I am heartbroken at the thought of not being able to sing with my kids ~ especially the littles ~ during our time together. Although studies are ongoing, not singing seems to be the safest bet. So what’s a music teacher to do? We all have standards that include singing and melody work ~ how are we going to meet them? Instruments? Well it is possible, but for large schools or for those of us on a cart, it will be nearly impossible to either clean them in between classes or to haul them around. If you can do it, more power to you! Then I thought about having kids make their own melodic instruments, but if we are committed to teaching solfege correctly, the chances of any homemade xylophone being pitch accurate are slim. (NOTE: If you know of one, please share in the comments below!! )

In order to not let Covid get the best of us, here are 5 ideas to provide singing/ melodic opportunities for your students:

1. Tape yourself singing 2-3 songs per grade level and post ~ This is the easiest! You can choose the songs that you feel are most important for your kids to learn or that you want your kids to sing along with when they are home. Find a spot, tape yourself singing, post to YouTube (weekly or monthly) and make it private. Then send links or post on your website and voila! You are all set!

The drawback, of course, is that it isn’t interactive, but if you are already teaching full time, this will get it done.  

2. Weekly or monthly sing-alongs ~ If you are interested in a more interactive experience, you can add (to above videos) or schedule a time on Zoom to meet one grade level at a time and choose familiar songs to sing together. The kids will enjoy seeing your face and you can use it as an opportunity for kids to choose 1-3 songs to be featured. Win-win!

The drawback is only the technology. Zoom doesn’t really allow everyone to sing together in real time. If you know of a better platform PLEASE post in comments below!!

3. Video Exchanges ~ This is great for small groups like your choirs or for an informal singing club. There are a variety of ways to use it:
   1. Sing part of a song on a video, send it to kids and they need to videotape themselves singing the rest of the song and send it back.
   2. Sing an entire song on video and have them add instrumentation while they sing and have them send it back to you.
   3. Send a video of you humming the melody to a song while providing accompaniment. Encourage them to sing with the video. Then have them send you back a video of them singing it with the actual lyrics OR lyrics that they themselves created!!

The drawback is that this might be time consuming ~ depending on how many kids are involved.

4. Curwen Hand Signs while you play the piano or a xylophone ~ This is AWESOME for developing audiation! Show a video of you singing several examples of Sol and Mi (and Do) with hand signs in class. Kids can do hand signs with you while video plays. Afterwards, have kids give you a series of 4 hand signs. Have them close their eyes and see if they can hear it in their heads. Play the pattern on a piano or a xylophone on a cart.

The only drawback is that you can’t hear what is in the child’s head.  After they have had some practice with it, use part of a Zoom sing-along or meeting to have them sing their patterns!

5. 1-3 Xylophones at a time ~ Due to a lack of time and space on a cart, this might be your answer to melody work ~ it can highlight a pentatonic scale and give kids a chance to improvise. The idea is to take 1-3 glocks or other small xylophones (if you are on a cart) and let 1-3 kids play while the group claps an ostinato. Because there are so few instruments, cleaning them in between classes will be feasible.

The drawback is that only 1-3 kids play per class.

These certainly are crazy times, but our work is essential to keeping the human spirit alive and well. Although we can’t sing together in person, these substitutes will continue to build relationships and strengthen our school communities as a whole! Happy singing!

I was so inspired by last week’s post that I started digging into my stash of games and found a few more that I would like to share with you! A couple you have seen before from way back when, one is a  variation (because you know how much I LOVE to extend a lesson!!) and a couple are brand new!

1. The Sub It Out Game: Virtual Adaptation ~
   • Use your Note Knacks at home
   • A quick review of the 1^st quarter beat, the 2^nd quarter beat etc… so when a student asks to change a quarter, they need to be specific (a great learning opportunity!)
   • Teams may or may not be difficult, depending on the platform you are using, but you can also do this as a chain. Student #1 subs out a quarter or 2 (if they want to sub in a half note), student #2 says it and changes it for the next person. If you break the chain, you lose a turn. Then the next person changes a quarter and so on. In this version, there won’t necessarily be a winner, but kids will try and trick their peers!
2. Rhythm Charades ~ I LOVE this one! ….and perfect for a virtual learning class!!
3. Where the Wild Things Are ~ The easiest virtual adaptation for kids to find an instrument (either homemade such as a pot and wooden spoon or a real one) and play during the Wild Rumpus. You can talk about when and how to start and finish together!
   • If you do want to use the original lesson, you can use Note Knacks Magnets on a portable magnetic board to make it easier!
4. Note Length Trivia ~ If 2 sixteenths = an eighth, and 2 eighths = a quarter, how many sixteenths = a quarter? Your math teachers will thank you for this one!!
5. Decode-A-Rhythm ~ When I was introduced to Mr. Vincelli’s Rhythm Clock, I was so excited at the possibilities! One of the games I came up with was to create a rhythm in percentages, decimals or other equivalents that appear on the back. I generally use this as trivia time on a lesson for fun, but you can easily make it into a full blown lesson! The kids have a great time with it! (In fact, I was teaching a workshop at NAFME once and we mixed it up by creating one rhythm using more than one system so that the first beat was in percentages, the second in degrees, etc… It was very difficult! ….and lots of fun!!)
6. 2 Truths and a Lie ~ Think of a concept that you covered this year, such as the instruments in the brass section. Then come up with 2 truths and a lie:
   • Trumpets are in the brass section
   • Flutes are in the brass section
   • Tubas are in the brass section
   • ~ which is the lie?

