Informances in the Music Room

Informances in the Music Room

This week has been a bit crazy, as I am not only rehearsing for my 3rd and 4th grade programs (which means I have 100+ kids at a time on risers, for close to an hour each day), I have also invited Kindergarten parents into my room for an "informance."

So what exactly is an "informance"? It is a way to inform parents of what a typical music class is like. It is similar to a performance in that there is an audience, but instead of rehearsing set pieces like you would for a program, students simply participate in music class. It is a great way to educate your school community about your music classroom!

So how did I do this? It is really pretty simple. At the beginning of the year, I make sure that the informances are on the school events calendar. A month or so before the informances, I send parents a letter telling them about the informance. Here is a sample of what I sent home:

Dear Parents,

The Kindergarteners have been busy this school year singing, chanting, playing instruments, and dancing in the music classroom! We would like to invite you to the Kindergarten informance, the week of January 28.

An informance is a chance for parents to see what a typical music class looks like. You are welcome to come during your child’s music time that week; parents can sit and watch the class in action.

Below are the times the informances will take place:

Monday, January 28:
Mrs. A’s M/W class: 2:30-3:05
Mrs. B’s M/W class: 3:05-3:40

Tuesday, January 29:
Mrs. A’s T/R class: 3:05-3:40

Thursday, January 31:
Mrs. C’s T/R class: 1:20-1:55

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope you can join us!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aileen Miracle


A couple weeks before the informance, I sent home a similar letter, reminding the parents again of the informance.

Prior to the informances, I also put together a program, explaining more about my classroom, and more about each activity we will do during that lesson. I would love to include the actual PDF of the program, but the person I bought the clip art from for the program is pretty particular about protecting the images, so I'll just describe the program and copy the text for you here.

I created the program in Publisher, so that it would print out on 8 1/2 by 11" paper double-sided, and could be folded in half. On the front, I have "Kindergarten Informance" typed, along with my name, the principal's name, the school, and the week (The border and clip art are adorable...wish I could share it!) On the inside of the program, I had an introduction, which read:

The purpose of an informance is to inform parents, friends, and community members about what exactly happens during a typical music class. Today, you will see me teach several different activities, all for different learning styles and concepts.

Zoltan Kodaly once said, “Teach music and singing at school in such a way that it is not a torture but a joy for the pupil; instill a thirst for finer music in him, a thirst which will last for a lifetime... Often a single experience will open the young soul to music for a whole lifetime. This experience cannot be left to chance; it is the duty of the school to provide it.”

It is my firm belief that music should be taught joyfully, with high expectations. Just as students can achieve literacy in the classroom, they can achieve musical literacy. In my music classroom, students often sing, dance, move, read, write, improvise, compose, and play instruments, all while experiencing the joy of music and improving their musical literacy. I hope to give you a glimpse of the wonderful things your child can do in music!

After this introduction, I described each activity, like so:

“Engine Engine”
Students know this chant very well. We use it to practice loud/quiet and fast/slow, to prepare steady beat, and to explore our voices. Today, we will say the chant like a baby is sleeping on the train (quiet) and like there is a party on the train (loud.)

“Here we are together”
At the beginning of each music class, after our first song or chant, we follow with “Here we are together.” We sing all the children’s names, welcoming them to music.

“Speak/ Sing Your Name”
We do this activity at the beginning of each music class. We start off using our speaking voices, then switch to singing voices. If students would like to sing a solo, they raise their hands and sing into the microphone. Although as an adult, it may seem daunting to sing a solo, the students are very accustomed to singing individually and rarely show signs of anxiety. By listening to children individually, I am able to assess their singing voices. Over the two and a half years I have taught the students at Cheshire, several have transformed from “non-singers” to singing beautifully!

“Engine Engine”
We’ll go back to “Engine Engine,” and look at loud/quiet and fast/slow pictures on the SMART board. We’ll perform the chant in those four different ways, and them combine (loud AND slow, fast AND quiet.) This is a bit more difficult!

“Apple Tree”
This is a song the students recently learned in their last lesson. We’ll review the song and then I will teach the game. The game is a great way to prepare beat, as students have to put the “feel of the music” in their feet!

