Teaching Recorders

I received an email from a friend-of-a-friend yesterday. She had been referred to me as someone who could be a resource for teaching recorders. Since I love teaching recorders I was happy to be of assistance. This morning I set out my basic set-up method, including a first lesson. I typed it out since I think that I could possibly be sharing this information in the future. Then it occurred to me that I could post my thoughts on this blog to have as an easy reference.

So here goes!

Teaching Recorders

Setting Up

Have a classroom set of recorders that STAYS AT SCHOOL. If you let students take home their recorders to practice, they will invariably forget them on music day.

I have written a blog post about this here:

http://musicmotifs.blogspot.com/2013/06/nuts-and-bolts-of-recorder-class.html

Getting Started

The first day is so much fun, but it sounds terrible. Here is my lesson plan for Day One.

Review quarter and eighth notes. I have flashcards with four beat rhythms. We look at each one, say the rhythm (tas and titis) and then clap the rhythm.

Review Mi-Re-Do with hand signs and flashcards. We did this in second grade, and I start with BAG.

* Note * Some brilliant educators start with G E, and some with A C. You will find what works best for you.

Have students hold old their hand in front of their mouth. With lips pursed, blow onto the palm as though you are blowing out a candle. Ask what it feels like. They will say several things, but you are looking for “It feels cool or cold.”

Next have the students breathe onto their palm as though they are going to fog up a window. It should feel warm. Our mantra “Warm, soft air, good sound we care.”

Practice du, du, du (gentle air tonguing) with rhythms.

Learn the chant “Left hand on top, forget me not.”

Have students pinch their left index finger and thumb together.

NOW you can pass out the recorders! Hang them around their necks.

Hold up the recorder in the right hand like the Statue of Liberty to see the thumb hole on the back of the recorder. Thumbprints not tips! Cover the holes completely! Have students place their left finger and thumb on the B.

Now, have them blow (Warm, soft air…. Warm, soft air) and copy your rhythms.

It will sound like chaos. Yuck! But they will love it, and they will improve very fast.

Resources

I have used these resources and others I find on the internet. These have CDs with backtracks.

Denise Gagne – The Complete Recorder Resource Kit (Book 1) with CD.

http://www.westmusic.com/p/complete-recorder-resource-kit-1-student-book-and-cd-805001

Recorder Classroom – a Publication by Music K8

    http://www.recorderclassroom.com

Recorder Routes by Carol King

            http://www.amazon.com/Recorder-Routes-Introducing-Soprano-Classes/dp/0934017204

This is an Orff-Based approach, if you are familiar with Orff-Schulwerk.

If you do Pinterest – there is a wealth of info there. Type in recorder classroom in the search box and see what you come up with.

Recorder Karate

This is the best thing I can think of to motivate kids to practice. After the kids can mostly play their first easy song like Hot Cross Buns, they take a test on it. They play for you individually. If they can play it, they get their white belt.

For belts, I have devised this system. I get a little hair band (the little clear ones that are about ½ diameter) and put it around the bottom of their recorder. Then I take a skein of embroidery thread, cut the loops at each end, then pull out one “piece” (about 6-8 strands together) and tie it to the hair band.

I am amazed at what they will do for a piece of embroidery thread. I think it is for bragging rights.

Each song gets progressively harder. Yellow belt, then orange, green, purple, blue, red, brown, black.  This can mean adding a new note, a harder rhythm, etc. If you google recorder karate, you can see various people’s lists for recorder karate. You can tailor this to your students.

I do not take up class time with testing. The kids come to me during some recess once a week. They stand in line and wait their turn and cheer on their classmates.

Theme for the New School Year

I always get excited at the beginning of a school year. Last year I was all gung-ho for learning every student's name, and I did okay, but this year I am going to do it better. I've already blogged about seating charts. I think I am going to go old-school on this one and have use post-its on paper inside folders.

Anyway, I think my theme for this year is IMPROVISATION. While I think it is important for kids to have note-reading basics, I really want them to work on creating their own music and feeling comfortable with it.

AOSA has a newly revamped website with a great little video on the homepage for anyone to see. (They also have videos online for AOSA members only.) This one is called "Scat, Sing, Ring-a-ding" with a great lesson for learning scat singing. I already have ideas about how to use this with recorders....

Recorder Haiku

A week ago the Village Pipers performed the recorder haiku that I composed at the North America Haiku Conference. Although I have videos of the six pieces, we will be performing them again this coming Sunday in Claremont, and I would like to have another chance to record them to choose the best of each. Then I plan to make a little movie (or several movies) and put them on youtube.

Stay tuned.

Zip Code Boogie for Public Consumption

Nearly two years ago I sent my Zip Code Boogie to the American Recorder Society to see if they wanted to publish it in their newsletter. They seemed interested, and then I forgot about it. A few weeks ago I got an email from them and they said that it had risen to the top of the list and would come out in September. I got to see a preview of what it would look like, and I am pretty excited that some other groups may get to enjoy this little piece that the Village Pipers have had fun playing.

