Tag: early childhood

Translating musical phenomena into verbal language can be tricky. Most adults are familiar with the use of the words high and low as applied to musical pitch. Specifically, these words refer to the frequency of the musical tone: higher tones have a more frequent wavelength than lower tones. When physicalizing these concepts, we take advantage of the spatial meanings of high and low, which refer to points in space. While adults may take this type of synesthesia (mapping one sense onto another) for granted, these concepts may be beyond the immediate intellectual grasp of young children. In the Dalcroze classroom, physical experiences can draw their attention to this elemental musical phenomenon. Almost immediately, they usually demonstrate awareness of high and low by making gestures that are physically high or low.

To further encourage this kind of perception, we might go apple picking. As they walk around the apple orchard, accented sounds in the upper register of the piano ask them to “pick” an apple from way up high in the tree. Accents in the lower register ask them to scoop apples up from the ground. This focuses their awareness on the general registers of the piano: high, middle and low.

We can then branch out from these large categories of pitch. From day one, we stand up as I sing the scale. Eventually, even if they are lying on the ground, I can simply play a harmonized scale and they will stand up.

For the minor scale, I enjoy using a poem called “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There,” set to the natural minor scale, as a way to apply the idea of scale to a dramatic situation. As the melody slowly ascends the minor scale (this is the version I sing; there are also old swing band renditions of this poem), a mystery unfolds.

For older children, we can dip our toes into scales other than major and minor. Using the xylophone, they are asked to choose a starting note other than C and climb up eight steps (as the song does). Each new starting point provides a different scale, known as a mode. If I accompany them on the piano, they can get a real taste of Lydian (F to F on the white notes) or Dorian (D to D on the white notes). Each one has a very different feeling, and I like to give children an aural experience of them, even if they are not quite ready to grasp the music theory. As they play up the new scale on the xylophone, the class shows the man “climbing up the stairs.”

• As I was walking
  • up the stairs I
    • met a man who
      • was not there. He
        • wasn’t there a-
          • gain today I
            • wish I wish he’d
              • go away…

(repeat descending…)

A primary focus areas in the beginning of the year is the subject of meter (with subtle differences this is also known as ‘measure’ and ‘time signature’). Meter can be defined as the grouping of beats into 2’s, 3’s and 4’s. (They can be larger, too!) Usually the first beat of the group is felt as a stressed or accented beat, and in the Dalcroze work we also recognize and explores the qualities of the other beats in the grouping (this subject is referred to as ‘measure shape’).

For children, I first look for ways to give them an experience of accent: squirrels jump from branch to branch, subway cars bounce, jack-in-the-boxes spring… These experiences lead to activities involving recurring patterns of accent, one of the hallmarks of meter. The 4-5 year-olds mostly work with groupings of two beats, but I often find myself stretching out to three and four with adept groups. A story of giant building a house gives them an opportunity to chop down trees, saw wood, and hammer nails, all with accompaniment in two. Ball passing games in which they raise the ball high before passing to their neighbor give them an experience of not only feeling the accented beat, but also the building energy that leads to the accent (called the anacrusis). After these experiences, the children are given a chance to invent their own patterns with two, three and four parts on percussion instruments.

5-6 year-olds can also try slightly more advanced games. I might ask them to move alone if they hear no metrical pattern, move with a partner if the music is in two, and come together as a group if the music was is in three or four. This is a challenging listening and cognition task, but with a little coaching, most groups are able to accomplish this!

In addition to the songs we sing, I regularly slip music from the classical literature into the classes whenever possible (see list below). After the movement stories, we usually have a cool-down rest period, and if they are relaxed enough (i.e. if I have worn them out!), they are often more than willing to simply lie on the floor and listen. I don’t talk about the pieces, but they would likely recognize them if they heard them on a recording.

Here are some of the pieces I use regularly:

1. Far Away Places, #1 from Kinderszenen (Childhood Scenes) by Robert Schumann

2. Entreating Child, #4 also from Kinderszenen

3. Sleeping Beauty’s Pavanne, from the Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel

4. Royal March from Carnival of the Animals, by Saint Seans

I have been using this last selection in a ball passing game that emphasizes the strong ‘two-ness’ of this piece, along with the exciting chromatic swirls that occur in the middle section. This has been a new invention this year! For extra practice, put on almost any kind of  music (jazz, classical, pop – most kinds of music use meter), and try to find first that recurring cycle of beats with your child.