Mood:
brightTopic: Music Moves for Piano
I preface this by saying that I'm as sick as a dog right now. Terrible head cold. Total laryngitis. I seriously can't talk :(
To make matters worse, I had a group of kids in Book 1 who were supposed to be working on Unit 12 today, and I was planning on doing lots of major/minor work and lots of tonal patterns. Can't exactly do that when you can't speak, let alone sing.
Fortunately, these students had spent the previous week preparing for a repertoire test, part of my "Piano Olympics" program. Each child had to prepare 4 favourite pieces and play them for me without using the book to remind them of where to put their hands etc. Hearing each child's pieces took up the better part of 20 minutes. Then, we did some movement activities, and instead of singing the songs, I played my flute.
Then, as if a lightbulb appeared over my head, I came up with a brilliant idea! Have the kids compose a piece!! (Not just improvise). Here's the process I used:
First, we talked about the difference between improvising and composing. (Improvising means making something up, and means we don't always like what we made up. Composing means taking something we've improvised and playing it again in the same way, then recording it in some manner so that others can perform it the same way we performed it).
Then, I wrote down the following steps on my white board (*note: I may change around the order that I present these items):
- Choose a meter (duple/triple)
- Choose a style of articulation (separated/connected)
- Choose dynamics (loud/soft)
- Choose which keys you want to use (white and/or black)
- Choose a register (high/middle/low)
- Chant a 4 macrobeat rhythm pattern
- Play that RP on one key while chanting the pattern
- Improvise with that RP on the keys you've choose/in the choosen register.
- Improvise with one hand, answer with the other (using the same RP).
- Write it down (on the template that I gave them) and give it a title.
- Practice the piece and be prepared to play it next week.
If these students were a bit more advanced, instead of choosing which keys etc., I would have instructed them to choose a tonality and a starting tone.
Then, I told them that I would scan their compositions into the computer and post them on my website. I suppose I'll also write them down in traditional notation, so other teachers can see them written out. The children were really excited about me posting them on the internet. "We'll be FAMOUS COMPOSERS!!!!" they said.
The good thing was I didn't have to do much speaking, and definitely NO singing :)
