9 Reasons to use Body Percussion

Why body percussion?

If you've ever been to an Orff workshop you'll know how integral body percussion is to the learning process.  I was taught (over and over) that you don't need the actual Orff instrumentarium to teach an Orff program.  Body percussion, speech and singing, improvisation and dance were really the foundational building blocks of an Orff program.

In my early days exploring these foundational building blocks I LOVED body percussion.  I used it everywhere and at all times of day in my classroom (I was a classroom teacher then).

If you were to ask me now why use body percussion (B/P) this is what I'd say...

1. It's fun!
2. It improves concentration abilities.
3. Children love to make sounds with body percussion.  
4. It can be an energetic or emotional release to perform body percussion.
5. Using body percussion helps children to get inside the rhythm.  
6. Once a rhythm has been internalized it can be expressed and played on their instruments with more ease.
7. Playing echo games with body percussion builds a rhythmic vocabulary in the body.
8. Playing simultaneous mirror games with body percussion improves ability to focus and increases awareness of subtle body movements.
9. You can use B/P to "conduct" instrument play with non-pitched percussion instruments.

 

with under 3 years:

1. use B/P to develop vocabulary for body parts (e.g. say "clap" when you "clap")
2. use B/P to bring awareness to the body's musical capabilities(e.g. clap a crescendo)
3. use B/P to build confidence (e.g. when we are all clapping together we create a feeling of fun and community and safety)

with 5 years and older:

1. use B/P to make texture in music (e.g.  some groups clap while others stomp and snap)
2. use B/P to learn a rhythm that is later applied to an instrument
3. use B/P to keep kids moving and interested in learning

My Movement Display Board

Musicalia's Movement Board

At Musicalia...we move!
There is a dedicated movement board with charts, words, pictures and it changes weekly.

Last week's board looked like this

I have posted charts and a giant metronome made by moi, also movement charts from Nurturing Pathways, Kindermusik, and lists of words inspired by Anne Green Gilbert's "Creative Dance for All Ages".

I have 2 bags of words on my board...a bag of locomotor words and a bag of non-locomotor words just in case I need them for a game.  I also have lists of words posted.

Each week we learn a new movement concept.  I follow Anne Green Gilbert's Creative Dance for All Ages program.  Here we are learning "Body Shapes".

Last week's movement concept was "BODY SHAPES".

First we use our bodies to make each letter "B"  "O"  "D"  "Y"...etc...  I post the words for different shapes with a simple line drawing like this...

Each body shape card has a small drawing to illustrate the word.

The children copied the shapes and created their own shapes with their own bodies.  We copied one another.  We really had to practise symmetrical and asymmetrical until those words made sense.  We had fun creating and improvising partner dances using our bodies to make different shapes.

Bag of strings...give a string to each student and let them play.

We can use string as an inspiration for moving our bodies.  Throw the string in the air and copy the shape it makes when it lands on the floor.

After exploring the concept of "body parts" we're all dancing with some pretty creative moves.  And now...it's time for yoga...

Close up of charts that remind us why we need to move our bodies when we are learning music.

February Newsletter is coming soon...

If you missed the last newsletter (you can sign up here if you're not on the list yet!) you missed some ideas for creative movement work with children.   I'm sending February's letter out soon (before Valentine's Day).

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If I were you...I'd subscribe!

"The only way a child will be left behind is if he doesn't learn art and music" (Bob McGrath)

This coming Monday evening I am the guest speaker at a local preschool.

My Preschool Parent Talk
When I speak at parent meetings, parents are usually interested in the benefits of music in the development of their preschool-age children.  

You know...most parents don't believe they should bother with extra music.  They wonder, "Does it really make any difference in any measurable way?"  

In fact, most ECE teachers don't know the benefits of music either!  Most ECEducators will counsel parents NOT to take a music class while taking preschool.  A sure sign they do NOT understand it's value over the long-term.

At my Preschool Parent talks we learn...Music is a verb!
As we all know, experiencing music is much different than talking about it so every few minutes, I engage the parents in a real musical activity for 3 and 4 year olds.  It is a first-hand example of what music can really feel like when you are engaged as a participant and not an observer.

