A Message From KSO President Susan Drayson

Fall is upon us with refreshingly crisp mornings and evenings and all the colourful sights that autumn’s metamorphosis brings to our beautiful landscape. I hope that you have all had a good start to your new school year whether you are in the school system, teaching privately at home or in a community studio, or perhaps embarking on other career or personal ventures. Our return to routine is in a way a rebirth like the season of spring is to the earth – time for reuniting with students, co-workers and friends, all of whom may also be fellow music-makers!

This past August I had the pleasure of teaching the folk music segment of the “Joyous Music Making” course at Wilfrid Laurier University. I was so impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of the students! I am always inspired by the energy shared by students. It really was a JOY working with them for a week. The 2013 Joyous Music Making Program will run August 12 to 23. If you are considering studying in a recognized Kodály summer or academic year certification course, please consider applying for study scholarships from KSO (May 15 deadline) or KSC (June 15 deadline). Also in looking ahead to next summer, the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary, will be holding the 27th International Kodály Seminar (July

15-August 2), Kodály Summer Academy and Kodály Art Festival, and the 21st International Kodály Symposium “Music & Music Education in the 21st Century: Global Challenges” (July 29-August 2). Please visit the website of the Kodály Institute for further details. As a former Kodály Institute student, I can personally vouch that a visit there will be an experience of a lifetime!

On August 23 many of us enjoyed an energetic kick-start back into the school year at our workshop with renowned clinician Dr. John Feierabend. His informative and engaging presentation was an inspiration! You can read all about it in an article in this issue and can see him again at the OMEA/CMEA “Vibrations 2012” Conference on Friday November 2nd and Saturday November 3rd. Go to www.omea.on.ca/events.php for more information and registration. Please stop by the KSO booth in the Exhibitors’ Display. We were also delighted with our beautiful venue, the Jubilee United Church in Toronto. Many thanks to Registrar Shirley Criscione and the other KSO board members for their efforts in planning this fabulous day! Plans are in the works for our August 2013 workshop to be held in the Hamilton-Burlington area.

At our Annual General Meeting in August we welcomed three new KSO board members to our hard-working and dedicated team: Ingrid Carlaw, Valerie Easton and Suzanne Pals. Be sure to look in the “Meet Your New Board Members” section to acquaint yourself with these three dynamic ladies.

In February 2013, the KSO will be hosting the annual meetings of the Kodály Society of Canada board of directors. To coincide, the KSO along with KSC will be offering a full day of workshops “Music Belongs to Everyone” on Saturday, February 9th to be held at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo. We are excited to bring to you popular local clinician Jane Schultz-Janzen who will provide a choral demonstration with the Inter-Mennonite Children’s Choir and a vocal hygiene seminar with her husband Terry Janzen. We will also welcome KSC board members Jan Taylor-Bilenki from Calgary, Alberta to present ideas about student assessment in the K-6 music classroom, and Martha Healy from Halifax, Nova Scotia to share folk music from Nova Scotia, including material from the collection of Helen Creighton. For further information, including registration, please refer to the brochure included in this issue of Ontario Kodály News and/or visit our website at www.kodalysocietyofontario.com. We hope to see you there!

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to another filled-to-the-brim newsletter! Happy reading everyone!! If you are at the OMEA Conference, please stop by the KSO booth to say “Hello”!

Susan Drayson, KSO President

In This Issue:First Steps in Music 3

The War of 1812 6

Developing the Child

Voice 8

“The Book of Movement

Exploration” 11

KSO members move and sing at the annual summer conference.

Ont

ario

Kod

ály

New

s NEWSLETTER OF THE

KODÁLY SOCIETY OF

ONTARIO

FALL 2012

Introducing Some New KSO Board Members

This fall we welcome three new board members to the KSO! We are delighted to have them join us and would like to introduce them to you. Enjoy reading their messages!!

Valerie EastonSinging has been my joy since I was a wee girl, and it was my privilege to share that joy by teaching vocal music in the elementary system for 28 years. During that time, there were many choirs and musicals. Most importantly, I enjoyed using the Kodály Method of Music Education and watching my students achieve music literacy while developing their beautiful singing voices. I have sung with the Woodstock Fanshawe Singers for 27 years, and I am now pleased to be able to give back to my community by conducting the Woodstock Fanshawe Youth Singers. The choir has 40 local singers ages 9 to 16 and performs with the Woodstock Fanshawe Singers. I am delighted to return to the KSO board, having served briefly many years ago.