“This is my speaking voice”
Students will explore their different voices (speaking, singing, squeaky, grumbly, quiet, and loud) with this fun activity. Then they have to figure out which voice I’m using! Then we will look at the SMART board, spin the spinner to see which voice comes up, and perform “Bee Bee” with that voice.

“Hands like this”
This is a really fun movement activity in which students have to move different parts of their body. It helps them focus on the drum, create their own movement, and develop balance skills.

“Cat goes fiddle-I –fee”
This is a fun book by Paul Galdone. The students will listen, sing as they are comfortable, and explore different animal sounds, which helps them find their singing voices.

“The Bunny Game”
This is one of the students’ favorite activities! It helps them listen for high/low. At the beginning of the year, I spoke the whole story to students, but now they can do much of it without me saying a word! 

Interested in the bunny game?

Finally, after the description of the lesson, I listed the Kindergarten indicators we covered during the lesson.

The day of the first informance, I made sure I had chairs placed around the perimeter of the room. I put out about 15 chairs, and was surprised to see they were all filled...I even had to add a couple chairs! I first had the parents come in and sit down. I introduced myself, told them they'd see a normal music class, and then I led the kids in, chanting "Engine Engine."

During the lesson, I paused a few times to explain to the parents what we were doing, and how they might extend the activity at home. For example, during "Cat goes fiddle-I-fee," after students were making animal sounds, I explained that this was a great way for students to explore their voices. These are the small things parents might do with their children that could help them musically!

We had a few minutes at the end of the class after the "bunny game," so I had all parents and children make a big circle in the room. After the bunny game, I taught everyone a circle dance ("Irish Stew" from "Rhythmically Moving"; the children had already learned the moves but hadn't added music yet.) After teaching them the moves, I had them perform it with music! Then, those children with parents there could go hug their parent(s); those without could come hug me. :)

Parents seemed very excited to see their children in this environment. I heard lots of wonderful comments. In previous years, when I've done this, I've had parents express surprise. I think parents assume that music class is exactly what it was like when they were kids, and this is of course not true! Informances can truly inform parents, and build support for your classroom.

I know many Kodaly-inspired teachers who actually prefer informances to performances, as they don't like to take time away from their curriculum. Although I understand the frustrations of losing curriculum time, I think it's important that children also have performance opportunities during their elementary years. You might try informances with some grade levels, and performances with others. I was able to do this during the day; those parents who work at home could come into school, and many who work took some time off to come. Whether your parents can come may depend on the socio-economics of the school community. I know some teachers do informances in the evening. I personally like to save evenings for performances, but of course, do what's best for you and your community!

Any other ideas or thoughts about informances? Please comment below!

Who will be my valentine?

Who will be my valentine?

It's almost February, which means it's almost Valentine's Day! A month or so ago, I posted "Songs and Activities for Valentine's Day," and just realized that I didn't add one of my favorites. I thought I'd share that with you today.

The song is to the tune of "Bow Wow Wow." If you don't know "Bow Wow Wow," it goes like this:

This is a great song for quarter rest, as well as for "re." The students are so excited when they do the dance for the first time and flip around to find their new partners!

I learned the song "Who will be my valentine" my first year of teaching. It has the same melody and game as "Bow Wow Wow," but the lyrics are:

1, 2, 3,

Who will it be?

Who will be my valentine?

1, 2, 3!

4, 5, 6,

I'm in a fix!

Who will be my valentine?

4, 5, 6!

7, 8, 9,

Who's on the line? 

Who will be my valentine?

7, 8, 9!

Lots of fun, right? :) 

I added this song, as well as a slideshow with the lyrics, a rhythm slide, and two melody slides, to the "Songs and Activities for Valentine's Day." You can view it by clicking on the picture below.

Have fun singing and dancing with your students this week! I have Kindergarten informances this week, and will be posting about those within the next few days. :)

Double double this that

Double double this that

My second year of teaching, I worked with a wonderful P.E. teacher named Laura who enjoyed cross-curricular teaching. Through the curtain, I often heard students doing jump rope games and hand jives. One of my favorites I heard her do was "Double double this that."

You may have heard it before. It goes like this:

The hand jive goes like this, with a partner:

For “double,” hit both fists on partners’ fists.

For “this,” hit both hands on partners’ hands.

For “that,” hit back of both hands on back of partners’ hands.

All motions are to the beat.

At the time, I was still near Detroit (I lived in Michigan until I was 24.) Laura had the kids do the same chant, but with the words: 

Let's go, let's go, Red, Red,

Let's go, let's go, Wings, Wings,

Let's go Red, Let's go Wings,

Let's go, Let's go, Red Wings!

The chant could be changed to any team, or any word with four sounds. I've seen this as a chant from Chile, with the word "Mariposa," which is Spanish for butterfly. I've also seen it as "Chocolate" (pronounced Cho-co-la-tay, Spanish for chocolate.)

Last year, my second graders performed "Where the Wild Things Are," shown below (click to see it in my store):

 I had them perform the chant as "Chocolate" when the story spoke of Max being hungry, and then they made up other foods that had four sounds, like "fettucine" and "pepperoni."

This year, those same students, who are now third graders, are preparing their musical "B is for Buckeye" (more on that later.) We are performing the "Mariposa" chant as part of this program. Today, I had students brainstorm things that reminded them of Ohio that have four sounds. The class came up with a list, and one of them included Braxton Miller, who is the quarterback for Ohio State (people are CRAZY about their football here!) That would sound like this:

Braxton, Braxton, Mil, Mil,

Braxton, Braxton, ler, ler,

Braxton Mil, Braxton ler,

Braxton, Braxton Miller!

This chant could be used in so many ways, regardless of where you live or which team your students like! It's a great way to have students create, choosing their own lyrics.

Happy teaching!

Holiday Favorites

Holiday Favorites

This week, my students and I are in “singalong” mode, as we get ready for the holiday singalong on Friday afternoon (see this blog post with more information about putting together a singalong.) I thought I’d share some of my favorite activities and books for my winter holiday lessons.

·         “Feliz Navidad” book by Jose Feliciano and David Diaz: This is a beautiful picture book narrating the song “Feliz Navidad.” It appears to be out of print, but it can still be bought cheaply on Amazon and www.alibris.com(my favorite out-of-print children’s book website!)

I     I found it years ago at a book fair, so you might also find it in your school’s library. I’ve been using the same recording of the song by Chino Espinoza for years; you can find it on Itunes. Listening to it definitely gets me in the holiday mood! The beginning of the book has an interesting bit about Christmas traditions in Puerto Rico that you can read to your students.

·         Instruments with “Up on the housetop”: After singing this Christmas favorite, I have students listen to when I play instruments. Then, I play rhythm bells on “ho, ho, ho” and wood blocks or another wooden non-pitched instrument on “click, click, click.”. The students identify the words and instruments and then they get instruments to play. Easy but fun!

      

      Jingle Bell Dance: I found this dance on Pinterest and was very excited to use it with my 5th graders!

·        On "Dashing through the snow," they promenade their partners, then on "Bells on bobtail ring" they switch directions. Now that they know the dance, I plan on adapting the dance to Frank Sinatra's "Jingle Bells" (Who doesn't love that version? So fun!)

      Dreidel:After singing “S’vivon Sov Sov” or “When oh when” (a song I wrote about here) I have students make a circle around me and we play dreidel. I’ve played both with candy (the kids get one piece each after we play) and with pebbles. The kids really enjoy playing. I’m amazed by how many of them need practice spinning the dreidel! Maybe too much time playing video games and not enough time playing actual games? It’s also a good opportunity for younger students to practice their counting skills.

·         “The Sound of Kwanzaa”: This colorful book by Dimitrea Tokunbo and Lisa Cohen is a great introduction to Kwanzaa. 

       Afterwards, we discuss how many nights are in Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas, respectively. You can connect it to a Kwanzaa song or an African folk song.

·         Want some rhythmic practice while keeping in the spirit of the holidays? Check out my "Santa's Stuck" files for several rhythmic concepts:

      These are a great way to weave curriculum into the holidays, and to assess!

What are your favorite holiday ideas for the music room? Feel free to comment below, and Happy Holidays!

When oh when is the holiday coming?

When oh when is the holiday coming?

