Vikings, Ho!

 Wow! September is just about over. In some ways, it felt long, and in other ways, it went by fast. 

   Our themed Viking month was a blast! I did something new that I haven't done with other themed months in previous years: I actually assigned students their choice of either learning a themed piece of music by ear or doing their own Viking-themed composition. The piece of music could come from VeggieTales's Lyle the Kindly Viking, Dreamworks's How to Train Your Dragon, or a Viking movie of their choice -- except the last option wound up being irrelevant, as no one actually used it. I guess there aren't too many popular Viking movies for kids. :)

   One student was already an HTTYD fan, so she jumped into the assignment with a delightful enthusiasm! She decided to both learn "This Is Berk" by ear, and do her own Viking-themed composition. And she did really well with both! "This Is Berk" turned out to be a popular choice among those who learned songs by ear, followed by "Forbidden Friendship," and "Romantic Flight" came in last, probably because it is more challenging and less epic sounding. (I hadn't realized it was actually slightly harder than "Forbidden Friendship" until I was teaching the pieces. I initially thought "Forbidden Friendship" would be harder, because the melody is harder to pick out from the original soundtrack.) A number of students also decided to do their own compositions, some with lyrics, some without. While there were a few that sounded very random, especially among the younger students, there were also a few that turned out really well. And there's a few others that are still works in progress. :) 

   Of course, as always, games were an important part of the process. 





   The first week's musical review wasn't really Viking-y, except that we were using a cardboard battle axe and broadsword. (If anyone else wants to copy my idea, take my advice and make sure you reinforce your sword with popsicle sticks, on both sides, under the aluminum duct tape. And be prepared to fix the battle axe handle, which is really an old roll that once held gift wrap. Kids are hard on weapons. Not just the boys, either. Some of those girls were attacking the paper dragon with a vengeance!) The idea was that they would gain victory over the sea-dragon by getting the right answers to most of the musical sticky notes stuck to him. It was amusing to see the responses of students to the idea that they could either tame or slay the dragon. I got everything from the girls who were lustily shouting, "Die, die, die!" as they played and the boy who wanted to actually take the paper head off, to the little beginner who, with eyes full of innocence, asked, "Why would I kill him? He hasn't killed anyone. Innocent until proven guilty." 💕

   The second week, beginners sailed over the keyboard as they identified correct key names, while older students were "sailing the 8 C's," practicing their note reading, their music symbols (8va, 15ma, and 8vb), and their thinking and observation skills all in one. Like the real Vikings, students had to "sail" from Norway to Canada as they worked their way through the notes. 

   My favourite game, though, was the Viking shields rhythm dictation.

   Students had to listen to the rhythm I clapped, then arrange the shields in the correct order back on the ship. I would tell them ahead of time how many shields I was using (I started with three, then worked my way up to as many as my students could handle -- most of them made it to using all six shields!). 

   I also used the shields for sight reading with a couple of students. Sticky Tac is a great thing! 

   If you're looking for piano lessons, click here to start your journey!

Location: Onoway, AB T0E 1V0, Canada

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

And to this I said Amen

Image
 (Note for those who may not know: The word "Amen" comes from an ancient word -- whether Greek, Hebrew, or some other language, I do not remember -- that expressed agreement with truth. It is a transliterated word; that is, it's very similar to the original word in the original language. One person claimed it was one of two words that has been transliterated rather than translated across all languages, the other word being Hallelujah. Fun fact for the day. 😀)    Again, I had writer's block and didn't know what to write about. All I could think about was how it's February, it's a theme month, and I haven't finished planning the theme, even though the month has already started. So, once more, I turned to Pinterest . (If that link doesn't work, let me know, because I'm not sure it will actually take you to my Pinterest profile.)    This time, instead of music humour, I found this beautiful musician's prayer. And I went, "Yes! That is exa...
Read more

Gloves: For More than Keeping Your Child's Hands Warm

Image
   Snow swirls around the streets of Leningrad, Russia. Pedestrians pull winter coats tighter around themselves. Car lights shine through the flurries. In one large, multi-story building, a window on the corner of the building is lit. Inside the room, frost decorates the window panes. The only occupant – a young man, with a spark of life in his blue eyes – turns out music, gorgeous music, on the upright piano against the wall. He wears a heavy overcoat and plays with a pair of medium-weight, knit gloves – for his dormitory room has no heat.    At this point in the narrative, the music teacher jerks his enraptured student back into the present – modern Edmonton, a warm and very comfortable music studio, and the two Yamaha baby grands sitting side by side – with this question:    “ Have you ever practiced with gloves on?”    Ahh . . . no, I hadn’t. My house always had heat?!     My music teacher, undeterred by my blank look (w...
Read more

When Music Teachers Meet

Image
It was Sunday evening, and various members of  PMTA  were gathered at one member's home for the Annual General Meeting. Since I've only been a member for less than a year, this was the first time I'd been to one of their meetings. As we were setting up for supper, I asked the president, "So, what goes on in the meeting?"    She looked at me, and her face instantly displayed drama. With gusto, she replied, "You'll be thrilled, and chilled, and ... bored out of your mind!"    LOL!    That's the great thing about hanging around with other artistic minds. There's plenty of room for drama. :)    Seriously, though, I like getting together with other music teachers, because all of us can talk for hours about music. :) It was a lot of fun comparing notes back and forth and getting to know some of the other teachers. I pick up ideas from these exchanges, including other teachers' favourite methods and new things to include -- or new ways ...
Read more