Gotta Dance! Practice music with your whole body!

When was the last time you turned on some music and boogied to the beat?

This is an extremely fun and important part of learning music!

Swaying to the pulse...marching to the beat...tapping to the rhythm...

all help musicians feel the natural pulse and beat of the song with their bodies.

Activity:  turn on your favorite music and start moving!

Skills:  Finding the pulse of the song and matching it with your body

Variations:  Find a scarf or ribbon to twirl with the music
                    Use sticks and tap out the beat
             

Everyday Music Activities #10

Sing along with the radio, CD's, or on your own!

Singing is a great way to internalize musical concepts and brings families together.  If the music does not have words, make up your own or just sing "la-la's".

Extension:  Listen to any of the "Beethoven's Wig" CDs.  Sing along and use the lyrics to learn about the music and the composer.

Skills:  Singing

Everyday Music Activities #9

Make melodic musical instruments.  Make different notes by blowing into different size containers or plucking different types of strings.  You may find some ideas on this blog under the "activities" label.  Use your instrument to make your own song.

Extension:  Find other instruments in the orchestra or from around the world that make sounds the same way your instrument does.

Skills:  Classifying, composing melodies

The Glass Xylophone

The is very easy to make but it can be very messy if you're not careful!  The glass xylophone teaches basic science concepts, composition and coordination.

Here's what you'll need:

• eight hi-ball glasses
• a plastic jug
• a syringe
• a small teaspoon.

Here's how you make it:

Arrange the glasses in a row (tape the bases down to make sure they don't tip) and give the child a small plastic jug and syringe and instruct them to fill the glasses with varying water levels to create a row of different pitches.

How you play it:

Strike gently with the teaspoon to make melodies; use two spoons for chords.


Idea from Music Makes Your Child Smarter by Philip Sheppard

The Tube Kazoo

The tube kazoo is great for learning breath control and pitch technique and actually making it is good for coordination skills.

Here's what you'll need:

• a strong cardboard tube from a kitchen or bathroom roll
• wax paper
• an elastic band

Here's how you make it:

Fix the wax paper to one end of the tube and fasten tight with the elastic band around the tube.  Make a hole halfway up the tube (this makes playing it much easier as it lets the air escape).

How you play it:

Hum through the open end of the tube with your teeth apart, and lips slightly open.  This will make a great buzzing sound that will match the pitch of the tune you are humming.

This instrument is great for playing along to music as it is easy to pitch and makes an interesting sound.  You can experiment with using different lengths of tube for this instrument - the card tube from a roll of wrapping paper is particularly effective.

Idea from Music Makes Your Child Smarter by Philip Sheppard

Everyday Music Activity #8

Make RHYTHM instruments!  This can be anything you hit that makes a sound.  Make a rhythm pattern by combining long and short sounds together with a steady beat.

Extension:  Make rhythm cards that represent long/short sound, or learn about standard notaiton and learn how to make a complete measure.

Skills:  Motor skills, math, learning rhythms

The Balloon Cello

Here's what you'll need:

• a length of pole or dowelling
• a balloon
• a length of fishing line
• ideally, a violin or cello bow

Here's how you make it:

1.  Attach the length of fishing line to both ends of the pole, leaving plenty of slack.

2.  Inflate the balloon and insert it between the fishing line and the pole, so that the line becomes taut and holds the balloon in place.

3.  Pluck or bow the string with a violin or cello bow.

At the end of a performance the player has the option of bursting the balloon!


Idea from Music Makes Your Child Smarter by Philip Sheppard

The cardboard Strumbox

This is a nice instrument for intoducing children to plucked instruments.

Here's what you'll need:

• shoe box or a strong tissue box
• a large variety of rubber bands.

Here's how you make it:

Make an oval hole in the shoe box lid then stretch the rubber bands around the box so they lie across the oval shaped hole.  On one side, insert a pencil or narrow dowel rod underneath the bands.  This will lift them off the box on one side and will make it sound more resonant.

Strum away!


Idea from Music Makes Your Child Smarter by Philip Sheppard

Everyday Music Activity #7

Read about a famous composer or musician and listen to their work.

Extension: 

• Talk about how the person's life shaped their music. 
• What instruments had they learned to play?
• What experiences had they had?

*For great music/biography connections find books by Anna Harwell Celenza

Skills:  History, Reading, Music Appreciation

Have some fun with your own "Bottle Choir"

Here's what you'll need:

• a variety of different-sized bottles
• a wooden spoon
• a length of wood
• double-sided sticky tape

Here's how you make it:

1.  Fix the bottles to the length of wood securely with the double-sided sticky tape.

2.  Fill each bottle with a different amount of water to produce a pleasing array of different notes.  The more water you add to the botte, the lower note it will produce.

3.  Hit the bottles gently but firmly with the wooden spoon.

Idea from Music Makes Your Child Smarter by Philip Sheppard

Everyday Music Activity #6

Listen to two pieces of music.  List their similarities and differences.  You can make a chart or a Venn Diagram to help you.

Extension:  Try listening to music from two different parts of the world and build a multi-cutural appreciaton.

Skills:  Comparing and contrasting, vocabulary, music appreciation

Everyday Music Activity #5

Make a musical map.  Choose a symbol for each section of the music and mark the order you hear new sections and repeated sections. 