There are many teachers out there who absolutely love to integrate the seasons and holidays into their lesson plans. I must confess, I’m not exactly one of them. While I love the change of the seasons, and I love the holidays, I don’t usually do that many songs and activities that are dependent upon the time of the year. Part of this has to do with curriculum—depending on whether I had the students the year before (since I teach with another music teacher), I may be teaching ta and ti-ti to my first graders in December one year, and in another year it might be November or January. I don’t want to have to completely change my lessons around just because there is a holiday coming up.

I know, I’m a Grinch!

Another reason, though, is that I’ve had students in the past who, for religious reasons, can’t celebrate holidays. If I do a holiday song while that student is in class, he/she has to be dismissed to another location, or they have to have an independent assignment with headphones. So usually, I just don’t teach to the holidays. Until, that is, my singalong.

The holiday singalong at my school happens in the thirty minutes before their winter parties, the last day before break. I have done a singalong every year since I’ve been in this district, and it’s very fun! There’s nothing quite like the whole school community (including kids, teachers, parents, and grandparents) singing together.

Preparation of the students doesn't take too long--just the week of the singalong and the week before. Then, the afternoon of the singalong, the entire school comes down to the gymnasium. On the stage, I have a large screen on which I project a powerpoint with the lyrics to all of the songs. Some of the songs are accompanied (I either use CD accompaniments from the textbook series or play along on piano) and some of the songs we sing a cappella. We sing songs for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. This year, we will be singing:

Up on the housetop
Winter Fantasy (a partner song with “Jingle Bells”)
When oh When (a Hanukkah song—more info below!)
Frosty the Snowman
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Feliz Navidad
Jolly Old St. Nicholas
Che Che Kodaly (an African folk song for Kwanzaa, to celebrate African heritage)
S’vivon Sov Sov (a Hanukkah song)
We Wish You a Merry Christmas


“When oh when” is one of my favorites, and is definitely one of my students’ favorites. In fact, just recently, I had a student ask me not when we were going to sing “Jingle Bells” or “Rudolph,” but when we would sing “When oh When.” I learned this song from my friend Naomi Cohen, at a Jewish music workshop she presented for TRIKE. The song is below:





Second verse: When oh when...the one with dreidels spinning spin? Shouldn't it be...now that winter nips at my chin?

Third verse: When oh when...the one with gifts for me and you? Shouldn't it be...now that slush creeps into my shoe?

Fourth verse: When oh when...the one with latkes sizzling hot? Shouldn't it be...now that all my windows are shut?

The song was originally from a recording by Leah Abrams, recorded in Cedarhurst, NY by Tara Publications. (Update: It used to be available on oysongs.com, but now it's not there.)

There are many things I love about this song: the melody is enchanting, the riddle is fun, and let’s face it—it’s so much better than “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made you out of clay"!

On a side note, if your district or your local chapter is interested in learning more about Jewish music, I highly recommend Naomi! She has a rich knowledge of Jewish culture, songs, and dances, and is a joy! Her email address is nkcsings@yahoo.com.

What do you do for the holidays? Have you ever tried a singalong? Or are you thinking about trying it now?

Agenda for music lessons

Agenda for music lessons

Throughout my career, I've been on the board of several different music education organizations. Each board meeting is a great chance to see old friends, and help guide the future of the organization. At each board meeting, we receive an agenda of the items we will be discussing. During the meeting, I find myself looking occasionally at the agenda—seeing where we’ve been and what we still have left to discuss. Having this list calms me a bit; like many people, I enjoy knowing the direction of the meeting.

I bring this up as a comparison to the students in our classrooms. For years, I have left the “agenda” for the day’s lesson a mystery to students. I thought this was best, as it gave the students a chance to discover what would happen next instead of being told. But recently I entered into a discussion on Facebook about this very issue and it had me reconsidering my previous practices. (Note: If you are not part of the “Kodaly Educators” group, I highly recommend it!)

