Texas Music Educators Association 2017 Clinic/Convention San Antonio, Texas 9-12 February 2017

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Texas Music Educators Association 2017 Clinic/Convention San Antonio, Texas 9-12 February 2017 Sticking it to the Beat: Singing with Bars and Unpitched Percussion Mícheál Houlahan and Philip Tacka

1 Texas Music Educators Association 2017 Clinic/Convention San Antonio, Texas 9-12 February 2017 Sticking it to the Beat: Singing with Bars and Unpitched Percussion Mícheál Houlahan and Philip Tacka Department of Music, Millersville University of Pennsylvania Kodály Certification Program Faculty, Texas State University With Rebecca Juarez and the students from Huebner Elementary School NEISD Join us on Facebook Houlahan & Tacka & Kodály Studies Contact Information for Workshops: Contact Kodály Certification Program Katherine Johns Excerpted from Kodály Today: A Cognitive Approach to Music Education, Kodály in the First Grade Classroom, Kodály in the Second Grade Classroom by Micheal Houlahan and Philip Tacka (Oxford University Press 2015). The copyright for the curriculum sequence and ideas in these handouts is property of Houlahan and Tacka. 1

2 Debka Hora Songs Sail Away Ladies Liza Jane 2

3 Improvisation Activities From Kodály Today: A Cognitive Approach to Music Education (New York: Oxford University Press) pages Aural Activities for Improvising Rhythms 1. Improvise a rhythmic ostinato to a song. A student can compose a rhythmic ostinato to a song. Initially these should be with simple two-beat ostinati. 1. Improvise a rhythmic ostinato using Orff instruments. 2. Improvise rhythms according to a given form 3. Question and Answer Improvisation a. Clap a four-beat rhythmic question to the student and he or she must respond by clapping back a four-beat answer. b. Students may do this exercise without naming any of the rhythms. Later, the students can clap their answer and say rhythm syllables. Question and answer conversations can continue as a chain around the class. 4. First and Second Endings a. After working with question and answer rhythms, the instructor may move to songs having first and second endings. The instructor or student performs the rhythm through the first ending, and another student performs the repeat of the rhythm but improvises a second ending. This type of activity involves memory development along with the improvisation. 5. Creating a New Rhythmic Composition Based on a Form Provided by the Instructor. a. The instructor provides students with an A phrase (question) that is four beats long and asks students to improvise a B phrase (answer). This may be turned into a larger improvisation exercise using the form ABAC. b. The instructor may specify a longer composition, an AABA composition. 3

4 c. This could be performed as a group activity or could be performed by an individual student. This exercise should be based on song material the class is studying. 6. Four volunteers are each given a letter of the form AABA. Each student will improvise four beats; the instructor may provide the tempo. 7. Improvise short rhythmic canons. 8. Given a rhythmic skeleton, the students add more complex rhythms and without changing the length of the phrase. 9. Sing a known melody in a different meter Visual Activities for Improvising Rhythm 1. Improvising a New Ending or a New Measure a. Put an easy rhythm on the board and erase one measure. Have a student perform the rhythm and improvise the rhythm of the missing measure. b. The instructor writes the rhythm of that song on the board but erases the last two measures. c. Individual students may clap the rhythm while saying the rhythm syllables and improvise the final two measures. 2. Fill-in Improvisation a. Place a series of four flash cards on the board. b. Three of the flash cards have a rhythm written on them; the third card is blank. c. Ask student to clap flash cards one, two, and four while an individual student improvises a four-beat rhythm pattern for flash card three. (When beginning this activity, consider putting four beats on the third card and ask them to change only one beat.) 3. Improvising To A Given Form a. Once students can identify quarter and eighth notes, the instructor can move on to improvisation activities that deal with form. b. The instructor writes a rhythm on the board. Students clap the rhythm. c. The instructor names the phrases A and B. d. Erase the B phrase. e. Ask how many beats are in the A phrase. f. Ask how many beats should be in the B phrase. g. Suggest repeating the A phrase for phrase 3. The instructor or a student may write it on the board. h. Ask individual students to improvise a new B line and write it. Have the class repeat lines 2 and 4 clapping the new rhythm and saying rhythm syllables. i. If the letter names A and B seem to be too abstract for the students, use pictures of fruits such as apples and bananas instead of letters. j. After this exercise use a similar procedure to work with A B A B form. Improvising Melodies Activities that involve improvising melodic elements can be more demanding then rhythmic improvisation. Again there are three types of improvisation: Kinesthetic, Aural and Visual. Kinesthetic Activities for Improvising Melodies 4

