Mood:
lyricalTopic: Music Moves for Piano
I recently purchased this wonderful resource by Edwin E. Gordon, Beth M. Bolton, Wedny K. Hicks and Cynthia C. Taggart (published by GIA). This book was recommended to me by Marilyn Lowe.
I haven't used a lot of the songs or chants yet, but have already found some wonderful favourites, which I'm using with my KEyboard Games students. Here's a few, along with some ideas for using them in your studio:
1. "Bugs" triple meter rhythm chant (#177). This is perhaps the kids most favourite new chant in my studio!! I ask the children to move around the room like bugs while I chant the pattern. There are two spots where there are rests, and the kids are instructed to stop moving during the rest, and resume when the chant continues. They really get the feel for the chant, and learn where the rests are. After we have fun moving as bugs, we move to macro/microbeats. Eventually, I'll probably have the kids chant either macro or micro beats while I chant the pattern.
2. "Brand New Toy" duple meter rhythm chant (#165) and "Seashells" duple meter rhythm chant (#166). The kids really liked these. I haven't done much with them yet, but I'm thinking that I could use the Seashell chant as a springboard for some improvisational/compositional activities for my older students.
3. "Clouds" triple meter/minor song (#3). The kids love moving with scarves to this one, pretending that their scarves are clouds. We vary the speed of the song. I'll sing the song slowly, and ask them to describe the clouds, then I'll sing it quickly and do the same. They LOVE this !
4. "I'm Riding On a Whale" triple meter/major song (#42). While I sing this, the children move as if they are whales, riding on a whale, or swimming in the ocean. Then, we move again, using scarves, moving them like waves. Children sing the resting tone when I stop singing.
I also like "Jacks" (#2) and "Hide and Seek" (#4), "Pickles" (#8), and "Fingers and Toes" (#18 - the kids love the 'ch-ch-ch-ch-ch' chant in the middle of that one).
So far, I've been sticking to the simple duple and triple, major/minor chants and songs, as that's what I'm most comfortable with. I don't want to introduce something that I haven't taken the time to learn 
I do plan on learning more of the unusual and irregular pieces in the coming weeks. I'm also trying to find ways to incorporate these with my older students.
