Re: "branded" elementary music


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Klaus on September 02, 2002 at 23:06:32:

In Reply to: "branded" elementary music posted by js on September 02, 2002 at 02:33:20:

For many years I taught, more or less full or part-time, Danish, religion, history, art, and more in grades 1 trough 10. Even if I taught brass, recorders, and ensemble within another system during the same period, I refused to teach classroom music, as I found it physically far too hard, not to tell of the drain of ones attention resources.

I had been educated in Orff and some derivatives thereof. I did not like anything about Orff. None of his music, at least on the elementary levels, appealed to. A quite clever lecturer, who I met on a teachers' summer course, also clearly pointed out, that the didactical value of the instrumental teaching of Orff instruments is very limited unless one has the ambition to act as a pre-school for tuned percussion. Most musical instruments are operated by fingers (plus maybe bow and some sort of embouchure), whereas the Orff instrumentarium mostly is operated on an all hand/wrist level.

However, I could not uphold my refusal to teach elementary music, as the headmaster pointed out, that I after all was among the musically most qualified members of the school staff. I had lead the school choir for years.

So I had to look at the music room resources: piano (which easily can accommodate 3 or 4 kids, guitar, string bass (far too large for most kids), trap set (which easily can be split up), lots of malleted Orff with wood or metal bars. Most of it diatonic, but also a few chromatic instruments. I added in a few items from my own arsenal of the types: bass guitar, ukulele, recorder.

And then I taught some simple chord patterns from the jazz and rock areas. Even the 1st graders almost fought each others to the wall board (?) to be allowed to write up the blues scheme (I was also their teacher in Danish, so they actually could write).

On a rotational basis the kids played melodic (sometimes in more parts), chordal, and rhythm functions plus soloed improvisation. Only one post was not rotated in one certain class: all of the kids had realised, that a certain guy was so rock steady on the bass guitar, that everything came out better with him on that post. So public demand voted him in there constantly. He was not the smartest on other school topics, but that bass function certainly boosted his social standing.

When a piece had "settled", I took the trombone and put a bit of colour on as a topping.

Of course this is about a not intended use of the Orff instrumentarium. On which I have to disagree with Joe: if at all malleted percussion, then only high quality will do. One leading German maker (name forgotten) sells one line, where each bar is tuned to its supposed pitch, and a more expensive line, where also the overtone pattern has been tuned. Only the latter line is acceptable.

However, I would rather have had a number of (always well tune) pianos or some decent keyboards with weighted keys.

As hinted there are maintenance costs with everything. I leaned towards sharp keys, another teacher towards flat keys. The "retuning" process exposed the bars of the malleted percussion to some evaporation.

Klaus


Follow Ups: