Riddle me this, Batman.
I'm amazed when elementary music teachers spend four to five years teaching kids how to “shake, rattle, and roll” in music class and then can't fathom why their student’s instrumental progress on a band instrument starting in fourth and fifth grade is slow. Shake (tambourines), rattle (maracas), and roll (drums) et al are all great classroom instruments but an exclusive diet of them does not prepare a kid for instrumental studies – or life.
The three greatest predictors I've seen for instrumental success in fourth and fifth grade are
-a year at least of some instruction on piano
-a year at least of some instruction on recorder
-self-discipline
I appreciate percussion instruments like the next Buddy Rich but the propensity of “shake, rattle, and roll” has really been going overboard the last few decades in general music classes.
The one sound maker that today’s hip, happenin’ elementary music teacher seems to want to have is a set of Boomwhackers.
I'm amazed when elementary music teachers spend four to five years teaching kids how to “shake, rattle, and roll” in music class and then can't fathom why their student’s instrumental progress on a band instrument starting in fourth and fifth grade is slow. Shake (tambourines), rattle (maracas), and roll (drums) et al are all great classroom instruments but an exclusive diet of them does not prepare a kid for instrumental studies – or life.
The three greatest predictors I've seen for instrumental success in fourth and fifth grade are
-a year at least of some instruction on piano
-a year at least of some instruction on recorder
-self-discipline
I appreciate percussion instruments like the next Buddy Rich but the propensity of “shake, rattle, and roll” has really been going overboard the last few decades in general music classes.
The one sound maker that today’s hip, happenin’ elementary music teacher seems to want to have is a set of Boomwhackers.
The Wackers That Boom are color-coded plastic tubes that are tuned in length to diatonic pitches. They also come in a chromatic version. To my mind, this would be the perfect instrument of choice for the well-dressed Neanderthal.
Lots of gross motor skills going on with Boomwhackers. The emphasis is less on finger finesse and more on booming and wacking. I know there must be incredible lesson plans that people have designed around Boomwackers. What I’m positing is that they singularly provide one more opportunity for hitting large things and using gross motor skills.
Spending years on percussion instruments and then expecting kids to succeed on wind instruments is a little bit like teaching someone for five years on how to drive a nail with a hammer and then putting them on the assembly line at the Fabergé egg factory.
Lots of gross motor skills going on with Boomwhackers. The emphasis is less on finger finesse and more on booming and wacking. I know there must be incredible lesson plans that people have designed around Boomwackers. What I’m positing is that they singularly provide one more opportunity for hitting large things and using gross motor skills.
Spending years on percussion instruments and then expecting kids to succeed on wind instruments is a little bit like teaching someone for five years on how to drive a nail with a hammer and then putting them on the assembly line at the Fabergé egg factory.
Or training future elementary music teachers and not providing an emphasis on piano and guitar.
It doesn't end well.
Want some successful wind players in your elementary program?
You might want to consider supplementing your clubs and cudgels with some recorders and pianos.
If you want to hear something other than the sound of a boom or a whack, pay attention to instruments that develop your students’ fine motor skills.
That'll put a real boom in your music room!
It doesn't end well.
Want some successful wind players in your elementary program?
You might want to consider supplementing your clubs and cudgels with some recorders and pianos.
If you want to hear something other than the sound of a boom or a whack, pay attention to instruments that develop your students’ fine motor skills.
That'll put a real boom in your music room!
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