I believe (because of the research and reading I've done for so many years) that music is a language and is one of the most important ways to engage a young child when communicating with them in their early years.   I'm pretty passionate about it.  

I think the research is overwhelmingly supportive of this belief.  In fact, if you read all that research and experience music as a non-competitive, engaging, socially fun, interesting, intellectual, creative activity you might do what I did...open your own music school for children!

Amazing study!

Many years ago, I read the results of a study where several groups of elementary-age children were involved.  Group 1 received reading, writing and math as most regular school classes receive.  Group 2 received music and art 2-3 times per week as well as reading, writing and math, without an emphasis on any one subject.  Group 3 received music and art EVERYDAY and in order to do this, less reading, writing and math were offered each week.  This study went on for 2 years. 

I like to ask parents to imagine this.  

Imagine your principal/head teacher comes to you and offers your child art and music EVERYDAY!  You'd be excited right?  Then you find out, your child would receive less reading, writing and math in order to schedule it all in.  Most parents would expect after two years of this their child would perform at a lower level on academic testing, having received less academic teaching and more arts instruction.

Most parents would not be okay with this.  Typically, music and art are not seen as beneficial "enough" to warrant an increase in exposure to them.  The fact is...they are and increasing music and arts time has a huge impact!

Do you know the results of that 2-year study?

Group 3 outperformed both other groups on academic tests at the end of the 2 years.

The group that received less math, reading and writing instruction and more arts instruction, outperformed groups 1 and 2 on academic testing.  These children outperformed the groups that received no arts and limited arts instruction.

This is always astonishing to parents...and to administrators.  The idea that music and art instruction can have a cross-over effect that boosts scores on academic tests.

Oh...and one more thing...they discovered that not only was the group that received more arts teaching outperforming on academic testing, that group was also more socially cooperative!

The results of this study always causes parents to stop and think.  

Then, as I roll out the research results about increased language proficiency, longevity, better memory later in life, some of them actually begin to think it might be worthwhile to find out if their preschool offers any music ed opportunities for their children.  My experience is...usually not.  

During my parent talk, I describe what music learning is not...

• it's not sitting and listening to recorded music in the preschool classroom,
• it's not just free play with a bunch of percussion instruments, 
• it's not just doing whatever you feel like musically 
• it's not just singing, it's not just dancing.  (It's fun to do these things but learning that stimulates development is more than that.) 

Music instruction is a form of communication and play and games and interaction between children and teachers.  Hopefully, it is an active learning process that has children participating and singing, chanting, moving, listening, contributing, feeling, creating, problem solving and learning...but through music. 

The generalist teacher usually has some difficulty with this, both with knowledge and musical confidence.  It takes special training to know what and how to offer the kinds of activities that stimulate development through music.


These are the things I attempt to communicate to parents at my preschool parent talks.  

Do you have an opinion?

What do you think?  
Do you agree with the last 3 decades of research?  
Is music learning beneficial enough that without it children have not been offered a full education in our schools? 



If you would like practical, concrete ways to engage children in music, you would love my free monthly newsletter. Sign up to receive your copy of the newsletter here.

ABOUT THE QUOTE

"The only way a child will be left behind is if he doesn't learn art and music," said McGrath (The Times, www.mywebtimes.com)  I loved this when I read it.  It was posted by the ECMMA on their facebook page.     You can read the whole article here.

My Book Review is out!

Last spring Angela Barker (Editor) asked if I would write a book review for Perspectives, the professional journal for the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association.

Apparently, you have to be a member of the ECMMA (which I encourage you to become!) to read the review and many other wonderful articles.  

If you are not a member, this is the book I reviewed.  I consume many books...and I don't usually say this...this is a book EVERY music and movement teacher or therapist should have on their bookshelf!

So, if you're not going to read the review...just go get yourself a copy of the book.  It's a book I now recommend to all parents and teachers of the very young!

You're Not Too Late!

The August newsletter is coming out tomorrow!

I'm squeaking it in just under that calendar wire.  Yikes.

This month the newsletter group receives 

• a relaxation technique from "Barnyard Bodies"
• a listening game 
• two percussion games
• an autumn speech piece
• monthly book recommendation

If you haven't signed up yet, you're not too late.

