THE WALTZ KING

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) was the son of a well know composer, Johann Strauss, Sr.  There was not a lot of love between father and son.  As a matter-of-fact, it seems that the father may have been jealous of the son.  Johann Sr. did not encourage his son's musical aptitude and at one point threw a bit of a temper tantrum by telling a local casino that he would never play there again if they hired his son's orchestra to perform.

Johann Jr. made himself famous by composing dance music - waltzes were his forte; He composed over 500 of them!  A waltz is dance music in 3/4 time and is characterized by an emphasis on the downbeat so that you can hear "omm cha cha" pattern in the accompaniment.  The most famous of Struass' waltzes in The Blue Danube", but most people at least recognize the tune of "Voices of Spring" and "Tales From Vienna Woods".

Johann Strauss, Jr.

Because waltz timing is so strict, waltzes are a great musical form to help young children understand about steady beat.  Here are a couple of ideas to get you started with your musical foray into the wonderous world of waltzes:

Blue Danube Waltz.

1.  Have children form a circle.  When the music begin, have children "skate" around the circle.  When you hear the "cha cha" portion of the music, let the children twirl around in a circle.

2.  Sit in a circle.  Have the children practice patsching their legs and saying "1-2-3" in time to the patsching.  When they are comfortable with that, have them patsch on beat one and clap on beats 2 and 3, speaking the beats as you do it.  Start the music.  Have the chidlren patsch legs in time to the music.  When that is mastered, have them patsch on beat 1 and clap on beats 2 and 3 in time to the music.

3.  Give half the class rhythm sticks or hand drums and the other half maracas or jingle bells.  Let the drum/sticks group play on beat one and the bells/maracas group play on beats 2 and 3.

 

CLEAN UP TIME!

Teaching young children to clean up after themselves is not an easy task.  We all know that kids are good at making a mess, but cleaning up that mess, well, let's just say that it's not something they would automatically do on their own.  Music can help make the clean up process a bit easier.

There are several songs that can help teachers and parents develop the habit of cleaning up in their children.  (Even the dreaded Barney song (clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere...); Honesty, I wouldn't mind that song if I didn't hear Barney's voice in my head every time I heard it!).  Here are a few songs that can help you teach young children the habit of cleaning up:



1.  I'm Putting My Toys Away Now  by Corey Leland
You can even throw in a little spelling lesson with this song when the lyrics say "T-O-Y-S.  I can clean up my own mess".  Or make that section of the song something you sing every time you want your kids to clean up.


2.  Clean-Up Song by Billy Gorilly and the Candy Appletree Family
With a rag-time beat to it, this song will put anybody in the mood to clean up!


3.  It's Time to Clean Up by Twin Sisters
Set to the tune of 'The Farmer in the Dell', this is an easy to learn song.


4.  2-Minute Clean Up by Andy Dodge and Friends
This song gives you a one minute warning.  Make a game out of cleaning up and see if the kids can finish before the song is done.

POSITIVE SELF- ESTEEM, CHILDREN AND THE ARTS

My heart is saddened today by the news that a local middle school aged boy has committed suicide.  It's always sad when someone takes his own life, but when that someone is a child, the sadness is compounded. The news of this tragedy made me wonder if there have been any studies done about the suicide rate among children who study music, dance or theatre.  I have not found any.

For at least the last 15 years, there has been a trend to promote positive self-esteem in children.  Today, the buzz word is "bullying" and how to prevent it.  But the educational aspects of it are the same:  Children with high self-esteem won't bully and won't allow themselves to be bullied and children with low self-esteem are the ones who do the bullying or are the victims of bullies.  There has been an attempt in US schools to artificially enhance a student's sense of self-worth:  some schools don't give grades to students because they want all students to feel successful, or students are praised for mediocre work or for behavior that should be expected of them, or students are simply told that they are special just because of who they are.  Now, don't get me wrong here, I do believe that every person is a unique individual with gifts and talents to share with the world.  However, I do not believe that obnoxious, disruptive students should be tolerated and encouraged to just believe in themselves.

Self-esteem is a tricky characteristic to deal with.  Too much self-esteem and we are cocky, not enough self-esteem and we become door mats.  There are drug dealers, tax evaders and ACT cheaters who all have a secure sense of self. Conversely, there are teachers, politicians and CEOs who will all admit to having low self-esteem.  We can't lump all criminals into the "low self-esteem" group and all the law abiding citizens into a "high self-esteem" group.  This is a very grey area.