Ingrid CarlawI currently teach for the Peel District School Board as a Long Term Occasional with a grade 2/3 class. I have taught music as a Planning Time Teacher and as a primary elementary generalist, including, First Nations schools where drumming and dance is central to their culture. I havestudied Orff methodology and felt it would be beneficial to students to also have exposure to Kodály methodology. The Joyous Music Making course that I took at Wilfrid Laurier University this past summer, was promoted as one that offered creative skills and strategies for the elementary teacher. It was very useful to me as it offered strategies in leading a choir and teaching dance in addition to music. There are also opportunities for cross-curricular content such as literacy and music. As a generalist who is also involved in extracurricular activities the entire school and grade levels teams benefit from my knowledge. Students also respond and engage differently when singing and dancing. That really does add joy to their lives.

Suzanne PalsI grew up in Ottawa in a very musical family. Following high school, I moved to London, Ontario where I completed a music degree with an emphasis in music education at the University of Western Ontario. While an undergrad, I was privileged to study and be taught through Kodály's principles and practice with the esteemed Hungarian professor, Ilona Bartelus. After graduating, I went on to complete a degree in education at Althouse College. My first teaching position took me to Newfoundland. While there, I lead several workshops, adjudicated and contributed to the Provincial Intermediate Music Curriculum. I also completed the three summer Kodály program at the University of Calgary directed by Lois Choksy. The fine Kodály-based Music program of the Waterloo Region District School Board brought me to Kitchener where I have held positions as a music specialist for grades K through 8 and classroom teacher grades 3 to 6. In my spare time, I enjoy playing percussion in various community bands, ukulele with a local group and participating in both the bell and senior choirs at church.

A Successful Kodály Summer Course 2012Participants enjoyed the two week course “ Joyous Music Making: The Child and the Classroom 2012,” offered by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Office of Continuing Studies, in conjunction with the Faculty of Music and the Kodály Society of Ontario. This was a Kodály Level 1 Certification program with a focus on pedagogy incorporating traditional folk music in addition to training in choir conducting. Participants came from a variety of backgrounds to strengthen their skills and knowledge in creating a more joyous music experience for their students. Stay tuned for a Level 2 course next Summer!

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Joyous Music Making 2013

August 12-23Wilfrid Laurier

UniversityWaterloo, Ontario

Musings on “First Steps in Music: Developing Tuneful,

Beatful, and Artful Children”:

Workshop with Dr. John Feierabend

Dr. Shelley M. GriffinBrock University

sgriffin@brocku.ca

The Kodály Society of Ontario hosted its annual workshop on Thursday, August 23, 2012 at Jubilee United Church, Toronto, Ontario. This year, KSO was delighted to offer a day full of music-making with University of Hartford’s Dr. John Feierabend, Professor of Music and Director of Music Education, The Hartt School. Dr. Feierabend has many credits to his music education career, including Past President of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. He is a prolific researcher and writer, publishing over 60 books, CDs, and DVDs. Dr. Feierabend also serves as an advisor to several music education graduate students. Often sought as an international clinician for music educators, he is well known for his development of curricula entitled First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege.

At the KSO workshop, close to 100 Ontario teachers were treated to an engaging day, full of useful pedagogical strategies. Dr. Feierabend’s charismatic, energetic, humorous character was effective in drawing in the participants to engage in the workshop activities. The session was interactive as teachers were able to try out various strategies they could utilize with their own students.

Importantly, Dr. Feierabend embedded a great deal of music education philosophy and psychology within his workshop, an integral component of assisting teachers to conceptualize the importance of guiding children in their daily music-making. He articulated the significance of leading children toward musical experiences during the early years, beginning in infancy. He suggested that many children have been “musically neglected” prior to attending kindergarten. The development of the brain continues throughout the early childhood years. Thus, this heightens the responsibility of teachers to ensure that children have educative music experiences prior to age 7, a critical period for music learning.

Dr. Feierabend’s workshop demonstrated how to use a repertoire of children’s songs, rhymes, games, dances, and movement so as to establish the foundations of developing tuneful, beatful, and artful citizens. Dr. Feierabend conveyed that being tuneful is someone who “thinks tunes”. Beatful is someone who “feels beat and meter”, and being artful is the ability to “respond to expressiveness”. He advocated that it is vital for young children to have experiences in maturing in these three areas so that ultimately, they can carry these essential characteristics into their daily lives throughout adulthood and be able to “sing lullabies to their babies”. In such a light, citizens are able to build community through music and be musically independent so that they may become musical with others.

