Stuck in the Middle…strategies for Middle School General Music

that won’t break the bank…

NNMEA All-State Music Conferenceworkshop presented by

Jan Delgado,APS Music Teacher

delgado_jan@aps.edu

Stuck in the Middle With YouGerry Rafferty & Joe Eagan - Stealers Wheel, 1972

Well, I don't know why I came here tonight. I got the feeling that something ain't right.I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair, and I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs.Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you, and I'm wondering what it is I should do.It's so hard to keep this smile from my face - lose control, yeah, I'm all over the place.

Well you started off with nothing, and you're proud that you're a self-made man,

and your friends they all come crawling, slap you on your back and say,”Please? Please?”

Oh, I'm trying to make some sense of it all, but I can see it makes no sense at all. Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor? ’Cause I don't think I can take it no more.

•Keynote address at NM All-State 2012 by Scott Schuller, NAfME President

•Big three (BOC – Band, Orchestra, Choir) attracts only 20% (on average) of secondary students. Guitar is growing (NM is a pioneer!) but there is still a huge percentage of underserved students.

•Even though a General Music course is an elective, students are often not volunteer. Student motivation and assessment are different than BOC.

•However, by actively making music, General Music can be a positive musical adventure for both students and teacher.

•Classroom management can be incorporated into the curriculum within the process of what to teach and when to teach it.

Inspiration for the workshop—

Middle SchoolStudents: Want to be accepted, to be“cool,” butadolescence makes them unsure

Will avoid embarrassment

Often do not havemusical skills

General Music Class:

ListeningNotation

CompositionInstruments

Singing??Movement??

Assessment

No budget

Problems

Middle SchoolStudents: Want to be accepted, to be“cool,” butadolescence makes them unsure

Will avoid embarrassment

Often do not havemusical skills

General Music Class:

ListeningNotation

CompositionInstruments

Singing??Movement??

Assessment

No budget

Gain trust – Provide safety netof consistent classrules and routines

Choice of curriculum– music and activities

focus on manipulativesrather than self

Be flexible – learn when to let students “hide”

Possible Solutions

TechnologyHardware -

Sound system and LCD projectorLaptop computer/iPadStudents have iPod, cell phonesDocument reader, overhead projectorSmartBoard/Promethean

Software -Internet resources: YouTube (download)

iTunes (application is free, purchase songs)

Always preview songs and video!!Invoke school rules of profanity, etc.

Composition and recording: Audacity, Noteflight (URL on website)Garage Band (on Macintosh

computers)

Teaching Beat and Rhythm -

• Start with Speech (mnemonics)

• Add Body Percussion (snap, clap, pat, stamp, etc.)

• Combine two rhythms as soon as possible.

• Add instruments as soon as possible.

•Teach written notation after aural rhythms are learned

Flavors of the Southwest by Luis Delgado

Teaching process for Southwest Flavors

Say the words first, then add body percussion: Snap for line 1, clap for line 2, pat for line 3Students should learn all linesDivide class into 3 groups (ABC) and assign each group one line

Perform piece, all parts starting together. Rotate parts so all students have chance to perform lines 1, 2, and 3.

Variations:Layer in one line at a time“A” group starts with line 3 (dessert is first!).

Note: starting with line 1 is hard, as it starts with a restThey perform the whole line and will repeat it many times.

“B” group (line 2), comes in when A group is starting their second pass.“C” group (line 1) starts when B is starting their own second pass.

Variation:Layer in parts, starting after only 2 measures.

No instruments? No problem!Look in the recycle bin!

After students have a rhythm vocabulary and can perform with Body Percussion,

experiment with sounds in recycled materials.

How to tap is as important as what to tap with.

Remember that music is organizedsound and silence.

Check out what STOMP does with trash…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ra8mjZljA

Replace body percussion in Southwest Flavors speech piece with recycled instrument sounds.

Guided Listening activity:In the Hall of the Mt King, by Edvard Grieg

On the board, draw a grid, label the categories and write in the the form on the first line, as above. What to put in the categories on the left column depends on what the teacher wants to emphasize in listening.

Students copy the grid and categories onto their own piece of paper. While listening to music, students write what they hear.

Form intro a a b b a a’ a a b b a a’ a a b b a a’ ca’ca’c…!TimbreDynamics

TempoArticulationMeterTonality

Form intro a a b b a a’ a a b b a a’ a a b b a a’ ca’ca’c…!Timbre brass Low inst high inst full orch cymbals, drumDynamics - mp mf f ffTempo - medium a bit faster much faster!! way fast!Articulation sfz short pizz tremelo sfzMeter - duple same same sameTonality - minor same some major minor

Guided Listening activity:In the Hall of the Mt King, by Edvard Grieg

Afterwards, students report and discuss how to describe music and use musical vocabulary. Above text is possible answers.

