Newsletters

Music and the Brain Newsletter No. 13 - November 2004

MATB EXPANSION:
MATB has expanded to 9 new schools so far this academic year, predominantly in Region 4!  We welcome our new schools and music teachers to our MATB community:

NEW RHYTHM TEACHING MATERIALS

We are excited to announce the creation of a RHYTHM CD set to accompany the Rhythm cards you currently use in your classes. The CDs feature vocal and percussion demonstrations of each rhythm card at a slow and faster tempo. CDs included feature read throughs of each meter, rounds (percussion and vocal), percussion grooves, and classical selections.

♫ STORIES FROM THE FIELD

RHYTHM FUN:
Many teachers have found challenging and creative rhythmic exercises for their classes. Here are some examples:

> Susan Seidenstein at PS 68 has her classes clap series of rhythm cards to disco music that emphasizes the beat such as “Funky Town”. The class stands while clapping and saying the rhythms. Students are challenged to stay on the up tempo beat.

> MATB intern Rebekah Weissburg claps rhythms in 3/4time and 4/4 time and had the class distinguish which time signature they hear without seeing the rhythm card

> Krista Wozniak of PS 149 sometimes plays a game where students try to guess what the next rhythm pattern will be before she turns the card over. It's a great way to get the kids to come up with their own rhythms and really captures attention of the students.

> Michelle Turner of PS 36X, reviewed halves, quarters, and eighths by using a picture of a turkey for eighths (gob-ble), a duck for quarters (quack) and an owl for halves (whoo).She then made her own rhythms by flashing the different animal pictures while the class made the appropriate noise.

> Vermell Rhodes of PS 46M splits her class into two groups and has them form two lines. Each student has a unique rhythm card to clap. When they clap it correctly they take a seat. Ifthey don’t clap correctly they go to the end of the line to clap again. The team with no one standing first wins.

HIGHS AND LOWS/FLATS AND SHARPS: 
To explain the flat concept, MATB intern Rebekah Weissberg took a Styrofoam cup and smashed it and asked the class if it got higher or lower. She could then point to the smashed cup to show that making it flat made it lower.

INTERPRETATION/ORNAMENTATION:
During a lesson of Akiwowo, MATB intern Lisala Beatty asked the classabout what they noticed in the different recorded “versions” or “interpretations”of the song. This prompted the class from PS 24X to ask for clarification onthe word “interpretation”. Lisala sang Akiwowo with a different melody and rhythm as an example of coming up with her own interpretation. She then had several children come up with their own interpretation and sing for the class.

BEST PRACTICE TECHNIQUES: 
During a lesson of "Happy Birthday" a song every child knows, Edel Boland of PS 71 in Queens wrote a poster in herclassroom of 4 Best Practice Techniques:

1. Find the Time Signature

2. Find the Staff the music is written on (ask the children whythis is important)

3. Play with Good Rhythm (Demonstrate what happens to a songlike "Happy Birthday" if you play with the wrong rhythm)

4. Sing While You Practice: (She explained when you sing whatyou play you are able to tell quickly if you are playing the music correctly)

> Francesca DiGiovanna of PS 58Q often tells her students, “Start with a slow, steady tempo so that when you get to the hard part, you'll have time to think!"

THE HUMAN PIANO 
While teaching “I Lost A Tooth,” Jenny Liu of PS 130Q told her class she needed to shop for a new piano. She then took 5 volunteers to be(right hand) keys on the piano. Each child was numbered 1-5 and when Jenny touched their head to play “I Lost A Tooth” each child had to bend down and upto simulate a key being played for the correct number of beats. She gave each student a chance and then picked the best “piano” based on the group that did the best job. This was really fun for the class and it also clearly represented which fingers were NOT played in the song as well as rhythm.

COMPOSER BULLET POINTS 
Clare McIntire of PS 71Q has a poster sized list of bulletpoints detailing the life and accomplishments of the composer for the song ofthe day. The list is large enough the students can follow the words she’s reading aloud about each composer. The kids are focused on the words written and love to hear interesting facts about these great composers. This class preparation allows the teacher to move through this information quickly.

PEAS,PORRIDGE, ………..RESTS 
Nicole Becker of Hunter Elementary School in Manhattan,played a game called “Peas, Porridge” with a song whose lyrics are, “Peas,Porridge hot, Peas, Porridge cold, Peas porridge in the pot, 9 days old.”Students were sitting in a circle as Nicole walked around them singing the song. She stopped to blow on the back of someone’s head during the rests between phrases. The children whose heads were blown on go into the center ofthe circle (the pot). At the end of the game the children were asked to identify in what places the blowing occurred? One little girl correctly answered “During the rests!”

CONDUCTING
 Krista Wosniak of PS 149Q read a book called “Arturo’s Baton” to her classabout a young boy who can’t find any instruments that he is good at, but discovers that he is an amazing conductor. Krista then passed out straws to the class to use as batons and taught them 4/4 conducting movements. She then played some orchestral music for the class to practice their conducting.