Just head on over to the sidebar and fill in the info.

I'm pressing "send" tomorrow morning!

Dreamcatcher Drama (part 1/3) with the Evil Fairy!

 

Dreamcatcher

In our story, the Evil Fairy places an enchantment over the children.    

They awaken on a dreamship where they discover their own personal dream catchers and medicine shields.  They learn about their personal gifts.   

The ship is marooned on a forgotten island and after a battle with the Evil Fairy there, they discover they have the gift of music for life.    

Eventually, the children sing the Evil Fairy to sleep, steal her magic wand and use it and their gifts to get back to their real lives. 

How we created our Musical Story
One of the Maestros classes asked to create their own play for their year end celebration.  In all it took about 7 weeks from initial brainstorming to final presentation.  

It doesn't always take this long, but this one did.  In fact, I emailed all the parents and asked if we could extend our year by one more class in order to get it all together.

Process
1. Brainstorm
We brainstormed all the elements/characters they wanted in the  play.  It was a terrible, random list from my perspective and I had my own moments of doubt part way through whether or not I could pull their ideas together into a cohesive whole.

This is what our brainstorm sheets looked like.

strange ideas that we tried on...

2.  Role play and scene creation

We worked together, trying on each role and talking about the storyline.  There was much silliness.  One boy was removed from the group a couple of times to regroup and gather his focussed energy.  

I shut down the process a couple of times so as not to waste time with too much silliness.   I also realized that the silliness was appropriate because their ideas were quite silly...kind of like a strange dream.  

We really needed something to tie these strange ideas together.   I had a eureka moment with thinking the whole story could be a dream and then the Dreamcatcher Song caught my eye.

3.  Dreamcatcher Song
This beautiful song called "Dreamcatcher" written by Teresa Jennings, found its way onto my desk.  It's one of those haunting modal tunes that is also a round.
Click here to listen to a snippet of this haunting melody.  

I played it for the children and they loved it.

4.  Learning the song.

We learned it within a couple of sessions and then experimented with instrumental accompaniments.  We tried the frame drum with jingles (like the recording) and sang in 2,3 and 4 part rounds.  We experimented with an improvised harmonic accompaniment using the Orff Orchestra.

5. The Orff Orchestra
This is how I set up the Orff instruments:

Leave in D, F, G, A, B flat

Take out everything else. 

 

alto xylophone

alto metallophone

alto glockenspiel

The Evil Fairy (me) played the G & D contrabass bars for the improv.  The song was in 3 time so alternating G with D on the strong beat of each measure.

 6.  The Improv Exploration Process

1. We spent time playing in 3 time. 
2. We counted 1,2,3, 1,2,3  1,2,3  and played any bars to the counting.
3. I added the contra bass bars to give a solid strong first beat.
4. We experimented with playing melodic patterns.  Some of the patterns were very long, some short.  We didn't dissect it much past that point (these are 7 and 8 year old children).
5. I asked them to choose their favorite pattern.  Each child chose their favorite and played it for the class. 
6. We practised layering them in one at a time.
7. We practised a unison beginning (tutti).

The thinking behind my improv process
I am a huge fan of improvised performance with this age.  It's a bit risky but I believe it builds confidence and musical independence.  

Most Orff arrangements that Orff teachers purchase and Orff arrangements we are taught to compose/arrange have definite rules.  Those rules are for sound musical reasons. 

Teaching those rules to children once they are about 10 years old allows the children to be creative musically.  With this group, they are only 7 and 8 years old so I didn't feel they needed the burden of rules beyond  "start on G"  "end on G".  

We did try starting on G and some tried ending on G.  It was easy to see and hear which children already have an ingrained musicality that intuitively creates a satisfying musical pattern from a traditional theoretical perspective.

Over many years I have explored turning over the patterning of ostinati to the children and not try to orchestrate everything myself.  

Even if the final result is not perfect or perfectly sound from a musical theory perspective, the children love what they hear and they truly own their work.  
Opportunities to own your music and be a creator builds a life-long love for music.    
 

For the performance the room was set up like this:

The children played the improv as the audience entered to dimmed lights.  Each child took a turn playing an improv solo and then we would all play together.

