For the last two weeks we have focused a little on audiation - or the ability to hear the music (tonally and rhythmically) in your head.
A person must be able to hear the sounds, or pitches, as well as the rhythm of the song in their head first before they can sing or play it. This is a very important skill to develop. To develop the ability to audiate one must be exposed to music. The more types of music you are exposed to the easier it will be to audiate them, or think them in your head. This is why we listen to many songs in different meters and tonalities during class.
Two weeks ago we played with music starting and stopping. When the music would stop you had to keep the beat going in your head. You may have noticed children playing through those stops. They were simply keeping the beat with the instrument instead of in their head. We played along with the theme song from I Dream of Jeannie to work on this skill.
Last week we worked on tonal audiation when we sang "A Ram Sam Sam" and left out some words. You can play the same game with songs like "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" and "BINGO."
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Old MacDonald
This week we continued talking about putting the rhythm in our feet. We made it a little more challenging by using the song Bella Boya for this activity, which is a mixed meter song. There is more information about the importance of putting the rhythm in your feet in last weeks post below. While mixed meter can feel odd to adults, the more you are exposed to it the more comfortable it will become. Similarly, by exposing your child to mixed meter songs at a young age they will feel comfortable with it too.
We also discussed the importance of the first (tonic) and fifth (dominant) notes in a scale. Each time we put instruments away in class we sing ba (on the fifth note of the scale), ba (on the first note of the scale). These notes are important because they are the first two you will hear a baby/child/person first learning music sing during or right after a song.
At home this week when you sing a song with your child leave a minute of silence after you end the song and listen to see if your little one sings, coos, or cries on pitch back to you.
Also try changing the words to one of the songs in this collection and make the song be about cleaning up. After the song sing ba (on the fifth note of the scale), ba (on the first note of the scale) like we do in class to signal cleaning up toys and see how your child responds.
Our play along in Music Together this week was Old MacDonald sung by Ella Fitzgerald. Enjoy listening to this fantastic jazzy version at home!
Below is a fun, ADULT, version of Old MacDonald sung by Frank Sinatra.
We also discussed the importance of the first (tonic) and fifth (dominant) notes in a scale. Each time we put instruments away in class we sing ba (on the fifth note of the scale), ba (on the first note of the scale). These notes are important because they are the first two you will hear a baby/child/person first learning music sing during or right after a song.
At home this week when you sing a song with your child leave a minute of silence after you end the song and listen to see if your little one sings, coos, or cries on pitch back to you.
Also try changing the words to one of the songs in this collection and make the song be about cleaning up. After the song sing ba (on the fifth note of the scale), ba (on the first note of the scale) like we do in class to signal cleaning up toys and see how your child responds.
Our play along in Music Together this week was Old MacDonald sung by Ella Fitzgerald. Enjoy listening to this fantastic jazzy version at home!
Below is a fun, ADULT, version of Old MacDonald sung by Frank Sinatra.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Let It Shine
I couldn't resist posting this great video I came across of "This Little Light of Mine" being sung at the University of New Hampshire's commencement. How great is it to think that the gift of music you are giving your children now is something they will be able to continue to enjoy for the rest of their lives!
We listened to a jazzy version of "This Little Light of Mine" in class. It was recorded by the Chris Barber Jazz Band if you are looking for the recording to use at home.
When we sang Los Fandangos in class we first put the clapping rhythm in our hands and then in our feet. The ability to put a beat or rhythm below your mid-line is called the cephalocaudal trend.
Here is some more information about how rhythm develops.
We are all born with ability to move and, if nurtured in a proper developmental environment, that movement will change from our own rhythm to one that matches the music we hear and we are making. We can first express rhythms with our voice, then we learn to put that rhythm in the top half our bodies, and lastly we learn to express it in the lower half of our bodies. This is called the cephalocaudal trend.
"The cephalocaudal trend is the prenatal growth from conception to 5 months when the head grows more than the body. It is also the trend of infants learning to use their upper limbs before their lower limbs."
Some people never develop the ability to keep the beat in their feet. Whether you can keep a beat in your feet or not you will help your child develop this ability simply by moving your feet to the music. Even if your dance ins't "correct" you are still showing your child that it is OK and good to dance and move. So turn up the music and dance this week at home!
We listened to a jazzy version of "This Little Light of Mine" in class. It was recorded by the Chris Barber Jazz Band if you are looking for the recording to use at home.
When we sang Los Fandangos in class we first put the clapping rhythm in our hands and then in our feet. The ability to put a beat or rhythm below your mid-line is called the cephalocaudal trend.
Here is some more information about how rhythm develops.