It seems to me that self-esteem comes from a sense of accomplishment. When we are working toward a goal and obtain a modicum of success, we feel better about ourselves.  When we know that we are capable of performing certain tasks, can work independently and with a group, when we can look back over all of our hard work and see the results of our endeavors, we gain a greater sense of self and self awareness.

The study of the arts can be a major catalyst in the development of a positive self image.  From a completely anecdotal point of view, I can say that, as a whole, the children that I have met through my own children's dance classes and music groups have a greater sense of self worth than their friends who do not participate in arts based activities. This is not to say that the latter group is conprised of ill-behaving, depressed kids, but there is a clear difference in the way the two groups approach education, socialization and problem solving.  Let's take a look at some of the ways that the study of music, dance and theatre can positively affect the self-esteem of our children.

1.  The study of the arts forces students to take responsibility for their own success.  Students must be committed to practice, lessons, memorizing lines, and getting to rehearsals on time.  Of course young students rely upon their parents to support them and get them where they need to be, but once that is established, it is the child herself who is responsible for putting in the practice time, learning her music and studying her script.

2.  The practice of the arts (the recital, concert or theatrical performance) teaches children the value of practice and stick-to-it-tive-ness.  If a pianist hasn't put in the practice time, his recital will be unsuccessful, the budding thespian who failed to pay attention during rehearsals will drop lines and forget his blocking, the cellist who is cavalier about applying himself during rehearsal times could make the whole orchestra sound out of tune.  If we are faithful to our practice and rehearsals, our performances will be successful.  This is no different from adult life.  In our own jobs, we must do a little bit every day in order to make our careers a success.

3.  Children who study the arts realize that they can do whatever they set their mind to do.  Now, I am not saying that every pianist who practices 6 hours a day is going to be a concert pianist or every budding ballerina will become a principal dancer with the American Ballet Company; sometimes those who love their art form with every fiber of their being will not achieve a successful career in that area. What I am saying, is that performing arts students learn that, even when something seems difficult, with consistent practice obstacles can be overcome.  Oftentimes, when I give a student a new song to learn, I will play it through once so he can hear what it sounds like.  Every once in a while I will come to the end of the song and the student will look at me like I've gone completely mad and will give me all kinds of excuses why he can't learn to play it:  it's too hard, I don't know what that ornament means, I could never play it that fast, my hands are too small for all of those octave passages, my hands are too big to play this delicate piece....The students who take the music home and learn the song bit by bit are the ones who come to me a couple of weeks later so proud of what they've accomplished.  They tackled a difficult piece of music, worked at it and are now reaping the benefits of their stick-to-it-tive-ness.

4.  Children who study the arts learn to overcome their fears.  When I was a young girl, my right foot (the pedaling foot) would shake uncontrollably whenever I played the piano in front of people.  The more experience I had playing for people, the less my foot shook, until now it hardly ever happens and when it does I know how to control it with my breathing.  Every performer experiences some kind of stage fright - the ones who say they don't are lying!  Successful performers learn how to control their fear, how to use their nervous energy to enhance a performance.  This is the what makes performing artists some of the bravest people in the world:  they acknowledge their fear and then move beyond it.

5.  Children who study the arts learn how to work independently. When all is said and done, it is the child who is responsible for learning her stuff.  The child must be willing to spend time alone everyday with their music or their script or at the barre in order to learn their stuff.  Working independently teaches us to prioritize goals and self reliance.  Those with confidence are not afraid to work alone in order to improve their skills.

6.  Children who study the arts have an automatic support system. Dance, theatre, orchestra, band: all these disciplines are group oriented and have a tendency to attract students with the same type of personality.  Oftentimes, creative, disciplined children feel different from their peers - they are wired to think differently and often have a unique sense of humor.  It's good for them to be part of group with other kids who are like them.  They can see that they aren't "weird", they just have a different way of looking at the world!


Can I say that suicide among children will be eliminated if they just study the performing arts?  Of course not!    Suicide among the young is one of the most tragic events in life.  Do I think that studying the arts can play a pivotal role in helping to develop a positive sense of self among young people?  Absolutely!

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

We all know how hard it is to get children to make healthy eating choices.  As parents and teachers, we should be setting the example and eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins.  When our children see us eating well and eating a wide variety of foods, they come to expect that a healthy diet is a normal part of life.



