{"id":8536,"date":"2019-06-08T13:09:05","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T13:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=8536"},"modified":"2019-06-08T13:09:13","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T13:09:13","slug":"songs-of-freedom-music-education-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/06\/songs-of-freedom-music-education-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Songs of Freedom: Music education 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In one session Amazing Grace\u00a0and Ghanian fieId call and response song Che Che Kule stimulated a discussion on freedom and human rights. <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Music brings us together. It creates connectivity, artistry, cultural awareness, technical skill, emotions and intelligence. An imaginative child-centred approach to music can underpin development in so many different areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I look at music in primary education for years 7-12. Here\nthe Kodaly method moves from simple\/unconscious\/physical learning (See Part\nTwo) to progressively more conscious\/abstract\/head based learning. Now we use\nrhythm names and Solfa to create\ngood inner hearing and the ability to sight read. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the early years are the roots of the \u2018musical learning tree\u2019,\nthen this next stage develops the all important stem, where unconscious and\nconscious intellectual learning begin to blend together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, the child needs to feel listened to, responded to and\nappreciated.  The teacher has to create a\nco-learning environment where each child can try, make mistakes, have a go on\ntheir own in front of others, succeed and encourage each other.  A \u2018feeling culture\u2019 of absolute\nnon judgement and complete inclusion is modelled by the leader \u2013 and the\nchildren quickly follow.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple ways to make it fun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Where possible, individual attention helps to build rapport. There\nare simple ways to make it fun. For example, each child sings or claps the name of their favourite activity\nas an improvised freestyle activity at the beginning.  And you can shake hands with an individual\nmessage for each child as they leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musically speaking, I would divide this age into two brackets:\n7-9 and 9-12. For the younger group, I find it works best to mix \u2018unconscious\u2019,\nor play based learning, with some elements of conscious work. New musical\nelements can be introduced first through a game \u2013 in this way a child can do it\nbefore he\/she thinks about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syncopated rhythm can be introduced through a sung ring game and\nlater introduced as a rhythm name on a rhythm card. There is never a feeling of\nsomething being too difficult \u2013 or that you don\u2019t want to have a go \u2013 including\nlearning to read music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Steiner, another holistic teacher, children of this age\nlearn best through narrative form. I have created a sung narrative to teach\nnotation, singing a story for each note\u2019s place on the treble clef stave. It\nhappens so gradually children absorb rather than consciously learn the\nnotation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confidence grows with singing games<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Improvising with call and answer can encourage solos or turn\ntaking and other creativity. Slowly we use the note names to make spellings and\neventually put them together with Solfa \u2013 where there is a movable doh. The\nchildren have already learnt Solfa independently, now they begin to put\ndifferent simple elements together to make a more complex whole. We make moving\nSolfa \u201cHarry Potter\u201d staircases with the Doh starting on different notes. All\ndone very organically, gradually and repeated \u2013 in small soundbites during each\nlesson \u2013 for a couple of years at least.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second age bracket (9-12), different elements start being\npulled together. Eventually they are all reading note names and Solfa with ease.\nThey can put these to the rhythm names they have played with \u2013 and they are\nsight-reading! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They still learn through play. Having absorbed relative pitch\nthrough jumping jack interval games and songs with these intervals in, sight-reading\nhas become something they can hear in their head. They can sing out with\nconfidence. Singing games remain the basis through which learning is cemented and extended. The games get more\ncomplex \u2013 creating physical co-ordination\/body percussion sequences, playing\nwith balls, using the whole class, working as a team. There is even a game\ninvolving everyone\u2019s shoes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children are so used to turn taking that they think nothing of\ndoing a solo \u2013 each child having\na go at holding a round part on their own. They call them \u2018Sing offs!\u2019\nConfidence grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Songs can become talking points<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All this boosts memory skills, co-ordination, sequencing and team building.  It is cross-curricular learning. Music\nenhances language, songs can become talking points. Folk songs, story songs and\nrounds can bring in elements of history, geography, social justice,.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one session Amazing Grace and\na Ghanian fieId call and response song (Che Che Kule) stimulated a discussion\non freedom and human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinaesthetic learning  \u2013\nthrough physical movement \u2013 can help make drier and more scholastic\nelements more fun. Using the hand based Solfa approach, I created a whole body\napproach to learn minor scales. With the children\u2019s help we made different body\nsequences to learn the difference between the harmonic, melodic and natural minor scales. (This was\nfor the top junior class). Every child was involved, every child was alight\nwith enthusiasm and every one\nremembered the differences between them because the learning was engaging, body\nbased and they had used their own creativity to do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have never seen so much enthusiasm for learning scales! And\ntheir pitch was more accurate too. Imagine a whole class of children joyously\nsinging different minor scales as they made body based shapes all singing at\ntheir top of their lungs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second age group I invite the children to add their own\nverses to folk songs \u2013 to create alternative endings. And in the last two terms\nof junior school, child write their own songs, bringing together all of their\nlearning. I use coloured bricks assigned to the Solfa names (green brick is\ndoh, red is mi etc). I stick to using pentatonic melody for introducing song\nwriting. This has been incredibly successful. The children have come up with\nthree amazing songs in the three years I was able to do this programme in\nmainstream school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magic of making harmony<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Other instrumental skills can be added in collaborative sessions\nwith support of other tutors. Songs and melody are written and put together by\nthe whole group. Some excel and develop a song writing bug! They come back with\ntheir own songs to share with the whole group. This is also the stage to\nintroduce easy two-part singing. Children love it. Making harmonies adds a kind\nof magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mainstream school I was not given the remit to teach\nrecorder, but in private teaching I introduce the recorder at around 8. This\ninstrument allows a natural progression \u2013 it flows on the breath, it\u2019s  easy to hold, see and play. Note learning is reinformed\nand reinforced. Some children are naturally more drawn to an instrument than\nusing their voice and this gives them a whole new area of enthusiasm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning on the instrument is carefully approached. A child is\nnever asked \u2013 at this stage \u2013 to just play a piece. First, we clap it, hum it,\nsay the note names, feel the note names, hum it again, and only then play it.\nEach step builds on the one before. By the time they play they already have a\nsense of the whole piece and they then just put it into the instrument.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instrumental learning is a whole new aspect to learning. Ideally\nthe child needs to have internalised all the musical and intellectual aspects\nof music making before trying to  \u201cput\ninto  an instrument`\u2019.\nDifferent instruments suit different children- but all start well with the\nrecorder as a secondary musical learning experience. Playing the piano and\nguitar for instance require the child\u2019s brain to be able to process many things\nat once: two hands, note reading, rhythm, different clefs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musical skills and abilities are achievable for everyone \u2013 they\njust have to be taught in a child centred way that understands the\ndevelopmental phase that the child is at. Music makes our brain synapses\nconnect in a way nothing else does, it is heart, soul, mind and body. Surely\nleaving it out or belittling it in schools makes us collectively poorer in so many ways?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the final part  I look at using music education for teenagers, adults and special needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured image courtesy Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, photographer Robert McFadzean. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 3 of Abi’s series on music education: ‘If the early years are the roots of the \u2018musical learning tree\u2019, then this next stage develops the all important stem, where unconscious and conscious intellectual learning begin to blend together’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":269,"featured_media":8487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[385,37,228],"class_list":["post-8536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-music-education","tag-scottish-education","tag-scottish-local-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/269"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}