The question on Facebook was posted by my friend Naomi.. She asked if others had posted a list of the lesson’s activities and goals on the board. Many other Kodaly-inspired educators posted some really wonderful ideas and thoughts, including:

• A list on the board can be very helpful for students who like routine, especially those with autism.
• A general list can work, like “Sing and play!”, “Time to think,” “Let’s play a game!”, “Let’s write!”, “Relax and listen,” and “Goodbye song.”
• Icons of activities can also work.
• You can put a clip on the board as to which part of the lesson they are on, or write a check mark once you are done with that part of the lesson.
• If students aren’t listening well and you have to cut a game out of the lesson, they can visually see what they are missing out on!
• You could put up verbs on magnetic/ laminated strips such as “sing,” “improvise,” “play,” “conduct,” “dance,” “discover,” etc. At the end of class, you can invite students to move those words over to a part of the board that reads “Today in music we got to…”

A special thank you to Naomi Cohen, Susan Brumfield, Lynn Makrin, Kristen Bamberger, Cecile Johnson, Sandra Mathias, Stephanie Benischek, Heidi Brueggemann McIlroy, Susan Garrett, Vicki Ray Strode, Anita Swanson Gadberry, Jennifer Guenzel Kimock, Gretchen Liechty Lynch, Andrea Halverson Forsberg, and Keira Lynn for all of the wonderful ideas!

Since reading this conversation on Facebook, I created a SMART board file for each lesson which lists the songs/ activities as well as the “I can” statements. You could also post essential questions, if you are using them in that particular lesson. Since I don’t want them to know every single song in the lesson—as they sometimes have to identify a song by its melody or rhythm—I sometimes use phrases such as “mystery song,” “singing game,” or “play instruments.” I’ve noticed some of my students looking up at the board and processing what they are about to do, or what they have done. 

Here is a picture of one of my agendas:

I also had a conversation with some colleagues in my district about this issue. One of them mentioned choosing a “summarizer” at the end of music class to help explain what we did and/or what we learned that day in music. I worried that the students would rely too much on the list on the board to describe what we did that day, but have been pleasantly surprised. Sometimes the students say “we played the game for ‘Dance Josey,’” but then sometimes they give wonderful answers like “We learned that the time signature tells us how many beats are in each measure,” or “we created patterns in the do pentatonic scale.” It is then I know that students have truly synthesized the material, and like an agenda in a board meeting, they know where we’ve been and where we are going!

Here is an infographic to help summarize the how, why, and what!

Thanks to Dancing Crayon Designs and Kevin and Amanda for some of the graphics and fonts!

If you are looking for "I can" statements or essential questions to post, try these; both sets come with picture files that you can insert into Powerpoint or SMART notebook if you'd like.

     

Here is the editable powerpoint set I used to create the agenda above:

Do you post an agenda for each lesson? Feel free to comment below with your ideas!

The musical alphabet and treble clef

The musical alphabet and treble clef

Recently I had a colleague ask me how I practiced the musical alphabet and the treble clef with my students. I typed up some activities for her and thought I'd go ahead and post it to my blog.

First, here are some activities for helping students to get more comfortable with the musical alphabet (a special thank you to Joan Litman for many of these ideas!)

• Up and down the alphabet: Have the notes of the musical alphabet written on the board vertically. Start with A, end with G, and then write A again. The teacher points to the letters going up and down and the students say those letters (i.e. A B C D C B C D E F G A G F E, etc.)
• Ball game: Students say the letters of the musical alphabet as they pass a ball around the circle. When the teacher plays the hand drum, students switch the direction of the ball and the direction of the musical alphabet. For example, the students might say “A B C D,” and then the teacher plays the hand drum, and they’d switch the direction of the ball and say “C B A,” etc. In the next lesson, only the student who holds the ball says the letter.
• “You say a letter”: I’d love to cite a source for this, but I learned it in my student teaching and haven’t seen it since. The chant goes like this:

After the word “behind,” the teacher says a letter, like “B,” and then the students say the letter before, the original letter, and then the letter afterwards (A B C.) If the teacher says “O,” the class would respond “N O P” (while doing the motions pat/ clap/ snap.) After doing this a few times, students figure out what the teacher was doing, and then they offer other letters.

The next time students do this activity, we try it with the musical alphabet. So if a student offers “G,” students would respond with “F G A.” The students love this chant, and it’s a great way to get comfortable with the musical alphabet.