Becoming tuneful, beatful, and artful children can be developed through an 8-part curriculum for 3-8 year olds. The components of Dr. Feierabend’s curriculum are the following:

1. Pitch Exploration2. Fragment Singing (echo

singing)3. Simple Songs (ones they

know well enough to sing solo)

4. Arioso (children create their own songs)

5. Songtales (cool down)6. Movement Exploration7. Movement for Form and

Expression8. Movement with the Beat

In choosing appropriate curriculum repertoire to engage children in music-making, Dr. Feierabend communicated that each piece has to have something “magic”. In doing so, a music educator can assist children to feel what’s “below the surface”, the artful component of the music experience.

Overall, Dr. Feierabend’s music workshop offered teachers many great tools, activities, and philosophical underpinnings for beginning a new school year. The Kodály Society of Ontario was pleased to host him for its annual workshop. Thank you to all participants for helping to make the day “tuneful, beatful, and artful”. For more information about Dr. Feierabend, please feel free to visit: http://www.giamusic.com/bios/john-feierabend

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An Interview with John FeierabendBy: Carolyn Neumann VanderBurgh

We previously emailed this interview to our membership prior to the fabulous August workshop presented by John Feierabend and thought that it was most worthy of re-publication, especially for our new members who would not have had an opportunity to read this yet. Thank you to all of you who attended our August workshop!

Dr. John Feierabend is considered one of the leading authorities on music and movement development in early childhood. He is a Professor of Music and the Director of the Music Education Division at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford and is a past President of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Dr. Feierabend makes frequent presentations both in the United States and abroad and is the author of over 60 books, articles, CDs, DVDs and videotapes.A music educator for over thirty years, he continues to be committed to collecting, preserving and teaching the diverse folk music of our country and using that folk music as a bridge to help children understand and enjoy classical music. His books are a result of his belief that when many generations share common experiences such as traditional folk songs and rhymes, it helps them develop a valuable but dwindling commodity—a sense of community. He also believes that when adults share childlike memories with children they not only connect children with their ancestors, they enrich their children's childhood and enable their children to someday tap into their own delicious childhood memories in order to share that same repertoire with their children.

Dr. John Feierabend

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Find registration information, event clinicians and the workshop schedule on page 7.

Interview with John Feierabend, continued.

CV: Can you describe your music education training?

JF: I received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; a masters degree in Kodály from Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin; and a Ph.D in Music Education from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I also have attended Kodály classes taught by Katalin Forrai, Katinka Daniel, Arpad Darasz, Lazlo Vikar, Ildiko Herbolay, and Erzebet Szonyi.

CV: What parts of Kodály’s philosophy resonate most with the work that you do?

JF: Music for everyone…..Teach the music of a country to its people…..and teach from folk song to masterworks.

CV: Are there other music education philosophers or educational theorists that have influenced your thinking?

JF: Some ideas from Ed Gordon’s Music Learning Theory, Jane Healy and Howard Gardner.

CV: What sparked your interest in early childhood music?

JF: I became aware of research that suggested music aptitude could be greatly influenced before age 7 but not after age seven. I wanted to develop teaching strategies using excellent musical examples that would have the greatest impact

on raising music aptitude in children younger than age seven.

CV: How does music benefit very young children?

JF: I have a 30 year plan. What kind of adults do I want these children to become? I believe what I teach in early childhood will have a lifetime benefit enabling people to synchronize with others in body voice and spirit….from singing a lullaby to their own babies to rocking on the beat to dancing at their wedding to singing with others at times of celebration, mourning or any other social occasion.

CV: You suggest in your article, “Music and Intelligence in the Early Years “that music intelligence starts to decline at around age 5 and that music stimulation should start at birth. What kinds of activities are important to help stimulate very young children musically?

JF: Actually music intelligence starts to atrophy at birth if not stimulated (imagine not talking to a child until he/she is 5 years old!). Most children should be able to sing and move on the beat by three of four years old. Many can not because of musical neglect. All it would take is for a parent to sing lullabies and rock with their baby. Of course there are lots of musical games to play with babies that would help a child become musical (bounces, wiggles, tapping, clapping) but it could be as simple as singing lullabies.

CV: You are considered one of the leading authorities on music and movement in early

childhood. Was there a something specific that led you in this direction?

JF: It was learning from research in my Ph.D of the possible benefits of early musical intervention.

