Newsletters

Music and the Brain Newsletter No. 6 – February 2002

Dear Music and the Brain Teachers,

I would like to begin with an inspired lesson on "Sorida" by Maria Schwab at PS 150 in Queens. Maria began by speaking the word "Sorida". She then spoke the word again in the rhythm of the song "So-ri-da", and asked the children what language they thought it was.  There were many suggestions from the students, but one girl guessed it was alanguage from Africa. Maria told them there were more than a hundred different languages spoken in Africa, not including dialects. That information made an impression on the students. She then asked, " Is Africa a continent, a country or a city?" They couldn't decide between country and continent, soMaria illustrated the point. With her hands held wide apart she said, "We live on the continent of North America." Putting her hands closer together she said, " We live in the country of the United States of America.  "Putting her hands closer, "We live in the state of New York, New York City,PS 150 in Queens." PS 150 was illustrated using only two fingers veryclose together.

Maria then asked them what they thought the word "Sorida" meant. They couldn't guess, so she walked up to a child and shook their hand and said,"Sorida." The children guessed immediately that it means "Hello."

After this introduction, which lasted only a few minutes but grabbed the children's attention, Maria moved on to demonstrate the hand-game. Her game is different than the game in the book. It's a bit harder and therefore more fun. With a child volunteer as a partner she explained the game as having 3 sections. In the first section, start with a hand sandwich, my hand then yours on top, then mine, then yours. On "So-ri-da" your arms come out to the sides to make one big circle and come back into the sandwich. (That's the tough part.)

The next section, "ri-da ri-da", hands come 'backs' together on"ri" then 'fronts' together on "da". "Da, da, da "is the third section. The pattern is: each person claps, then right cross clap to your partner then left cross clap.

After singing the song and playing the game, Maria had the children look at the music and find the 3 different parts that correspond to the hand-game. They also found that only 3 fingers are needed to play the song. She asked the children to find something new at the top of the music and they found 6/8. She reminded them they had conducted and played in 4/4 and what else? The children answered 3/4 and 2/4. She then demonstrated how to conduct in 6/8, showing the home basewith her left hand. The children could see the 6 beats and discovered on theirown that 6/8 meant 6 beats per measure. She also explained that you if you want to go faster, you can conduct in 2. Everyone conducted 1-2-3, 4-5-6. After someone noticed a single eighth note, she spent a few moments explaining how in 6/8, the eighth note decided it wanted to be one beat long, so it bumped the quarter note out and the quarter note was left with 2 beats instead. (Giving the notes personalities made the concept more interesting and memorable for the children.) One child then identified an eighth rest and Maria asked, "If the eighth note gets one beat, how many beats must it's partner get?" The class then went to the keyboards to play the song.

This lesson was great because nothing was labored. Everything was fast and clearly demonstrated without too much verbal explanation. There was a great variety of activity and analysis, never too much time sitting still. The new concepts, 6/8 time and single eighth notes and eighth rests, were not over-emphasized, knowing the next lesson later in the week would also be on "Sorida".

During the second lesson on "Sorida", Maria did a lot of ear-training activities. After having the children sing the first two measures of the song without looking at the music, just echoing her, she asked them which direction their voices were going. After they figured that out, she wrote 135, 531, and 351 on the board and asked them which one they had sung. She then reviewed the hand-game and asked what section of the three comes back most frequently. Maria quickly mentioned "rondo" form and explained it by giving the exampleof eating a sandwich in the kitchen, then walking into another room and later coming back to have another bite of the sandwich.  She also talked about triads and chords and how they are formed. She asked the children what "tri" means and what other words they know with "tri" in them. They answered, "triangle", "tricycle" and one boy said, "trio, it had three o's!"

Both of these lessons are packed with information and each idea only takes a few moments to illustrate. This is an inspiring example of what can be accomplished with one simple song.

Big Kid and Parent Helpers

Having extra hands in the keyboard lab is a definite asset in MATB classrooms. Several teachers have solved the problem of being only one person in a room of 20 keyboards by enlisting the help of older students, like 3rd graders who have graduated from the MATB program, or any other students that are interested.

