band Understanding Meter
Most students that I encounter understand that there are four beats per measure in 4/4 once they become a beginning band stu- dent. But, when I had the students I teach do a short composition assignment their third week of beginning band, it became clear to me that there were still issues with fully comprehending meter and how the notes fit into the meter. As I told more than one student, four beats does not necessar- ily mean four notes. I found that, once we started addressing the fractional relation- ship between note durations, issues with meter started to quickly evaporate. While peer-assessing another student’s composi- tion one day, a student I teach pointed out that, “He has an extra slice of pizza!” It was a great illustration for the composer of the project what had gone wrong and one that I will use in the future (kids have the best ideas, don’t they?!).
Marching to the Beat of One’s Own Drummer Have you ever encountered the student who has a pretty good understanding of note durations and their relationships, but can’t accurately play rhythms on their instrument? It’s the same frustration one experiences when playing with someone who is out of tune, except “Can’t you hear that?” becomes “Can’t you feel that?” And, in both instances, the answer might very well be “no.” So, like musicians who struggle with pitch work to train their ears to hear pitch, these students who struggle to feel an internal pulse need to work at training their bodies to feel the beat. Toe or foot tapping is great but it’s not a fail-safe solution for this issue. When I encounter a student whose internal pulse is a bit lacking, we move! Dance, march, anything that works is fair game in les- sons! If the student is struggling with this in an ensemble, I encourage the student to move their legs and feet (within reason, of course) like they are marching or dancing in their chair and to really open up their ears and listen. It can be a slow process for sure, and they may sway to the music a bit more than your average kid, but most students come around and can find their inner pulse in time.
Wisconsin School Musician Transitioning Vocabulary
There are a lot of excellent ways to teach rhythm to younger kids, all of which produce different vocabulary. The one I come in contact with the most is teaching rhythms via syllables. These various syl- lables are used to represent different note durations, but when students are asked to transition to a structure more familiar to
bands and orchestras, historically, where beats are counted (i.e. “Ti-ti ti-ti ta ta” becomes “1& 2& 3 4”), the student is asked to keep track of another level (not just the note duration, but what beat it’s on). This results in the students needing to learn, not only to different syllables, but also syllables that change based on
Continued on page 22 Music
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D E G R E E S Music Music Education Music Media & Production Music Promotion & Industry Pre-Music Therapy
P E R F O R M A N C E O P P O R T U N I T I E S Concert Band, Jazz, Orchestras, Choirs, West African & Middle Eastern Drumming, Guitar Ensemble
F I N E A R T S
S C H O L A R S H I P S 2017 Audition Dates: 2/22, 3/22, 4/12
Music scholarships offered to deserving students regardless of major.
For more information
contact Beatriz Aguilar 608.663.3442
baguilar@edgewood.edu music.edgewood.edu 21 Musi DEP AR TMEN
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