Sing, sing, sing! I want my students to experience beautiful, in-tune singing and I am always on the lookout for songs with solos. I know students are more successful in pitch matching when they sing unaccompanied and have opportunities to sing alone. While I use several songs with solos in the primary grades, I don't use as many in the older grades. Here is one that has been very successful with my older students. I often start with several knots tied in the rope so that a few students are singing the solo, (which cuts down on the initial fear factor for the singers.) I learned this song from my wonderful Level III teacher, Liz Arcaro. Once a student has sung a solo (or duet, or trio, depending on how many knots I tie in the rope,) they go to a barred instrument and accompany with a simple bourdon on C and G. What are some of your favorite songs with solos?
double-sided tone ladders for Apple Tree and Little Leaves The second graders are currently in the land of "do." We've sung and played games, body signed, showed the "low" note by bending or ducking as we sang, echoed patterns while using individual tone ladders, and written do melodies with leaf note heads. staff boards and leaf notes for melodic writing This week I'll present do and the do clef and we'll focus on identifying, reading and writing do songs on the staff. do Songs Apple Tree Little Leaves Mouse Mousie Pumpkin Man (only the first two measures) One, Two, Three (Johnny Caught a Flea) One of the practice activities I'll be incorporating is my Apple and Pumpkin Melody Match I found foam apples (the come in packages mixed green and red and can be found in the dollar bin,) and foam pumpkins. (I really need to own stock in Target stores. They receive a lot of my cash.) On each apple I wrote the solfa of a do melodic pattern. On the pumpkins I wrote the same melody on the staff with a do clef: I stripped away the rhythm of these patterns because I want students to focus on the melody. (Have you ever noticed when showing mystery songs many kids will figure it out by matching the words and the rhythm and neglect the melody entirely? No? Just me? ...ok...) Each student will start the game with a pumpkin or an apple. They must find their partner and then write out their melody jointly on a staff board. I have pumpkin, ghost, leaves, and blackcat noteheads, (thank you, Amy!) once the pair have found each other they can choose which noteheads they use to write their pattern. Here are some of the do patterns I've used and what song and phrase they are from: Do you have additional do songs/activities? Please let me know. Have a lovely autumn week!
Once in a while I do a blog post more aimed at a music teacher audience, and this is one of those posts. This is the hello song that I sing to start every music for kindergarten and first grade. …
High Shoals Elementary School Music Blog, Oconee County GA, Orff Music Instruction
I made these instrument labels for some of our classroom instruments. These really seem to be helping some of the kiddos remember the nam...
High Shoals Elementary School Music Blog, Oconee County GA, Orff Music Instruction
Sing, sing, sing! I want my students to experience beautiful, in-tune singing and I am always on the lookout for songs with solos. I know students are more successful in pitch matching when they sing unaccompanied and have opportunities to sing alone. While I use several songs with solos in the primary grades, I don't use as many in the older grades. Here is one that has been very successful with my older students. I often start with several knots tied in the rope so that a few students are singing the solo, (which cuts down on the initial fear factor for the singers.) I learned this song from my wonderful Level III teacher, Liz Arcaro. Once a student has sung a solo (or duet, or trio, depending on how many knots I tie in the rope,) they go to a barred instrument and accompany with a simple bourdon on C and G. What are some of your favorite songs with solos?
My third grade classes have been focusing on folk songs. We have added Orff accompaniment, learned the cross-over technique, and performed line dances. They really enjoyed our activity with the song John Kanaka! First we talked about the history of the sea shanty: Then, we learned the song and discussed how the steady beat of the song might have helped sailors get their work done more efficiently. As we listened, the students identified the macro and micro beats and we practiced by using a pat-clap-pat-clap pattern. Next, the students transferred the macro/micro beats to a hand clapping game. First we practiced with paper plates: Holding the plate flat with their left hands, students pat the plate with their right. Then, they clap their right hands beneath and plate, pat the plate again, and clap their hands above the plate. They continue this pattern throughout the song feeling the macro beat (patting the plate) and the micro beat (clapping hands below and above): plate, below, plate, above, plate, below, plate, above. After they had a the movements down, we added tambourines and turned it into a circle dance! We got really fancy and rotated our outer circle on the fermata! Great job, third graders!
