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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Part I. From "Hush, Little Baby" to Yo-Yo Ma - Using Books, Apps and YouTube Videos to Introduce Legato and Staccato

Thank you, Edith Ortigoza, for this great drawing!

Hello everyone! Ms. Brigid here, from Merit School of Music in Chicago, IL. Though there is still snow in the ground in the Chicago area (will it ever melt?), spring is coming. Days are longer, and classroom energy is surging.

Spring also brings a heightened sense of time. In the autumn, the year stretches out forever. Everything is possible and doable. Suddenly, there are only a dozen more class sessions until the year’s end, and every moment, song or activity has to do double-duty!

Children delight in comparatives, and music educators constantly employ them as departure points. Susan Salidor, all around musical treasure and fellow Children’s Music Network member, rightly states, “…Early childhood music is all about high and low, fast and slow, and soft and loud.”

My kiddos are experts in the first two concepts, and have just finished internalizing the last – piano (soft) and forte (loud).

The youngest three year olds in class can tell anyone who cares to ask that these words are in “Italian, the language of music!” Students are able to sing and play instruments p and f, and expressively move to and (usually) identify a sound or piece of music as either forte or piano. It’s definitely time to move on to legato (smooth and connected) and staccato (short and separate). Are you ready? Grab your iPad and let’s go!

Part II - Tune in on April 18 to learn how to make flashcards on the iPad!

Please note: An iPad is not necessary for these activities – but it helps! The ease and flow of ideas presented below is made more possible by the use of an iPad. This amazing device switches from a music player to a whiteboard to a picture card/flashcard creator to an instruments of the orchestra app. Accessed YouTube videos are extraordinary portals to musical and cultural literacy. Louis Armstrong singing It’s a Wonderful World? Dave Brubeck playing Take Five? Pete Seeger whistling and singing Build a Road of Peace while playing his banjo? Done! Whatever you dream or want to present, you (probably) can through YouTube videos or apps!

Prepare – Present – Practice!

Explore lullabies. Ask children if they know what a lullaby is, and if anyone has ever sung a lullaby to them. This is an opportunity for many wonderful stories to be shared by your children and /or families.

Discuss how to sing a lullaby. Do we sing a lullaby piano (soft) or forte (loud)?

Compare and contrast. What would happen if you sung a lullaby forte (loudly)? Try it out. This connects with previous learning – and is also great fun!

Introduce Hush Little Baby. Since this is the most well known American lullaby (!), many of the children and adults in the classroom have some familiarity and will sing right away.

If that mockingbird don't sing, Papa's going to buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns brass, Papa's going to buy you a looking glass...

I start by asking everyone to echo my singing line by line. As soon as the class is familiar with the song’s pattern, I default to rhythmically speaking, or chanting, the next phrase. This cues the rhyme, then we all sing the verse together. Teaching tip: Gently rock side to side to establish the beat while singing the song.

Sing the song with a songbook. Marla Frazee’s version is recommended.

Illustrations ©1999 by Marla Frazee

· Sing the book to the children. Model singing in a legato style.

· Ask students, “What did you notice about my voice when I was singing?

· Tell children, When notes are smooth and connected, it is called legato. On sheet music, legato looks like a black arc or rainbow. Ask students to make one with their hands. NOTE: Depending on your class, include or omit information about sheet music.

· Ask children to echo the first few pages of Hush, Little Baby, singing legato.

· Tell students you’re going to sing another way, with notes that are short and separate. Model singing the next page staccato. Ask children to echo a few pages singing staccato. Tell children, When notes are short and separate, it is called staccato. Staccato looks like a little dot underneath a note. Ask students to make staccato dots in the air with their hands.

· Ask children what language staccato/legato is in. (Italian, the language of music!)

· Discuss with children, “Which way do you think the book should be sung? Which way do you like it better?”

· Sing the song, drawing legato rainbows in the air for each phrase.

Relish the book illustrations.

Illustrations ©1999 by Marla Frazee

Slowly look at the first few pages of the book, and ask the children what is happening in the illustrations. For many of the children, it’s a familiar story: There's a new baby in the house, and the parents are paying more attention to the baby than to the big sister. Big sister gets mad, and rocks the cradle roughly. The baby wakes up, and starts crying - not stopping until the end of the book!