7.  Our final form for the Dreamcatcher song:
intro - Susan plays alternating G/D on the contrabass bars
part A - Tutti playing their patterns
part B - Solo when Susan whispers your name
part A - Tutti playing their patterns
part C - Acapella singing 'dreamcatcher' in unison voices and then as a 2-part round.

The Dreamship that transports the children to the Isle of Enchanment!

This was an engaging and complex process.
I have more to share with you from this celebration.
Come back next time! 


 

Yoga Pretzel Cards in Action

Yoga Pretzel cards come with suggestions for use.

Of course, I didn't read those suggestions.

It was so exciting to just have the cards and start using them with the children.

The yoga cards are sturdy, giant size, illustrated and color-coded into nine sections.

1. Breathe - tune in and focus
2. Games - be playful and creative with friends
3. Balance - feel poised, composed and aligned
4. Stand - become stable, strong and grounded
5. Forward Bend - reach, release and flex
6. Back Bend - be supple, open and trustful
7. Twist & Stretch - twist, turn and extend
8. Partner - have fun working together
9. Time In - unwind, rest and revive

Using the pocket chart

The first thing I did was place some cards into the pocket chart.

The kids came in to the music room, spied the cards and immediately began to try the various poses.

They were well-versed already those 6-8 year olds.

Partner Yoga

I just place the partner cards on the floor and the kids moved with a partner from card to card to try all the poses.  

Sometimes they just watched another partner group and copied the pose.

We encourage copying in movement and music classes.  That's how musicians and dancers learn everything.  They copy!

Breathing

These are never as popular as the movement ones but it becomes silent and lovely in the room.

Sorting

Sometimes the kids like to sort and classify the cards when they are all mixed up.

One at a time

Sometimes I just have one card posted on the wall.

It's just there for us for that day.  

The 3 series

Sometimes we put 3 cards out and move from pose to pose during the day.

I encourage you to get your own yoga cards.  The cards just make it easy to bring simple, peaceful movement routines into a classroom. They usually help children to feel more focussed if you need a focus moment:)

See yesterday's post for more info. 

They are wonderful to have on a shelf close by and the illustrations make it easy for non-readers to move thru the poses.

Yoga Pretzels for Kids (& grown-ups)

This is such a great resource to have on hand!

Check out the link to Amazon here...

Yoga Pretzels (Yoga Cards) 

Yoga Pretzels by Tara Guber and Leah Kalish

One of my new favorite blogs is 

Look at my Happy Rainbow 

 and it's

written by a kindergarten teacher.

He recently wrote a blog post about using yoga to create calm in his kindergarten classroom.

It inspired me to share this resource with you.

I'll post more about how these giant yoga cards have worked with my classes next time.

Have a great day! 

Little Red Bird sings and blows in the wind!

Little Red Bird(video)

This you tube video is so beautiful! 

Click on the link (underlined words above) to hear this beautiful melody.

It is not sung in English, it's sung in a Gaelic dialect.

sigh...so lovely...

You can learn the melody listening to this stunning version sung by Emma Christian.

Little Red Bird

Little red bird on the lonely moor, 
lonely moor, lonely moor

Little red bird on the lonely moor, 
Oh where did you sleep in the night?

Did I not sleep on the swaying briar, 
swaying briar, swaying briar?

Tossing about as the wind rose higher, 
O, little I slept last night.

Wrapped in two leaves I lay at ease, 
lay at ease, lay at ease.

As sleeps a young babe on its mother's knee, 
O, sweet was my sleep last night.

Using this lullaby in the class

I originally learned this from one of the Kindermusik Cd's but didn't sing it too much then. 

Lately though, I have been loving this version and singing it with my 1-3 year olds and parents.  We sing it in english!

Process:

Wanda the witch, Lucky the horse and Boogie Bear demonstrate the bungy cord technique!

