I am always pleased when the old standards come out in my early childhood child/adult groups. I’m not talking Gershwin or Berlin here (though that would be great, too), I mean chestnuts like “The Eensy Weensy Spider” or “The Wheels on the Bus”—even if the adults seem somewhat embarrassed to be singing them. Yes, they are childish, but their melodic structures contain the DNA for so much music: tonic-dominant harmony; solid period-phrase structure found in even the most sophisticated of music.
They are classics for a reason: they fit young voices and little kids actually do like singing them. I know they also can develop obsessions with music intended for more mature audiences, but songs like “Let It Go” from Frozen that they are often encouraged to sing are wildly inappropriate for their age or vocal development. I get it: they hear it in the car; they love the movie; they begin to sing along. Their approximations are undeniably adorable, and some parents are simply allergic to anything that feels infantile. I understand this, but I wonder sometimes if it leads to acute self-consciousness at an early age, when they suddenly become aware that they don’t have Idina Menzel’s chops.
In my own teaching, I am constantly looking for new ways to counter this early self-consciouness. I like to end all of my child-adult classes with singing. As I’m getting to know them early in the year, I ask the pairs to sing a favorite song to their partner. I mean for this to go either way: adult to child or child to adult, but very often I see the adults prodding the children to sing something—anything. I walk around, listening in, hoping for something we can sing together. Every once in a while, a class comes in with a mental library of songs at the ready, and it is such a treat. But sometimes this request results in a staring contest. Many adults are terrified to sing to their children, and I think some children notice and internalize this.
The early childhood music education franchise Music Together seems to recognize this too, and I think they really get it right when they structure their classes around songs. I try to introduce new songs and then repeat them week after week so that we can build our own repertoire. I am allergic to “hello” and “goodbye” songs. (For no good reason—there are wonderful examples of both out there.) The closest I get is ending almost every class with Frere Jacques. It is a very adaptable tune to whatever the theme has been: dynamics, beat vs. rhythm patterns, tempo, legato vs. staccato…
It’s hard to do that with “Let it Go”. Young children are unconcerned with so many other things they are not particularly good at, but happily do anyway. Singing seems to be another matter. Once the kids are on their own at 4–5 years, many, if not most, are afraid—or at least reluctant—to sing by themselves. They have learned that singing can be done well or poorly. I call it ‘The American Idol Effect’: the idea that if you dare to sing something, it had better be good because someone will be judging you.
So here are a few basic activities I try in the first few weeks of children’s Dalcroze classes to set the tone, so to speak, about the singing voice.
The Singing Hand
Lie on the floor. When the ‘singing hand’ hovers over you, it causes you to hum any pitch. When it disappears, you stop. Variations:
- Anyone can have the singing hand.
- There can be multiple singing hands.
Pitch Press
Hum a tone, and I’ll try to match it. If it is a match, press your hands together. If not, keep them apart. (for younger children: if it is a match be still, if not, wiggle)
Vowel Sound Choir
Make the vowel sound you see (on any pitch): ‘ah’ ‘ee’ ‘oh’ ‘oo’, etc. The “choir” watches conductor. For older children, the vowel sounds can be written on the board. For younger, they can watch my mouth. Variations:
- multiple leaders
- create signals for louder/softer; start/stop; higher/lower; individuals or groups, etc.
The Sound of One Stick
I hold up a single rhythm stick or clave. “What instrument am I thinking of?” [I mimic violin playing.] “Right! Violin! What does it sound like?” Children make the sounds. Continue with trumpet, flute, guitar… Next week, flip the roles.
Play and Sing
Play the rhythm sticks (or any percussion instrument) and sing a song. Make up the song or sing one you know. (Now is the time for (part of) “Let it Go”.) If no one has a song, I ask them a sung question: “What did you have for breakfast?” etc. and require them to answer with their singing voice.
Sing Do When the Music Stops
Walk, run, skip, lunge, etc. with the music. When the music stops, you stop and sing “C” or “Do” or “1” or any selected pitch. Variations:
- sing the last pitch you heard
- sing to someone else
- sing your favorite color (or anything else)
Scale Yoga
I didn’t have my first yoga class till I was thirty years old, but all kids seem to know yoga these days. These are associations with classic yoga poses. Scale Degree 1 (SD1)= lie on the ground; SD2=cobra; SD3=cow; SD4=cat; SD5=dog; SD6=runner; SD7=touch toes; SD8=stand up hands together. They can sing the pose name or the numbers, the sound the animal makes or anything else you can imagine. This really belongs to a different teaching subject, the major scale. I include it here because kids seem to forget they are singing when they do it.
There are endless variations here: kids can lead; move and sing a simple song like Hot Cross Buns; follow my singing; move a phrase after I play it on the xylophone; invent your own series…
Bonus activities for grown-ups or older kids:
Move your voice
Make sound with your voice and move. Let your sound shape your movement, or let movement shape your sound. Variations:
- group or pairs watch a mover and make sound
- Listen to a sound maker and move (again whole group or pairs)
Sound sculptures
(In small groups) Choose an order. No. 1 moves into a position and hums a sound; No. 2 adds to the sculpture and hums another pitch; continue until everyone has contributed. Repeat. No. 2 starts. Variation:
- Sound Machines: the positions include repetitive movement and sound. Good for kids.
In Dalcroze pedagogy we often refer to the body as instrument. This single metaphor becomes a giant portal for musical discovery and a vehicle for the expression of the musical impulse. But the voice doesn’t need to represent anything.
It is quite literally our first instrument.
What are your favorite ways to invite students to make use of this profound gift?
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