"Who Am I?" Instrument ID Game I recently shared a few of my favorite resources for teaching instruments of the orchestra. Here is a instru...
A blog about elementary music education.
Music a la Abbott Amy Abbott Kodály Inspired Blog and Elementary Teachers Music Education Resource
High Shoals Elementary School Music Blog, Oconee County GA, Orff Music Instruction
Teaching Canon Singing. Organized Chaos. Strategies for introducing canons in elementary choir or general music lessons.
Use this free listening map of Astor Piazzolla's Libertango to teach timbre to your elementary music students.
November 20, 2013 We have been learning all about "tempo" (the speed--fast or slow--of the beat) and "rhythm" in ...
Welcome! I am a Kodály inspired and Kodály aspiring music teacher. I aspire to create a environment of "Music for Everyone!", where children love to sing, play, move, create, read, write, and understand music! Here I will share my thoughts and experiences in the elementary music classroom. I hope to inspire others with ideas towards teaching children the joy and love of a life filled with music!
It's my favorite time of year!! Recorder time!! The students love this unit so much that it really energizes me! There is just something about putting a recorder in a student's hand that makes music come alive for them. It is such a great way to synthesize all of the information that they have been learning throughout their elementary music career: rhythms, notes, vocabulary, score-reading, musicianship, and much more! Fourth graders begin learning about the history of the recorder, parts, basic technique, and the first 3 notes: B, A, and G. We use the Rockin' Recorder Method Book (created by Allison Friedman) as our main curriculum. The students love this book because of the up-beat tracks that go along with each song. We also supplement with lots of fun recorder warm-ups and games! The classes have really enjoyed playing the game, "B-A-G Roll and Play." It is a very simple concept but really engages them and allows them to practice their note-reading and technique individually. Each group member takes turns rolling the dice and playing that numbered example on their card. I asked the partners to take on the role of "Recorder Doctor," an idea I got from "The Sweetest Melody" music blog. As their partner plays the example, they "diagnose" any problems they hear: As they play, this is also a great time for me to walk around and assess the students. I can note which students are having trouble with fingerings, sound quality, or note-reading and which students are excelling in those areas. It provides the students time to help one another with their weaknesses and allows me to work one-on-one with students if they need it. Another recorder game that 4th graders have really enjoyed is Recorder Rumble. The students divide up into two teams (they usually prefer boys vs. girls) and compete to earn the most points by correctly playing the 4-beat patterns provided. This gives the students sight-reading practice and also a chance to play individually. It's a great assessment tool and the students enjoy the game format. I have each student take a turn to play a pattern and then, if they need to, they can consult with their team for help. It has been so neat to watch them encourage each other and compliment each other's performances! They've learned that good sportsmanship has its place in music as well!
