MUSIC
I have been having a blast teaching 5th/6th grade music! We spent the first few weeks of September doing name game “mixers” in order to facilitate us all getting acquainted with one another. We are exploring movement, playing instruments, singing and generally speaking, bringing forth joy!
We are diving straight into Halloween material in preparation for the October 27th night time event that takes place at Orchard School. The 5th/6th grade have been working on a spooky (and silly!) piece called “Knock,Knock.” The kids have learned the vocals to the song and are choosing to learn either the melody or the accompaniment on Orff instruments (the barred xylophones and metallophones). Those that are choosing to play accompaniment are creating their own “borduns” (repetitive patterns) that fit into 4 beat measures. Students choosing to learn the melody are picking it out by ear, translating the vocal melody onto the Orff instruments. Students are learning about the difference between a major and minor sounding key and what elements go into creating a major chord vs. minor chord. I look forward to honing their musicality and ability to discern the subtle nuances of music. We have been exploring the concept of “crescendo” (getting gradually louder in the piece) as well as how to go about accenting certain points in time. Our goal is to create an arrangement of the piece that can be performed at the nighttime event.
We are also learning Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance. The students in this class are very adept movers and I am so excited about this! Movement is a big part of what we do in music class, as it is simply an extension of music - phrasing, counting, and expression embodied.
I am looking forward to the kids continuing to explore their singing voices, composing, dancing and playing a variety arrangements on the Orff instruments. Please come and visit our class anytime you’d like to! We always welcome visitors.
Elemental music is never just music. It's bound up with movement, dance and speech, and so it is a form of music in which one must participate, in which one is involved not as a listener but as a co-performer. --Carl Orff