Music Musing Monday - Awareness of beat in music and its significance to children beginning to read language.

Back in June I wrote about the work of Dr Anita Collins, an Australian neuromusical educator from the ACT. Dr Anita Collins has been back in Perth this past week and was a presenter at the national ASME (Australian Society for Music Education) conference held at the University of Western Australia. Although I was unable to attend the conference, I met up for coffee on Saturday with a singing teacher friend and colleague from Sydney. Of course, the conversation turned to the conference themes and presenters and my friend spoke excitedly of the neuromusical research presented – in particular the early childhood musical opportunities which, if utilised, can make a significant difference to a child’s capacity for learning.

We spoke about Dr Collins’ findings that a child who cannot maintain a rhythmic beat is not yet ready to read language. This seems, on one hand a concept so simple, and yet so elusive in our current education systems.

Why do we not train all early childhood teachers in the most fundamental concepts of music – beat and rhythm?

It is important to recognise that this is quite a different need to the equally important one of providing specialist music (and all arts) teachers in primary schools to provide worthwhile teaching and learning experiences. The significance of the early childhood beat and rhythmic work is that, if missed, the neurological benefit cannot be made up for in later childhood. Your thoughts?

I will be asking my primary music and early childhood teacher friends for their most effective classroom beat activities. Watch out for further details in future posts.

In the meantime – keep an eye on Dr Collins’ work – check out ‘Bigger Better Brains’ on facebook.

Music Musings Monday - Saying goodbye

At this time of year across Australia secondary teachers are saying goodbye to their year 12 students as they prepare for final exams and departure from the school system.

Those of us teaching music (or for that matter any of the arts) know the special nostalgia of farewelling students after sharing years of arts-rich teaching and learning experiences with them - experiences which both student and teacher will remember for many years to come; probably for life.

Over the past weekend I had two opportunities to reflect on the power of music and the arts in our lives.

On Friday as I packed up to leave school, a colleague and friend mused on the coming week when she would say goodbye to her year 12 singing students. A number of these kids had done weekly voice lessons and several choir rehearsals with her for the past five years. In time the weekly lessons may retreat to the back recesses of their collective memory, but it is likely that most will carry memories of their choir performances for life.

 On Saturday I attended a reunion of my own old school year group. I attended an all-girls school and back in my day music was not offered as a subject at the school. Our school music experience involved some half-hearted group singalongs with a well-meaning volunteer teacher in the old stables building at the back of the school. Although I was learning piano outside of school, I probably played the school piano fewer than five times in as many years. Nevertheless, at the reunion several old girls asked me whether I was still playing piano. I was pretty amazed that they remembered at all – but obviously they saw the piano playing as part of who I was.

 There is no doubt that we tend to remember our school arts experiences – music concerts, drama productions, musicals, dance shows and so on. What do all of these experiences have in common? I think that part of the positive memory is tied to the discipline, practice and training that precedes the performance and contributes to the satisfaction of getting to performance standard – being stage worthy. Best practice in the performing arts is hard fun. And that is what creates those lifelong memories.

Music Tip Monday #3 - Twang

Last Monday we talked about simple ways by which music classroom teachers can look after their own vocal health and resilience.

An additional technique to learn for that purpose is twang.

Twang is useful for teachers because it increases vocal volume and projection without an increase in effort level – important in the classroom or in a choir rehearsal.

In essence, twang is a bright, clear (spoken or sung) sound quality produced by lowering the epiglottis slightly to narrow the aryepiglottic sphincter.  

Twang is not nasality.

Twang can  - but does not have to – include nasal resonance.

In simple practical ways, twang can be found and practised in your car on the way to school via these speech cues:

1. Make the sound of a hungry cat  - ‘miaow!’

2. Imitate the light, high and forward placed sound of a duck quacking.

3. Make the sound of a young sheep bleating – ‘meh!’

4. Imitate a baby’s cry

5. Imitate the young bright sound of a playground taunt – usually starting on the falling minor 3rd  - doh lah, re doh lah,  - ‘nyeah nyeah nyeah nyeah nyeah!’

6. Sing some vowels on ‘sing –ee, sing-ah’  with emphasis on the ng as you move into the twang sound.

Remember- always keep the sound light, bright and forward in placement and use minimal vocal effort.

Happy twanging!

Music Tip Monday #2 - World Voice Day

It’s World Voice Day tomorrow Tuesday 15th April and so it seems appropriate today to talk about voice care for music teachers.

Last Monday’s tips about straw phonation would be a good starting point.

Here are some more ideas:

1. Use non-verbal cues to get the students’ attention when they are working in groups – for example, establish a routine of clapping a short rhythmic pattern (which the students then clap back to you) when you want their attention. Vary the patterns from lesson to lesson to reinforce rhythmic concepts as well.

2. Avoid aggressive and  / or habitual throat clearing  - it can cause vocal fatigue.

3. Focus your speaking voice forward  - straw phonation helps establish this.

4. Drink water before you feel thirsty.

5. When you need to talk over loud background noise, use the vocal technique of twang to increase your projection without placing stress on your throat. We will look at twang next Monday.

Let us know if you have voice care tips to share!

Music Tip Mondays #1 - Straw Phonation

Voice getting fatigued as you head into the last week of the school term?  A quick restorative fix can be found by using a straw to warm your speaking and / or singing voice up before class. You could also use these warm-ups with your choir or school musical cast.

The exercises below can be done either with a straw in the air (hold straw parallel to the ground – or in a bottle of water. 

Maintain soft, slightly puffy cheeks throughout.

Don’t force your air  - let it be a consistent and comfortable air–flow from a sense of low abdominal release.

When blowing into a water bottle keep the bubbles consistent.

1. Blow air  gently through the straw.

2. Add sound to the airflow. This will feel like an ‘oo’ sound going into the straw on the breath flow.

3. Make a low sustained note in the straw.

4. Blow 5 note scales into the straw. Start from a comfortably low key.

5. Try descending 8 note scales – starting from a little higher in your vocal range.

6. Try sirens  - start in the middle of your range and then expand upwards and downwards in pitch.  If you sense a ‘gap’ in the line of sound, go back over that part of the siren gently until the siren moves more smoothly.

7. Try a section of a song in the straw – remember you cannot use words – just the melody on the ‘oo’ sound.

Of course it is always preferable to use a metal, bamboo, glass or silicone straw rather than single use plastic.

Liz Pascoe