SONGREVIEW 
Kevin Hill of PS 207M played a game of “Name That Tune” for his class towards the end of the school year as a review. He paired up his students and gave them the music to seven songs without the titles. They went to the keyboards to play the songs and try to ID them.

THEMES FOR THE DAY 
Jenny Liu of PS 130Q taught a lesson on “Duerme Pronto” and asthe students gave answers about the ways they would sing a lullaby (gently,softly, slowly), Jenny told them everything they did in the class that day had to be done like a lullaby (speaking, movement, etc).

♫ ENSEMBLE PLAYING

Children will usually sacrifice rhythm to play the correct note. As teachers, we areoften so focused on proper fingering that we allow them to make this sacrifice, so it’s crucial that we emphasize rhythm in our students’ playing.

Ensemble playing is a fantastic way to instill the importance of playing in time. When reinforced by a slow and steady beat, ensemble playing is achievable for all MATB students. MATB teachers should maintain a high expectation that students can get this with practice. Even if your students play the wrong notes at times, they are benefiting from working towards playing together in time.

> Edel Boland of PS 71 in Queens often has her classes play as an ensemble, either as a whole group or row by row. For row by row playing, she has the students in the row in front turn around and pull out the headphones from the keyboards behind them. She sets a very clear steady beat and has the row of students play a line of a song together. Her classes do remarkably well with this because they do this fairly often. This also allows Edel to hear who maybe playing with the wrong hand or incorrect fingering position in each row so she can address it quickly.

♫ CUTE STUDENT QUOTES

We always love to hear what your little darlings are saying in class. Here is the prize quote of the bunch followed by others that made us smile: At PS 81Q, when asked what the recording of "Andante Grazioso" made him think of, a student said very seriously, "It makes me think of taking a walk with my Grandma".

> At PS 149Q, when asked how a recording of "Ode To Joy" made him feel, a boy answered, "Like a King"

> A student at PS 36 where Camilo Moronta teaches, a child commented that the shhhh (rest) "sounds like someone trying to talk with a missing tooth"

> During a lesson on "When the Saints Go Marching In" Krista Wozniak suggested that since the class had learned the song, they could go to New Orleans and sing it with a band playing in the street. One little girl remarked seriously, "Only if they don't do a remix!"

> Kjrste Hillig of PS 3 was teaching Pentatonic Waves and explaining that a Pentatonic Scale has 5 notes. As the kids were leaving the class one child remarked, "My sister is pentatonic!" It made sense when Kjrste realized the child has a younger sister age 5.

♫ CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE

Control of your classroom and discipline is critical for the success of MATB. We should be mindful that belittling and reprimanding children for their lack of dexterity or comfort at the keyboards is not what MATB is about. Many MATB teachers are very strong musicians who may be used to very demanding piano instruction. Remember that your students mostly do not have the ability to practice form at home and they are not in MATB to become pianists. Be encouraging and patient while children are practicing at the keyboard. This will help them gain confidence and play at a higher level more quickly. We sometimes see students who are so nervous about playing when teachers are impatient, that they lose the joy of the music they are practicing.

♫ HOMEWORK IDEAS

Many of you have come up with homework assignments for your students and we’d love to hear about them. Please send us any homework ideas you have at brainmusic@aol.com .

> Ex. Eileen Calder of PS 81Q in Queens had her class draw a picture of the place they imagined themselves “Andante Grazioso”

♫ MATB Q&A

Q:  My students are just beginning MATB and I don’t feel they are ready to move to a new song each class. They still don’t have good finger position. What do you recommend?

A.   Move! Over eight years ofexperience with this curriculum has shown us that students of MATB understandthe important musical concepts introduced in each song faster than they can demonstrate through the physical mechanics of playing. Have high expectations that your classes are internalizing the material at a faster rate than you think. Remember that MATB is not just about playing so it is important that you continue to stimulate your students’ minds and let their fingers catch up. AND THEY WILL! You can start each new class with a brief (5 minute max) review of the important concepts of the song studied in the previous class, however you should confidently move on to the next song in each class particularly for students just beginning Book One.

Q:  My classes are doing well with MATB, however I’m worried that my bi-lingual students are just not getting it.  They seem much more restless and less focused at the keyboards. What should I do differently?

A.   Don’t expect any less from your bi-lingual students! Many of our teachers have a large Bi-lingual population among their students. We are very proud that research is proving that MATB is particularly helpful to bi-lingual students in their ability to learn English at a faster rate. The language barrier is a challenge mostly forthe teacher to monitor progress of students who are not always able to communicate how much they do know in ways you are used to. Encourage them to show you what they know by having them come up to the poster board to point out answers to your questions.

Remember that children learn by watching your mouth moving as well as by hearing what you’re saying and singing. Make sure you are facing these students and speaking/singing clearly and slowly. As you would with other students, make them repeat the names of things you want them to know multiple times.