5 1. Improvise new motions to a song. In the song, That s a Mighty Pretty Motion, a student may select a motion for the class to imitate such as clapping, jumping, patting, tapping and so on. 2. Improvise new motions that fit the melodic form for the song. For example, the students may sing Hot Cross Buns while walking in a circle; they walk clockwise for the A phrases and counter-clockwise for the B phrases. 3. Perform a body canon using finger snaps or hand claps in a four-beat pattern as you sing a song. One student leads and the class follows. 4. In primary grades use the song Snail Snail and improvise motions for the snail. Consider substituting the word cat or squirrel for snail and improvise appropriate motions. Aural Activities for Improvising Melodies 1. Improvising Text. Students may improvise words with simple melodies. For example, the instructor may sing a question to the student using the notes so mi, and the student improvises an answer using the same notes. 2. Substitute Text. Consider the song Teddy Bear. Ask the students to substitute words for Teddy Bear like Buzzing Bee or Kitty Cat. 3. Improvise a melodic ostinato to accompany pentatonic songs. Ask students to improvise a melodic ostinato to a known pentatonic melody. It is important for the instructor to limit the number of solfège syllables that students will improvise with. For example, students might begin to improvise with just two or three notes of the pentatonic scale. 4. A Chain Improvisation Game. a. Child one performs a four-beat melodic pattern made up of quarter notes. Another student performs this pattern but changes one beat. b. Child one performs a four-beat melodic pattern. Another student performs this pattern and adds another four-beat pattern. The next student child repeats the new patterns and adds his or her own. The game is played until someone makes a mistake. 5. Question and Answer. a. The instructor establishes the beat. Sing a four-beat melody, and the students respond with a different four-beat melody. b. Sing a pattern and ask the students to change one beat. (This can also be done visually and may be easier for some students.) c. As students become more proficient, the instructor lengthens the phrase and/or changes the tempo. This leads to the performance of melodic conversations. Question and answer conversations can continue as a chain around the class. Remember that it is best to begin the exercise using the following forms with the following ending notes. A ends on so A ends on do A ends on r B ends on do A ends on so B ends on do A ends on re B ends on do e. In the following exercises are from Zoltan Kodály. Kodály Choral Library: 333 Elementary Exercises. (London: Boosey & Hawkes) Nos. 261, 266, 271 and 272, the question ends of s and the answer ends on d. e. In the following exercises are from the Kodály Choral Library: 333 Elementary Exercises. Nos.240, 247, 250, 252, 253, 257, 258, and 260, the question ends of r and the answer ends on d. 5

6 6. First and Second Endings a. After working with question and answer melodies, the instructor may move to songs with first and second endings. b. The instructor or student performs a melody through the first ending, and another student performs the repeat of the melody but improvises a second ending. c. This type of activity develops musical memory as well as the ability to improvise. 7. The students improvise a melody using the retrograde of a given pattern: do mi so la in retrograde is la so mi do. These particular solfège patterns are found in the song Rocky Mountain. 8. When presented with a melody, the students improvise a sequence based on this melody. The instructor should set the parameters.. In the following example, the instructor may sing the first and third measure and a student could sing the second and fourth measure following the sequence singing a step down. Visual Activities for Improvising Melodies 1. Fill-in a Four-Beat Pattern. a. Improvising with solfège notes. Write a rhythmic pattern on the board and put solfège syllables under certain rhythms. The student has the choice of filling in the missing rhythms with solfège.. b. A student may sing the melody but improvise in the blank measure. The instructor may provide the rhythm. It is best to begin with a very simple rhythm before moving on to more complex ones. Write a simple melody on the board but leave one measure blank. Have a student sing the melody but improvise the blank measure. The rhythm for this measure may be improvised by the student or specified by the instructor. c. Begin with a very simple rhythm before moving on to more complex structures. 2. Students may arrange cards with rhythms and melodies to create a new song. 3. Improvising a Melody to a Given Rhythmic Pattern. Have a student improvise solfège syllables to a given rhythmic pattern. 4. Place a series of four flash cards on the board. a. Three of the flash cards have a rhythm and solfège syllables written on them while the fourth one has only a rhythm written on the card. b. Ask a student to sing the flash cards with hand signs and improvise a new melody for the flash card with only the rhythm written on it. 5. Students may improvise a melody to a given scale. 6. Improvisation with Form. Improvise using the form of a composition. Hot Cross Buns is in A A B A form. A student may sing the A sections of this song but improvise the B section. 7. Flash Cards. Cards with rhythmic and melodic patterns may be arranged by the students to create a new song. 8. Improvise a Melodic Ostinato to a Given Melody. a. Sing a song with a melodic ostinato. b. Each student may improvise a new ostinato for the folk song. Ask several students to perform their ostinato together while singing the song. 9. Present the notation of a known melody on the staff but some of the measures are missing rhythms and notes. Students must complete the missing notation for the unknown melody. 6

10. Students perform a known melody in a different meter. 11. Students improvise a new melody to a given form. 12. Students improvise a new melody to a given text.

