Music Terms and Symbols

Trying to find different ways of presenting and reinforcing music terms and symbols in an exciting way, proved to be a little more difficult.  Our beginner group had very little knowledge of this concept and was a bit overwhelmed with trying to learn them in a short time.  For the students with previous music lessons it was easier since we could just expand on what they already knew.

Stinky Sock
We began by introducing the basics and then played a game called Stinky Sock (I had seen it mentioned on a Yahoo piano teacher chat group forum).

• Different music terms, symbols, and questions were written on small pieces of paper which were then placed in the very dirty sock.  
• Music played while the students passed (mostly actually threw) the sock around the circle.  
• When the music stopped, whoever had the sock had to take a piece of paper out of the sock and do whatever was on the paper (the paper might say to give an example for the term "forte" and the player would need to talk loudly).  
• Fun instructions were included in with the music terms, symbols, and questions -- hop three times before you can throw the sock or turn around twice before giving the sock to the next person.  
• Anyone who answered incorrectly was out and moved on to a different game designed to work more on music terms.  

Our afternoon group which consisted of 6th and 7th graders had the same game but with a different set of terms.  All of the campers had a great time with Stinky Sock.  It was a favorite and we found that we could use it for other concepts as well.

Memory Game
The card deck from The Whirligig, LLP game Legato Lake Level 2 was used to play a memory game.

We separated the cards into categories.  Approximately half of the terms from the deck were used each time we played so that the games didn't take too long. For our beginning students we started with the more basic terms.  The more experienced group used the half of the deck with more advanced terms.  They were still all playing the same game at the same time so it wasn't obvious to them that there were different levels.

I had worried that it would be much too tame in comparison to the other more active games but the students really enjoyed it.  I think it was good to have a combination of very active and then more calm activities.

Music Category Game
Bradd and I made a Music Outburst type game.   It is a game where teams are given a category and have to "yell" words that relate to the category.

Some examples of our categories were

• name things related to rhythm
• things relating to tempo
• things you would find in a band room 

We had ten terms relating to each category and the students received one point for each that their team got right.  Rules allowed the other teams to capture points by guessing an answer that the currently answering team couldn't get right.  It made for a very animated game and was a good way to reinforce music terms.  

Worksheets
We made many worksheets for the campers to do if they were out of a game early or just to take home and bring back finished for extra points.  I'll explain our scoring method in a later blog entry.

Sally Ritchie

Rhythm!

After the first day of camp we were able to do more activities rather than so much instruction.

The second day began with a short review of note values for our beginners and then added more emphasis on eighth notes.   After some counting practice, we played a game called Telephone which was one of the TCW games (I can't find a link to that game or I would put that in).   I had purchased a set of children's handbells and thought they would work well for this game.   Each child was given a rhythm card and when the operator called his or her rhythm on his bell, the student with that rhythm would have to ring it back right away or get disconnected.  It was fun!  We had several players get disconnected, but when they heard that ring again, they could beg to be reconnected.  We stressed that they really had to sound very sincere so it got pretty animated.  The students had a great time with that.

Another rhythm activity combined a drum circle and the rhythm cards from the Rhythm Riot game (Whirligig game).  We divided the campers into groups of three and gave them a rhythm to practice.   We had a "beat keeper" on the bass drum and the rest each had different drums and rhythm instruments.  The beat keeper kept going but we signaled when each group was added or taken out.  Without exception, the students enjoyed the activity.  It helped to get them more independent with rhythm.


During the week, the students played an echo game where each team (they were divided into three teams) was given a few Rhythm Riot cards and they had to perform the rhythms on the cards.  The other teams had to echo that rhythm without seeing it.  It was a great listening game. 

We also did a bell circle...................giving each student a different rhythm and they had to keep the bells going by taking turns playing the rhythm on their cards.  Any player who couldn't keep the circle going was out.  After a short time, everyone would move to the bell on their right and get a different rhythm.

I wrote a "Jammin' Rap" and had some fun with rhythm in a different type of format.  The more advanced group actually choreographed their parts for the rap and we did a performance for the fathers when they came to pick them up on the last day.  It was really cute!

