MONTESSORI MUSIC Demystifying the Bells
INTRODUCTION Make up of our group My background History of Montessori music Don t be afraid! Reasons to include music in the Montessori classroom (even if you have a specialist)
CARE OF THE BELLS Care of the bells: use a damp cloth to clean do not use polish do not touch metal with fingers keep magnets away Using anything other than a damp cloth to clean, touching metal with fingers, etc., can alter the sound of the bell, making it useless for sensorial work.
BELL SET UP REGULAR BELL SET UP two green base boards with white and black rectangles eight white bells with matching brown bells white bells in the back these DO NOT move black and white spaces in the front at a height where children can play properly Facing a wall FULL BELL SET UP regular bell set up add five black bells and their matching brown bells
SENSORIAL BELL LESSONS How to Strike and Carry a Bell Matching Establishing Up and Down Grading High and Low Exercise Whole/Half Steps Tetrachord Name Lessons With Bells First Exercises in Composing by Ear MATERIALS NEEDED regular bell set up, 8 white disks w/letter note names, 5 whole step and 2 half step cards
SENSORIAL BELL EXERCISES How to carry and strike a bell Matching sensorial Establishing up and down Name lessons with bells Grading - Sensorial High and low exercise Whole steps/half steps First exercises in composing by ear Tetrachord
HOW TO STRIKE AND CARRY A BELL How to hold Support the base Hold the stem How to strike On the rim Swing the mallet
MATCHING Purpose is to develop discrimination of pitch and pitch memory Very similar to sound cylinders Use gestures rather than speech Start with 3 bells and work toward using all bells in regular set up
ESTABLISHING UP AND DOWN Why? conventional in western music that left is down Attach language of up and down to pitch
GRADING Again similar to sound cylinders Different from matching because the focus is on pitch prediction Requires familiarity with the major scale
HIGH AND LOW EXERCISE Follows Up and Down presentation Fun for the children to use body position to show high and low
WHOLE/HALF STEPS Attach symbol right away to emphasize space difference Later show half steps with full bell set up
TETRACHORD Demonstration lesson Child will NOT repeat activity
NAME LESSONS WITH THE BELLS Purpose to name pitches to identify students with perfect pitch Give names of notes verbally; only introduce disks later Similar to sandpaper letters (giving name to a sound)
NOTATION LESSONS Introduction to the Musical Staff Note Names on the Staff C Major Scale Cards Moveable alphabet of music Accidentals Written Composition Music Boards for bells and singing Scales MATERIALS NEEDED: (all materials for sensorial lessons plus) 5 black bells and their matching brown bells; marked and unmarked green staffs; 8 black disks marked with letters/numbers; 32 white disks with note names; C major scale control chart; C major scale matching cards, C major scale grading cards; 3 part C major scale cards; plain black disks; box containing stems, accidentals, & G clef; matching cards for accidentals; white music boards; scale cards; staff paper
NOTATION BELL EXERCISES Note names on the green boards Card work to reinforce notation on the green boards Sharps and Flats names and symbols Sharps and Flats on the green boards Composing - writing White music boards for singing and playing Card work to reinforce sharps and flats notation Naming Scales Writing Scales
INTRODUCTION TO THE MUSICAL STAFF 5 lines, but could go on forever Every line and space have a letter name and represent a tone Treble/G clef Go back to the material if you get confused
NOTE NAMES ON THE STAFF Marked Green Staff Unmarked Green Staff
C MAJOR SCALE CARDS Matching two sets of bell-sized note cards to match to bells and each other Grading skinny C major scale cards that match the C major scale control chart Description Cards similar to traditional 3 part cards
ACCIDENTALS Names and Symbols introduces the idea of sharps and flats using black disks with flats on one side and sharps on the other Notation uses unmarked green board, plain black disks and accidental pieces to learn conventions of notation Card Materials like C major scale matching cards, but denotes sharps and flats
SCALES Naming uses scale card examples and whole/half step cards Writing applies knowledge of scale patterns to writing
MOVEABLE ALPHABET OF MUSIC Uses the unmarked green staff and plain disks Just like the moveable alphabet, the child first writes what he hears, then reads what is written
MUSIC BOARDS FOR BELLS AND SINGING Requires familiarity with content of boards No emphasis on rhythm, only pitch Practice for recognizing note patterns