Music Makers at Home - Woodlands
Welcome Parents to Musikgarten Music Makers At Home!
Music Makers: At Home in the World is the first of the series of conceptual classes – classes in which children will begin to form concepts based on the experiences they have had in previous Musikgarten classes.Music Makers: At Home is organised into 4 thematic units that your children will encounter throughout the year:
At the Seashore (introduced to Flute, Viola, Harp)
Woodlands (introduced to Percussion Instruments)
Cattail Marsh (introduced to Woodwind & Brass Instruments)
Meadow (Introduced to String Instruments)
These natural habitats are depicted in beautiful posters used during class and in smaller scale on the folders that your children receive as part of their family materials.
The posters and folders help to raise your children’s awareness of the world of nature that surrounds us, and hopefully will encourage you to join your child in exploring nature as it is readily available to all of us. These natural habitats and all of their inhabitants give us glorious opportunities for much exploration, both vocal and movement exploration.
Take birds as an example – singing like a bird helps many children access their singing voice; flying like a bird renders the graceful sustained movement that is often difficult for young children to achieve; becoming a woodpecker and alternating between flying and pecking gives children the physical experience of staccato and legato articulation – a musical concept that can be a challenge for some to master.
There are countless children’s songs, stories, and poems about bugs, birds and animals. Add to that the fact that most children are fascinated by nature and their curiosity makes it a perfect context in which to teach as well as introduce the instruments of the orchestra and more.
At home: Be sure to take time to study the folder with your child when they first bring it home. Let your child talk about what s/he notices on the folder. Another time, sit down with the folder and the CD and do some of the listening activities. See if your child can identify the sound source. Can s/he do it by pointing to the picture or has s/he acquired the vocabulary to do it by name? The drawings are done in such detail that you could spend quite a bit of time with it. Or perhaps you would rather display it somewhere prominent in your child’s play space and ask him/her to point out something new each day!
Music Makers: At Home in the World is the first of the series of conceptual classes – classes in which children will begin to form concepts based on the experiences they have had in previous Musikgarten classes.Music Makers: At Home is organised into 4 thematic units that your children will encounter throughout the year:
At the Seashore (introduced to Flute, Viola, Harp)
Woodlands (introduced to Percussion Instruments)
Cattail Marsh (introduced to Woodwind & Brass Instruments)
Meadow (Introduced to String Instruments)
These natural habitats are depicted in beautiful posters used during class and in smaller scale on the folders that your children receive as part of their family materials.
The posters and folders help to raise your children’s awareness of the world of nature that surrounds us, and hopefully will encourage you to join your child in exploring nature as it is readily available to all of us. These natural habitats and all of their inhabitants give us glorious opportunities for much exploration, both vocal and movement exploration.
Take birds as an example – singing like a bird helps many children access their singing voice; flying like a bird renders the graceful sustained movement that is often difficult for young children to achieve; becoming a woodpecker and alternating between flying and pecking gives children the physical experience of staccato and legato articulation – a musical concept that can be a challenge for some to master.
There are countless children’s songs, stories, and poems about bugs, birds and animals. Add to that the fact that most children are fascinated by nature and their curiosity makes it a perfect context in which to teach as well as introduce the instruments of the orchestra and more.
At home: Be sure to take time to study the folder with your child when they first bring it home. Let your child talk about what s/he notices on the folder. Another time, sit down with the folder and the CD and do some of the listening activities. See if your child can identify the sound source. Can s/he do it by pointing to the picture or has s/he acquired the vocabulary to do it by name? The drawings are done in such detail that you could spend quite a bit of time with it. Or perhaps you would rather display it somewhere prominent in your child’s play space and ask him/her to point out something new each day!
SESSION 1-2
• Listen to the new recording.
• Choose a favorite song and sing with the whole family.
• Take a walk outside; listen for sounds. Imitate them vocally and identify the source.
Write & Read
Duple Notation: (square, star, circle, triangle)
Introduce Cards 1 and 2. Draw Card 1, at first in the air then on paper
Practice:
Hop Old Squirrel on Drums. Invite the child to decide on a special way to play the drum for each of the verses - hop, dig, hide, swish your tail, run - Sing the song , accompanying on drums
SESSION 3-4
Play games with the Duple Rhythm Cards (see p. 19).
• Take a walk and listen for voices of night. Identify the sources and imitate them vocally.
Write & Read
Duple Notation: (order: square, star, circle, triangle)
Review Cards 1 and 2. Draw Card 1, at first in the air then on paper. Play aural recognition games with Cards 1 and 2
Practice:
I See the Moon and The Owl Sings practise on glockenspiel using d' and a' to the down beat of each measure (steady beat)
• Take a walk and listen for voices of night. Identify the sources and imitate them vocally.
Write & Read
Duple Notation: (order: square, star, circle, triangle)
Review Cards 1 and 2. Draw Card 1, at first in the air then on paper. Play aural recognition games with Cards 1 and 2
Practice:
I See the Moon and The Owl Sings practise on glockenspiel using d' and a' to the down beat of each measure (steady beat)
SESSION 5-6
Sing I See the Moon; go outside at night and look for the phases of the moon. Share a poem about the moon and look for the man in the moon.
>Play a game with the Dynamic Cards and explore dynamic levels vocally (see p. 20).
> Invent a weather story and accompany it with body movements, instruments or vocal sounds. Draw a weather composition, using the drawings from class and additional ones you make at home.
>Go outside to experience various weather phenomena; can you show how the weather is, and how you feel about the weather with your body?
Practice:
I See the Moon on glockenspiel using fragment of musical phrases
'moon sees me' use a, a, a
"we can be' use d, d, d
SESSION 7-8
>Sing and dance to Debka Hora with family and friends
Write & Read
>Play a game with the Dynamic Cards (see p. 20).
SESSION 9-10
>Make a simple drum to accompany the family in song and dance. Make some rattle instruments, using a small container and various contents such as pebbles, rice, etc.
>Play games with the Duple Rhythm Cards. Be sure to listen to No. 36 on your CD.
>Watch for birds in the garden or on a walk and try mimicking their flight..
Additional Videos
Orchestral Cymbals, Cymbals on Drum Sets, Finger Cymbals
Marimba vsXylophone vs Vibraphone vs Glockenspiel
Trinidad & Tobago's Culture of Percussion: Steelpan, Tassa, African Drums, Maracas
SESSION 11-12
>Sing and dance Seven Jumps with the whole family.
Write & Read
>Listen to the Beethoven Appassionata Sonata excerpt. Play a game with the Dynamics Cards.
Practice:
• Sing and play instruments emphasizing loud and soft.
• Explore the timbre of household objects; emphasize loud and soft.
> Rehearse the last 3 measures of the song with your child ( so do you and I) and sing the song again, inviting your child to sing with you in the end. Have your child choose his/her own way to make music - on the instruments or with their body. Let your child rehearse this improvisation.
SESSION 13-14
• Talk with your child about different ways you can move through a space, following a straight line, moving zig-zag, turning in circles as you move forward, etc. Try some of these pathways inside or out, draw them in the air, then make a map of new ways to get from one place to another.
• Take a walk and pick up natural objects to serve as tap and shake instruments.
Write & Read
>Sing and play the Drum Song. Either child or parent can be the conductor. The conductor holds up one of the Dynamic Cards to instruct the player how to play. Be sure to exchange roles.
Practice:
• Make up an ensemble to share with the family.