7 10. Students perform a known melody in a different meter. 11. Students improvise a new melody to a given form. 12. Students improvise a new melody to a given text. Lesson Plan from Houlahan and Tacka Kodály in the Fourth Grade Classroom pages This is the third lesson plan in our series of five. During the second half of the third lesson in each series of five lessons, students practice the previously learned musical element through IMPROVISATION. We are including this complete lesson in our handout. Check out the second half of the lesson and note how we delineate the improvisation activity. Grade 4: Dotted Quarter and Eighth Note, Lesson 3 Outcome Warm Up Sing Known Songs Preparation: Create a visual representation of two sounds distributed over two beats, the second sound occurring after the second beat. Practice: Improvisation activity based on the la pentatonic scale. INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES Body Warm Up Beat Activity Jamaican Rhumba (Arthur Benjamin, ) Breathing: Students practice blowing a balloon and watch how air is released when deflating the balloon Resonance: Explore a cow sound using a low and high voice. Make sure that the students are inhaling and exhaling correctly with the support muscles. Posture: Remind students of the correct posture for singing Hill and Gully Rider CSP: B S sing the song and create a rhythmic accompaniment Ø S continue their accompaniment into the next song Hungarian Canon CSP: E S sing the song 7

8 S sing in canon (up to four parts if possible) Develop Tuneful Singing Tone Production Diction Expression Weavily Wheat CSP: B S sing the song Sing the song with a koo syllable S sing the song in four-part canon S sing the song with different dynamics Kodály Choral Library Let Us Sing Correctly: No. 39 Review Known Songs and Rhythmic Elements Teach a New Song Develop Knowledge of Music Literacy Concepts Create a Representation of What You Hear Cock Robin CSP: B S sing the song in canon S sing the song with solfège syllables reading from T hand signs T sings each phrases of Weevily Wheat, Riding in a Buggy,Come Thru N a Hurry and Hill and Gully Rider; S echo sing each phrase singing with rhythm syllables while tapping the beat. CORE ACTIVITIES Redbirds and Blackbirds CSP: B S identify the number of phrases S sing phrases one and two, T sings three and four. Switch Liza Jane CSP: F# S sing the song while continuing the ostinato S sing the song in canon after four beats Review kinesthetic and aural awareness activities T sings target phrase on loo while S pat the beat. T: Use the unifix cubes to create a picture of what you heard. S work with partners to create a visual of the target phase. S sing and point to their representations T selects an individual to draw their representation on the board T and S label all known elements 2$sdsd\sdq\aqa\w\ sdsd\sdq\aqa\w\ \qq\aqa\w\ \qq\aqa\w Ø S sing Liza Jane with all known elements as T sings Rabbit and Possum as a partner song Creative Movement Practice Music Performance and Literacy Skills Rabbit and Possum CSP: D T sings the song and explains the rules of the game T sings while S play the game Land Of the Silver Birch CSP: D S sing the song 8

9 Improvisation S identify the tone set and scale of the song T sings the first phrase of the song and identifies it as the question phrase 2$qsd\sdq\qsd\qq l, l,l, mmm l, l,l, m m T sings phrase one again, altering the last phrase, and identifies it as the answer phrase 2$qsd\sdq\qsd\qq l, l,l, mmm l, l,l, l, l, T sings the question, S sing the answer T reveals another answer phrase (another modified version of phrase one) 2$qsd\sdq\qsd\qq l, l,l, mmm l, l,l, d l, T sings the question, S sing whichever answer T indicates T reveals another answer phrase (another modified version of phrase one) 2$qsd\sdq\qsd\qq l, l,l, mmm r dd l, l, T sings the question, S sing whichever answer T indicates T sings the question, individual S answer with whichever answer they choose. S may create their own answer by improvising pitches from the la pentatonic scale in the last four beats S play their improvisations on xylophones; the improvisations may be used to accompany any of their known minor songs Summary Activities Review Lesson Outcomes Review the New Song Redbirds and Blackbirds Please join our Facebook Group Houlahan & Tacka & Kodály Studies where we all share ideas, successes, activities, songs, programs, movement activities, and where we all feel comfortable asking for help and ideas to spark our own programs 9

Danville School District #118 Fine Arts Music Curriculum and Scope and Sequence Third Grade - First Quarter

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