Teaching tip: I live in Illinois, and tell the children that a hundred years ago, many people in our state lived in log cabins. Illustrations are richly detailed, enough so, that compare/contrast opportunities abound. Another bonus: Text is written in a large, clear font on the bottom of the pages.

Explore vocabulary. The song lyrics are full of interesting vocabulary. What is a looking glass* and why should a ring turn brass? Is your dog named Rover? Does a mocking bird live in our parks and wild areas? Not in Chicago! Though the book's illustrations provide useful visual cues, I’ve found that picture cards can further strengthen understanding. I now make them for all the rhyming words in the song. *NOTE: Magnifiers are commonly present in early childhood classroom, and children often say a looking glass is a magnifier.

Hush, little baby, don't say a ... Papa' s gonna buy you a ...

Part II - Tune in April 18 to learn how to make picture cards on the iPad!

Listen to comparative recordings.

Since I see my classes only once a week, concepts are explored and reinforced over multiple sessions. Once my students are comfortable with singing Hush Little Baby, we listen to other versions of the song, both vocal and instrumental, to encourage dialogue and provide exposure to different styles, sounds and artists. How many recordings do we listen to each session? Just a few, so our listening stays focused, then we compare/contrast each one to the way we sing the song in class.

Questions for guided listening: What instruments did you hear?

Was anyone singing?

Who? (Woman, man, child, group) Was the music fast or slow?

How did it make you feel?

What kind of brain pictures did you get?

Favorites comparative listening examples for Hush Little Baby: *

*CD titles are linked to sites where you can listen to song excerpts.

1) Michael Silverman – piano Canon in D

2) Doug Walker – steel drums CaribbeanKids Collection, V.1

3) Marcy Marxer –voice & guitar, minor Jump Children

4) Karen Banks-Lubicz – voice & guitar, minor Karen for Kids

5) Karen Banks-Lubicz – voice & guitar, major Wiggleworms Love You-

6) CD and Book – Children’s Choir Sing Through the Day

7) Kathy Reid Naiman – voice & guitar, major Zoom Zoom Cuddle and Croon

8) Hush Little Baby – strings, voice. Hush

Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin

Would You Like to Meet Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin?

I save the Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin recording (#8) for last. After playing an excerpt, I ask, “Would you like to meet the musicians you’re listening to?” “Yes!” is always the answer, and YouTube and the Watchlater app make it happen.

WatchLater is a video player and downloader, useful when Internet connectivity is an issue. Even if you have Wi-Fi and YouTube access at your school, this is a timesaver. No more searching or fussing with ads and download times! The video is always at your fingertips, ready to play.

Getting starting: Download Watchlater, or a similar video-downloading app. Watchlater requires that you create an account and password.

1. Open the app. Press on “+ Add Video.”

2. In the search bubble, type what you’re looking for. Inserting the URL also works.

3. A video thumbnail appears, with an arrow bubble pointing downwards.

4. Press the arrow bubble. The video will start downloading.

5. When the video has completed downloading, a “√” will appear in the bubble, and the word “saved” will appear underneath.

6. Notice the pencil symbol at the top.

7. When it is selected, a small circle appears next to each saved video.

8. Select videos to delete, move or share.

9. Voila! Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin!

Meet the Orchestra

The musical collaboration between Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma invariably delights my students, and class discussion leads naturally to questions about the instruments played, in this case, the String Family of the Orchestra. Of course, there's an app for that, and it will be the first thing we look at in Part II!

Join me on April 18 for Part II - Staccato & Legato. An American play party game, St. Saens, and a magnificent orchestra app will be part of the fun. Until then, happy singing!

And in the end...how did I use the iPads in the activities and blog creation, anyhow?

Created flashcards and picture cards, music player for listening comparatives, whiteboard demonstration - legato and staccato, YouTube video download via the Watchlater app, Screenshots of CD covers and app icons, and more!

I am continually inspired by the Children’s Music Network (CMN) community. an international group of socially conscious musicians, educators, librarians, families, songwriters and good people, who “celebrate the positive power of music in the lives of children by sharing songs, exchanging ideas, and creating community.” Please visit CMN, and find a gathering in your region.