Sharon Golub at PS 11 spent the first few weeks of school training her student helpers during lunch so they would be prepared to help the younger children. They are a great help and enjoy being in the music room!  At PS 11, they also fulfill a requirement for community service by helping out. One of Sharon's best helpers is a 5th grade Special Ed student, who is helping Sharon and the younger students while gaining a huge amount of self esteem (and a good working knowledge of music).

At Hunter Elementary, Nicole Becker has asked parents to volunteer their time in the keyboard lab. Even if a parent is only available a couple of hours a week,a few parents add up to lots of help. Parents also get the benefit of seeing what goes on in their children's classes.

How Fast Should I Be Moving?

Many teachers feel anxious about the progress of their classes through the Music and the Brain material. We have expressed repeatedly that every teacher should find a pace that is comfortable for them and their classes. Surprisingly, NO ONE IS MOVING TOO FAST for the children!

That should be an indication to those of you that are being very reserved about your progress that you should feel confident presenting material more quickly. The songs in the books are not difficult. Basic concepts can be reviewed with every new song, not only by going back to play old songs. Please consider challenging your classes as much as possible. We have been receiving positive reports from schools like PS 36 on Morningside Drive, that an added challenge engages the children's attention and enthusiasm much more than plodding along slowly. The students have surprised their teachers with their ability to tackle difficult pieces. They also gain self-confidence by realizing how much they know!

Reviewing Materials

Several schools decided to review Book One with the 1st Graders before going ahead to Book Two. This is fine BUT it should not take all year. At PS 11, for example,Sharon does an "Express Review" of the book after finishing it.  She'll ask questions in a fun, pop quiz style on the rug -- and go through thebook reminding them of the lessons in each song. (Often asking rather thantelling them about the pieces.)

Music and the Brain Interns move over to the Board of Ed.

Many of our interns have moved into Board of Education jobs in the past year. The most recent edition, Krista Wozniak, has taken over the position of general music teacher at PS 149 in Jackson Heights. We are pleased to report that she is taking the school by storm and has many new fans (Her students). Irene McByrne-Pepe is soon to move into Jenny Liu's job at PS 164. Richard Johnsonhas also joined the ranks as an official substitute at PS 24, accompanying Kjrste Hillig (Thibedeau) who is a part-time music teacher at the same school.  By simply being finger-printed and getting a letter of recommendation from the principal, all interns can become official substitute-teachers and receive payment from the BOE for teaching classes when the music teacher is absent.  There is a serious teacher shortage in NYC schools, so think about the possibilities.

Responses to questions from the last newsletter:

Question 2: In order to check progress and keep children on task, the teachers at PS 36 have all students perform each piece. Therefore students know they will be accountable. It isn't a high-pressure situation, it just becomes part of the routine. Some of you with very large classes may find it difficult to have each child perform every song, but performances could still happen on a more staggered basis.

Question 2: Maria Schwab has her classes listen to different kinds of music and move(tap, clap, walk) to the beat. The students discover how the tempo changes. She also has them conduct in different tempos. She makes it a game to "follow my tempo" while reading rhythms cards, first using the same card repeatedly and eventually moving on to others. It is a natural progression.

Question 4: PS 36 teachers have been using Book 2 with the beginners and Book 3 with the more advanced when they want to challenge their students. None of them have appeared overwhelmed by the addition of new material.

Questions

Whatdo you have on your keyboards?

1) It might be helpful to have anumber "1" sticker on middle C to solidify the connection betweenthumb and number "1" instead of the pointer finger as number"1". What do you think?

2) Classes at Midtown West found itdifficult to ignore the numbers on their keyboards during a lesson on"Akiwowo" in book 2 where the hand position is shifted to thumb on E.Teachers are thinking of only having red or yellow dots to establish middle C position rather than numbers. What do you think?

How do you explain 16th notes?

1) Many people use"ticky-ticky" so an eight-note beamed to 2 sixteenth notes becomes,"tee-ticky" How do you explain it?

Stories from the Field

At PS 163: After a discussion about switching from right to left hands in "Largo", one child said, "I understand it on BOTH sides of my brain."