Approaching the subject of healthy eating in a musical setting is not so easy.  There are a lot of songs that deal with fitness and exercise, but not so many that address the subject of foods.  I have found a few songs that I like; here they are:

1.  Fruit Salad from a CD titled Wiggles Tribute Party Music" (this is not the band The Wiggles).
This song describes the steps to making a fruit salad and would be a wonderful prelude to making your own fruit salad for snack or lunch.



2.  Five Fruits and Vegetables  from the Geof Johnson CD "Healthy Habits"
I love the music of Geof Johnson.  He has a great approach to music for young children; his music is never inappropriate musically or lyrically and you can always trust him to have high quality music.  This song, Five Fruits and Vegetables is a little bit silly.  He asks "How 'bout bubble gum?  Is that a fruit or vegetable?  How about dirt?".  It's silly, but it helps to get the kids thinking on their own.  And the song is simple enough that you can sing it a Capella and include any non-food item that would would like.  (I'm thinking boogers here, every preschoolers favorite non-food item!).





3.  Fruit Picking Dance by the Jingjing Children's Choir
This is a sweet and lively dance using traditional Chinese instruments and tonality.  The infectious melody invokes images of a community or family coming together to harvest their food.  It would be very easy to choreograph a simple dance that would depict the joy of the occasion as well as the actual movements of harvesting food.  This would be a perfect dance song to use in conjunction with the teaching themes of Planting/Harvesting, Autumn and multi-cultural studies.

STARTING PRESCHOOLERS ON HAND BELLS

This summer I was invited to teach an Elementary Hand Bell Class for the Suzuki Piano Institute in Louisville, KY.  It was an interesting experience for me because up to that time I had only used hand bells with young students who had no musical training at all.  It was fun for me to teach a class made up of students who had at least one year of piano study under their belt.  The combination of  slightly older students (6-10 year olds) and a little bit of piano study made a BIG difference in the students ability to play independently on the hand bells.

I love using the bells with preschool students.  They get a great deal of satisfaction from the immediate response that bells provide; with just a simple shake the kids are making music!

KIDSPLAY HAND BELLS

The only hand bells that I use are the Kidsplay Hand Bells.  These instruments are perfectly tuned, are easy to play and are made to fit a young child's hand.  The Kidsplay Music website is a great starting place for ideas on how to teach the bells to kids.  There are lots of music choices available, with CDs and written music both and curriculum books.  

A note on the website name:  Please make sure that you type in the name exactly correct in your browser. I hate to say this, but I have received some less than flattering emails from a time when I did not type www.kidsplaymusic.org just right.  It's sad that there are sick minds out there that will exploit something as innocent as children playing music.

Let me say right now that the hand bells are not cheap.  A set of 8, one octave (C Major Scale) bells is $35US.  For a large class, you may need 3 or 4 octaves.  Plus, you will also need to purchase a carrying case for each octave you purchase ($10.50US each), and at least the 8 Note Bell Songs CD ($12US), 8 Note Bell Songs Music Book ( $3.60US) and a set of Color Coded Hand Bell Cards ($7.50US).   But once you make the initial investment the bells will last forever.  If you are like me and are a traveling music specialist, you will especially want to invest in some disinfecting wipes and wipe off the handles between classes.  

The bells have one disadvantage, and that is that they are made from metal.  The last 5 years, I have had two accidents with the bells, where a kid has either hit themselves in the head, or hit a friend in the head.  None of the accidents were serious (no blood drawn), but it made me extra vigilant about the safety aspects of the bells. Kidsplay does make bells that are covered in plastic (a choice that wasn't available when I bought mine).  The plastic covered ones are a little more expensive, but may be worth the additional cost.  Now, whenever I pull out the bells for the kids, I emphasize that the kids MUST ring the bells gently close to their bellies. I tell them that if I see them ringing the bells too fast or close to their head, then I will take the bell away from them.  I  let them know that this is a safety rule and safety rules are the most important rules of all.  

I do take bells away from kids quite frequently.  Sometimes I give it back to them before the end of class, and sometimes I don't.  Each teacher knows their own students and you know how best to handle each situation as it arises.  I don't want to be hateful to the students but I want them to know that they must be safe at all times. 

Now, some of you may be wandering why in the world you would need to purchase 3 or 4 octaves of these bells for a class of  15 -25 students.  Here's why:  When you start teaching the bells, you are only using 1, 2 or maybe 3 chords of music (C, G or G7).  That means that you will need the following colored bells: Red, Yellow, Light Blue, Purple, Orange and maybe Green.  Six colors and you have 15 students, you will need to double up.  (I double up anyway because with preschoolers you need back up in case one kid just sits there and stares at his bell!)  The only way to double up is to buy an extra octave of bells or buy a single bell at $6US a piece.  I use Red, Light Blue, Yellow, Purple and Orange the most frequently in the beginning stages of teaching bells.  

I have started making some color coded song sheets of simple songs to use with my pre-kindergarten classes:  Bluebird Bluebird, Twinkle Twinkle, Ode to Joy, etc.   I have found that these are a great tool to use for kids who do not know how to read music - all they have to do is follow the colors and they are playing a song!  If you would like a copy of any of my song sheets, or if you have a request for a song you would like me to "color code" for you, just send me an email.  Each song sheet is $1.50US or you can get 5 songs for $5US.  

COLOR CODED SONG SHEETS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

Bluebird, Bluebird

Twinkle Twinkle

Ode to Joy

See-Saw Marjorie Daw

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Are You Sleeping?  (Frere Jacques)

NEW BEGINNINGS, NEW GOALS

It's that time again when the kids will be starting a new school year. For preschools, that means students will be moving up to a new classroom:  3 year olds will move into the preschool class and 4 year olds will be moving into the prekindergarten class.  Of course, this also means that we have to say good bye to all of our kids that are moving up and out into kindergarten.  It's a bittersweet time for many of us, especially if we know that we are saying "Good bye forever" to our students.

This is also a time for positive changes in our classrooms.  No matter how effectively we teach, no matter how well we maintain discipline, there is always room for improvement.  As teachers, we must always strive to improve on our skills and be willing to learn from our peers and from leaders in our industry.

This year, I have several new goals that I want to implement with my preschoolers.

1.  Provide a performance opportunity for the kids.  My job, as a preschool music specialist, requires that I go into local preschools and teach group music classes.  I love that I get to enhance the curriculum of these schools by introducing the students to music skills.  I think my classes are fun, educational and developmentally appropriate and I receive positive feedback from teachers, parents and school directors.  The one thing that I do not get a chance to do is provide a performance day.  This year, I will make that happen. My classes are not really performance oriented, so this may be a challenge, but I'm confident that I will be able to make it happen.

2.  Lighten up a little.  Sometimes I can get a little bit frustrated with the kids (imagine that!).  I know that I need to keep the kids moving and engaged so that they don't get out of control, but sometimes I forget that all I need to do is start a new activity or sing a song in order to get the kids' attention back into the learning process.  And sometimes I forget that the kids need a break from learning, learning, learning.  This year I will schedule more days (once a quarter) where we are just having fun.  Learning music? Yes. But doing it in a way that is geared toward fun.

3.  Have more communication with the parents.  I don't get to meet very many parents of my preschoolers.  I come into the school once a week, or once a month, and I'm usually not around when the parents are.  The last couple of years I've been pretty good about sending home flyers on a quarterly basis.  I admit, that these flyers have been aimed at recruiting piano students.  This year, however, I want to keep the parents more informed about what we are learning in music, perhaps on a monthly basis.  My goal is to establish an email list so that I can email parents a monthly update.  Printing out 300-400 flyers every month could get expensive for my limited budget, but an email group would allow me to establish a line of communication with the parents and keep them updated on what's happening in music class.

What are your teaching goals for this school year?  Write them down and work towards them a little bit each day.  I love that most of the early childhood educators I meet are smart, dedicated teachers. They help me become a better teacher, and I hope that I inspire one or two to become better teachers also!

BEGINNING PIANO LESSONS

The beginning of a new school year often brings several new students to a piano studio.  This month I will have 5 new students take lessons for the first time.  Not all of those students will stick it out long enough to become musicians, but some of them will.  As a parent, I'm sure that there are lots of questions you may have.

Learning to play the piano, or any instrument for that matter, is a process.  Parents often come in with high expectations for their child, and there's nothing wrong with that.  But let me tell you that the 4, 6 or 8 year old who is able to play Fur Elise, O Polincinello, or other Intermediate/Early Advanced level pieces is quite rare.  Most students will slowly build skill upon skill, which is the correct way to learn.  For the majority of my students, this is how they will progress:

Year One.  Year one will begin with the Piano Adventures Primer Books:  Lesson Book, Theory Book and Technique and Artistry Book.  An older student (apx 10 -12 years old) will begin in the Michael Aaron series, book 1.  During the first year, students learn proper hand position, how to read notes and rhythms, how to navigate around the piano and are developing a legato touch.  Average practice time expected for these students is 15 minutes, 5 days a week.  I don't require a lot of practice for this year simply because they usually do not have enough music to keep them occupied for 20 or 30 minutes.  They may have 2-4 pieces of music to practice, all only 8 measures long.  This is the year to develop the habit of practice, not to require 30 minutes of practice every day when the homework doesn't merit that type of commitment.

