Week 12, Music.

Music Workshop

This week's music workshop was on singing. These days, it is quite difficult to find good and appropriate music that children enjoy (That is not Disney). We were introduced to a couple of suitable and fun resources to use with students in primary school. I think in the future, if I am given the opportunity to take responsibility over music in my classroom, it is important that I have a good list of resources that are usable with children.

The activity which I enjoyed most in this workshop was singing 'Wet Day Blues' with the class. Especially with younger students, using simple, repetitive songs are best. Also, a good teaching tip I learnt in this session is that we should try give various students specific parts of a song rather than getting the whole class to sing the whole song through together. For students to enjoy music, they need to have a personal interest and need to be engaged by it (Reid, 2006). Singing the whole song from start to end with the whole class is quite disengaging and students are more susceptible to 'zone out'. Also, music is not only about sharing to another audience, but it should also be about sharing with those who are performing together (Reid, 2006). By providing students different parts, they will be listening to each other, concentrating on the sound of others and their own which is a core part in sharing with each other.

To practice a part with harmonisation, it is important to let groups have sufficient time to practice so that they can sing their part without being confused by other parts when sung together. I learnt that if a song has catchy lyrics which you can put small dance movements to, the children will learn the lyrics faster as the movement recalls the lyrics to their memory!

Kenney (2011) outlines the 'Seven steps for developing successful singing and listening habits' which from a pre-service teacher's perspective, I found quite interesting.
- Step 1: Energise and align the body
Move the body so that one is 'activated'. Fix body into a tall posture. This is to prepare the body for singing and get them focused.
- Step 2: Love the breath
Sit or stand tall. Bring oxygen to each part of the body and enhance correct posture.
- Step 3: Play with the voice.
Imitate sounds, be expressive. Feel the vibrations of the voice in high and low pitches. Experiment and listen.
- Step 4: Sing one pitch.
Sing one pitch to another in a 'sliding motion'. Listening to and feeling the difference in pitch.
- Step 5: Sing two pitches.
Sing one pitch and progress to another. Enhance listening before imitating. Matching pitch.
- Step 6: Sing a short phrase.
Choose a simple song and sing a phrase, ensure to listen so that all pitch is correct. Listening and recalling the melody from memory.
- Step 7: Add words to the phrases.
Complicating the easy procedure. Enhances concentration. Combining different pitches, listening and matching pitches.

When I read this, I thought that it would be a good 'starting off point' for new primary school teachers that haven't had a singing-teaching experience. It is easy to make children repeat and copy everything you do, but I realised that to repeat, copy and imitate, students need to be able to listen and listen carefully to the changes that occur whilst singing.

Reference

• Reid, S. (2006). Introducing music to young children. A Fine FACTA, 7(1), 39-40.
• Kenney, S. (2011). Teaching young children how to sing: One school's experience. General Music Today, 24(2), 52-56.
• NSW DET. (2006). Creative Arts Syllabus K-6. Sydney: Author.