Musical Shout it Out

. . . from Sally's Studio

In 2010 I had posted a number of entries about our Summer Music Camp (check out our the blog archive links in the right-hand column to find the series).  Since then, I have had requests to share this particular game in more detail - Musical Shout it Out.  Here it is -- I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  

You can check the Music Camp Ideas page on our website for even more summer camp ideas.

Musical Shout It Out

Our music camp students were divided into three different teams.   We chose a team to go first and gave them a category (topic).  They had three minutes to try to guess all the items in our list relating to the topic.  If they guessed the complete list, their team received one point.   If at the end of the time allotted, they didn’t guess everything, the other teams had the chance to steal the point for that topic.   They had to shout out their guesses.  If someone correctly identified one of the remaining things on the list, their team received the point.

Before you read these categories, just a note -- our summer camp had musicians of all types.  Some were piano students; others were in choirs or instrumentalists.  Camp was designed for basic music theory rather than piano students so our categories do not relate to just one instrument.  Some of the items in the lists could be improved upon.  Please feel free to share additional possibilities.

Things related to tempo

andante, moderato, allegro, vivace, largo, andantino, allegretto,
metronome, adagio, presto

Things related to Dynamics

pp, p, mp, f, mf, ff, crescendo, diminuendo, decrescendo, subito

Kinds of notes

quarter, half, whole, dotted half, eighth, dotted quarter, triplet,
sixteenth, thirty-second, sixty-fourth

Instruments in a band

flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, french horn,
tuba, baritone (euphonium), snare drum, bass drum

String Instruments

violin, viola, cello, double bass, bass guitar, electric guitar,
acoustic guitar, piano, harp, harpsichord, banjo

Things relating to articulation

staccato, marcato, tenuto, accent, slur, legato, portato,
staccatissimo, tie

Things related to rhythm

beat, notes, rests, triplet, syncopation, pulse, upbeat, tempo,
meter, down beat

Things you would find in a band room

music stands, chairs, music, instruments, flags, metronome,
tuner, white board (chalk board), director, students, sound equipment

Things you would find in your music

notes, dynamics, slurs, repeat signs, titles, key signature, measures,
clef signs, tempo marking

Things you would find in a percussion section

snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, marimba, xylophone, maracas, tambourine,
triangle, drum sticks, mallets

Types of Music

rock, country, pop, hip hop, jazz, ragtime, march, dance, classical, rap

Things you would find in a jazz band

trumpet, saxophone, drums, piano or electric keyboard, bass guitar,
electric guitar, clarinet, music stands, drum set, trombone

Things relating to a marching band

uniforms, music lyres, marches, hats, flip folders, drum major or majorette,
flag bearers, drums, director, half time show

Check out the Music Camp page on our website for more ideas!

Sharon's Picks - March!

Don't know about you, but when I was a kid (and my own children confirm that it is still this way), on St. Patrick's Day it was always wise to wear something green to school to avoid getting pinched.  It doesn't seem to matter how much or how little green it is, but there must be something green on your person to avoid getting a pinch.  

Curious about the significance of this particular tradition, I checked it out.  I found that wearing green, of course, is supposed to make one invisible to leprechauns -- if they can't see you, they can't pinch you! 

Some Protestants choose to wear orange on the traditionally green day. It is in honor of William of Orange (a Protestant), who was the victor in a battle against King James II (a Roman Catholic)  Read more here.  

In honor of this most-green (and a little orange) day.  I have searched and found a variety of music-themed St. Patrick's Day products on Zazzle.  It might be fun to be able to play a game with your students and give them a special St. Patrick's Day card, sticker, or button in honor of the month, or you might want to wear a special shirt in honor of the day!

There are some selections below, and more to be found on our website.  Check it out!

Lilt card 

Green Grand Piano Stickers

Green and Orange Irish Pianist

Green electric guitar with keyboard

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  More designs on our website!

Classical Music......something you hear every day

...from Sally's Studio

One particularly fun recital theme I have used was based on a book titled “Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music”.  Many people don’t even know that they have heard, and have loved, the classics.   

The term “Classical Music” is often used by untrained musicians to describe the more serious music or that of old masters such as Beethoven and Mozart.  In this book, “Classical music” is really a term that refers to music anywhere from the earliest music to that of the contemporary composers.  It helped to make the students more aware of what they are hearing in their daily lives.   

I live in a rural community that amazingly enough has many cultural opportunities.   Within a 35 mile radius, we have opportunity to attend and experience multiple cultural events and performances.  Even with that chance though, I find that much of the public is musically uneducated.  They may enjoy music but it is more the kind of music that we hear on the radio……….pops and country.  They are very surprised to hear that many songs used in cartoons, commercials, and the like, are really portions of famous classics.   When we did this recital, people were saying things like -- "That is the pizza commercial song," or "That one is from Bugs Bunny cartoons"………etc.  We can spark an interest in exploring the classics by doing a recital that uses famous themes.  

Theme and Variations by Haydn was included in one of my recitals. A beginner student played the theme followed by more advanced students doing the variations.   We had two pianos on stage.  When one student was performing the following student was getting ready on the other piano.  We kept the variations going without interruption.   It was a big hit!    I have also had younger students playing an arrangement of one of the classics followed by a more advanced student doing the original version.  It gave the opportunity to show how music can be arranged at different levels.  

I had the students each introduce their own pieces by telling about the composer and something that they really liked about the composition.  Some of the students were reluctant to speak in front of an audience but after doing so, they found that it wasn’t as hard as expected when they prepared in advance.   It was good to have the older students do research on their songs to find out about the selection as well as more about the composer.  

Contemporary Composer Recital Theme

.....from Sally's Studio

Often we concentrate on the “old masters” when it comes to performance-worthy songs.  I have recently begun to have recitals that instead highlight the music of current composers.

The first such recital featured the music of Kevin Olson.   He has written a wealth of music for pianists ranging from beginners through late intermediate and beyond.   My students love his pieces and were eager to learn more about him.   We discussed the things he did with his compositions to make them unique.  It gave me a chance to explain more about form and harmonic structure along with the aspects that made his music different from that of other composers.  For example, his Sonatina in Colors afforded the opportunity to make the sonata form a concept that they could easily understand but relate it to contemporary music.

My students were so surprised to find out that he lived in Illinois, right next to their home of Wisconsin (he has since moved to Utah)!  Our students have always performed music by composers from Europe or other “far away places” but to think that a real composer was that close and actually alive now, was very exciting to them.  In addition, I talked with Kevin and he had offered to come and speak to them.  We tried to arrange a time for that but since my schedule was so busy, we weren’t able to connect at that time.  He wrote a letter to my students that we read at the recitals. 

When our recital is featuring the music of one or two composers, I have contacted them.  They are always willing to send a message to the students which I include in the recital program.  This makes it very special and makes the composer more “real” to them.

Like many of you, we are in the process of choosing the theme for this year.  We are considering Robert Vandall music.  In addition, Bob has offered that I could send the music to him and he would autograph the students’ books and sheet music and send them back to me.  What a great memento for them!