                                 



Year Two.  In the 2nd year of study (or whenever the beginning books have been completed), students will move on the the next book in the series they are working in:  Piano Adventures Book 1 or John Thompson Book 2.  This is the year that we abandon the Technique and Artistry Books of Piano Adventures and move into the Dozen a Day Series.  We also begin playing scales in this year.  Usually in year two, students learn to play one octave scales in C Major, G Major and F Major, a minor and d minor.   Some students will begin playing in the Piano Adventures Developing Artist Books, and some will not.  My decision to move kids into the Developing Artist books depends upon a lot of factors:  their mastery of correct hand position, their ability to play with a legato touch and the overall attitude of the student.  If the student LLOOOOVVES to play the piano, then I know they will be excited about moving on to more classical pieces.  For  many varied reasons, I may keep them exclusively in the Lesson Books.  There is nothing wrong with this approach and many of my finest students have moved along this track.

By the 2nd year, students are expected to practice 30 minutes, 5 days a week.

                                     





Year Three.  By year three (or whenever their previous books have been completed), most (not all, but most) of my students have been moved into the Developing Artist Book 1.  At this point, I am also introducing jazz, rags and blues, contemporary songs and other types of music into the lessons, with the mainstay being the Piano Literature books.  Students will begin learning more scales (D, A B, Bb, Eb and Ab Major) and some will move in to learning 2 octave scales.  We stay with the Dozen a Day books to help develop beautiful technique.


Year Four.  Year four (or when the previous books have been completed) is usually a pivotal time in a young musician's study.  At this point they have gained a degree of confidence in their playing ability and are ready to "take it up a notch".  By year four, students are playing almost all of the major and harmonic minor scales in 2, 3 or 4 octaves and are able to play with more maturity.  At this point, students will either stay in the Developing Artist books, or I may move them into the Bastien Piano Literature Book 3.  The only reason I would move them into the Bastien series is if I think they are going to be ready to play one of the Bach Two Part Inventions, otherwise the Book 3 of the Developing Artist series and Book 3 of the Bastien Piano Literature are very similar and have many of the same songs in their repertoire.  During this fourth year, students will experience some freedom in a much more controlled environment.  In other words, I am much more concerned about students learning to play music from the 4 major musical periods (Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary), but there is a greater freedom in song choice.  This is the time when lessons become more personalized in my studio.  Some students will stay with the Dozen a Day books, some will move into Hanon exercises, some will be given Czerny exercises and some may be given a combination of all  three.  By this time, students have plenty of practice material to occupy a 30-60 minute practice session, 5 days a week.

                          

Year Five and Beyond.  By the fifth year, students are generally ready to chart their own course, so to speak.  This is not to say that I hand the reins over to a student.  But, by this time, students have often developed musical interests of their own.  Maybe they know they want to major in music in college and so we need to work towards that goal, maybe they want to accompany the choir at school, play with their church orchestra, start a band with their friends, learn to be an accompanist for the theatre, play ragtime music or want to become a wedding musician.  If a student expresses a particular interest, we will definitely explore that genre.  Students who have stuck it out this long usually derive a great deal of joy out of playing and no matter what their future career goals, these are the people for whom music will be a lifelong love.

During all of this time, students are also learning to develop their musical ear, to play by ear, to play with a lead sheet, to accompany themselves with simple chordal patterns, to sight read and are learning about major composers and important compositions.  And if they are taking advantage of my Theory and Performance Classes, they are learning these things at a faster pace than the other students.

Please note that everything I've said here is a generalization.  Some students students start off fast, some students start off slower, some students are propelled by a true love of music, some students can't wait until mom and dad say that they don't have to play anymore, some students seem to have no ability at first and then start to play beautifully after a couple of years, some have no talent, but they love it anyway.  Every student is different.  As long as gradual progress is being made, then the student is doing well. 


                                                              

AUGUST NEWSLETTER

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