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This is a fun file that I've been working on and finally posted. My Sugar Rush Rhythm files are pretty much the same, but with a candy theme instead. This is the image for Bundle #1, but they are sold individually or in one of three bundles. Each concept file contains multiple flashcards that I'll walk you through as well as 10 activities for using them for reading. First, there are large Flashcards. You can use this with a multitude of flashcard games: Sing What You Don't See, Poison, etc. Something fun to do with flashcards, be it rhythm or melodic, is extract the element that you're working on, have one half of the class sing or clap the element and the other class sing or clap the rest. So, in the card below, if la is the new element, the boys would only sing the la's and the girls would sing "everything else." And then of course switch. This can also be transferred to rhythm flashcards. Just another way to use flashcards. There are small flashcards, both numbered and un-numbered. These are great for centers or small group games. Also included in the file are staves on which students can use manipulatives to transcribe the stick notation onto. There are a few different games with which you can use these: There are landscape flashcards that are great for all those flashcard games too!: Here's an extension idea. I found this puppet this year (those of you that read my blog know that I LOVE puppets): Basically, you can build your own Monster Puppet, as all the parts come off. I use this as an incentive to performing a flashcard by themselves. If they do, the can add a part to the puppet. They EAT it up! Here are the team cards for the Monster Melody Madness Relay game. Basically, it's a glorified team game of Post Office. The students are in 2-6 teams. The teams are lined up, like a relay team, on one end of the room with the cards spread out on the other side of the room. The teacher either sings or plays a melody, the first person races to find that card. To make it more competitive, you can add time limits to find the cards or only the first team to find the card wins that round. Here are some sample monster cards: There are also small landscape cards, that can be used like the other small flashcards. These fit nicely into an envelope to play Post Office: They also fit well in these: I found a bunch of these at Walmart this year before school started but you can also buy them at Zipit. You can use these with beat passing games: instead of getting "out," a student reads a card instead. For instance, you can easily turn "Pick-a-Pumpkin" into a hand passing game or a beat passing game, using a small pumpkin. Here are the links to the files: so-mi la do Bundle #1: so-mi, la, do re low la low so Bundle #2: re, low la, low so high do fa ti Bundle #3: high do, fa, ti This I just finished this evening and will be added to my store tomorrow. I made some disappearing song files and keep meaning to make more. This one is a Halloween themed one, to use with the song "Pumpkin, Pumpkin." It practices the song on text: The rhythm: The solfége: Then they read it again, teachers choice. Since it's a "Monster Stole My Melody" file, I personally would have them read the solfége: And then the beats are removed, one by one, as an animated monster comes across the screen and "eats the song." This continues until the entire song is gone and they're reading the song from memory. I'll upload the link as soon as it's posted on TpT I hope you saw my post that my email was hacked. I can access it again and it's up and working. Remember, now through the 31st for every $25 you spend at my TpT Store I'll email you $5 of product. PLEASE do NOT put the free product in your cart as you will be charged. You can email me at my school or home account. . . or for good measure, send it to both, lol! This was thoroughly a Monday, I'm ready for a new day tomorrow! :)
High Shoals Elementary School Music Blog, Oconee County GA, Orff Music Instruction
October 12, 2013 Fourth and fifth grade students are reviewing "rhythm" (the short and long patterns of the beat) in music class...
It's back to school time! Yay! I am so happy to see all of you again! I am looking forward to a fun school year with you! Here's what's up so far! Grades 4 & 5 (Rooms 13, 17 & 19) are starting the year with the song "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye. We began by watching a cover of the song by the group Walk of the Earth, where each member plays one part on the guitar. From left to right: Player 1: Uses the guitar as a percussion instrument Player 2: Plays the ostinato (a repeating pattern) which is actually just IIV to I chords Player 3: Plays the guitar melody Player 4: Plays the off-beat chords (on beats 2 & 4) Player 5: Plays accent chords Then we watched another version of the song: Gotye saw that so many people were doing covers of his song that he made a compilation video of a whole bunch of YouTube videos from around the world! Next week we will be learning to play this song on the Orff Instruments: From: http://musescore.com/user/24296/scores/49627 Grades 1/2/3 are learning the Tritsch Tratsch Polka by Johann Strauss. We have coupled it with Deborah Ziolkoski's story and movement about the ringmaster and tightrope walker from Fun With Composers. We are learning about ABA form in music (same/different/same), and a little bit about the life of composer Johann Strauss. Here is a recording of it - ask your child to show you the story and movement! Did you know that the Tritsch Tratsch Polka is also used in the video game Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games? It can be found in the Synchronized Swimming section! Pretty cool, huh?
Music education ideas, activities, games, and songs | Technology tips for the music classroom | Resources for the elementary music room.