1. Everyone gathers in a circle.  Children can be in laps, in front of parent or sitting independently of parent.
2. We all rock back and forth hanging onto the bungy circle cord (see pix) while I sing the lullaby (parents join in usually be the second verse when they hear the melody repeat).  I also have the words written out on a wall chart for the parents. 
3. We rock gently on the lonely moor and then bounce the cord higher during the windy verse and then rock gently again for the last sleepy verse.
4.  We put the cord away.
5. Our next (second) class we rock again singing the lullaby.  By this time everyone enjoys singing and rocking/bouncing/rocking.
6. I bring out the scarves and my wind whistle. 
7. The children usually are ready to change activity but the parents really enjoy sitting and rocking.  I ask the children to be the wind inside or outside the circle with their scarves while I blow my wind whistle.  It's a really beautiful sight and sound!
8. We sing the lullaby again, this time we have many things going on.  Some children are watching in the laps of their parents, some are "windy" and moving about, some are holding onto the bungy cord.  The parents generally know the song by now and we have a relaxing time together.
9. Clap and exclaim how beautiful it all was!  
10. Clean up!

We are developing:

• beat competence
• vestibular system
• imagination (bungy cord is the "briar", scarves are the "wind")
• social skills (comfort in group moving with other children, rocking with a large ensemble)
• musicality (responding with gentle rocking movements when music is gentle, more agitated movements when wind blows)

 

The Leprechauns are Marching Now, Hurrah! Hurrah!

This is a fun movement-based song.  I'm sharing it from a music & movement text/curriculum for non-specialists, written many years ago by moi.

 

The Leprechauns are Marching Now

Sung to the tune:  The ants go marching one by one...

Click here to access a site where piano plays the melody of this tune. 

Ages:  3-8 years, also great for family classes where parents and multiple ages of children are present.

The leprechauns are marching now! Hurrah! Hurrah!

The leprechauns are marching now! Hurrah! Hurrah!

The leprechauns are marching now

Everyone STOPS! (everyone freezes suddenly into statue shapes)

to see just how the leprechauns are going to move now...(whisper this last line and wait for someone to call out a movement idea)

Repeat the song with the new movement word

eg..."rolling"

The leprechauns are rolling now, hurrah! Hurrah!

The leprechauns are rolling now! Hurrah! Hurrah!

The leprechauns are rolling now

Everyone STOPS! (everyone freezes suddenly into statue shapes)

to see just how the leprechauns are going to move now...

 

This is a great warm-up song and of course, the tune is familiar to most adults and catchy for children.  It's a great way to celebrate St.Patrick's Day.

Enjoy!

Beat Competence: A Natural Ability or a Learned Skill? (post No.3)

If one of your students or your own child can not keep a beat, what do you do? 

I love learning strategies that support learners and one of the ways I support children to become more "beat competent" is with "floor work" or "tummy time".  I also do some other things...but I'll talk about those in another post. 

If this is of interest to you, I recommend reading some science-based research.

Science Supports This

Dr. Carla Hannaford, neurophysiologist and educator, has written a wonderful book called, "Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head".  I have this book listed here, on Susan's Bookshelf.  I highly recommend reading this, if you haven't already.  

I have several copies.  One for me and extras in my studio for the parents and any teaching colleagues to borrow.  It is packed with information about the emotional, physical, developmental underpinnings of learning.

Carla Hannaford suffered from a form of dyslexia growing up.  She attributed her disability to having missed certain developmental stages.  When her own daughter was going through the developmental stage of crawling, Carla describes how she was so concerned her daughter would miss the crawling stage (and suffer learning consequences) that she made her daughter crawl around while Carla crawled over-top the daughter to be sure enough time was spent actually crawling.

Ms. Hannaford knew her science/research and she was making sure her own child would go through the "readiness" developmental stages.   

Now, I haven't met her daughter so I have no idea if she was beat competent but what I love about that story is the mother's awareness that she could make a difference in her daughter's development and she took action to do this.

Obviously, I'm someone who believes learning to keep a beat is possible even if it appears that keeping a beat is impossible.  
I believe this because of the research I have read.  
I believe this because I have used physical "recovery" methods to nurture growth in this area.

I just love not giving up on a child!

Beat Competence: Natural Ability or Learned Skill? (post No.2)

The Surprise

My first instinct when I am working with a child who clearly can not keep a beat is to do something that is not obviously musical.

I want to have them immediately on their tummy.  

I call it "floor work" or "tummy time".

Parents and most teachers are surprised by this response. I know it's not obvious but I also know it's one of the ways to bring children to a place of readiness for keeping a beat.