Have a fun filled week and please share any games you do with your students during this crazy time!!

My 4 year old daughter loves to build with blocks ~and in particular, castles! As I was planning her lessons for the week, I saw an opportunity to create something that could not only get her excited to play with over a period of time, but would also serve as a platform for learning. This week in music I wanted to cover long and short sounds. She designed the city; I provided the streets and together we invented some fun sounds!  

I started with a folding table and taped some white paper on top. I gave her blocks and she built several structures all over the table. I then told her to draw streets connecting the buildings (to lay the groundwork for the next day). We spent the afternoon with dolls acting out stories from her imagination using this as our setting. Her favorite was ~ while a mom was at the coffee shop, her little girl ran away to hide and she had to go find her. Mom received help from a magical unicorn who told her she had to go into the enchanted forrest to find her little girl. We celebrated every time mom found her!

The next day, I set up train tracks to connect the buildings.  

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We put the trains that came with the set on the tracks and made a “train sound”. As you can see the tracks are of varying lengths. Although I didn’t point it out, she was practicing making long and short sounds without knowing it! (The best kind of learning!)

The next step was to put Note Knacks in place of the tracks. (You can use whatever you have)

We drove back and forth…..

We drove from one castle to another….

I didn’t worry about her continuing her sound from one bock to the next, as someday she will learn about ties 🙂

We then thought about different cars having different sounds ~ big cars = low sounds and little cars =high sounds, fast cars =fast and slow cars =slow, etc…

From there it was easy to replace the cars with our singing voices! I asked her about the lengths of the blocks and we compared them. We then spoke about the longest block having the longest sound and the shortest block having the shortest sound…. and all of the others in between.

For older kids, you could easily add simple rhythms:

Their cities will be more elaborate, so the possibilities are endless! Kids can use rhythms not only as streets, but as passwords to get into certain areas or as 3D compositions to be used as buildings.

The idea is to make it their own! Have a great time and let us know what your kids come up with in the comments below!

To shake things up a bit, here is a fun activity that you can easily send home in a packet for those kids that do not have access to the internet ~ a musical scavenger hunt! The goal is for them to sharpen their aural skills and to see just how creative they can be! You can even come up with a prize for the most  artistic or craziest: a call from you, perhaps! I can’t wait to see what my kids turn in!

Something in your house that:

1. makes a steady beat
2. makes a very high sound
3. makes a very low sound
4. you can shake to make sound
5. you can hit to make sound
6. you can scrape to make sound
7. doesn’t make any sound at all no matter what you do with it
8. “sings” sol, mi
9. can make a long sound
10. makes a short sound

BONUS:

• makes your favorite sound!

As homeschooling gets underway and teachers post lessons, here are a list of simple “brain breaks” to bring joy and much needed movement into your child’s day! Everyday I will post new activities (videos to come)for you either to do with your child or once it is set up, he/ she can do it alone. All needed items will be those commonly found in your home! For this post I am concentrating mostly on the little ones, but stay tuned for ideas for your older children!

Enjoy!

Alexa Music Activities (play your favorite songs!)

• Tap to the steady beat ~ head, shoulders (have kids cross their arms and tap opposite shoulders so they can cross their midlines), thighs, clapping, anything else your kids can think of!), find a table and “drum” on it
• Move to the steady beat ~ walking, stomping, jogging, jumping
• Move in general ~ wiggling, shaking, dancing
• Take a break from dancing and strike a pose. Freeze for a count of 8
• For music with a slow tempo, use scarves or dish towels ~ whatever you have ~ and dance with it. Kids can twirl them toss them in the air, make big circles with their arms

Other Music Activities

• Video kids singing songs they have been working on for the Spring Share (or any songs they would like) and use WhatsApp to send to family and friends
• Fill plastic eggs and use fun washi tape to seal or water bottles with beans, rice or small pasta to create shakers.

If you have ideas, please feel free to share in the comments below!