Of course the big hit for the camp was the trash can game.  It was done similar to a drum circle but each student had a pair of drum sticks and they were playing their rhythms on trash cans.  The cans were different sizes and even included some plastic garbage cans for a different sound.  It was exciting for them (and extremely loud).  They wanted to sound good though and so tried very hard.   By the end of camp it was sounding great!   We were amazed at how well they did!

More to come on activities for other concepts that were covered!

Sally Ritchie

Music Camp Goals

Bradd (our band director) and I began to plan by considering what skills we thought needed the most attention.   Bradd was very definite about wanting to spend a large portion of time working on rhythm.  We decided that we would have some rhythm exercises and games at the beginning of camp each day and end up with a rhythm performance type of activity at the end of each camp day. 

Bradd had started a "high school trash can group" that performed often at athletic events in place of some of the pep band numbers.  It was always a bit hit...........no pun intended.   The kids were all eager to try it so we thought that this would be a great way to get them interested in polishing their rhythm skills.  We were right about that being an exciting prospect for them.

Our goal was to teach music concepts long enough for the campers to "get it" but not go long enough for them to get restless with that part of camp.  We then planned to use games and activities to drill those concepts.  That turned out to be a successful way to address the camp.

Note Values
After introductions and sharing our basic goals with the campers, I began with introducing note values and explaining how we count.  Since some of the students were new to reading music we divided campers into two groups.  We felt that everyone would benefit from that presentation even though it would be a review for some of them.  Bradd then took the campers who were already in private lessons and worked on subdividing beats and eighth notes while I did easier counting exercises with the beginner group.  Bradd used the Rhythm Riot game to drill while I used the Rhythm Riot game cards with some drums and other rhythm instruments to help the new students. 


The Staff and Note Reading
After the rhythm section of camp, we went on to introduce the staff and note reading.  We had decided to present the grand staff and to teach them to read notes on both treble and bass clefs.  The goal was to give them a better understanding of why they don't all use the same staff.   It worked really well, although later we did concentrate on the staff that they used for their chosen instrument.   When we had them doing the note name sheets, all notes were presented on a grand staff.  If anyone is interested in seeing how the sheets were set up, just let me know and I'll post them.  We did some note name relay races and other games using note identification during camp.


Music Terms and Symbols
We moved on to music terms and symbols with an introduction of basic terms and again did some games.   I'll go into more detail about what games we did and how we used them in a future blog.


Snacks
We gave the students two breaks during the three hour camp and had told them ahead of time that they could bring a snack and something to drink for those breaks.  We felt that it would work better that way rather than to increase the cost of camp to include snack items.  This way the campers had things they liked and we kept the cost down.


Rhythm
As planned, we ended up with rhythm for the last 30+ minutes of camp.  We weren't sure what rhythms we could pull off so were prepared with many different rhythm cards, enabling us to take them as far as possible.  Since the drum circles and trash can groups would require them to be very independent with their rhythm combinations, we knew we would have to get them very secure before putting them together.  The first day was a little tenuous but they soon adapted to counting aloud and were having a great time with it.


At the end of each day, we detailed plans for the following day of camp and discussed which things went well and which didn't work the way we had planned.

Sally Ritchie

Ending with a Bang! Music Camp - Day 3

Our summer music camp ended up with a "real bang"!  We put together a trash can band and the students loved it without exception!  We were even successful at getting the beginners to perform dotted rhythms independently and at having team competitions on the trash cans. 

Both the band director and I consider the week a wonderful success!   We were both tired out though and are ready to have some quiet time.  We intended to teach note reading, music terms and symbols, and more complicated concepts, but our main focus was on rhythm.  I have already had one of my beginning guitar students in guitar class after he attended camp, and I was amazed at the difference in him!   I am eager to see how beginning band lessons next week turn out.

We are going to do an evaluation this week and discuss what worked and what had to be changed or modified.  Next week I am hoping to go into more detail about what we did with the students.   We asked what they liked best about this week and which things they didn't care for.  The younger group was so excited and were eager to tell us that they liked everything!  A couple of students in the older group said that they liked the worksheets the least, but at the same time they could see benefits from having done them. 

I am sure that we will do this camp next year along with a couple of other camps.   We had a few students ask if we could do one for older students.  This one focused on 3rd-7th grade but could easily be changed to include high school students.