I wanted to do something for my choir kids as a thank you for all their hard work this semester. This was a relatively affordable "gift" even though I ended up getting the giant sized Symphony bars (since Walmart didn't have enough of the XL bars stocked....) I conned my sister into helping me cut out the tags and tie up the ribbons. Here is the finished product. I designed the tags in powerpoint. Here is a closer picture and a PDF if you'd like to print your own.
Beat passing games for the music room: Great singing games for the upper elementary music classroom!
Cumulative songs are great for children because they feature built-in repetition, help with recall and provide a mental challenge (keeping track of all those lyrics!), and help children develop their singing voices. Here are 17 cumulative songs to use with your children's choir or elementary music c
Yes, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, lol! I hope you all had a wonderful December! Things are back in full swing in Erie but I wanted to share a song that my 5th graders started before winter break. They're reading songs with ti now. I'm so excited! I've not gotten this far in the Kodály sequence before! The school I was at before was a "bilingual" school (I've blogged about this before) and there was such a gap that we could never "get to it." With this being my 3rd year at Red Hawk I've been able to "catch-up" my students and get them where I'd like them to be in the sequence. With them reading ti at this point in the school year I'm hoping that we can start to get into altered tones before the end of the year! Okay, I took a tangent, but here's a song that my mom actually told me about that can be found in "Singing Games and Rhymes for Middle Years", which is published by the National Youth Choirs of Scotland. I can't find nor do I have a primary source for the song I can't find nor do I have a primary source for the song. But, I'm using it with my kids regardless because it contains ti in a pattern that they haven't practiced as much. Here the song: The game is super fun and the kids LOVE it: Formation: lines of 6-7 students, all facing "forward" in the line. Action: The first person of each line has a playground ball. On the first beat of the song they bounce the ball. On the second beat they catch the ball. On beats 3-4 they pass it over their head to the person standing behind them. That student takes the ball and repeats the pattern of bounce-catch-over head (2 beats for this action). This repeats through the end of the song, for a total of 4 times through the pattern for the entire song. The student who has the ball at the end of the song runs to the end of the line. All the students in their line spread their legs and the student with the ball rolls the ball through the legs of their teammates. The first team who rolls their ball through all their team members' legs "wins." I have added that between rounds of play they have 10 seconds to shuffle their line. If you don't do this, only the first 4 people in line get to bounce the ball and only the back people get to roll the ball. Here are some pictures from one of my 5th grade classes playing the game: First person is bouncing and catching the ball: The ball is passed overhead The second person bounced and caught the ball and is now passing it over head: The last person (the 5th in line) got the ball at the end of the song, ran to the back and rolled the ball up between their team members' legs: On my to-do list is to create a PowerPoint for them to practice reading this song. It's quickly become a class favorite! I wanted to let you all know about a collaborative Kodály blog that I'm taking part in!!! Aileen Miracle, Lindsay Jervis and I started talking about it around Thanksgiving and are now getting it up and running (in huge part to Aileen's work, thanks Aileen!!!) It's called Kodály Corner and will consist of blog posts from 8 different Kodály teachers from across the nation. Aileen has started us off with our first post and will be posting again this weekend. There will be two blog posts weekly in which we will take turns sharing different teaching ideas and strategies. Please head over to Kodály Corner to check it out!! I hope you all have a GREAT week!!!
October 12, 2013 In second grade classes we have started a Native American Indian music and dance unit. This week, students had the opp...
Peer Gynt
Looking for a fun way to review the instruments of the orchestra? This write the room activivty was a huge hit with my elementary music students!
