Music Composition with Found Objects, Part 2 - Group Music Lesson Plan Idea

The blog post to date with by far the most views is my post on Music Composition with Found Objects - Group Music Lesson Plan Idea.  Check it out!  It's a very fun way to help your students find music all
around them.

I want to add an update now.  In the original post, I linked to some youtube videos of John Cage's "Water Walk".  I've since been exposed to some awesome, fun, upbeat videos of my husband's friend making music with found objects in various locations, which he calls a "Beat Scout".  These videos are very easily accessible for a young audience and will help your students get really excited about making music with found objects and searching for music all around.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Fun!  I love these so much.  Even my three-year-old kid asks all the time to listen to Beat Scouts! :) If you are interested in checking out the rest of his videos, click here for his channel.

So, I just wanted to add this to the original lesson plan and I hope you and your students can have some fun with them!

DVD Case Wipe-off Boards for Music Group Lesson Activities

I really enjoy teaching group lessons.  It's really fun for kids to learn about music theory and composers and other topics in a group setting.

I just finished making these awesome Wipe-off Boards out of old DVD cases.  These "boards" have so many possibilities for the classroom or group lessons.  I think they are super rad!

There are so many ways to use these!  Just swap out the liner inside to fit your needs.  I printed the insert double sided, so its easily interchangeable.

So to make one yourself, just print out the sheets below, cut them to size, and insert in an empty DVD case.  Then give yourself a high five because you're done!  Best teacher award goes to you.

DVD Case Wipe-off Board Printable Insert 1
DVD Case Wipe-off Board Printable Insert 2

Then you can use the inside of the case to store the markers and eraser.  Love it!

I hope you have fun with these!  Feel free to share any ideas you have for learning activities and games to do with these.  Leave a comment below!

Making Listening Tasks More Beneficial for Music Students

There are many benefits for music students who listen to recordings often.  To name a just a few: Listening to music is essential for developing a keen ear.  Listening to a recording can help a student understand the piece differently, helping with interpretation and style.  The recording can also model good tone and expression.

When done with purpose and direction, listening can offer these and many other benefits to students.  But, if students are not given direction and focus in their listening tasks, they may be missing out, and worse, it may become uninteresting and daunting to them.

How can we as teachers make listening more fun and interesting for our students?  How can we make it have more purpose and direction?  How do we help our students reap all the rewards of purposeful listening?  Below are a few ideas that can help.

1.  Ask yourself first what the purpose of the listening task is.  If you don't know it yourself, don't expect your students to figure it out.  Why would you like this particular student to listen to this particular piece?  What do you want them to gain?  The answer to this will guide a lot of your choices for how to direct the attention of the student.

2.  For young students, and especially in group settings, limit listening excerpts to no longer than three minutes.  If you'd like them to hear a longer excerpt, ask yourself what the value is of the longer excerpt, which couldn't be gained in a shorter one.  Consider maybe breaking it up into smaller segments, with discussion and questions in between to help with wandering attention spans and to keep the focus on what you'd like them to learn.

3.  Based on your answer to number one above, give the student something specific to listen for before you begin.  Any discussion and questions afterward will be based on this.

4.  Discuss what the student is hearing (giving prompts before listening can help them focus in on what you'd like them to hear).  Ask specific questions based on what you asked them to listen to, and allow the student to discuss and ask questions as well.

5.  Have the student draw while listening.  They can draw their own interpretation of what they hear.  This especially works well with young students, but can be used for all ages.

6.  Move to the music.  This eliminates boredom, and allows creative freedom to interpret the music in a new way.  It can be as simple as marching around the room to the beat, or moving close to the ground when it is soft and standing tall when the music is loud.  Allowing the student to interpret the music freely through impromptu body movements can be a lot of fun.  The type of movement you choose will depend on your purpose for the listening task.

7.  Give the student a specific task while listening, such as holding the instrument in perfect playing posture for the duration of the excerpt.  Give them something specific to focus on, again based on what you want them to gain from the experience.