We are all born with ability to move and, if nurtured in a proper developmental environment, that movement will change from our own rhythm to one that matches the music we hear and we are making. We can first express rhythms with our voice, then we learn to put that rhythm in the top half our bodies, and lastly we learn to express it in the lower half of our bodies. This is called the cephalocaudal trend.
"The cephalocaudal trend is the prenatal growth from conception to 5 months when the head grows more than the body. It is also the trend of infants learning to use their upper limbs before their lower limbs."
Some people never develop the ability to keep the beat in their feet. Whether you can keep a beat in your feet or not you will help your child develop this ability simply by moving your feet to the music. Even if your dance ins't "correct" you are still showing your child that it is OK and good to dance and move. So turn up the music and dance this week at home!
Friday, September 21, 2012
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Our play along from this week was from Mary Poppins. Enjoy playing along and dancing to this great upbeat song at home this week.
REMEMBER
Sing lullabies to your child! The sound of your voice is a comfort to them. Studies have even shown when someone who is close to a child (parent, grandparent, sibling, nanny, etc) sings them a lullaby their body releases a hormone that helps them calm down and fall asleep.
For more benefits of singing lullabies with your child check out this article:
The Effects of Lullabies on Children
from the International Journal of Business and Social Science.
Here are my favorite reasons to sing lullabies from the article.
"2. When babies are afraid of sudden movements and sudden voices their blood pressure and heartbeats rise
immediately. Lullaby draws this high blood pressure suffered by children into a normal level and this is
achieved in a very short time.
3. Lullabies provide for a healthier period of growing up
A child that grows up by listening to the lullabies of its mother will have a much healthier kind of
communication with her.
6. While the baby communicates with the mother through lullabies its mind becomes active. Because as long as
the mother keeps speaking or singing the related perception centres in the brain of the child remain
stimulated. And this contributes to a faster comprehension of the desired information the baby is supposed to
perceive.
7. Some expressions taking place in lullabies transfer children lots of subjects about life.
8. Lullabies take the tension present on the child and thus ease the baby’s falling asleep."
REMEMBER
Sing lullabies to your child! The sound of your voice is a comfort to them. Studies have even shown when someone who is close to a child (parent, grandparent, sibling, nanny, etc) sings them a lullaby their body releases a hormone that helps them calm down and fall asleep.
For more benefits of singing lullabies with your child check out this article:
The Effects of Lullabies on Children
from the International Journal of Business and Social Science.
Here are my favorite reasons to sing lullabies from the article.
"2. When babies are afraid of sudden movements and sudden voices their blood pressure and heartbeats rise
immediately. Lullaby draws this high blood pressure suffered by children into a normal level and this is
achieved in a very short time.
3. Lullabies provide for a healthier period of growing up
A child that grows up by listening to the lullabies of its mother will have a much healthier kind of
communication with her.
6. While the baby communicates with the mother through lullabies its mind becomes active. Because as long as
the mother keeps speaking or singing the related perception centres in the brain of the child remain
stimulated. And this contributes to a faster comprehension of the desired information the baby is supposed to
perceive.
7. Some expressions taking place in lullabies transfer children lots of subjects about life.
8. Lullabies take the tension present on the child and thus ease the baby’s falling asleep."
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Boil 'Em Cabbage
At Journey Montessori this week we listened to a song called Boil 'Em Cabbage Down.
We listened to a version played by Harry House. You can find it on iTunes. This was our listening activity. After listening to the music the students told me what instruments and sounds they heard. Then we did an instrument play along to the song.
Here is a little history about the music from wikipedia and Mark O'Connor.
"Boil Them Cabbage Down" is an American folk song.[1] The song has roots reaching all the way to the African slaves that were brought to the southern part of the United States
This simple tune is often used in Old Time Music circles to teach young folks how to play the fiddle, banjo, mountain dulcimer and/or guitar. The following is the basic tune with the lyrics of the chorus. These tabs assumes you have a diatonically fretted instrument tuned to one of the 1-5-8 open tunings like G-D-G or D-A-D such as you might find on a mountain dulcimer or a stick dulcimer.
-
- 2 2 2 2 3 3
- Boil them cab-bage down, down.
-
- 2 2 2 2 1 1
- Turn them hoe-cakes 'round, 'round.
-
- 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3
- The on-ly song that I can sing is
-
- 2 2 1 1 0
- Boil them cab-bage down.
The word "hoecakes" refers to small cornmeal cakes that were fried in the fire on the blade of a hoe. A breakfast of hoecakes and cabbage soup testifies to the humble origins of this song.
Variations of this song can be found in Mark O'Connor's violin book 1. They coincide with the Suzuki methods Twinkle variations.
Here are some great versions of the song to enjoy at home.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Fall Music Together!
