Week 12 - Music

In this week’s workshop we were looking at singing and began the lesson by brainstorming some of the qualities and technique that go into making somebody a good singer.

These were:

·       Pitch accuracy

·       Dynamics (good control over expressive technique – louder/softer)

·       Duration (rhythmic accuracy)

·       Articulation (lips, teeth, tip of the tongue)

·       Breath control/diaphragm support

·       Projection

·       Sense of meaning

·       Style

·       Posture

·       Good vowel sounds

·       Range extension – get them to try higher or lower than what they would normally

It was helpful to have the teacher talk a little more on posture saying that it is imperative that we get our students to stand up straight, having their feet shoulder width apart with their knees slightly bent and to remember to breath from the diaphragm. We also want to avoid looking down to much to read the music so she recommended lifting the music up to eye level, rather than looking down as this can cut off our airways and inhibit our full potential to sing well. She suggested that we imagine we have a piece of string hanging off the back of our head, which we use to pull ourselves up straight. I can imagine the kids liking this.

We then began singing! We looked at two songs ‘Beachcombing’ by Andrew Robertson and ‘Wet Day Blues’. The teacher split the class up into two halves and modeled the register that each half of the class would be singing in. Having the teacher give an example of how she wanted us to sing was a great way to scaffold singing for those of us who are less confident. Effective scaffolding is so important in encouraging those students who are less confident in music as many students start school very eager and confident to sing, however ‘this confidence can be eroded once formal schooling begins’ (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p10).

I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed my first music class and am really looking forward to next week’s workshop!

References:

Gibson, R. & Ewing, R. (2011). Transforming the curriculum through the arts. Camberwell: Palgrave Macmillan.