From here, it is only one more step to create a Listening Map.Many listening maps are available in the MacMillan, Spotlight on Music,

and Silver Burdett, Making Music curriculum series.

Movement activity to “Ghostbusters,” by Ray Parker, Jr.

Teach “musical stepping,” which is short steps and keeping weight over feet to enable quick directionalchange. A: step 4 steps forward (or to right) 4 steps back, B: roll hands, C: free dance D: robot motions.

Examples of AssessmentStart from here and plan backwards…

Skill Written: based on number of correct answers or following directions (rubrics)

Performance: based on rubrics/expectations posted before activity

ListeningReading

Identify/Choose/Label: Timbre, Meter, Rhythmic values, Pitch, Intervals, Form, Articulation, Dynamics, Style

Demonstrate recognition of elements by performance or signals

Composing Create composition within specific parameters Create movements that correspond to the form of a piece of music.

PlayingSinging

Perform a rhythm from written notation.Perform own and others’ compositions. Maintain own part in an ensemble. Sing a 5-pitch melody in own singing range.

Characteristics of MS Instruments Technology Classroom Management MS students want to be

cool, but the vagaries of adolescence make them unsure of themselves

Gain their trust - provide safety net of rules and consequences, consistent classroom routines

Avoid embarrassment - learn when to let students “hide” (or not)

MS students want to create music but often don’t have the skills (in spite of great Elementary programs)

Teach beat, rhythm, listening, and vocal skills in a way that is easy, but likeable

Choice of curriculum - kinds of music and activities - is very important

MS students need something to manipulate

Recorders, ukuleles, guitars, and keyboards require money and time/effort to learn. Use them if you have them, though

Access to Band percussion needs high level of supervision, but marimbas are really cool

Thanks to STOMP, found sound is fun!

Sound system and projector #1.

Students already have their own technology - iPod, cell phones, knowledge of the internet.

However, always preview songs and video before presenting in class

Follow school rules: no profanity, references to drugs or sex, and be politically correct/neutral

Composition and recording: Noteflight, Garage Band, Audacity

YouTube - download

Other Overhead projector,

document reader SmartBoard/Promethean

Play instruments ONLY if know the part in speech and BP (assess before going on) “If you can say it, you can play it.”

Not enough instruments? Seat in alternating order – some do BP, some play instruments, rotate

2 or 3 kids hand out instruments or 1 person per group get them.

Rotate personnel of small groups – don’t let students choose.

Avoid unsupervised time. Have several small time increments of specific activity. After each task, students share in each small groups or elbow partners. Students get new ideas and refine in next time increment

Strategies for Middle School GENERAL MUSIC:

Listening Notation/composition Singing Movement Listen to various styles of

music View pictures, video of

various instruments being played, live performances when feasible

Listening activity (template) - start with something short, simple orchestration, commonly known

Listening Maps - letters (ABA), icons and pictures, students create their own.

Listening maze game

Rhythm - Notate quarter, eighth, 16’s

and dotted rhythms in 4/4 and 3/4

Notate simple rhythms and perform them within a steady beat

Identify duple and triple (4/4 vs. 3/4, and 2/4 vs. 6/8)

Provide opportunities for students to explore own voices

Chant poems (rap), echo, call and response, question and answer

Use manipulatives - paper plates, cup passing, ribbons/streamers/scarves, tennis balls (strict rules).

Musical stepping: short steps and keeping weight over feet to enable quick directional change.

Movement vocabulary: loco-motor and axial motions, quality of movement, levels. Pick from a basket of words.

Identify music characteristics of form, tempo, meter, tonality, dynamics, articulation, style,

Identify major instruments and families (orchestral, folk/pop/jazz, world)

Pitch (if have access to pitched instruments) Identify musical alphabet on

piano keyboard. Notate diatonic pitches of

treble clef Identify step, skip, leap

intervals Identify Major and Minor

tonalities

Sing a 5-pitch melody in own singing range and pick out the pitches on a piano (usually G1 to C2)

Identify major vocal timbres (Women: high Soprano, low Alto. Men: high Tenor, low Baritone/Bass), falsetto

Create movement to a piece of music.

Demonstrate a Line or folk dance - really a way of listening and stepping to the beat

Strategies for Middle School GENERAL MUSIC: