Musiking with Munchkins2017 NYSSMA Winter Conference

December 2, 2017 – Rochester, New York

Ashley G. MossKindergarten General Music and 4th-8th Grade Band Director – Rochester CSD

Director, Early Childhood Music – Roberts Wesleyan College Community Music Schoolwww.ashleygmoss.weebly.com

amoss989@gmail.com

Why explore music and movement with young children?Children develop their individual musicianship skills much like they acquire their language skills: through the immersion experience. They absorb the sounds of the world around them, explore those sounds through babble, and begin to build their understanding through interactions with others. Like children raised in bilingual environments learning new language skills, children who are exposed to a wide variety of tonalities, meters, and world musics have a greater potential to acquire musical skills. According to Gordon (2003), “The younger children are when parents and/or teachers begin unstructured and structured informal guidance to develop this foundation for learning, the more children will profit from future instruction, because the older a child is when that foundation is formed, the less able the child will be to profit from formal instruction later on” (p.1).

Key Features of a Music Learning Theory Based EC Program:1. Parent/guardian participation is expected. Parent participation gives children

“permission” to explore the world around them. Children are only as bold as their models!

2. Multiple tonalities and meters should be explored each class. Know how to sing melodies, bass lines, and improvise in all the church modes

(Ionian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Phrygian, Dorian, Locrian) as well as harmonic and melodic minor.

Be comfortable moving, chanting, and improvising in duple, triple, and unusual meters.

Expand your listening horizons—listen to and share music from different cultures.3. Songs and chants without words are preferred. Children latch onto language because

it is familiar. Eliminating words allows children to focus on the musical happenings to begin to build music syntax.

4. Whole-Part-Whole. Everything must have a context, but the song or chant is not the content. Use the musical content (tonality/meter) to drive pattern instruction. Pattern

instruction builds musical syntax. ALWAYS end the activity by reestablishing the context for the patterns.

5. Lots and lots of Laban Movement. Laban movements include FLOW, WEIGHT, SPACE, TIME, and BODY AWARENESS.

How do you sequence instruction for infants and toddlers?Audiation is the ability to “hear and comprehend in one’s mind the sound of music that is no longer or may never have been physically present” (Gordon, 2003, p. 26). The purpose of informal early childhood music instruction is to build the skills necessary for audiating. These skills are developed following the Stages of Preparatory Audiation.

Stages of Preparatory AudiationTYPES STAGES RESPONSESACCULTURATIONBirth to age 2-4Child engages with little consciousness of the environment.

1. ABSORPTION: Child hears and aurally collects the sound of music in the environment.

Child models active listening (turns toward music, watches singer), but makes no auditory response.

Child moves during silences.2. RANDOM RESPONSE: Child

moves and babbles in response, but without relation, to the sounds of music in the environment.

Child participated with uncoordinated movements and/or vocal sounds.

3. PURPOSEFUL RESPONSE: Child tries to relate movement and babble to the sound of music in the environment.

Child vocalizes a response related to the environment (attempts at patterns, exploration of singing voice, etc.)

IMITATIONAges: 2-4 to 3-5 yearsChild participates with conscious thought focused primarily on the environment.

1. SHEDDING EGOCENTRICTY: Child recognizes that her movements and babble do no match the sounds of music in the environment.

Child attempts to mimic patterns, but does not coordinate breathing, movement, and vocalizing.

Child recognizes their echo does not match the model.

2. BREAKING THE CODE: Child imitates with some precision the sounds of music in the environment.

Child indicates pattern does not match the model, but continues to engage in pattern instruction.

Child responses are increasingly similar to model.

ASSIMILATIONAges: 3-5 to 4-6 yearsChild participates with conscious thought focused on the self.

1. INTROSPECTION: Child recognizes lack of coordination between singing, chanting, breathing, and movement.

Child engages in imitation, but recognizes breathing and movement are not coordinated by checking in with adult.

2. COORDINATION: Child coordinates singing with breathing and movement.

Child more consistently breathes, moves, and vocalizes in a musically appropriate and coordinated manner.

