!
See more Audio at TeacherTube.com.
Showing posts with label "elementary music". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "elementary music". Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Podcast-Mrs. Freeman's 2nd Grade-Skin and Bones
This is Mrs. Freeman's 2nd graders performing "There was an old lady all skin an bones". This is their second day singing it and first day adding the bordun on the xylophones.
See more Audio at TeacherTube.com.
See more Audio at TeacherTube.com.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Mallet Madness by Artie Almeida rotation process
OK, I haven't actually used any of the activities in this book, yet, but after looking at the variety of Orff-based activities offered, I've gotta say this is a good one. In fact, if you are a music teacher, elementary or middle school, and you don't have a lot of training in Orff Schulwerk or money to go to a workshop, buy this 30 dollar book and I think you'll be happy. The one thing I have done from the book is the rotation method, which is the greatest thing since sliced bread. You can read about it on the preview pages for the book on amazon: Mallet Madness link
When I tried this with the kids, they loved it, because even with a large class of 26 kids, every child gets a chance to play every instrument, almost every day they come to music class. No more whining "I never get to play the big xylophone" or "I never get to play the big drum". This lady is a genius. Buy this book, you'll be glad you did!
When I tried this with the kids, they loved it, because even with a large class of 26 kids, every child gets a chance to play every instrument, almost every day they come to music class. No more whining "I never get to play the big xylophone" or "I never get to play the big drum". This lady is a genius. Buy this book, you'll be glad you did!
Activity 1-Simple Borduns
OK, I took an Orff course last year with Deanna Stark and learned a lot and I decided I really wanted to work with my kids on Borduns because A. Borduns allow students to create their own simple accompaniments. and B. Kids like xylophones and I can bribe them with them.
In Orff, we learned that a bordun or a drone involves playing one or two notes over and over again while singing a song. They work best when the song is pentatonic or uses the tonic note on all the strong beats.
Fortunately, there are about a billion songs that are pentatonic (only involve 5 scale notes, excluding fa and ti). Bee Bee Bumblebee, Charlie went over the ocean, Cobbler Cobbler, Wade in the water, etc. etc. So, if you teach the kids one simple bordun, you can have them sing thousands of songs or medleys using the same accompaniment. Here's a simple example, that I'm trying for the first time with my second and third graders:
Day 1: I taught the kids the song charlie over the ocean (google it), then taught them the circle game that goes with it (chase game: kid walks around the circle, tags another kid at end of song who tries to catch them before they can get to the second kids spot-like duck duck goose).
Day 2: I teach the kids the Bordun 1. You can change the key if you like.
Step 1-students pat half note beat on laps
Step 2-students play beat with both hands together on C and G.
Step 3-I sing while they play a few times (no singing kids!)
Step 4-Kids try and sing while playing simultaneously.
Day 3: I teach them Bordun 2 AKA: the oompah bordun
Step 1-take turns patting with the kids-I pat the bass, they pat the alto.
Step 2-split kids into two groups-Group 1-pat bass, Group 2-pat alto
Step 3-groups switch parts.
Step 4-repeat on the xylophones
OK, so I tried this, and so far it worked well, so I'm going to try it with 4th and
5th grades too and once we can do this on several songs, I'll try some more of those advanced things they taught us in Orff training.
In Orff, we learned that a bordun or a drone involves playing one or two notes over and over again while singing a song. They work best when the song is pentatonic or uses the tonic note on all the strong beats.
Fortunately, there are about a billion songs that are pentatonic (only involve 5 scale notes, excluding fa and ti). Bee Bee Bumblebee, Charlie went over the ocean, Cobbler Cobbler, Wade in the water, etc. etc. So, if you teach the kids one simple bordun, you can have them sing thousands of songs or medleys using the same accompaniment. Here's a simple example, that I'm trying for the first time with my second and third graders:
Day 1: I taught the kids the song charlie over the ocean (google it), then taught them the circle game that goes with it (chase game: kid walks around the circle, tags another kid at end of song who tries to catch them before they can get to the second kids spot-like duck duck goose).
Day 2: I teach the kids the Bordun 1. You can change the key if you like.
Step 1-students pat half note beat on laps
Step 2-students play beat with both hands together on C and G.
Step 3-I sing while they play a few times (no singing kids!)
Step 4-Kids try and sing while playing simultaneously.
Day 3: I teach them Bordun 2 AKA: the oompah bordun
Step 1-take turns patting with the kids-I pat the bass, they pat the alto.
Step 2-split kids into two groups-Group 1-pat bass, Group 2-pat alto
Step 3-groups switch parts.
Step 4-repeat on the xylophones
OK, so I tried this, and so far it worked well, so I'm going to try it with 4th and
5th grades too and once we can do this on several songs, I'll try some more of those advanced things they taught us in Orff training.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
What's this blog for?
This is a blog to help elementary music teachers, by posting activities and ideas. If you'd like to post an activity or an idea, let me know and I'll make sure that I give you credit.
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