Phrasing

A phrase can best be described as a musical sentence. Phrases can be long, extending over many bars, or as short as a few beats. Just like a spoken sentence, phrases are often separated by a breath, or at least the sense of one. The ends of musical phrases can imply the punctuation of a written one: commas, periods, question marks, exclamation marks can all be heard in music. Musicians who play with a good sense of phrasing communicate a feeling of beginning, middle and end to each phrase they play.

These concepts may be challenging to explain in words to a four-year-old, but children can easily experience phrasing in movement. At first, they are given musical or dramatic cues to encourage them to stop – something they are not always inclined to do on their own. Imagery can also play a role: the prowling cat pauses to sniff the air; the farmer has to stop milking the cow to wipe the sweat off his brow.

Anyone who has seen a room full of children galloping with complete abandon can verify that the image of a horse and rider is very powerful for young children. We ride to galloping songs such as “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain”. They practice pulling the reins to stop the animal, which draws their attention to moments in the song when the horse pauses. After a while, astute groups begin to notice when the horse galloped for a long time as opposed to a short time (the third phrase). We can also apply the concept to a song called “Who Stole My Chickens and My Hens”, a short, catchy tune depicting a very suspicious farmer. In this song, rests of varying lengths separate the phrases. While the children sing they walk around. During the rests, they pause to look for their lost chickens. As the year goes on, they can have many opportunities to initiate, continue and stop movements on their own, the very definition of a phrase. 

A more challenging exercise asks the students to stand in their own spaces, while one student delivers a ball to another during a phrase of a song. Many skills are required here, not the least of which is standing still until it is your turn to move with the ball! To perform this well, students must have a clear sense of the arc of each phrase, since they have to decide whether to walk to someone near or far depending on the length of the phrase.  For five and six-year-olds I use an Irish lullaby called “Cucanandy”, which has a short-short-long pattern of phrasing. Younger children can pair up with an adult and press hands at every sung ‘O’ in this song, since every phrase ends with this vowel. Better yet, they can make the shape of the ‘O’ with their partner at the appropriate moment. 

I have also used the ‘Cuckoo’ movement from Saint Seans’s Carnival of the Animals to illustrate phrasing. In this short ,magical piece, a cuckoo calls out at the end of each phrase. We walk quietly through the forest, stopping to point out near and distant birds as we go. The phrases are irregular and so it requires intent listening, but children are drawn into the hushed, enchanted forest Saint-Saëns has created. 

Besides having their attention drawn to one of the most pleasurable aspects of music, the work has obvious application to instrumental work. The Dalcroze work allows the students to experience on a large canvas what must eventually be made small.