Chart adapted from “Music Play: The Early Childhood Music Curriculum Guide for Parents, Teachers and Caregivers” by W.H. Valerio, A.M. Reynolds, B.M. Bolton, C.C. Taggart, and E.E. Gordon

ResourcesGordon, E. E., Bolton, B. M., Hicks, W. K., & Taggart, C. C. (1993). The early childhood music curriculum:

songs and chants without words. Chicago: G.I.A. Publications.

Gordon, E. (2013). Music learning theory for newborn and young children. Chicago, IL: GIA.

Valerio, W. H., Reynolds, A. M., Bolton, B. M., Taggart, C. C., & Gordon, E. E. (1998). Music Play: The Early Childhood Music Curriculum Guide for Parents, Teachers and Caregivers. Chicago: GIA

Publications.ACTIVITY 1: Greeting

Music ContentMixolydian TonalityUsual Duple Meter

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous Flow

Materials NeededSpace for free movement

ACTIVITY 2: Major Tonal Informal PatternSong: Merry Go Round (#20) Composer: Edwin E. Gordon“The Early Childhood Music Curriculum: Experimental Songs and Chants Without Words Book 1”

Music ContentMajor Tonality

Multimetric (Usual Duple and Unusual Unpaired)

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous Flow with Pulsations

TIMEQuick, Slow

Materials NeededEgg Shakers

ACCULTURATION – Major Tonal Patterns

IMITATION and ASSIMILATION – Major Tonal Patterns

ACTIVITY 3: Laban Movement Activity (Flow and Weight)Song: Stirring Soup Composer: Wendy H. Valerio“Music Play: The Early Childhood Music Curriculum Guide for Parents, Teachers and Caregivers”

Music ContentPhrygian Tonality

Unusual Unpaired Meter

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous Flow with

Materials NeededRhythm Sticks and/or

Diving Sticks**

PulsationsWEIGHT

Strong, GentleACTIVITY 4: Minor Tonal Informal Pattern (Locomotor Movement)

Music ContentAeolian (Natural Minor)

Usual Duple

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous FlowContinuous Flow with

PulsationsWEIGHT

Strong, Gentle

SPACELocomotor

Materials NeededSpace for free movement

ACCULTURATION - Minor Tonal Patterns

IMITATION and ASSIMILATION - Minor Tonal Patterns

ACTIVITY 5: Triple Meter Informal PatternsSong: Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee Composer: Traditional“Music Play: The Early Childhood Music Curriculum Guide for Parents, Teachers and Caregivers”

Music ContentUsual Triple Meter

Movement ContentBODY AWARENESS

Body PartsFLOW

Continuous FlowContinuous Flow with Pulsations

Materials NeededSpace for free movement

Rhythm Patterns – Acculturation

Rhythm Patterns – Imitation and Assimilation

ACTIVITY 6: Major Tonal Activity (Tonic-Dominant Relationship)

Music ContentMajor Tonality

Usual Triple

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous FlowCOORDINATED

BREATHINGAudiating, Moving, Singing

Materials NeededChiffon Scarves

ACTIVITY 7: Vocal Exploration Activity

Music ContentUnusual Paired Meter

Vocal Exploration

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous Flow with PulsationsWEIGHT

Strong, Gentle

TIMEQuick, Slow

Materials NeededChiffon Scarves

ACTIVITY 8: Vocal ExplorationSong: Daydreams Composer: Edwin E. Gordon“The Early Childhood Music Curriculum: Experimental Songs and Chants Without Words Book 1”

Music ContentLocrian Tonality

Usual Duple Meter

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous Flow with Pulsations

COORDINATED BREATHING

Audiating, Moving, Singing

Materials NeededChiffon Scarves

ACTIVITY 9: Form (ABA)

Music ContentMixolydian TonalityUsual Duple Meter

Form (ABA)

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous Flow with Pulsations

COORDINATED BREATHING

Audiating, Moving, Singing

Materials NeededScrunchy or Therapy Band

ACTIVITY 10: Closing Song: Sing Goodbye Composer: Unknown

Music ContentMajor Tonality

Usual Duple MeterSyncopation

Movement ContentFLOW

Continuous Flow with Pulsations

COORDINATED BREATHING

Audiating, Moving, Singing

Materials NeededSpace for free movement