Two of my piano students want to help with the camp next year and the student that helped this year wants to be included again next summer.  Jennifer, this year's helper, is off to college but the other two will be juniors in high school so will be a big help.

Sally Ritchie

Music Camp - Day 2

We have just finished our 2nd day of Jammin' with the Basics.  I am trying to remind myself of why I thought I wanted to be in a room with 16 children banging on drums and things!

It is going extraordinarily well though and we are making good progress.  Our beginners are already doing dotted rhythms independently!   Many of them are first time students.  Of course there are a couple that have to follow, but on the whole we are accomplishing what we set out to do.  This is my first time doing a music camp that isn't just for piano students, so I'm learning and we are revising as we go.  But this is going to do a lot for our instrumental program at school.  Our band director is extremely happy about the results and the kids are having lots of fun while learning things we would not have had time to teach even in several months of lessons at school.  I am finding that there are a few students that are really excelling and will definitely be the leaders in the school program.  In addition, they are getting to know me!  I have already had several inquiries about private lessons.   I have a long waiting list so that wasn't necessarily my goal, but it so is nice to see how they do in this kind of setting.   It makes it easy to choose the students with talent and drive.

We will be doing an evaluation after camp ends this week, but based on the first two days I already know that we will be offering camps next summer.  We have been asked to make them a part of our summer school program.  Just how we do that will be left to plan after camp is over. 

This could be a wonderful feeder program in addition to providing an income during the summer months.   One thing I do know..............16 kids in a beginner group is too many!

As a teacher who has a studio in a public school..............I want to offer a word of advice.  This is a good foot in the door!

Sally Ritchie

Music Camp-Day 1

Here we are, evaluating the first day of the Jammin' With the Basics music camp.  We had a group of 16 for the morning camp and 8 for the afternoon.   The afternoon camp consisted of 6th and 7th grade students.   The morning had mostly 5th grade and under with a couple of 6th grade students who struggled a bit last year.   We found that we would have had more campers if the beginners weren't going to have their first week of band lessons next week which will bring them back to school most days (we are having the camp at school as well).   I guess the scheduling is always the hard part.  With most parents both working, transportation to school during the days is an issue.

Our beginner camp made huge strides this morning!  It was a zoo some of the time and we learned very quickly that it was better to divide them into two groups.  The students that had previous music lessons moved along much more quickly, although the new students also made great progress.  We were able to put them together for a drum circle and various rhythm games.  We introduced concepts with the large group and then did some work to determine which students were ready to move along to more complicated levels.   Since I am team leading with the band director, we each took a group and worked alone with them.

Our afternoon campers reviewed note values, did note identification (all of them learned to read both treble and bass staffs) and worked on music terms and symbols.  We did a bell circle which was a big hit.  The band director and I had decided to concentrate on rhythms for almost half of the time the students were at the camp.  We have a Jammin' Rap that is turning out really well.......and we did many games and races.  The time just flew by! 

I loved the size of the afternoon camp!   We are going to make a few changes for tomorrow morning but other than that, we are very happy with how it is going so far.

Sally Ritchie

Expanding Music Camp Beyond Established Studio Students

I have been planning to do a summer music camp for several years and this is finally the year when I have everything put together.   We all have students who do not take summer lessons, so we have to deal with a huge slide in the fall when we start teaching again.  I wanted a summer camp where I could help them “get back their skills” and get into the habit of thinking music again.

Since my studio is in a public school, I work with the band and choir students during the school year.  It occurred to me that a music camp would benefit them as well, so I discussed the idea with the band director.  He loved it and was very eager to have his students attend the camp too.   It would make their fall band lessons much easier for both the students and for him. He not only has been calling his new students to recommend the camp, but is also helping with the camp itself.  It has greatly increased the pool of potential attendees, and will give the students the opportunity to get to know both of us.

We have been working on the plans for the camp to be held this week.  It will be three hours each day and will contain activities geared to all music concepts, but not specific to any instrument.  I am eager to see how things go and very excited to see our ideas put into use.

As well as being a great opportunity for the students, the expanded music camp may well provide a venue to increase any studio's exposure to the community.

Sally Ritchie