It's been a while since I posted anything that you can take right to your classroom. Here's a new one that you can use right away - well...with a little work on your part. The song "Happy" from "Despicable Me 2" by Parrell Williams is a very catchy tune. I feel it's a great teaching piece for many reasons. For one, it's a catchy, popular tune with lyrics you can actually play in the classroom! Another reason I like it for teaching is that it illustrates a very important concept when learning music. So often we tell students "major" songs sound "happy" and "minor" songs sound "sad." Well...here is an example that flies in the face of that logic. When you hear this song you can't help but feel "happy" even though it's actually in the key of F minor! First: BUY THE SONG. Please don't use a free service to play the song. It's available from most music services of your choice (Amazon, iTunes, etc.). Now, if you have a plethora of instruments at your disposal with a full compliment of chromatic notes, then by all means, transpose what I've provided here and use it as-is with the original. Most folks with Orff instruments are limited with the only accidentals available being F-sharps and B-flats. For this reason, I needed to transpose this song down a half step to E minor. Not to mention my fourth graders do not have any idea of how to play A-flat or B-flat on the recorder and I have no desire to confuse what we've already started by teaching those pitches. The way I have it here fits beautifully with the fact that my fourth grade students have just learned the pitch E, so this will be excellent (and fun) practice. "But...how do I get the recording in the correct key?" you may ask. There are options. I transposed mine with a program that I love called "Wavepad." Transposing it down took a little trial and error (it goes by percentage rather than actual pitch or half steps - 94% did the trick) and yes, the result sounds slightly different than the original - but as I find myself saying so often when I have to make do "It's close enough for this side of town!" They do have a free version available here: Click here. Another option that many music teachers like is to use Audacity. You can download Audacity completely free here. To get you going on how to transpose music with Audacity there are several resources available on the Internet. Simply Google "transpose with Audacity" and you should be well on your way if you need help figuring that task out. So here's the play-along notation for the transposed version in E minor. If you have instruments at your disposal with lower pitches (for example, I have some of the bass Joia tubes) I recommend changing the pitch B in the bass xylophone part an octave lower - but that's just a personal preference. The unpitched percussion part can be anything you have - sticks, hand drums, tambourines, etc. The alto xylophone part also provides a great opportunity to teach the famed "syncopa" rhythm pattern in the second measure. The ostinati laid out here can be played throughout and the wonderful thing about the original recording is that it gives you a nice set-up count-off at the beginning. Enjoy and...be HAPPY!
Fooba Wooba John
I did a super simple partner composition activity with my grade 2 and 3 students and by just spontaneously calling it a "secret handshake" rather than a body percussion composition, the kids were sooooooooo excited! It also led to some very interesting and creative compositions. Step 1: In pairs, students write an 8 beat rhythm pattern (two measures) using ta, ta-a, ti-ti, rest, and/or ti-ka-ti-ka. Step 2: Students decide on body percussion together that matches the rhythm pattern that they wrote. When demonstrating this, show different ways partners can connect. When students are composing their body percussion, watch for a group that clearly shows their rhythm and have them demonstrate for the class. Step 3: Have pairs perform their compositions for the class, having the rest of the students demonstrate their audience behaviour skills! Possible Extensions: Have students write out their compositions with graphic notation. Have pairs teach another group their handshake. It sounds simple, and maybe you already do something like this, but the kids loved it! I will forever be using the term "secret handshake" for this activity!