8.  Follow along with the music, especially the full score.  Ask the student to look for something specific, such as when the voices play similar parts simultaneously, or to find which voice has the melody at any given time.

These are some ideas that have worked well for me and my students.  What other ideas have worked for you?  Feel free to share in the comments below so everyone can benefit.

Music Group Lesson 101 - Planning an Awesome Group Class!

I love doing group lessons with my violin students.  It's such an awesome way to have activities and performance opportunities that are not possible in private lessons.  But how do you get started?  This post addresses some ideas to keep in mind while planning a great group lesson.

What are the advantages of group music lessons?  For the students: performance opportunities, activities and topics that are not done in private lessons, it’s social (motivating!), and it’s super fun.  For the teacher: you can teach more students in less time (give yourself a break, but still be productive and give your students a valuable learning experience!), and you can still get the same income that week as you would by teaching privately (depending on how you decide to charge your students for group lessons, you may even end up making more), it’s fun for you too, and a change of pace from the normal weekly routine.  There are many more, but that’s a good start.  Are you excited now for group lessons??  Keep reading….

How often should group lessons take place?  When my studio is large enough, I like to do group lessons regularly.  I schedule them once a month, usually the last week of the month, instead of the regular private lessons that week.  Attendance at group lessons is required in my studio, but I have also heard of other people still holding regular private lessons that week, and then offering optional group lessons in addition, for an added fee.  You can do what you feel is best for your studio.  If your studio is smaller, you may choose to do group lessons less often, such as when preparing for a recital or special event.  Of course, some teachers offer group lessons only, instead of private lessons, in which case the priorities and format of the lesson may be somewhat different.

Who should come to group lessons?  I think group lessons can be done for any age and skill level of students.  If you have enough students in your studio, I recommend grouping the students by age/skill level and having multiple groups, in order to get the most out of your classes.  At times when I was building up my studio, I have also just held one group lesson with multiple ages and skill levels.  It works fine, but you have more work as a teacher in order to modify activities so all skill levels can participate and learn.

How much should I charge for group lessons?  That’s a good question, and the answer can vary, depending on what works for you.  I personally charge the same for group lessons as I do for private lessons.  So, essentially, each student pays me for the equivalent of four private lessons a month, and they receive three private lessons and one group lesson.  Some students only have 30- or 45-minute private lessons, but they still pay me the same fee for the 60-minute group lesson as they would for a private lesson.  I’m not too worried about the nickels and dimes, and parents tend to view it as getting a great deal, and it adds value to what they are paying for.  You can use this as a selling point.  But if you want, you could charge your students, who have private lessons shorter than your group lessons, a little more for the group lesson.  Honestly, I don’t think this is really necessary, because the group lesson allows you to teach more than one student at a time.  Even if the more beginner students are paying a little less, you will still probably make more as a teacher, because you will only be teaching 60 minutes, but will still get paid by 8 or 10 or however many students, as if they had private lessons.  But do whatever you feel works for you.

How long should a group lesson last?  That depends on what you would like to accomplish, but I feel that 60 minutes tends to be just right for me.  And for the kids’ attention spans.

So what do you do at a group lesson?  Well, that depends on your goals and the needs of your studio and the students in each group class.  There are many ways to do a group class, and I don’t think there’s one right or wrong way.  You could have just a performance/master class for older students, or for all students as you approach a recital.  You can have your students learn group pieces together, such as a fun duet where multiple people are on each part.  You can do something new and different every time, or follow a similar format each time.

My mom is an awesome piano teacher who has taught forever, and she likes to do group lessons in the following format.  I have sort of copied her ideas and do things similarly.  The time allotted can vary, of course, depending on the needs of the students.