James Ross at PS 163 had a keyboard ensemble play Ode to Joy in major and minor keysto great success in the school's holiday concert!

Kevin Hill and Shinya Muto at PS 207 decided to give a dance class on waltz recently to instill their students with the feeling of 6/4 time. Shinya's response to the experiment was, "It took half the class time to teach them how to waltz, but the greatest thing was they felt the music through their physicality!"

Deborah Nomani is moving right along with her very young(3-5 years), bilingual classes in Paris. They have been working on "Ode to Joy" and learning about the instruments of the orchestra.

After describing the different instruments, Deborah gave her students a page of orchestral instruments to color in. (Great idea for reinforcing the new information!) After her second lesson on "Ode to Joy", she walked by the girl's bathroom and overheard one of her students humming the melody while washing her hands. She said, "that kind of thing always makes you feel good!"

At PS 11, the life story of Mozart seems to be even more popular than the lifestory of Beethoven!! Ted Hearn reports, "I think the idea of a genius musician who was (the children's) age and size is really intriguing to them."

Also at PS 11, when asked why the numbers were left out of some of the lines in OdeTo Joy, a child answered "because we're so smart!"

At PS 36x, Michelle Turner came up with a great lesson for "PentatonicWaves". She began by playing a recording of ocean sounds and discussing how waves move up and down. Then the class discovered how the music moves on the song board. She then made the whole class an ocean by pairing children up and giving them silk scarves to make waves with. She put the ocean sounds back on and the children made waves in the way they had discussed earlier. When the music was at a crescendo the waves got larger.

The children at PS 149 seem rejuvenated by the energy of their new music teacher, former MATB intern Krista Wozniak. She has rearranged her room to create more space for activities. She has also created a musical word-wall, a board of patterns in life and music to which the children are asked to contribute pictures and ideas. Having the children help decorate their music room and be responsible for finding new music words for the word-wall seems to create a sense that they belong there. Krista also has a collection of good children's books about music and musicians. For a reward, she will read a few pages of a book to her classes that work well. The children love it! I think it's a great idea and seems more meaningful than stickers.

PS 207: Kevin Hill introduced Musette by describing the two main melodic shapes as the "slide" (5-4-3-2-1) and the "roller-coaster"(3-4-5-4-3-2-5-3-1). The children really related to that analogy and remembered even a week later. They were also inspired to play the song due to the fun ridetheir fingers were about to take.

PS 36X: Michelle Turner used children holding rhythm cards to play a game wherethe rest of the class had to arrange the children in order of the different rhythms of the song.

Eudella Grant and Darrell Babidge at PS 36 had a break through with a special education class recently. Two boys that have trouble concentrating in the keyboard lab and had previously mostly banged on the keyboards, played "Duerme Pronto in D" correctly with the correct fingering! Everyone in the class seemed surprised. One of the boys was chosen to play for the class and felt the the added responsibility that comes with playing out loud. It seems to have increased his desire to do well.

Sharon Golub at PS 11 made the Bruce Springsteen song "Born in the USA" into a keyboard song. She states, "The kids get the biggest kick out of it! All it is, is 2-123 1 2." She also wrote out the left hand chords for the older kids. Almost any song can be made into a keyboard song. Feel free to add your own ideas.

At PS 37X: Peter Kaufman describes half notes as "rainbows" due to the carry-over hand motion. The children really visualize and remember.

PS 46: Vermelle Rhodes and Coralie Gallet play "Rhythm Marathon" with their students. They clap one card after another in rhythm without stopping.  The game makes it necessary for the children to read ahead while they are still clapping and really concentrate. The ability to read ahead in the music is a great thing to cultivate and allows the children to play with better rhythmic accuracy. The children always get very excited before "RhythmMarathon" because it's hard! (The hardest part is really for the teacher, flipping the cards at the right time.)

PS37X: Penny Prince and Peter Kaufman are at it again! During a lesson on"Grasshopper", Penny left the room and came back wearing a crazy 80'swig. She said she was Mrs. Treble Clef and the kids thought it was great! She said that she wasn't around because they were hanging out in Mr. Bass Clef's house in "Grasshopper" and that she'd be back after vacation. The children LOVED IT!

