Instruction
3c Engaging Students in Learning
One of the biggest challenges I've faced in regards to teaching music (other than management) is making musing meaningful to students. How do I make "classical music" appealing to six year-olds?
The answer is in how it's presented. During the week of Halloween, I introduced Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and Camille Saint-Saen's "Danse Macabre". With both pieces, the class would listen first while I guided students through the story. Most of the time, students would be able to decipher the story themselves once I gave them the subject (ex. "It sounds like the troll is sneaking!" "Maybe the knight killed him at the end because it was booming!").
In the picture above, students are playing a game that moves with the piece, "In the Hall of the Mountain King". One student (the one in the picture walking) is the knight, and the rest are sleeping trolls. The knight must sneak around the trolls while the music implies it. Once the music begins playing the chasing scene, the trolls must awaken and safely try to catch the knight.
This is certainly the first experience I've ever had with non-professional musicians calling Edvard Grieg "fun".
3d Using Assessment in Instruction
3e Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness
"The show must go on" is perhaps one of the most important sayings for performers to this day. As a performer myself, in classical and rock band settings, I know this rule all too well.
My very first assembly, Veteran's Day, would provide no exception. The program went wonderfully, overall. Students sang with such beauty and heart; the student council did a great job with speaking of all the many reasons it is important to remember, celebrate, and take care of our veterans, and the school was able to give something back. But, since this assembly was my first one ever, it was obligatory that my chops be tested.
Only two things stood out from that day that were laughably devastating. The first one happened when the entire student body started the program with the National Anthem. The recorded accompaniment and students began at the same time, but almost immediately, the entire student body fell behind in tempo, and next thing I knew, the accompaniment was exploding at the climax of the song while the students were still building it up. I exchanged glances with the principal, who was operating recordings. He didn't know any better than I, so I just laughed heartily while singing with the student body. They sure sounded great on their own, so I wasn't about to cut them off in the middle of our National Anthem.
The second fiasco happened when, on the second to last song, the cable to my electric guitar (pictured above) crackled out, and accompaniment was gone. It was fifth grade singing, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. I quickly set my useless guitar down, and moved forward to direct the rest of the song a capella. Again, the students killed it; all they needed was themselves. Thankfully, because I needed my guitar for the last song, the principal sprinted to my classroom to grab my acoustic, and we finished the rest of the program without a problem.
Since then, I've learned to expect everything to go wrong. Or in other words, I know now to be prepared with a back-up plan, whether that's singing without accompaniment, or having a back up on hand. Either way, the show must go on.