Music Workshop
It is never too early to introduce music to children, and it is never too late to start (Reid, 2006).
This first music workshop reminded me of how much I really enjoyed music in primary school. I went to primary school in a country called Botswana in the Southern part of Africa. My primary school was very enthusiastic about music and I remember every week, I attended every single musical extra-curricular activity the school provided. Recorders, marimbas and choir. Then on my more 'flexible' afternoons I would have private piano, flute and violin lessons. Funny enough, I loved school activities but the private lessons I would dread.
This first music workshop reminded me of how much I really enjoyed music in primary school. I went to primary school in a country called Botswana in the Southern part of Africa. My primary school was very enthusiastic about music and I remember every week, I attended every single musical extra-curricular activity the school provided. Recorders, marimbas and choir. Then on my more 'flexible' afternoons I would have private piano, flute and violin lessons. Funny enough, I loved school activities but the private lessons I would dread.
This got me thinking to the reason why I enjoyed school music but dislike private lessons. Now that I think about it, I believe that it was because at school I had more reasons to be engaged. I was given the opportunity to 'try things out' and always had friends who would giggle at silly mistakes but we would help each other when in need. Whereas the purpose of the private lessons were to complete the music grading examinations, nobody was there to have fun with and every mistake would be an extra round of practice for homework. This workshop gave me ideas on how to keep the class engaged so that my future students will enjoy music as much as I did.
The main part of this workshop that I enjoyed the most was the part-by-part joint performance of Purcell Canon using various xylophones and met allophones. I think performance is about sharing and music itself is sharing as well. With a group, music needs to be played in synchronisation and this raises awareness of others and only if the proportions are equally played within the group, the sharing with another audience will go well (Reid, 2006).
Allocating small groups to a specific part of the whole song is a good strategy to ensure that all students try to perform as a whole group rather than trying to progress by themselves. This strategy ensures the children are listening to their own playing of instrument but as Reid (2006) states, their listening skills will be enhanced as they need to be aware of the rest of the class to make sure where to fit in a play their part. Working in small groups also allowed students who were more capable of playing to help those who were struggling. After the allocated parts had been practised, specific combinations of parts were to be practiced until the whole class could play their parts together and perform Purcell Canon.
With this idea, I am eager to try 'break down' pieces of music into parts to practice and perform together with my future class!
Allocating small groups to a specific part of the whole song is a good strategy to ensure that all students try to perform as a whole group rather than trying to progress by themselves. This strategy ensures the children are listening to their own playing of instrument but as Reid (2006) states, their listening skills will be enhanced as they need to be aware of the rest of the class to make sure where to fit in a play their part. Working in small groups also allowed students who were more capable of playing to help those who were struggling. After the allocated parts had been practised, specific combinations of parts were to be practiced until the whole class could play their parts together and perform Purcell Canon.
With this idea, I am eager to try 'break down' pieces of music into parts to practice and perform together with my future class!
Reference
- Reid, S. (2006). Introducing music to young children. A Fine FACTA, 7(1): 39-40.
- NSW DET. (2006). Creative Arts Syllabus K-6. Sydney: Author.
No comments:
Post a Comment