Musical Activities For Your Young Children

You may find yourself in the position of needing some ideas while working with/playing with/teaching young children.  

Here is an article I wrote for the Minnesota Public Radio website in early March of 2015.  It's rather long so I'll just post the link so you may read it at your leisure!

www.classicalmpr.org/story/2015/03/02/activities-children-classical-music

2018 Summer Music Fun

Here is a re-posting of an article from summer 2017.  It is a good reminder of ways to keep music fresh!

What will you do this summer when family schedules are turned delightfully upside down and your children's practice schedules are not consistently on the calendar?  You will go find and make some wonderful music!

• Try going out to your local farmer's markets as they frequently have musical guests performing that may inspire your family
• Look for inexpensive orchestra tickets in your local paper or online to take in some inspirational live music
• Try organizing a home recital with your children and other fellow music students.  Refreshments and visiting afterward are a reward for a job well done!

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED!!! PART II

I'm sure you can't wait to read the second half of the story, And Then This Happened!  Here it is:

And Then This Happened!

When nightfall came, the land fish realized they couldn’t see very well plus they heard a big noise coming out of the trees.  Well, let me tell you, the land fish were amazed to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur walk out of the woods!  Of course, they didn’t know it was called a dinosaur but they did know that it was as big as a whale.  The dinosaur didn’t see the land fish and continued to search for food in the branches of the trees.

And Then This Happened!

The fish stood very still and hoped the huge dinosaur wouldn’t think they would be good to eat.  Just when they thought things couldn’t get worse, another dinosaur walked out of the forest! 

And Then This Happened!

The two dinosaurs started to play!  The fish ran to get out of the way.  The dinosaurs sounded like this:  snort, snort, snort; shuffle, shuffle, shuffle; snort, snort, snort; shuffle, shuffle, shuffle (can you say that?)  Suddenly, there was a big noise that sounded like this, Kaboom! (Can you say Kaboom?)  The two dinosaurs were having so much fun that they had fallen to the ground, made the kaboom noise, and were rolling around with each other. 

And Then This Happened!

The fish smiled at the playful dinosaurs and walked away on their fins.  While the fish were walking, they heard the sound and saw the flash of a lightning bolt.  

The lightning bolt made a big cracking sound (Can we all make the sound of a lightning bolt? I’ll count to three and we will all say “crack!”)  The fish could hardly believe what happened next!  Their fins started turning into legs!  Suddenly, they could actually run now!  They ran and played tag and duck, duck, gray duck!

And Then This Happened!

The fish became very tired and decided to lie down for a nap on a shaded, safe part of the land.  They began to dream of their new life in their new world.

Antiphonal (Call And Response) Stories For Children

Antiphonal Stories or Call and Response stories are perfect for music classes because they engage students and encourage focus and cooperation.

Here is the first part of a recent story that Ms. Joan wrote for her music classes.  Since it is a medium long story, the second part of the story will be published in the next MusicChild posting.  Have fun!

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED!

In the beginning, there were lots and lots of fish.  Big fish, small fish, and every other size fish in between.  They loved living under the water but some of the fish thought it might be fun and interesting to explore the land. (Can you show me your best fish face?)

Whenever they talked about exploring outside of the water, the wisest and smartest old fish said, “Well, that’s an interesting idea, but how will you breathe when you are out of the water?”  None of the other fish ever had an answer to this so they waited to explore the land outside of the water.

And Then This Happened! (Children should say this with you)

A lightning bolt came down from the sky with a big cracking sound and energized the sea so that the fish could suddenly flop out of the water and breathe air!  (Can we all make the cracking noise of the lightning bolt? I’ll count to 3 and we will all say, “crack!”)  The fish that wanted to explore the dry land had such a good time walking on their fins and looking at all the rocks, sand, and sun.

And Then This Happened!(Children should say this with you)

A bug flew by and one of the fish thought to open his mouth to eat it.  It was delicious!  As mosquitos and flies flew by, the other fish opened their mouths and had a wonderful meal.  (Can we all make a mosquito sound?)

And Then This Happened!(Children should say this with you)

Suddenly, the wise old fish popped up out of the sea and yelled to the fish that were on land, “You had better come back into the water now, it will be dark soon!” 

And Then This Happened!(Children should say this with you)

Some of the fish on the land listened to the wise old fish and some did not.  So, some of the fish went back to their safe homes in the water, and some did not.  They were just having too much fun exploring the land.

Composing With Your Child/Student

Here's a fun activity for you:  Take 10 minutes to sit with your child or student to compose a snippet of music.  You may sit at the piano or simply sit in chairs with the child's instrument nearby.  Start out by warming up with some musical fun like clapping your hands while you chant, singing some of your favorite songs, or listening to some of your favorite music.  Dancing to your favorite music is also a great warm up for your body and creative mind!

Then, playing the piano or having the child take his/her instrument, play some random notes with any type of beat.  Repeat the phrase a few times or more to get the music into both your minds.  It is perfectly okay if the phrase changes a little bit from time to time but try to keep the nucleus the same.

After both of you have memorized the phrase, write it down on staff paper, if you are able and/or, record the phrase on your phone.  Congratulations! You and your student or child have composed some music!  

If this seems like a fun and worthwhile activity, go ahead and try this again sometime soon.  You and the child may want to add to the phrase you have already created or you both may decide to make up another little snippet of music.  Adding words to be sung or spoken during the musical phrases can be very fun, too, and the sky is the limit as far as what kind of words you may add. (i.e. poetic, rap, operatic, silly, etc.)

Remember, if there is ever an escalating frustration from your child or student, gracefully and in a friendly manner, end the activity and thank them for trying. 

More Chamber Music!

As I've mentioned in a previous post, not all chamber music needs to be classically oriented.  Here is a video that "Ms. Joan" made in November of 2017 with some of Minneapolis' finest gypsy jazz musicians. 

Gypsy jazz translates to a musical style that was popular in the 1930's in Paris and its birth attributed to the guitarist, Django Reinhardt.

Simply click on the link below and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMchLZGLO_c

Listening To Live Holiday Music

Live Music Is Wonderful!

With the holidays coming up, remember to check your Sunday paper arts section for upcoming and age appropriate concerts for your children.  Of course, simply searching for free family concerts online is also a great way to find live music.  There are many reasonably priced and free concerts listed every week. Concerts are artistically stimulating as well as being a family bonding time.