Confession time: I'm sometimes a Sunday night planner. Okay, a lot of times I end up planning on a Sunday night. Now, I have my year, trimester and month plans scoped out of what I want to teach. What I find myself on Friday nights doing is putting down how I'm going to teach it and the song literature and activities that go with that. My first are practicing ta & ti-ti and of course "Jingle Bells" a good song for isolating ti-ti ta ti-ti ta on the "jingle bells, jingle bells" part. Now, pardon my rush but the only version of Jingle Bells on my computer is in augmentation of how I sing it and have my kids read it: We're going to be doing some reading work of ta ti-ti in the high concentration portion of the lesson and deriving the ti-ti ta ti-ti ta on "jingle bells, jingle bells" is going to be my transition into the "change of pace" portion of the lesson, which will be a dance that goes to Jingle Bells. There are two ways that I do this dance. The easier version uses a parachute and the more advanced version has concentric circles with partners. Here's the parachute dance directions: Formation: circle, everyone holding on to the parachute. Action: Verse (32 beats total) Beats 1-4: heel-toe-heel-toe with the right foot (dashing through the snow) Beats 5-8: four slide steps to the right- like a side-ways gallop (in a one horse open sleigh) Beats 9-12: heel-toe-heel-toe with the left foot (o'er the fields we go) Beats 13-16: four slide steps to the left. (laughing all the way) Beats 17-32: repeat the first 16 beats Chorus (32 beats total) Beats 1-2: with parachute in hands, three pats on feet to the rhythm (jin-gle bells) Beats 3-4: three pats on knees, to the rhythm (jin-gle bells) Beats 5-8: four pats at waist, to the beat Beats 9-16: lift the parachute over the head. I call a color and those students with that color let go of the parachute, turn around in place and re-grab parachute. Now, if your students are really careful those students on the colors called can run under the parachute to another spot of that same color. This is the FUN way to play! ;) Beats 17-32: repeat the first 16 beats. When I do this with older kiddos we do it in a concentric circles. Formation: concentric circles, facing partners (one in the outside circle, one in the inside circle) Action: Verse (32 beats total) Beats 1-4: heel-toe-heel-toe with the foot that leads in the counter-clockwise direction. This is the right foot for the outside circle and the left foot for the inside circle (dashing through the snow) Beats 5-8: four slide steps counterclockwise- like a side-ways gallop (in a one horse open sleigh) Beats 9-12: heel-toe-heel-toe with foot that leads in the clockwise direction (o'er the fields we go) Beats 13-16: four slide steps clockwise. (laughing all the way) Beats 17-32: repeat the first 16 beats Chorus (32 beats total) Beats 1-2: with right hands, partners pat each other's hands three times to the rhythm (jin-gle bells) Beats 3-4: with left hands, partners pat each other's hands three times, to the rhythm (jin-gle bells) Beats 5-6: with both hands, pat three times as in the first two steps. **This will NOT match the rhythm Beats 7-8: clap own hands three times. **Again, this will NOT match the rhythm Beats 9-16: join hands with partner and do a full circle turn Beats 17-32: repeat the first 16 beats, with the exception that in the last step, after the full circle turn everyone takes an extra step to the left and then has a new partner. This has a really nice flow and even the older kids enjoy it! Have a great day!
October 12, 2013 Fourth and fifth grade students are reviewing "rhythm" (the short and long patterns of the beat) in music class...
Epo I Tai Tai is one of my favorite "syn-co-pa" songs to use with 4th grade. I introduce it with a hand clapping game that goes like this: I introduce it with a hand clapping game that goes like this: Have the students listen for the longest sound as you sing the song. ("e") Have them count how many times "e" occurs. Every time they hear "e" have them perform this following pattern: right hand (in the air, mocking patting a partner's hand), clap both hands, left hand (same as with right: up, tapping phantom partner), clap Have them listen for how many times "Epo i tai tai" happens while they perform the patter for "e". This is tricky, a lot of times they will say five (they'll count epo i tuki tuki) Add pat-pat-clap-clap on "Epo i Tai Tai" Have them count how many times "epo i tuki tuki" happens Add pat-pat-both (patting both of phantom partner's hands)-both We will sing it a few times more practicing the pattern but that's all I do with it the first day. The next lesson we will review the pattern and add having a partner Eventually, they will be in concentric circles, facing their partners performing the pattern. After they are successful with the pattern I will start calling "left" or "right" at the end of the 1st, 2nd or 4th phrase. This is A LOT of fun! Pedagogically, I use this to prepare and practice "syn-co-pa" or single eighth note-quarter note-single eighth note. When we are practicing we will read and clap the rhythm of the first slide of the following powerpoint. We will derive where ties need to be inserted to make the rhythm match the song and then they will read the second slide with the ties inserted: Once we have presented syn-co-pa, we will read this slide on rhythm syllables: In 5th grade, once we have presented low ti and are practicing this element we will sing this mystery song and then play the game: Here are some other activity ideas: Sitting circle on the floor body percussion: pat pat clap clap snap snap snap snap (repeat) pat pat clap clap pat pat head head pat pat clap clap snap snap snap snap When students are proficient with the body percussion, have them perform the pattern using rhythm sticks. The pattern is: Floor, floor, cross, cross, out, out , out, out (repeat) Floor, floor, cross, cross, floor, floor, up, up Floor, floor, cross, cross, out, out, out, out Cross = tap sticks together Out = tap your sticks with your neighbors sticks to your right and left at the same time. Up = pulse sticks holding them straight up for 4 beats. When your students are proficient at doing this, have them practice flipping their sticks in 2 beats. Say, “flip, catch”. This movement replaces the “up” done on the first tuki-tuki. Challenge: Have students sit in 2 concentric circles so they face a partner. Instead of “flip, catch”, change it to “toss, catch” and they toss their sticks and catch their partners sticks.
"Cajun Fiddle" (that's the name of the song, not just the genre of fiddle playing) is occasionally played at the Morgantown Jam. What we call Old Time music is not just music that has its roots in the past. In actuality what we play in Morgantown has its own personality, derived mainly from its roots in Scotch/Irish folk songs. There are many other regional differences, so that a good listener can often guess where a band comes from based on the style of the music that they play. In the region around Louisiana in particular, there is a French influence, which results in a much different sound, but one which is easily adapted by West Virginians if they put their minds to it. The French referred to themselves as Acadians, which is a region in French Canada. "Cajun" is just a regional (mis) pronunciation of "Acadian." The Cajuns, among other things, like to create a catchy fiddle rhythm in triplets: dit dit DAH dit dit DAH dit dit DAH dit dit DAH. The song "Cajun Fiddle" was composed by Don Rich, who played in the Buckaroos, which was the backup band for Buck Owens, the co-host of Hee Haw. So it isn't actually all that old, though you might argue that it is kind of a synthesis of very old Cajun chord progressions from way back, kind of like a Cajun version of the 12 bar blues. Anyway, this is what it sounds like. This version comes from some nice folks who call themselves Banjo Phil and Miss Emily. Phil is playing the guitar with a capo on the second fret. The song is played in A, but I would guess that Banjo Phil's main instrument is banjo (well what do you expect from someone named Banjo Phil?) and so he likes to play in G. A D A E A D A-E A-E-A E A E A D A E A Fiddle music is appended below, from David Moffitt, where I found it posted at http://www.8notes.com/members_files/99002/Cajun%20Fiddle.pdf . In addition to this song, I can't help but include a rockabilly/Cajun fusion song called "Down at the Twist and Shout." This isn't the type of song we would normally play at the Brew Pub, but it shows some of the potential ways that the Cajun fiddling style can find its way to other styles of music. In particular, this song incorporates an electric guitar and electric bass,which kind of disqualifies it as Old Time. I'll bet it would sound just fine played on more traditional instruments, however. The main reason I wanted to include it is to show that the rhythm is very similar, and Cajun music can be a lot of fun. Bring on the crawdads and Jambalaya, and let's have us some Cajun music!
Sarasponda
Excuse our noise... musicians at work! :) After reviewing rhythm patterns at the beginning of the year, 3rd grade classes began working on layering rhythm patterns together. This is one of the more di
Today my recorder lessons did not go as planned. Sadly, I could not place the blame on anyone but myself. Last week I spent a few hours maki...
It is finally spring break. I can’t tell you how long I have been counting down to this vacation. Spring break is the perfect thing to prepare me for the craziness of testing season. It is…
High Shoals Elementary School Music Blog, Oconee County GA, Orff Music Instruction