Her are some ideas for getting comfortable with the staff:

• By the time my students are learning the note letters on the treble clef staff in my classroom, they’ve worked with the staff quite a bit, labeling solfa. So they should be able to find the lines and spaces well. When preparing note names with the treble clef staff, I first start finding the lines on the staff. Then I show the treble clef, explain it is sometimes called the G clef because it crosses the G line four times, and I tell them about silly sentences for the lines. Examples include:
  • Every Good Boy Does Fine
  • Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
  • Elvis’ Guitar Broke Down Friday
  • Elephants Got Big Dirty Feet
  • Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips

The students find E, G, B, D, and F on the staff during that lesson.

• In the next lesson, we review the lines, and then find spaces. I explain that the space notes rhyme with space—F A C E. Again, the students find those notes on the staff (I use the SMART board for this, but you could you any board, having students place notes in certain spaces.)
• In the next lesson, students practice both lines and spaces. You could place notes on the staff and ask them which note it is, and/or tell students a note and have them place it on the staff.
• “Mad Minute”: I use this as a formative assessment to see how students are doing with note names. They get 60 seconds to fill out as many note names as they can. Once I’ve done quite a bit of practice, I do a “mad minute” for a summative assessment.
• SMART Board Files: There are plenty of great SMART notebook files to practice note letters! Check out the SMART exchange website for some great downloads (try searching "note names" or "treble clef.")
• Note name learning centers: I’ve enjoyed using learning centers in my room for the past two years With the learning centers, I had one group at the SMART board working with a note name file, another group playing a jumping game with a floor staff (first one to jump to B wins), another group figuring out how to play a song on the treble clef on their recorder, and another group figuring out how to play a song on the treble clef with barred instruments. During the jumping game, I pulled students who had trouble with the first mad minute so I could work with them individually. This was a great chance for intervention! Then during the next music class, I did the second mad minute for a summative assessment.
• I just bought the "Freddie the Frog" book, which I understand is a great book for treble clef practice. You can buy the first book in the series here: 

Any other ideas? Please post them below!

Ghost Melodies

Ghost Melodies

I'm always looking for ways to include vocal exploration in my lessons--especially with my younger students. Vocal exploration is a great way to help students find their head voices. One of my favorite vocal exploration activities is ghost melodies. For this, you can draw a ghost on the board, and then draw the sound the ghost makes, by drawing a small hill and a big hill, loops, or whatever you'd like. Then you have the students explore their voices by going from low to high for each hill, getting higher as the hills get higher. (If this is confusing, see the pictures below...hopefully it will make sense!)

I have uploaded my ghost melody file for the SMART board to the SMART board download section of my website: kodalycorner.weebly.com. You don't have to have a SMART board though--simply draw a ghost on the board and then the ghost's melody. You can change the activity depending on the time of year--leaf melodies for fall, snowflake melodies for winter, etc. After you've drawn a few melodies, students can come up and draw their own melody.

This year, I decided to extend this activity. EVERY kid wants a turn to draw their own melody, and sometimes there is just not enough time! So last week, I handed all of the students their own dry erase board, marker, and sock eraser, and had them draw their own ghosts, and then their own melodies. Then, on the count of 3, we all did our melodies together. It sounds chaotic but in a really wonderful way! Kids are exploring, creating, and having so much fun! Here are a few pics from one of my Kindergarten classes:

Check out the bats! So cute!

Love the ghost's stitches...looks very spooky! And his melody was fun to listen to as well! And one more...

This is a great activity for Halloween, but can be done any time of the year. The latest Ohio music standards for Kindergarten include "Create a visual representation of sound," and this is a great way to do just that!

Looking for more vocal exploration activities? Check out these sets:

      

What are your favorite ways to do vocal exploration? Feel free to comment below!

Guest Blog: How to write a song for a group

Guest Blog: How to write a song for a group

Today I welcome Julia Amisano, Founder of Grace Music Studio NY (www.gracemusicstudiony.com), as our guest blogger. Thank you Julia for your insight into writing songs!

About Grace Music Studio NY:

Grace Music Studio NY is a place where people come to take Brooklyn voice lessons, Brooklyn piano lessons and Brooklyn acting lessons, but also they come to be inspired. Every year, Brooklyn voice lesson and piano lesson students perform in February and June. It's inspiring when a person gets up and performs a piece they could not sing or play before. It's even more inspiring when they wrote the piece themselves!

Songwriting -Part of Julia's Mission:

When I opened the Studio in 1999 part of my mission was to change peoples' minds about music and what kind of people get to call themselves 'musicians'.  I believe everyone is a musician, and set out to prove it. How do you change someone's mind if they think they are not a musician? One of the quickest ways is to help them write a song. Since songwriting is a criteria that the outside world would use to deem someone a musician, the person's concept of themselves changes as they learn to write songs. My job, as a music teacher, is to teach them the skills needed to become great musicians and songwriting is a really fun skill.

Group Songs - What Qualifies for Grace MusicS tudio NY Recitals:

Whenever I am helping a voice lesson student or a piano lesson student write a song, I am listening to see if it has the potential to be the 'Group Number' at our next recital. All Brooklyn voice students and Brooklyn piano students perform a solo piece at our bi-annual recitals. At some point in the recital I like everyone to perform a song together; I call this piece the 'Group Number'. There are five criteria i use to determine whether or not a song will work for our 'Group Number'. The first is whether or not its appropriate for all ages. Currently at Grace Music Studio NY Brooklyn, about half our students are adults and half are children. In order for a song to qualify as a good candidate for our next 'Group Number' it has to be appropriate for adults and kids. The second criteria is it has to be positive. Grace Music Studio NY has a mission to inspire and for this reason, the 'Group Number' must have a positive message/moral, or be uplifting in some way. The last three criteria I use to determine whether or not a song would make a good 'Group Number' are 1. The key, 2. The range and 3. The Rhythm. The piece needs to be in C Major/A Minor, easily transposable, or in an easy key (not a lot of sharps and flats). I love for Brooklyn piano lesson students to accompany us so when it comes to the key, easy is better. The range needs to be within one octave or just outside it. With a mix of people singing (male and female, children and adults) a range a lot bigger than an octave sounds a bit unstable. The last criteria is rhythm. The rhythm also has to be easily felt and not too complicated. For example, if a songwriter writes a piece in 5/4, or the piece has a lot of syncopated passages, I'm not likely to use that for our 'Group Number'.

Group Songs- How to start:

All songwriting starts with an idea. It can be a melodic idea or just words or both.  When I am working with voice lesson students or piano lesson students who are children, I usually ask them to think of something positive, something they 'like'. When they respond with ideas that are too personal, for example: 'I love Transformers' or 'Hello Kitty', I ask them to think of positive things that everyone would like, even their parents. Sometimes I nudge them a bit by giving a bunch of examples like: Happiness, Safety, Peace, Smiling, Heaven, Beauty, Sunshine etc.. Usually this will help them to think of something. In the case of Grace Music Studio NY's  most recent 'Group Number', written by 10 year old Donovan, all I had to say was 'we need to say something positive, what should we write about Donovan?' He responded immediately with 'Peace and Love!!!'.

First Create 'Hook'/Chorus:

Once you have an idea or a theme, then you take what you've got and create whatever is missing. If you have words, create the melody. If you have a melody create the words. If you have neither a melody nor words (just a theme or idea), I suggest creating the words first (especially with kids). People are used to expressing themselves through words, so this is easier than asking them to create some music that sounds peaceful or happy or safe.

Create the Words for 'Hook'/Chorus:

Just start talking out loud about the theme or idea. Ask the student to do the same. Once they are talking, you are on your way. Have them keep talking about the theme until they come up with a phrase they like. Encourage them to keep their phrases short and simple. Give BIG praise for the discovery of the phrase they like most, this is, most likely the 'hook' (most memorable phrase) of your 'Hook' (most memorable part of the song - usually the chorus). Now create the other lines in the Chorus. There are many different ways to create a chorus, I like to use a simple three or four lines that somehow rhyme. So, once the student has written the first line, encourage them to come up with two or three more phrases that rhyme with the first and/or with each other.

