September Update: Medieval Month Returns!



 Hello, all! 

   So... I'm starting to realize that regular blogging is...

   ...harder than it looks. 

    Mostly because browsing other people's content is more fun than creating my own. 😆

   So, yes, I finally decided that October would be a throwback to 2020's Knights and Princesses Theme. Except, instead of reusing any of the games I created then, I came up with a whole new set of games. Because why go the easy way, right? 

   As usual, I forgot to take pictures, and had to recreate photos of my activities.

   Which is too bad, because my opening week activity was pretty good. At least, in my books. It was kind of based on the escape room idea... as much as you can have an escape room when your studio is in an open-concept basement. ;) The "prison" was made out of string. Students had to solve a series of musical riddles to "escape the dungeon." 


    In the second week, I had two different kinds of listening activities. Younger students were given a medieval piece of music to listen to. They had to draw a picture of what it made them think of. Then we talked about tempo, dynamics, and mood. (It was a pack I found on Teachers Pay Teachers. It was so good, I was starting to wish I'd used it with all the students, not just the beginners!) Older students practiced both ear-training and dictation skills. I gave them a sheet with the opening lines of four old folk songs. (I wish I could say they were genuine medieval music, but no. They were all old and European, but Greensleaves is Renaissance-era, and Scarborough Fair, The Galloway Piper, and Loch Lomond are probably more recent still.) Then I would play one of the four lines, and they would have to figure out, by using their ear, which one I was playing. 

  The activities in the third and fourth week weren't so great. The creative juices just weren't flowing the same way. 😕In the third week, we played around with 3/4 rhythm and the tambourine. (Did you know that most medieval music was written in triple or compound time, not duple time?) This week, I made paper shields with either finger numbers or note names on them. When I pointed to a shield, students (depending on their level) had to play a note with the matching finger or write the matching note on the staff. It took me almost all week to realize that this last game would be more fun if I supplied note reading flashcards for students to match with the shields. 

One student decided to replace the shields with their corresponding flashcards. :) (Flashcards are from Wunderkeys.) 

   And that was about that!

   Next week we'll start picking out Christmas music. :) 

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