What pattern have you found?


Extension:  Make a melody map by drawing a line with melodic contour.  When the notes go higher, make the line go up.  When the sounds go lower, make the line go down.  Describe the shape of the line.

Skills:  Patterns, identifying sections that sound alike, hearing high and low.

Everyday Music Activity #4

Make a list of describing words:  loud, soft, fast, slow, happy, sad, etc

Loud/soft words are called Dynamics

High/low words are called Pitch

Listen to music and apply the descriptive words to the piece

Extension:  Learn some Italian music terms to describe mood and tempo and use them to describe the music you listen to.
Examples:  forte, piano, andante, adagio, allegro, moderato, largo

Skills:  using adjectives and musical terminology, language arts and vocabulary

Everyday Music Activity #3

Dance or act out a story to a piece of music.  It is very easy to do this with music from operas and ballets.

Song ideas: 
The Nutcracker:  Overture by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake:  Spanish Dance by Peter Ilyick Tchaikovsky
Romeo and Juliet:  Preparation for the Ball by Dmitry Kabalevsky
Rodeo:  Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland
The Comedians:  Epilogue by Dmitry Kabalevsky

Extension:  Write a story to go along with the music

Skills:  Creative writing, active listening, language arts, gross motor skills and drama.

Enjoying Music with Your Elementary Age Child

(Ages Five to Twelve)

• Continue to sing and memorize songs and poetry with a strong rhythm and rhyme.
• Play musical games with your child involving math, spelling and reading.  They can learn ABC's, multiplication, The 50 States by singing them!
• While driving in the car, play musical guessing games such as "Name that Tune."
• Play guessing games that require recognizing the different instruments of the orchestra.
• Take your child to age-appropraite symphonies, musicals, ballets or chamber orchestras.
• Rent movies about music and musicians and watch them as a family. 
• Organize a yearly talent show in the neighborhood.
• Play music from the Baroque or Classical periods while children do their homework.

Enjoying Music with your Teens

Today's teens usually have strong music preferences whether that be the lastest pop, country or even classical.  Yes, some teens love classical!

Here are some ideas to share music with your young musician.

• Take your teen to more sophisticated concerts.  If possible, arrange for a backstage tour.  Check out your local university or college for free or low cost concerts of different genres.
• Arrange for your teen to meet with a real composer.
• For holidays and other special occasions give musical gifts-subscriptions to concerts, plays or symphonies.  Encourage grandparents to give tickets to a symphony or musical.
• Hold family music recitals and allow your teen to "show off."

Make your home a musical training center!

Everyday Music Activites for Everyone #2

Listen to a piece of music.  Find the steady beat.  Clap and march along.  Describe where it is fast or slow.  This is called the TEMPO.

Extension:  Listen for patterns in the rhythm (long and short notes).  See if you can copy it.  Is the pattern played more than one time in the song?

Skills:  Finding a steady beat, imitation, motor skills.

Enjoying Music with Your Preschooler

(Ages Two to Five)

• Provide all kinds of rhythm instruments for your child to experiment with.
• Purchase age-appropriate CD players and teach your child how to use them.  Let her start her own music collection.
• Give children scarves, feathers, or ribbons and turn on classical music and let them dance, sing and improvise to the music.
• Play clapping games to see if they can match a variety of simple and complex rhtyhms.
• Read to and help your child memorize all kinds of poems and Mother Goose rhymes that have a strong musical rhythm.
• Read stories about great composers, instruments of the orchestra, and general music books.
• Play marches in the morning as your child is getting ready for the day.  She will enjoy marching to the bath, to dress or to eat.  The strong rhythmic beat will help her accomplish these tasks with ease as well as keep her focused on the task at hand.
• Play music for your child throughout the day.
• Play classical music while your child is going to sleep at night and when she is getting up in the morning.
• Enroll your child in group music classes.

Everyday Music Activity For Everyone #1

Listen to a piece of music and draw a picture. 

What does the music make you think about?

Show whatever you imagine:  an action, a person, a feeling, a shape or color.

Watch Disney's Fantasia or Fantasia 2000 for inspiration.

Skills:  identifying mood and timbre; art

Write a Song with Your Child!

Our names represent us!  Children love to hear their names in a song.  This activity will help instill a positive self-worth as well as show your child how much you love her!

Write your own song to sing with your child using her name as the basis.  It is easier than you think!

• Start with a popular tune such as Jingle Bells, BINGO, Mary Had a Little Lamb etc.
• Find some words that rhyme with her name
• Find some words that describe who she is or what she likes to do
• Fit the words in with the tune

Here is a song I wrote with my daughter Angel.  Sing it to the tune of Jingle Bells.

Angel Joy, Angel Joy

She likes dolls and toys

She's so good at drawing and art

She reads with all her heart!

Angel Joy, Angel Joy

She loves to play outside

She has lots of sisters

And she's always by their side!

Angel was delighted to do this project with me.  She was smiling the whole time and felt really important singing our finished product to daddy.

It is important to allow your child to help you as much as possible!  Write the song together.  Then sing it all the time.  You could incorporate musical instruments to make it more lively!  But most importantly, Have Fun!