Create the Melody for 'Hook'/Chorus:

Once you have the words, sometimes you can ask the student to just start improvising a melody until they find a melody they like. It's best for the teacher to encourage the student with every step.  I like to sing, what they have created, back to them and ask them if it is what they want. Always encourage the student to sing pitches within their talking range. Sometimes, my voice lesson or piano lesson students need more help. In this case, I start by saying the words with the student out loud and tapping my foot. All spoken word has rhythm, see if the student can keep a simple, steady beat while you speak the first phrase with them. Repeat the first phrase until the student feels the beat. Encourage the simplest rhythm inherent in the speech. Have the student start improvising a melody on la while you tap and speak the words out loud. Eventually a melodic pattern will emerge that the student likes. Have the student then teach you the melodic pattern. Keep guiding them toward simplicity. Now, switch roles; the student says the words and rhythm out loud and the teacher sings la. Once the melody is memorized by both student and teacher, both can start singing the melody with the words. Repeat this process for each line of the chorus encouraging them toward a feeling of finish (Cadence to the Tonic) at the end of each line or, at the last line of the chorus. With little kids, I suggest they create a couple of question phrases (these go up in melody at the end) and then an answer phrase for the last line (this goes down in melody to Tonic). Point out to them the feeling of 'finishing' when the melody goes back to Tonic. If the student is more advanced, this is a great time to

teach them about cadences.

Create the Verses:

Use the same method as above to create the verses to the 'Group Number'. The only difference is I use four lines or phrases for the Verse, instead of three. You can rhyme all the phrases at the end or every other phrase. At this point, I like to give the student some freedom to decide whether he/she would like the phrases to be question phrases (go up at the end) or answer phrases (go down at the end).  I typically like to create three verses with the students. So, start with one verse and write the lyrics and melody to that and then write words for another two verses. I like to introduce the idea that songs can be stories so, the next verse is the next part of the story.

Create the Bridge:

This is my favorite part because it can be completely different from the verse and chorus. I use the same method to help the voice lesson or piano lesson student write the Bridge with one added thing; I tell the student 'Ok, what else do you want to say about this subject?', and/or 'Is there an action we can suggest to our listeners?'. In Donovan's song, Peace and Love, the bridge says 'Maybe we can make a brighter world together, Maybe all we need to do is sing together'.

Structure: Put all the Pieces together:

Every song is different and a structure might emerge that is different from a typical structure, if it feels right, just go with that. If a structure doesn't emerge, just keep things simple. A format that is tried and true is one that has a Verse, then Chorus, then Verse, then Chorus, then Bridge, then Chorus, and one last Verse then two choruses. If your Bridge feels like it goes better with the chorus, then follow it with the chorus, if it feels like it's a bridge to the verse, then follow it with the verse. If it feels like it doesn't go with either, don't worry, some of the greatest songs have memorable departures and returns to the main material in the piece. If you need to, when you are creating the accompaniment, you can create a musical bridge to/from the Bridge with chords.

Last step: Create Accompaniment:

Now that you have the words, melody,  Chorus, Verses and Bridge, it's time to put it to music. The first thing to do is go to the instrument you are most comfortable with and figure out which pitches are your melody. Then just add the simplest chords you can think of and you're done! You're song is finished.

Teaching the song to a Group:

Once my student finishes their song, I teach it to everyone who is going to sing in the group. In each student's private voice lesson or piano lesson, I go through the song at least once or twice. I like to start teaching the song to everyone at least two months before our recital. Everyone learns the same melody, and Group songs are mostly sung in unison. Sometimes the songwriter wants to sing parts of the song solo (like the verses) and have the group sing the rest, I leave that up to the songwriter. If the songwriter is a child, I help them decide what they think will sound best. Because music students are creative, they will often come to me with a harmony or embellishment for the song. I also encourage students to think of harmonies, once they know the song pretty well. All harmonies and embellishments are subject to the songwriter's acceptance or rejection. The songwriter gets the last word. At the Grace Music Studio NY recital, I make sure I introduce the voice lesson student or piano lesson student who created the song to our audience. This kind of recognition is the very best encouragement you can give to any songwriter. That person, whether it is a child or an adult then thinks of him or herself as a musician. Mission accomplished!

For more information about Julia Amisano, Brooklyn voice lessons, Brooklyn piano lessons or Grace Music Studio NY, visit www.gracemusicstudiony.com

Check out the new DVD Julia has made on how to sing: Three Pillars of Singing can be found at www.gracemusicstudiony.com or http://howtosingeasily.com

AND, the workbook on how to write music for beginners: Music Theory Grade 1 on www.gracemusicstudiony.com and  http://readmusicseasily.com