Our Program

MATB Lesson 27 - When the Saints Go Marching In



Introduction

Teaching this song opens up worlds of possibilities for teaching children about jazz. (Which in turn opens up myriad possibilities for teaching other things.) Bring in books with photographs of jazz musicians, tell them about the instruments, listen to other recordings, etc. As with classical music, the more children know about the music the more they will appreciate it - and find it easier to play. The Preservation Hall recording (CD Selections 1) is fantastic and kids really respond well to it. They especially love dancing/moving to it.

This song provides the perfect opportunity to delve seriously into improvisation -- a very important and yet often overlooked aspect of the Music and the Brain program.

Ties are a tricky concept. Some children get it right away, some don't. Some will understand it but not be able to play it correctly and visa versa. All of this is fine. Try different approaches to explaining the ties and see what works.

Music/Concepts

  1. Ties
  2. Incomplete measures
  3. Syncopation
  4. Dotted half note in 4/4 time
  5. Repetition and extension of phrases

Difficulties

  1. Understanding and counting the ties
  2. Long song
  3. Measure 12 to measure 13
  4. In general, playing the correct rhythm and playing with a steady beat

Activities Away From the Piano

  1. Use rhythm cards showing the rhythms of all single measures (no ties)
  2. Use a string and tape to illustrate ties between rhythm cards/measures
  3. Show the ties on the poster and clap the rhythm of the entire song
  4. Sing or say the words of the song, correctly and incorrectly: 1) Repeat words that should be ties "when the saints, saints go marching in" 2) Hold the words correctly through the ties (no odd repetitions)
  5. Find all the places with the 1-3-4-5 motive
  6. Find the hidden triads/arpeggios
  7. A useful way to introduce the ties, and a good math lesson at the same time, can be demonstrated with your fingers; hold up one finger, ask how many, then hold up the other four and ask and 3, 3 and 2. Then extend the exercise to two hands. Finally hold up an how many and then how many all together. Do the same with 1 and 4, 2 amount of fingers and then hide it, hold up another and hide it – then ask the kids to add the two (now invisible) amounts. Everything will/must add up to five. Then make the connection to the amounts of beats in the notes being added together.

Ear Training

  1. Tap a steady beat with your foot while playing/singing a note -- have the children tell you how long you held the note.
  2. Call out a number and have the children play/sing and hold a note for that number of beats.
  3. Play combinations of 4 notes using C-D-E-F-G and have the children identify the notes.

Activities at the Piano

  1. Exercise: Play 1-2-3-4-5 holding each for five beats
  2. Exercise: 5-3-1-3-5
  3. Work on one line at a time, stopping on the first note of the next line
  4. Increase to two lines and then all three.
  5. Have the children say/sing "1-2-3-4-5" each time they play a tied note.

Extensions/Creativity/Exploration

  1. If possible, let the kids explore the jazz instruments sounds on their keyboard
  2. Listen to the recording, miming the ways of playing the various solo instruments.
  3. Encourage the children to dance to the recording
  4. Make up a "jazzy" tune

Questions

  1. How many times and where do you play D/2 ? When does 2 come in?
  2. How long are all the ties in this song?
  3. Can you find any hidden triads/arpeggios spelled out in this song?
  4. How many counts should there be in each measure? Why are there only three beats in the first measure? Where is the missing beat?
  5. What's the difference between jazz and classical music?
  6. Do you ever hear jazz at home? On TV? On the radio?

More Activities

  1. Talk about improvisation. Ask the kids to improvise something (other than music) like a story. They can pass it around and take turns adding to it.
  2. Play the recording as the kids enter the room. Dance with them as they file in. Play it again as they leave.
  3. Talk about what it means to be a soloist or to take a solo.
  4. Introduce jazz and the jazz band. Name all the instruments and show pictures of them (or show actual instruments). Show what it looks like to play them. Perhaps have the children try to draw them.
  5. March around the room in time with the recording. Stop when you hear a solo and hold up a picture of that instrument or have the kids mime the soloist.
  6. Talk about New Orleans and the tradition of funeral music (in the streets and played by a marching jazz band).
  7. As intro to the tie, can make funny face with one eye open (whole note), one eye closed (the quarter note) and a big smile (the tie). Then talk about what the tie does.

Observations and Suggestions (from the Music Rooms)

  1. Kids loved moving to this recording.
  2. Strong sense of accomplishment when they can play it.
  3. Kids had quite a high level of concentration and determination to make it through the whole song.
  4. The concept of the tie is quite difficult. While most were able to play it well enough, the theory seemed over their heads. The math may be too difficult, or else perhaps we had not spent enough time on the concept of the measure and counting beats in 4/4. Many kindergartners do not get to addition in their first year of math.
  5. Have the children "be the notes" and be tied together (one child can be a whole note and another one the quarter note). The whole note kid holds 4 fingers up for 4 beats, and the quarter note kid 1 for 1 beat, then the rest of the class has to clap how many beats both of the kids are making. You can also choose 4 kids to be a whole note and 1 to be the quarter note, instead of holding their fingers up.
  6. Put a whole note tied to a quarter on the board. Explain that a tie is like an addition sign, and therefore this note gets 4+1=5 beats. If you want to extend the analogy, try showing that two quarter notes tied together equals one half note. THIS MAY PROVE TOO MUCH FOR MANY.
  7. Many children watch old cartoons, and many of these have jazz as background music. Point this out to the kids and ask them to listen for jazz in these cartoons and in other television or movies that they might see. (This holds true, obviously, for classical music as well.)
  8. Because this piece is fairly long and challenging you may decide to teach only part of it.
  9. When you introduce words like syncopation, show it in writing, add it to the word wall and be sure to have the children repeat it back.