I know that children who can not keep a beat have missed a piece in their development and that it is recoverable.  We just have to incorporate developmental movements as often as possible in class and in activities outside of class.

As I mentioned in my first post earlier this week about beat competence that I am not including children here with severe cognitive, physical, developmental challenges...those challenges require a more complex response.

Getting Ready

We slither and lizard around.

We crawl on all fours and roll on the ground.

We pull ourselves on the floor using just our hands and legs with the full weight of our bodies on our tummies.

I touch on some movement games in previous posts, and also in a 5-part blog posting about why we use movement in a music class.

All this crawling and slithering is physically demanding for children who "need" it.  They often resist it.  
Children who don't really "need" it, usually love games with these movements in them.  
Children who DO NEED it, complain and resist and generally try to get out of playing this way.

Interesting, no?!

Beat Competence: A natural ability or a learned skill? (post No.1)

Beat Competence

So...beat competence...it seems like such a natural thing, yet some kids/people just don't have it.  They just can't keep a beat. 

You know those kids...they seem to be happy, energetic, love to sing, enthusiastic, throw themselves into whatever musical expression they love and they just can NOT keep a beat.  

I feel it is spectacular!  Almost unbelievably spectacular!  wow...

I have trouble trying to intentionally NOT keep a beat and they can't keep a beat to save their lives.  

The Download

I've had students like this.  What I notice about the kids who have difficulty keeping a beat is that they usually did not attend baby music classes, not mine or any music classes. 

Those first 2 years seem to be the natural developmental period when beat competence is "downloaded" and "installed" in the body and they missed out.

Of course, there are children with obvious developmental, cognitive or physical challenges and while some of them are beat competent, we do not have the expectation they will be beat competent.  Those are not the children I am thinking of here.

Benefits of beat competence

I spent the first year of public school teaching as a learning assistance teacher.  I worked with kids (K- Gr.10) who couldn't read, couldn't do math, couldn't print, couldn't spell.

What I noticed (because I was also a music teacher) was that these kids all seemed to struggle with keeping a beat as well.

When compared to kids who ARE beat competent, kids who have trouble keeping the beat also seem to have challenges with:

• learning to work the scissors, 
• holding a pencil, 
• learning to print/handwrite, 
• skip with a skipping rope, 
• move through the space without smashing into other people and 
• some have trouble learning to read books.

If you are interested in beat competence from a practical perspective 

• can it be nurtured? 
• or is it one of those things handed out at birth?

then stay tuned because I'm going to write a few posts about this very topic. 

Presto! and Adagio...for children

Presto!

...it's not a magic trick

...presto is just the Italian musical term for fast.

Meet Presto Bunny...

Presto Bunny!

Presto Bunny!

She's fast!  She's quick!

She's oh so funny.

Yesterday, after meeting Presto Bunny (fingerpuppet) one of the kids actually said...

Let's run presto!  Let's do the running game and hit the drum! 

I suggested the Spiderman theme song music, they agreed and off we went!

I stood in the running pathway holding a drum out.  

The children hit the drum as they ran by.  

(It's an African dance class activity...and we all love it)

We've been hitting the drum for a few months now and the children are so accurate at hitting the drum as they run by,  they are

beginning to get some loft as they move thru the hit!  

It's absolutely thrilling for them and beautiful to watch!

When the running is complete it's time to bring out Adagio Bird.

Meet Adagio Bird...

Adagio Bird 

Is slow and sweet

Be gentle with him

Don't tangle his feet!

Because Adagio is a marionette, he must move slowly or his strings get tangled.

After Adagio meets the children and sits with them,

we all try to walk with Adagio using our own "Adagio Feet". 

This is quite a challenge.

We listen to Mozart's Piano Concerto #23, Adagio movement (check out yesterday's post to hear this beautiful adagio music)  moving with our adagio feet.

Of course, we all take turns holding the controls.  

What they don't know yet is I have a class set of Adagios and 

next week we will move as a flock of Adagios!  

In classes here at Musicalia the children move...a lot. 

I believe movement and language are connected 

and when we design activity that can incorporate both, 

very young children have a more integrated learning experience.