A free resource for Movement & Music Educators
Head Voice and Pathways and Shapes, Oh, My! Mileage from The Squiggle The Squiggle by Carole Lexa Schaefer (ISBN-10: 9780517885796) is a charming little book about a child who finds “a squiggle” (string?) on the ground as she and her class are walking in a “bunched up, slow, tight, straight line.” As children do, she gets… Read more »
Chinese New Year 2019: The Year of the Pig Happy Piggy Year 猪年快乐 Chet-Yeng Loong 龙籍莹 University of Hawai`i 2019 Chinese New begins on February 5 and 6 and lasts for 15 days. To learn the history of Chinese New Year visit this site, and here. 2019 is the year of the pig. In the… Read more »
Music, Poetry, And Visual Art: Complementary Inspiration Sources by David Thaxton Whether it is the lavish experiences of opera combining theater, art, and music, or the powerful emotion imbued into a film with an artfully written score, the Arts enliven each other in astounding ways when they are combined. So I have found it to… Read more »
Nisse Polka This past summer I was in Finland at JaSeSoi Ry’s International Music Village (Finnish Orff Association). It was amazing and I loved my time both in Finland and making music with musicians and teachers from 14 countries. I also fell a little in love with the Scandinavian lifestyle and their connection to the… Read more »
Carol of the Bells Have you ever met anyone that didn’t love “Carol of the Bells”? I haven’t either, and my students are no exception. “Carol of the Bells” and the Orff instrumentarium were destined to go together, and so here is an arrangement that will satisfy every student in your classroom. Everyone can play… Read more »
Nature’s Second Instrument: Rhythm It’s time to have fun with rhythm! Explore possibilities of rhythm and form in Cyndee Giebler’s second installment on Elemental Composition!* Using just quarter notes, two eighth notes, and quarter rests, discover Cyndee’s ideas for using a simple 8-measure composition as inspiration for providing a ready-made musical context for just about anything… Read more »
Step Back, Baby History “Step Back, Baby” can in found in the song collection My Singing Bird published by the Kodály Center of America. Bessie Jones, author of Step It Down and member of the Georgia Sea Island Singers, taught the song at the Kodály Music Training Institute when she visited in 1973. The song… Read more »
There was an Old Lady All Skin And Bones: Part 2 Did you miss Skin and Bones Part 1? Click here! In part two of his post using the folk song “Skin and Bones”, Drue Bullington shares how to use this favorite folk song with upper elementary students to continue the fun through 6th grade! … Read more »
There was an Old Lady All Skin And Bones: Part 1 One really enjoyable aspect of Orff-Inspired teaching is being able to use “recycled songs.” These are songs that one can “spiral” from year to year adding new levels of engagement and skill. In this two-part post, Drue Bullington demonstrates how one simple folk song… Read more »
Steps to Prep the Recorder: Get your students making music the first day they play! By Kate Bright, recorder enthusiast The very first time I picked up a recorder, I fell deeply in love with this sweet instrument. I grew up as a clarinetist, but developed jaw problems and had to quit woodwinds forever –… Read more »