Over the past few weeks the 4-5 year-old classes have been exploring several different aspects of musical experience that I have written about previously. Now that they are getting used to working together as part of a group, I like to give them opportunities to lead and follow. Recently gingerbread men and women have lead their fellow cookies through the snow to a frozen pond (ice skating ensued…), and elephants have followed their leaders through the crowded city streets on their way to their jobs at the Big Apple Circus. I have written about these kinds of activities in a previous post which you can read here.
Also, we are continuing to explore musical elements related to pitch. This year I have found myself singing more to the children throughout the class, and encouraging sung responses from them. It is interesting to see the many different attitudes towards singing that have already taken hold in the children. Some are quite ready to sing anything: made up songs, their favorite songs, what they had for breakfast… To encourage those that may be more shy, I attempt to give opportunities where the entire group is making sound with their voice: perhaps the elephants can call out to each other, or maybe we can all wonder how a monkey would sing Frere Jacques. Previous posts address other ways I attempt to give them experience hearing pitch, register and scale, click here for more.
Got a question? Add your comment here. I’d love to hear from you!
Michael
December, 2013
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