Intern Liza Gibbs noticed that children at PS 207 are having strength problems intheir 3rd and 4th fingers while playing "Andante Grazioso". They would reach over with their left hand to help press the fingers down at the correct time. Pretty good solution.

Michelle Turner made a great discovery. She writes," Something I tried recently has really caused things to click with several of my students from (my bilingual bridge class). Instead of having the students play as I pointed at the notes, I played while the children pointed to the notes.  Rhythm, repetition and shifting from bass to treble clefs finally seemed to come together. A couple of students who had nearly no success other than extensive "improv" sessions during practice time, finally could scan the page and link what they saw to their fingers. Yippee!"

At PS 11, in preparation for a presentation/performance by a Julliard trio, Sharon Golub wrote out a brief melody for the piano based on the Granados piece theywill be playing. The children will learn how to play the theme of the piece before hearing the performance and be able to listen in a more informed way.  The melody is in 3 /4 and has a great pattern of quarter-quarter-triplet throughout.

At Midtown West while listening to the orchestral version of "Ode toJoy",

One girl started fingering the theme with no prompting from her teachers. Robin andDarrell were amazed!

When asked who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was, the children's answers were varied: a doctor of Kings, a dentist, someone who helps push babies out...etc

Eudella Grant and Darrell Babidge are throwing some challenges into the mix for their classes at PS 36. They skipped ahead to play "When the Saints" with the chords in the left hand. They children were shocked at first, seeing such complex-looking music, but all were able to play it and enjoyed the challenge.

At PS 36X, Michelle Turner had children "connect the dots" in the music of "Twinkle. Twinkle Little Star". They drew lines connecting thenote-heads, going down to the left hand notes and back up to the right handnotes. It was a great way to emphasize the direction of the melody and where to switch from right to left hand. Coralie Gallet, and intern at both schools,also brought the idea to PS 46 and had equal success.

Tic-Tac-Toe

Michelle Turner at PS 36x created a variation of "Musical Tic Tac Toe". She had the children write 9 different rhythms in 4/4 time, one for each box, and then divided the class into blue squares and yellow circles, X's and O's. In order to claim a square for your team, an emissary must clap the square's rhythm correctly. They children were surprised how difficult is to write and clap their own rhythms.

Sharon Golub at PS 11 fills in the squares with musical symbols. She then divides the class into 2 teams (the X's and O's) and they must identify the symbol to win the box. (In one class a boy wanted to put and X on the repeat sign square, but couldn't remember what it was called. Finally in a very small voice he said,"Peep sign?" Very cute.)

PS 36 Also loves "Musical Tic Tack Toe"! They recently created a new version to practice identifying note on the staff. In each square is a small staff with a note. The children have to name the note to gain the square.

Improvisation

Darrell and Eudella at PS 36 decided to have an improv day with their special ed. class and were gratified by the level of concentration and thought that went into the children's compositions. Each child played for the class and used all 5 fingers, rhythmic patterns and often ended up back on the tonic for the end of the piece. Pretty Cool!

Sharon Golub regularly includes time for improvisation - often over a Blues progression. She sets the mood by asking the children what they might be blue about. The kids are able to hear her chords progression, live in the room,while they listen to themselves through headphones. She reminds them that there is no way for them to play a wrong note - it is their improv.

Improvisations using the black keys work very well. Everything sounds correct and very cool.It is helpful to set up an ostinato for the class to play off of - children can also be asked to do this.

Teachers must let children play by themselves during keyboard time. Children need time to practice at their own speed and discover the keyboard in their own way. If teachers are constantly leading lessons from the front of the room, students don't get a chance to figure things out for themselves.

Red and Yellow Letter/Number Cards

Remember those red and yellow cards that have numbers on one side and the corresponding letters on the other side? We gave them (invented by Michelle Turner) out to all MATB schools about 2 years ago. They are great for learning the letter names of notes and playing games.

Peter and Penny used them to play a game where the children bounced a ball on each card going up and down the scale like "Grand Staff" while Peter played the melody on the piano and Penny sang. When asked what the letters on the other side of the cards were, the children did very well.