Wow, it's Fall! Summer flew by in my house and we are ready for cooler weather and Fall activities. I'm excited to see familiar faces and new ones this Fall in Music Together class.
This weeks song from outside of your collection is from the Disney movie The Princess and The Frog. "When We're Human" is a fantastic jazzy song that captures the spirit of New Orleans. I hope you enjoy listening to your Music Together CD at home and in the car this week. Also enjoy singing, dancing, and playing instruments to the music you love with your children.
I will do my best to post any songs we use from outside the Music Together collection here so you can enjoy them at home too.
Also, check back or scroll to older posts for early childhood musical development information and ways to enjoy music with your children.
Here is a great article about how music lessons early in life are linked to lasting brain benefits!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/08/21/music-lessons-linked-to-lasting-brain-benefits/
This weeks song from outside of your collection is from the Disney movie The Princess and The Frog. "When We're Human" is a fantastic jazzy song that captures the spirit of New Orleans. I hope you enjoy listening to your Music Together CD at home and in the car this week. Also enjoy singing, dancing, and playing instruments to the music you love with your children.
I will do my best to post any songs we use from outside the Music Together collection here so you can enjoy them at home too.
Also, check back or scroll to older posts for early childhood musical development information and ways to enjoy music with your children.
Here is a great article about how music lessons early in life are linked to lasting brain benefits!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/08/21/music-lessons-linked-to-lasting-brain-benefits/
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Welcome to Summer Music Together
Welcome to everyone who is participating in Summer Music Together classes.
Last week we briefly discussed that everyone is born musical. Almost everyone is born doing two things, kicking and screaming. Very quickly in life those sounds and movements begin to entrain, or match, the sounds and movements the adults and siblings the baby is closest to. Small babies will coo around pitches that match the inflection in an adults voice. Their bodily movements go from being sporadic to matching what others are doing. The more parents, caregivers, siblings, teachers, and other people a child is close to interact with that child musically their more musical the child will become.
In short, by simply modeling musical behaviors you want your child to do, such as singing and dancing, you are helping him/her become a musical person. It's that easy!
For our first week of classes we did some simple improvisation, making up lyrics on the spot, by having you sing what your child was wearing with the song "Mary Wore Her Red Dress." We sang and recognized animals in Spanish with "Vengan A Ver." When we played sticks along with the song "Stick Tune" we audiated (kept the beat going in our brain while no music was present) and played sticks in different ways and to different beats (microbeat, macrobeat and on the steady beat).
The free dance we did was by a Celtic/Irish group from Anderson, SC called Emerald Road. They have two CD's out that you can check out on iTunes, Emerald Road and It's About Time. While I don't have a link to the song we danced to you can go to the website below to play some of their music at home.
http://www.reverbnation.com/emeraldroadband
I'm proud to add that the fiddle player is a close friend and was my college roommate :o)
Our play along song, Playin' In The Kitchen, is from the Summer collection. Did you listen at home this week and see if you could find the part we added words to in class?
"Eat, eat my peas and carrots. I like to eat, eat my peas and carrots."
Lastly, here are some pages you can print out at home to go along with the chant "Down Under."
Last week we briefly discussed that everyone is born musical. Almost everyone is born doing two things, kicking and screaming. Very quickly in life those sounds and movements begin to entrain, or match, the sounds and movements the adults and siblings the baby is closest to. Small babies will coo around pitches that match the inflection in an adults voice. Their bodily movements go from being sporadic to matching what others are doing. The more parents, caregivers, siblings, teachers, and other people a child is close to interact with that child musically their more musical the child will become.
In short, by simply modeling musical behaviors you want your child to do, such as singing and dancing, you are helping him/her become a musical person. It's that easy!
For our first week of classes we did some simple improvisation, making up lyrics on the spot, by having you sing what your child was wearing with the song "Mary Wore Her Red Dress." We sang and recognized animals in Spanish with "Vengan A Ver." When we played sticks along with the song "Stick Tune" we audiated (kept the beat going in our brain while no music was present) and played sticks in different ways and to different beats (microbeat, macrobeat and on the steady beat).
The free dance we did was by a Celtic/Irish group from Anderson, SC called Emerald Road. They have two CD's out that you can check out on iTunes, Emerald Road and It's About Time. While I don't have a link to the song we danced to you can go to the website below to play some of their music at home.
http://www.reverbnation.com/emeraldroadband
I'm proud to add that the fiddle player is a close friend and was my college roommate :o)
Our play along song, Playin' In The Kitchen, is from the Summer collection. Did you listen at home this week and see if you could find the part we added words to in class?
"Eat, eat my peas and carrots. I like to eat, eat my peas and carrots."
Lastly, here are some pages you can print out at home to go along with the chant "Down Under."
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