Music Teachers - Help! First time teaching kindergarten...?

Question

This will be my first time teaching Kindergarten Music classes at a private school. Do you have suggestions on different ways/activities to introduce the concepts of "steady beat" and "pitch matching"?

Some kids will get it immediately, but for those who just don't get it... ideas for them especially!! Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Don't be dismayed if they don't get it right away, you'd be surprised how SMART those kindergarteners can be! Start out by singing, and clapping the steady beat to the song...any song. Once they've got the hang of that, draw straight lines (in sets of four) on the board to represent beats, and the next time you clap the steady beat, point to the lines on the board, and help the children to follow the lines (notes without noteheads to be exact) with their eyes. Tell them that each line gets one clap, or one beat. My Kindergarteners can clap rhythms that are a combination of quarter notes and eighth notes in this manner. And if you need to mix it up, you can do marching instead of clapping, or snapping, or clicking their tongues, or rhythm sticks, or knocking on their desks, or high-fiving their neighbor. It doesn't matter what method you use...kindergarteners love making noise in whatever manner you use!

As for the pitch matching, this is harder. I do "contests" over the course of the month which row or group can match the pitches better. The smaller the groups the better. Sing the pitch with them and help them if they have problems. Be sure to praise them, praise them, praise them, when they get it right. When you make a big deal out of the ones that do it right, it helps the others to pay attention. If you have a few students who just cannot seem to match the pitch, what I do is walk over to them, and go down to their note (or up) and then help them to "slide" up or down to the correct note. I've found that matching their pitch and sliding to the correct one is very successfull. This is going to be my third year teaching music to K5-6th graders, and I am pleased to say that in the past two years, I have many students who now can hear pitches, when in the past, some would call them "completely tone deaf." You don't have to do what I do, you will have to find what works best for you and your personality, and for the group of kids that you have.

I don't believe that there is such a thing as "tone deaf." All you need is to always encourage, praise, and help them to find the note that they need, and your constant pushing to do better will really make a difference. Just never give up, and always have a positive attitude. Kids love music, and they love it even more when the teacher does! Good luck and God bless.

Answer 2

Teaching Music To Kindergarten

Answer 3

I know they like to participate a lot. Have tambourines, wood block, etc. that they can tap the beat with. (They guy who said all of your ideas are too advanced...haha! Mozart writing music at age 3! and I also could keep a beat and sing (on key) at my preschool programs). For pitch: have a background note on a recording or keyboard..whatever. Have them sing below the note and slide up to the note then above sliding back down to the note. Making kind of a sigh. They also might enjoy marching in a circle to the beat and learning fun songs. This is why we Americans are so ignorant because while other countries start their kindergartens learning English we say "our kindergartners can't learn to keep a beat"

Answer 4

I thought I might help since the question has not been answered (except by music_junkie); despite the lengthy number of web links~
The first framework, demonstrating the concept of a steady beat, can be introduced through echo activities i.e. body percussion through pat, clap, stamp, walk, gallop, skip, bend, sway, march, move to steady beat or accompaniment to songs with a drum beat.
The second framework, demonstrating the ability to sing on pitch within a limited range, can be accomplished by exploring vocal techniques: whisper, speak, call, sing or vocalizing sirens and/or animal sounds. Echo singing names, colors, greetings, questions and answers in simple songs will also cover this framework.

Answer 5

i took an orff workshop and thought it would be great with kinders:

http://www.aosa2.org/orff

it's an approach to music education that's all about rhythm and singing games. lots of clapping, stomping and ball bouncing while chanting words to simple songs.

you can probably come up with effective games on your own, since it will involve only very simple rhythm-making. basically, have them echo your clapping, slapping and stomping rhythms, and then have them create their own rhythms and echo each other. do it in a circle, of course, and have the "leader" in the middle. then get more complex with games that have half of them starting with one rhythm and the other half layering on a different rhythm. this won't get too complex at the kinder level.

i don't think pitch matching is what you should be aiming for in kindergarten. stick with the basics of vocal dynamics, pitch and tempo. for example, sing the same song loud then soft, high then low, fast then slow. make the differences really obvious so they can hear how the changes impact the meaning and feeling of the song. this should be both amusing to them and good for their ears.

try fun vocalizations in addition to singing kid favorites. try getting them to turn the classroom into a rainforest through vocal sound. get them to act out a train or dump truck through vocalization, etc. this will teach them to coordinate vocally with their companions and be creative in creating sounds.

whatever you do, remember to include lots of physical activity, like clapping, dancing, arms up, butt shaking, etc. everyone involved will have more fun if you do.

Answer 6

Rhythm instruments are a great way to introduce steady beat, as is marching to Sousa music. Laurie Berkner has some good steady beat music, also, like "We are the Dinosaurs". Boomwhackers seem to help with pitch matching, because the kids can see the difference in short tube-high pitch, long tube-low pitch.

Answer 7

Isn't that a bit advanced for kindergarteners...? Let them just enjoy the singsong melodies and talk about what instrument sounds they like... No need to get into such analysis so early...!

Answer 8

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Answer 9

I would suggest using a music service and downloading all the barney songs, Disney and songs like. ABCDEFG.etc.

Answer 10

http://www.marshallmusic.com/Bill/national_standards_in_music_educ.htm

http://www.menc.org/publication/books/prek12st.html