CV: Why is movement so important for this age group?

JF: Movement is both a means of feeling the artfulness in music (expressive movement) and a way to develop a feeling for the beat …..which is necessary for all further rhythmic development/understanding.

CV: Describe how you use folk music to bridge the gap for children to understand and enjoy classical music.

JF: Anything that can be understood in classical music can be found in simpler form in a folk song….from artful feelings to rhythm, melody, form, dynamics, tempo etc…. But most important…. if the folksong is artful the child can become sensitive to expression in music….the art part of music. And, then they will also be able to enjoy the expressiveness in masterworks as well. An analogy would be reading wonderful childrens’ books to children so they develop the love of how books can touch them and then later as adults they will seek out wonderful adult literature for the same purpose.

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War of 1812 ( Bi-Centennial- Folksongs and websites to help celebrate this important event ) Background:- The War of 1812 was a military conflict between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The war was fought in three principal theatres: (1) at sea, warships and privateers on both sides attacked each other's merchant ships, while the British blockaded the Atlantic coast of the U.S. and mounted large-scale raids in the later stages of the war; (2) both land and naval battles were fought on the American–Canadian frontier, which ran along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River; and (3) the American South and Gulf Coast also saw major land battles in which the American forces defeated Britain's Indian allies and repulsed the main British invasion force at New Orleans. Below you will find recommended folksongs, websites and you tube video clips about this event.1. Folksongs A. The Chesapeake and Shannon (Old English Folk Melody) Note Song Resource:- MUSICANADA Grade 6, Discovering Folksongs by Robert Wilkie During the War of 1812 , Canadians(British) were more successful on land, Americans at sea. This ballad retells the story when the British ship the Shannon, defeated the American ship Cheseapeake off the coast of Boston. After the battle, the battered but proud H.M.S. Shannon sailed back to a hearty welcome in Halifax.

Tone set: s,l,t,d,r,m,f,s. Form: ABCD Grade level : 4 and Up (ties in with Grade 7 History expectations)

Teaching suggestions; 1. This is a note song and can be sight read using rhythm names and solfa. 2. Accompany the singing with chords .Have students play on ukulele, autoharp,etc. 3. Add a snare drum accompaniment and play melody on recorder to mimic fife and drum music from this period of time. Listen to Military Fife and Drum music as found on resource list below. 4. Tie in with drama and dance by acting out the song and teaching the students the hornpipe as a sailors dance.

B. Come All You Bold Canadians (General Brock) This folksong was a patriotic song for Canadians that originated during the War of 1812. It celebrated the conquering of Detroit and Michigan Territory. It is believed the song was written by a private from the Third York Militia’s Flank Company named Cornelius Flummerfelt, who wrote the lines while marching in the Detroit campaign, or on the way back to York. The song was used to further increase the numbers of Canadian militia to fight during the war. Although composed in late 1812, the first publication of the song was not until 1907, when the Niagara Historical Society printed part of the song in a pamphlet about Isaac Brock. Until 1907, the song was passed down in oral traditions; therefore, different versions of the song came to be. Below is a copy of one of the lyrics versions and sites where you can hear the song sung and get other versions of the words.

Websites:- Come All You Bold Canadians

1. Song lyrics with Instrumental midi-file .

www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/song-midis/Come_All_You_Bold_Canadians_(General_Brock).htm

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl9HD01V704ou-Tube

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bold_Canadian

Other web resources and extensions

1. You tube video clips on the War of 1812.

2. Official War 0f 1812 Bi-centennial Site:- http://www.visit1812.com/historic-sites/

3. http://www.warof1812.ca/ - Sound clips of Military music from 1812

4. Also teach the song The Maple Leaf Forever (second verse talks about the War of 1812)

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77

Music educators break for lunch at KSO’s annual summer conference.

JOKE CORNER – Soprano Jokes (Apologies to all sopranos)

Q: How many sopranos does it take to change a light bulb? A: One. She holds the bulb and the world revolves around her. A: Two. One to hold the diet cola and the other to get her accompanist to do it. A: Four. One to change the bulb and three to pull the chair out from under her.

How can you tell when a soprano is at your door?She can't find the key, and doesn't know when to come in.

What is the definition of a mezzo soprano?Just an alto with a soprano's attitude.

Q: If you threw a violist and a soprano off a cliff, which one would hit the ground first?A: The violist. The soprano would have to stop halfway down to ask directions. A: Who cares?