• Composer Time:  (20 minutes, give or take).  Review the composer from last month (she asks questions about the composer they studied at the last group lesson, and hands out candy if they answer correctly), then she introduces a new composer.  Usually, she has ten (or fewer for younger students) important facts about the composer that they talk about and she shows them pictures, video, or plays musical excerpts for them. 
• Performances/Group Pieces Rehearsal:  (20 minutes, give or take).  Students who have been assigned will perform their pieces for the group.  She encourages good listening etiquette, and asks the students to give feedback to the performer, such as what things the performer did well.  You can also take time to rehearse any group pieces that everyone is learning together. 
• Theory Game or Other Activity:  (20 minutes, give or take).  Bring music theory to life with games and activities that the kids can do together.  You can have prizes for winners, music-related projects and crafts, and spontaneous composition.  Just make it fun.  Really, anything you can think of!  Here’s an idea for a group music lesson involving found objects for a musical composition.  Hopefully I will get some more ideas up here soon as well, so make sure to subscribe so you can stay posted.

Whatever you decide to do, just remember to make it fun, exciting, and social so the kids will enjoy coming to group class.  Make sure the kids know each others' names so they can be friends.

Well, I think I have covered quite a few questions about group music lessons, but if you find you have more questions, feel free to contact me, or leave a message below.  Thanks!

Music Composition with Found Objects - Group Music Lesson Plan Idea

I was with my 18-month-old at the grocery store, and she is at a super fun age when she loves music, she loves imitating things, and she loves discovering new things. So we're walking into the store, and she suddenly starts singing a high-pitched "eeeeEEE!!!" Then she repeats it a few seconds later on the same pitch, "eeeeEEEEEE!!" She did this about five times before I realized she was copying the beeping of the scanners at the checkout. This made me laugh and I was in awe at how amazing little kids are. They can sometimes notice things that we completely tune out and are not paying attention to.

This then made me think about how music is everywhere. Isn't that how every music appreciation lesson begins? Super cheesy, super cliché, right? But that thought popped into my head, and got me thinking about a lesson plan, which I think could be used in a private or group setting.  We did a similar class like this in one of my classes at Teachers College, and I loved it!  It involves creating musical compositions using found objects.  So much fun for kids (and for me too!).

• Objective: Create and perform musical compositions using found objects. 
• Preparation/Materials: Assign students to bring (or gather yourself) some found objects to use as instruments. Have poster paper and markers available.
  
• Introduction: Play "Water Walk" by John Cage.  Tell students to watch for strange instruments.  Discuss the students' observations.
• Below is a video of Cage performing the piece himself.  The picture quality is low, but the sound is okay.  Start watching at around 5:40.

• I also found this video below, which has better quality picture, but unfortunately the sound has some echo.

• UPDATE 04/26/14: I have since been exposed to some fun, awesome, and upbeat videos of my husband's friend playing popular songs with found objects.  Click here for an updated part 2 of this blog post, with links to these fabulous videos.  SERIOUSLY, GO CHECK THEM OUT.  THEY ARE FANTASTICALLY ACCESSIBLE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES.
• Explain: Explain that music is everywhere and they can make music with the objects they/you brought. 
• Demonstrate: You may choose to demonstrate a composition you have done, especially for very young students. However, it may be appropriate to give little guidance up front, since they already had a demo from Cage. You don't want to stifle their creativity by limiting them with your own composition as an example. Just be aware that some kids may take your example and merely replicate it. Think about your own students and do what's appropriate for them. 
• Application: Allow the students to experiment with their found objects. Instruct them to "compose" a piece by drawing how they want it to sound on their poster. It can be images, words, or abstract shapes or lines. 
• Perform: Each student takes a turn to perform their composition, and/or allow them to play each others' compositions. 
• Discuss: Allow the students to discuss their experience. Guide the discussion as needed. What was difficult? What did they enjoy? How was their overall experience? What did they learn? 
• Conclusion: Remind the students that music is everywhere, just waiting to be created. Challenge them to look/listen for music in unusual, unexpected, or unconventional forms or places. Follow up with students in their individual lessons.

Let me know if you try this with your students.  I want to hear how it goes!  And if you have any questions or comments, please comment below.