Recorder Haiku

I haven't posted for a little while, but I have been busy working on music. I have private students for the summer, I'm working on Celtic and Fiddle Music with Lynn, I'm playing recorder with the Village Pipers.

The Village Pipers is going to play at the Haiku North America Conference next month, and I have composed 5 very short pieces for our group based on the haiku of one of the musicians. This weekend my goal is to finish the final haiku so we'll have two sets of three. I rather like that idea since haiku generally has three lines in it, and symmetry pleases me.

Nuts and Bolts of Recorder Class

This is not a post of how to integrate Orff-Schulwerk into recorder class, nor what curriculum I use, but really, the housekeeping end of teaching recorders.

Right now I have 48 plastic recorders going through my dishwasher. It is the end of the school year and time to clean up so when I start to prepare for the fall, things will be ready to go.

First, I got the school to buy me recorders for the students. I chose the Bare Bones recorders from West Music for $2.25. These have the West logo on them, are 3-piece, and are similar to the Yamaha. The first year I assigned each student a recorder with a homemade strap (made of ribbon and small hair bands just like I learned in my Orff Level 1 class). I wrote the number on each recorder with a sharpie. I have to rewrite the numbers occasionally. I picked up some boxes used for wine and covered up the words on the outside with construction paper and a little sign that said "Room 10 Recorders". I put two recorders in each slot, and each slot has written the correct numbers on the cardboard.

So far, so good. However, that first year I let the students take these recorders home to practice if they wanted. Of course, there were always a few who forgot them on music class day, so I either had to have an old one around for them to use (and clean after), or they could play air recorder or use a pencil.

This was so frustrating that I finally figured out that these were the class set to stay at school. I offered the children a chance to buy their own recorder to keep at home for practice. I order the same recorders as we use in class, and the kids are so excited when the recorders come and they can take them home. After all, most of the kids can afford a $3 recorder. Of course, I order extra since some kids don't jump on the bandwagon at first and decide later they want their own recorder. I charge a little extra so that it can include shipping, and then with the extra money I can buy the materials for the straps and whatever else I need for recorder class.

Some kids use a recorder from an older sibling, or just happen to have one around the house anyway.

This has worked marvelously well. I have to replace straps most years, and occasionally I replace a recorder (one group of students left teeth marks on theirs - yuck, and I had to replace a whole bunch).

My Paddle Video

I know that Yahoo employees are unhappy about the new requirements of having to actually go to work, but I know that productivity and creativity increases when you actually have conversations with people. (This means actual conversations and not texting/emailing/FB'ing, etc.)

Case in point. I was sitting in the lunch room this week talking to the third grade teachers. One said that he had updated some information on his classroom webpage, and it occurred to me that I could reach some of the parents and students of his class that way. I could make little recorder videos to help students practice at home.

At first I thought I could make a demo video of me playing various pieces on the recorder, but then I thought that the students should be able to see the notes, as well. I know that there are probably sophisticated ways to animate the music as it rolls by, and I know that I couldn't do that today. Or even tomorrow.

Then I realized that in the Sibelius program, the cursor moves over the notes as they are played. I wondered if I could take a video screenshot of that, and after a little googling, I discovered that I certainly could with Quicktime. I had a little trouble getting the audio figured out, but the help in Quicktime set me straight, and after some trial and error (and about 8 aborted attempts), this is what I came up with. A first pass, for sure, but I am imagining all the possibilities!

Composition Competition

Last fall I learned about a composition competition for the Washington Recorder Society. I thought this would be a good opportunity to work on an original composition for recorder ensemble. Knowing that the deadline would be Feb. 1, 2013, I knew I had time to come up with something.

I have slowly been working on two pieces for four recorders. One is a revamped piece I wrote for string orchestra called Minor Fantasy, and one is completely new which I named From the Sea. My working title for the latter was Dorian since I wrote this minimalist piece in the dorian mode. I knew that wasn't a great title, so today I hunted around on the internet for a little bit and found in two places that Dorian can mean "from the sea" or "gift from the sea".

These pieces are supposed to be 4-6 minutes long for an upper intermediate group. I am not sure what level that is, and I have no illusions of winning any prize, but at least I now have two original compositions that I did not have last fall. Thank goodness for deadlines!

Fresh Start to a New School Year

It is definitely the catalog season for music teachers. Today I got the Sweet Pipes catalog (all things recorder) and I got pretty excited when I opened it up to the first page. Chris Judah-Lauder has come out with a new recorder curriculum for beginning students which has pdf and powerpoint files. It's called Recorder Success, and I think I will be making a purchase this week. She also has a book called Recorder Games, also with pdfs and powerpoints of short activities.

I know that I the curriculum I have been using and adapting is quite adequate and great for teaching beginning recorders, but I am ready for something new and different. Perhaps these lessons will supplement what I already do and not completely replace my tried-and-true ways.