(Stay tuned for alto jokes in our next newsletter)

Ideas for Developing the Child Voice

On Thursday August 23rd, I attended the KSO workshop with John Feierabend. As part of the workshop, John shared the importance of spending time during a lesson doing activities that allow children to explore pitch with their voices. All of the activities involved a visual object as well as a movement that mirrored the sound. Some of his ideas included:

Slide whistle/Siren Whistle- Ask the children to pretend that

they are holding a slide whistle- Using a real slide whistle to

make a sound for the children to echo

TIP: Start with a high sound and move down to help set up the head voice from the beginning otherwise children will start in their chest voice and be unable to make the switch smoothlyEXTENSION: Have students take turns echoing (individual singing)

Whale – toy whale- Have students listen to

recordings of whales

- Using a stuffed whale create whale sounds for the children

- Ask the students to follow the whale with their voices

- Give two students each a stuffed whale and ask them to make the whales to talk whale to each other

TIP: Try to set up your groups so that there is a stronger student in the group and choose the child with the stronger voice to go first

Pipe cleaner- Take a pipe cleaner and bend it

into a shape- Ask the students to sing as your

finger traces the shape- Ask one child to be the model

for the class and then ask the rest of the class to imitate it

- Go around the room and ask the children to sing it independently without everyone echoing

EXTENSION: Do the same shape holding it at different levels to encouraged higher and lower singing

- Create a shape that looks like sound waves

Bean Bag- Ask the students to follow the

bean bag with their voice- Throw the bean bag straight up

in the air

- Toss the bean bag to another student and ask them to imitate the movement

TIP: If the student’s voice is not sliding up, ask them to throw the bean bag higher

Posters of Various kinds of lines- Show the students posters of

various kinds of lines and ask them to show the line with their voice

Bubbles- Blow bubbles and ask the

students to follow the bubbles

Throw the Ball –ask students to pretend (or use

a real ball) to throw the ball to someone and imitate the sound of the arch of the ball as it goes through the airTIP: Ask students to say their name and the name of the person they are throwing to especially at the beginning of the year

Microphone - Use a microphone to indicate

when you sing and when the children are allowed to sing

- Invite individual students to take turns singing in the microphone

EXTENSION: Use the microphone when singing echo songs

Carolyn Neumann VanderBurgh8

Taking a Further Look at the

Arts Document - Heather Morris

The Music strand of the Arts document has three overall expectations, one for each of Creating and Performing, Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing and Exploring Forms and Cultural Contexts. The following listening activity focuses on the Critical Analysis process. There are several stages to this process:• Initial reaction• Description• Analysis and

interpretation

• Expression of an informed point of view

• Consideration of cultural context

In the document there are sample questions that the teacher can refer to in order to draw from the students an informed response to a piece of music. (see pages 23 to 28).

The listening activity provided here demonstrates how these questions can be applied in a musical context.

Students will need to know and understand the following elements of music in order to complete this activity:

     Dynamics: pp, crescendo, ff        Legato or staccato style:                                 Pitch: low,rising in pitch, higher        Timbre or tone colour: voices/strings, strings/ snares, full orchestra        Tempo: adagio, allegro                                My students thoroughly enjoyed listening to this sample of music from the movie The Pirates of the Caribbean. I hope yours do too

Listening Template: Pirates of the Carribean: The Black Pearl

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BOOK REVIEW by Ruth Storey

The Book

of Movement Exploration

by John Feierabend and Jane Kahan

This book was suggested to me at a Kodály workshop three years ago. It has proven to be a very valuable resource and I have shared ideas out of it with other Primary staff at our school. This book can be effectively used as part of your Creative Dance program (ties into the elements of dance),

short energy breaks throughout the school day or tied in with background music to provide a listening and movement activity. The book is broken

down into 10 Chapters or themes inspired by the work of Rudolph von Laban , a Hungarian-born dancer who studied human movement. The chapters are Awareness of Body Parts and Whole, Awareness of Time, Awareness of Space, Awareness of Levels, Awareness of Weight, Awareness of Locomotion, Awareness of Flow, Awareness of Shape, Awareness of Others and Student Created Movement. Under each chapter are 10 to 15 short games or activities. The step to step instructions are concise and clearly written and make this book one you will want to have

at your finger tips. This book is one of a series of books written by these

authors. At the Toronto workshop I bought The Book of Pitch Exploration and know I will use the fun and creative ideas to get all my students exploring their voices!

Blank Listening Template

Kodály Summer Conference 2012 10