 |
MUSIC
PALS
Project Manager: Marti Ragan
Orff music
specialist
Sea Isle Accelerated School
Memphis, Tennessee
Please note that all children up to the age
of 15 are welcome to take part in this project after they
join KIDLINK by answering
our four questions.
Children can communicate about music that they have experienced
at a local festival. They may also choose to send photos, cassettes,
or videos of themselves talking about or performing music from a local
festival to the project manager. Memphis City School Orff music
teachers will assimilate this information in a video to be used during
a city-wide concert produced in May, 1998. All information sent to the
project manager is to be used strictly for educational purposes.
PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
1. To promote communication about music that
accompanies world festivals
2. To establish the authenticity of
musical information relating to world festivals
3. To exchange
musical information, photographs, videos or cassettes of children
describing festivals in their own countries
4. To utilize musical
information for educational purposes
5. To foster better
understanding of cultural differences through the exchange of musical
information
TIMELINE
This project
will begin in November, 1997 and will continue through May 1998.
Memphis City Schools Orff Music (elementary) teachers are creating a
musical concert of world festival music. If we receive photos,
vieodrecordings or cassettes from the children in your class and use
it during our concert, we will send you a video of our concert. Any
photo, videorecording or cassettes that you may send us will be
returned upon request. We look forward to hearing from our MUSIC PALS!
WEEK 1
Refer to
"Getting Started",
found in KIDPROJ in order to register students for this project.
WEEK 2
Discuss the following types of holidays with your students:
1. New Year celebrations
2. Harvest celebrations
3. Full
Moon or lunar celebrations
4. Spring celebrations
5.
Carnival/Mardi Gras
6. Summer/winter break (school holidays)
Determine the celebrations at which the students have heard
and/or performed music.
Does the celebration have a name? For
example, May Day is a spring celebration.
If your students do not
participate in the celebrations listed above, have them determine the
type and name of the local celebration at which they have heard and/or
performed music.
WEEK 3 and 4
Havestudents
consult with parents, relatives or friends to help them recall any
songs they may have heard or performed at local celebrations.
Have
the students ask their parents, relatives or friends to help them
write down the words and or music, sing into a cassette recorder or
make a videorecording of the child talking about or performing music
that he/she has heard and/or performed at a local festival.
WEEK
4 and 5
Ask the children to continue to collect music and
record their findings. Discuss the differences between traditional and
non-traditional music with your class. Refer to "Suggestions for
Classroom teachers". Have the students determine if the music
they have collected is traditional or non-traditional. If the music
has a composer, have the children write the composer's name underneath
the song's title.
WEEK 6 to 8
Have the
children share information with their classmates and with others
students around the world on KIDLINK. Children should submit musical
descriptions to < KIDPROJ@listserv.nodak.edu >.
Students
writing musical descriptions should include information about the
following:
1. Musical instruments on which the festival music is
performed
2. Expressive qualities found the the music (i.e., is
the music loud or soft, fast or slow)
3. Rhythmic patterns -
(highly energetic, fast moving rhythms or slower less energetic
rhythms)
If you would like to send your video, photo or
cassette to Memphis, Tennessee for possible use in a multimedia
presentation on world festivals, you will have to obtain written
permission from your parents.
Print this
form on your printer or copy it and have your parents sign it.
It is extremely important that you obtain your parents' permission or
we will be unable to use any information that you send us during our
special concert.
CURRICULUM IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS
I. Locate
pictures of the instruments named or described in MUSIC PALS in an
encyclopedia or other reference source and draw or reproduce them.
Divide a sheet of poster board into five sections and organize the
instruments described on "MUSIC PALS" intro these five
sections.
a. WIND INSTRUMENTS (sound is produced by blowing
into the instrument)
b. STRING INSTRUMENTS (sound is produced by
plucking or bowing the strings)
c. PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS (sound
is produced by shaking, scraping, rubbing or hitting the instrument
d. BRASS INSTRUMENTS (sound is produced by blowing into a
bell-shaped mouthpiece and "buzzing" the lips
e.
KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS (the instrument has keys that are pushed with the
fingers)
II. Discuss the difference between traditional and
non-traditional music with your students. Traditional music has no
known composer. It is often called "folk music" and has been
passed on from one generation to the next. In contrast,
non-traditional music has a known composer or composers. Have the
students make a collection of songs that they believe are "traditional".
If you have access to books containing collections of folk
songs, check to see if the songs that you believe are traditional can
be found in these books. You may also check with a local music
educator or other music professional to authenticate your findings.
Prepare a special concert of traditional music and share it
with another class or the entire school.
DIRECTIONS FOR
PARTICIPATION
If you have attended a local festival,
have listened to or performed music, and want to share these musical
ideas with a child in another country, you can become a MUSIC PAL.
Here are some musical questions and ideas to help you describe the
music.
1. Is the music traditional or non-traditional?
Non-traditional music has no known composer, is often called folk
music and has been passed down from one generation to the next. In
contrast, non-traditional music has a known composer or composers.
2. Is the music vocal (sung), instrumental (played on
instruments), or a combination of vocal and instrumental?
3. If
instruments are used in the music, can you name or describe the
instruments used?
4. What are some of the expressive qualities of
the music, i.e., a. Is it fast or slow? b. Is it loud or soft? c. Are
some parts loud and fast while other parts are slow and soft?
5.
Can you describe rhythmic elements in the music?
a. Are certain
rhythms repeated?
b. Do the rhythms contain accents? (Some beats
are louder that others)
6. Do dances accompany this music? If so,
can you describe the formation of the dancers? (circle, line,
procession, no formation)
We are preparing for a special
concert on the music of world festivals in Memphis, Tennessee. If you
want your information to be used in this concert, please let us know
what you would like to share.
I would like to share the
following with a audience in Memphis, Tennessee.
a. Musical
and/or cultural information about a local festival
b. a photo of
myself and musical or cultural information
c. a video of myself
talking about a local festival or singing a song from a local festival
d. a cassette tape of myself talking about a local festival
(Indicate all that apply) |