I am also looking ahead to teaching beginning strings and this year I think I am going to put a notebook together of ideas from Paul Rolland's The Teaching of Action in String Playing. I have been watching the videos and reading the book. Last year I implemented the use of the Bunny Bow Hold chart where each student fills in a grid of 100 squares, one square for each time they make the right hand into the correct bow shape (bunny with ears sticking up) before ever holding the bow. This year I am going to add the Shoulder Shelves chart to the violin and viola students to get them to hold the instrument correctly. I will need to consult with my cellist friend about what to do for cellists....

This really is the New Year for me, not Jan. 1. I love the anticipation of a new school year!

Alto Recorder

I have decided that I should learn the alto recorder, so I have been working on it a bit, off and on, this summer. So far I am pretty good without sharps or flats or above the staff, so my next goal is to work those tricky bits into my repertoire so I can be as fluent in alto as I am in soprano.

The End of the School Year

It's the end of the school year.  You can tell because of the concerts that pop up on the calendar.  I have discovered that student persistence wanes in May, so it's good to end on a high note.  On Wednesday we had our (3rd or 4th?) annual Vista Orchestra and Recorders Concert.  I really enjoy this one.  It lasts about 30 minutes, the MP room at Vista is standing room only, and the set-up is really easy.

This year we played 10 pieces, about 4 of them new arrangements for this year.  I am always pleased with how everything comes together, and I am always happy when it is over.

Two more concerts on the docket - the district strings concert and a recital for my private students.  Then it's summer (and time to think about composing in earnest).

Haiku and Recorders

I have been asked by the Village Pipers (the recorder group I play with on occasion) to write some music to accompany haiku written by one of our members for a Haiku Convention where we will be performing next summer (2013).  I look forward to the challenge of composing something completely different, experimenting with a variety of sounds, and yet will be accessible to not only the audience, but also the performers.

April is a Busy Month

Even though the end of the music school year is still more than a month away, this is the time of year when we realize that we need to get things done.

This weekend we took a field trip to Disney Hall with our String Orchestra for a children's concert.  You can read more about that on my daily blog here.

On Sunday afternoon I played with the Village Pipers, a recorder group at the Claremont Community School of Music.  We played for a Garden Tour and performed under a large live oak tree overlooking the valley from a garden up in Padua.

The Women's Choir at CUCC is gearing up to actually sing in worship on Mother's Day, so that has involved some extra practice time.

Jingle Bell Waltz

Tonight the Village Pipers performed my arrangement of Jingle Bells which I made into a waltz.  You can see the performance here on youtube.

Something Told the Wild Geese

Every year at Vista's Winter Sing, the 3rd grade recorder students are anxious to play, but we only know 4 notes (or 5, if we've gotten to D).  I don't want to play the same songs every year, and sometimes I just get tired of Sleep, Baby Sleep.  Last year we played Who Has Seen the Wind, which I really like, but didn't want to repeat this year.  I particularly like the poem Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field, so I thought I would just throw a little song together with those lyrics.  The simplist of songs is not all that simple to write.

Here are the first two versions that I did not satisfy me.  While riding my bike to school this morning, this final version came to me, and I managed to write it down before I forgot it.  I will try it out this afternoon with my classes to see how it works out.  I haven't tried it yet, but I hope that it can work as a round.  Because it is pentatonic-like, it should theoretically work.

First version 

Second version

Final Version

Zip Code Boogie

One of the people in the Village Pipers gave me some information and encouraged me to send in my Zip Code Boogie to the American Recorder Society for their Members' Library.  If they chose my piece to put in their newsletter, lots of people will see (and maybe even use) it, even if I don't get paid for it.  I still retain copyright.

I sent the contact my piece, and he said that he liked it, but we'll see if they chose to use it.

Stay tuned!

All jazzed up from that, I started arranging Jingle Bells in 3/4 for our Christmas gig.  I'm calling it the Jingle Bell Waltz.

Tenor Recorder

Today after recorder practice, I brought home a loaner tenor recorder to practice on....

Recorder Boogie

Today during recorder rehearsal, we played a blues piece that everyone enjoyed, so when I came home, I wondered if any of the 3 jazz pieces I'd written for string orchestra would translate to recorder group.  I looked at my Hershey Bar Rag and Sneakin' Around, but there were parts that I knew would not work.  Then I looked at my Low 1 Boogie, and I thought it might just do the trick.  After transferring the parts over  and seeing where the parts were too high or low and adjusting a few other details, I sent it off to the Village Pipers.

I changed the name to just Boogie since low 1 refers to a finger position for strings - in this case a Bb.

We'll see if this one works, and then I might be tempted to write and arrange other music for this group.

Trying Tenor

I've played a few times this summer with the Village Pipers, and today we pulled out a piece of music that didn't have a soprano part, so Sandy loaned me her tenor which has the same fingerings as the soprano.  So, while I could read the music, I had a hard time knowing just where my fingers were since they were not only stretched out farther, but there are also these extra things which fit over the holes for certain fingers for ease of playing, but I was just not used to it.

However, it was fun to play, and if one magically appeared at my house, I would probably spend some time with it.....