The Role of Play in Socialization

According to Lew and Campbell (2005), "The musical play of children is a worldwide phenomenon...Play is an important medium for learning in young children's lives-wherever they may be. It assists them in their development of language and reasoning skills, and it fosters social competence and peer-group interaction." Below, I have included a video of a children's circle game filmed in Haiti. I have a small population of students in my school who have immigrated from Haiti. This circle game reminds me of many activities I do in my classroom. The students form a circle, someone in the center picks a student for a specific reason, then the new student is left to repeat the process. Circle games, such as this, are very important for child development no matter what song is being sung during the game. Students are forced to socialize with new students, use reasoning skills when determining who to pick, and then also building their musical skills by continuing the song during play. A goal for my classroom is to find a circle game from Haiti, such as the one in the video, to sing and play with my students. This would be a great way to connect my Haitian students to the rest of the student population, while also opening an opportunity to discuss life in Haiti.

Resource: Lew, J. C., & Campbell, P. S. (2005). Children's Natural and Necessary Musical Play: Global Context, Local Applications. Music Educators Journal, 91(5), 57-62. Retrieved November 24, 2017.

Title of Piece: Haitian schoolyard song and dance

Performers: school-aged children and adults

Culture of Origin: Haiti

Instrumentation: voice and body percussion

Creating World Music in the Classroom

Indian music played on the sitar is known for its underlying drone upon which the performer improvises. This drone concept can be easily reproduced in the classroom using guitars or, in my classroom, metallophones. To create a drone, I would have students play C and G together on the metallophone as a steady beat. The metal metallophone bar will ring and create a drone effect. Next, I would demonstrate how to improvise. I would start simple, by having students play only 8 quarter notes, but picking any bars they would like to play within a C pentatonic scale. I would remind them, when improvising you do not always have to change the pitch or bar, but you can play the same one twice. Using a C pentatonic scale will allow all improvisations to sound "good" without clashing tones in the ensemble. Then, we would further explore improvising by playing quarter notes and eighth notes. I would allow all students a turn to improvise over the drone. Although you may not have cultural specific instruments, you can always expose your students to musical concepts practiced in other cultures with the resources you do have within your classroom.

 

Title: Raag Khamaj

Performers: Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar, and others

Culture of Origin: India

Instrumentation: sitar and tablas

Authenticity in Music Classrooms

Authenticity in Music Classrooms

In Can't We Just Change the Words?, Koops (2010) discusses the importance of authenticity in the music classroom. She explains that music educators have a duty to their students to provide them with the most authentic examples of cultural music as possible. For example, "In order to understand and appreciate the Gambian music games, our students need to experience them as closely to the original context as possible. This means watching a video of Gabmian children playing the games, listening to a recording, learning the Mandinka words, playing along with the recording, and then learning to play on their own" (Koops 2010). This article immediately made me think of a Latin American song I teach my kindergarteners later in the school year, Los Pollitos.

Although the song is originally in Spanish with multiple verses, my textbook only provides the teacher with 1 verse in Spanish and with an English translation. I have always taught my students the original Spanish words and their translation, but I always have the students perform in Spanish. I have always noticed it is more difficult for students to learn the original Spanish verse; it takes them more time to learn the words and pronunciations, and it is more challenging for them to remember and sing the song on their own. To help them be more successful and to increase authenticity, it would be beneficial to play a recording of a native Spanish speaker for the students and find a recording of Spanish children singing the song. Both of these examples would help my students hear the correct pronunciation of the words and allow them to personally relate to the song. A song that is sung by children who speak English fluently and who speak Spanish fluently.

Reference: Koops, L.H. (2010). Can't We Just Change the Words?. Music Educators Journal, 97(1), 23-28. doi:10.1177/0027432110376892

Title: Lost Pollitos Dicen

Performer: Female Vocalist

Culture of Origin: Latin America

Instrumentation: Midi Instruments - Xylophone and Percussion Instruments

Title: Perdon a un Valiente

Performers: Ignacio Lopez Tarso

Culture of Origin: Mexico

Instrumentation: Mariachi Band

Improvisation is a scary topic to teach and learn. The feeling of freedom to play anything you choose can be a daunting task. However, improvisation is not as free as you would think. Although you have the ability to play what and how you choose, most improvised music follows a musical structure. The structure might be a melodic line, chord accompaniment, or a musical form. For example, when performing a Mexican Corridor, like above, the audience expects to hear a specific melodic line or accompaniment, but they also expect to hear a slightly different variation with each performance. Maybe when playing or teaching improvisation, the musician should focus on the musical structure they are changing, rather than concentrate on their freedom to play however they choose. This change of focus may make the topic of improvisation less scary to musicians.