Before we get into talking about guitar mobility again, let's talk about standing still and playing guitar.
The thing about standing still with a guitar in front of your class is it gives you the chance to set up a microphone that's plugged into a PA.
If your guitar is a combination acoustic/electric, it would be plugged into the same PA system.
The beauty of this set-up is that you can really modulate your voice on a downward emotional level. You don't have to project your voice three feet beyond the back of the room with your voice. You let the amplifying system do that work for you. That allows your voice to come down to a whisper and, as we say in the trade, “eat the mic”. That means move your body so that your head is so close to the mic that your lips are occasionally bumping into the mic grill.
One of the easiest ways to deescalate excess energy in a class is by using a microphone, speaking softly, and turning up the PA so that the sound fills the room.
When it comes to singing with that microphone in the classroom, you can once again eat the mic and sing very softly or move back a few inches and use a little bit more power in your voice.
The beautiful thing about speaking and singing into a microphone in a classroom is that it gives the appearance that if you have sufficiently separated your speakers, your voice sounds like it is coming from everywhere, not just from where you're standing. Kids are not used to that sound in a classroom and will respond positively.
When I took my first job in a public school, I was visiting a district elementary school one day, walking down a hallway past the gym doorways, and saw a physical education teacher sitting hunched over on a folding chair on a stage with about fifty kids in front of him on the gym floor playing a game.
Mr. Savage was easily fifty years old with a head of white hair. He lazily held a microphone and was quietly giving directions to his class the sound filled the entire gym. He barely moved in that chair but had total control of the room with a vocal volume that was barely over a whisper. His emotions were superbly in control and sounded like his sound system was the same as the Wizard of Oz’s. It was amazing.
It was in that moment I saw for the first time the hidden power of using a microphone to control the emotions and behaviors of a class, especially a large class.
Up to that point, I had rarely used a microphone in the classroom because my music room at my last teaching gig was so small but from that day on, I started plotting and planning to use a mic in my public school classrooms and chorus rehearsal rooms as often as possible.
So, yes, having a guitar around your neck gives you a lot of flexibility in covering the floor plan of your classroom. But to stand behind a mic, strum a guitar convincingly, sing or give commentary over your accompaniment, is a skill that will captivate your students and put you on an entirely new teaching level.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in a cover band playing a wedding reception or in a school music room – people feed off of your confidence, preparation, and presentation. It will take time to master these skills but they are well worth the effort. You’ll know when it’s working . . . .
Especially when you are wearing your guitar, standing behind the mic, and casually ask your chorus during break, “Say, how many of you would like to be able to sing into a microphone while playing guitar . . . like I do?” and all one-hundred kids shoot their hands up into the air.
You, that mic, and that guitar are giving them a dream to aim for.
The thing about standing still with a guitar in front of your class is it gives you the chance to set up a microphone that's plugged into a PA.
If your guitar is a combination acoustic/electric, it would be plugged into the same PA system.
The beauty of this set-up is that you can really modulate your voice on a downward emotional level. You don't have to project your voice three feet beyond the back of the room with your voice. You let the amplifying system do that work for you. That allows your voice to come down to a whisper and, as we say in the trade, “eat the mic”. That means move your body so that your head is so close to the mic that your lips are occasionally bumping into the mic grill.
One of the easiest ways to deescalate excess energy in a class is by using a microphone, speaking softly, and turning up the PA so that the sound fills the room.
When it comes to singing with that microphone in the classroom, you can once again eat the mic and sing very softly or move back a few inches and use a little bit more power in your voice.
The beautiful thing about speaking and singing into a microphone in a classroom is that it gives the appearance that if you have sufficiently separated your speakers, your voice sounds like it is coming from everywhere, not just from where you're standing. Kids are not used to that sound in a classroom and will respond positively.
When I took my first job in a public school, I was visiting a district elementary school one day, walking down a hallway past the gym doorways, and saw a physical education teacher sitting hunched over on a folding chair on a stage with about fifty kids in front of him on the gym floor playing a game.
Mr. Savage was easily fifty years old with a head of white hair. He lazily held a microphone and was quietly giving directions to his class the sound filled the entire gym. He barely moved in that chair but had total control of the room with a vocal volume that was barely over a whisper. His emotions were superbly in control and sounded like his sound system was the same as the Wizard of Oz’s. It was amazing.
It was in that moment I saw for the first time the hidden power of using a microphone to control the emotions and behaviors of a class, especially a large class.
Up to that point, I had rarely used a microphone in the classroom because my music room at my last teaching gig was so small but from that day on, I started plotting and planning to use a mic in my public school classrooms and chorus rehearsal rooms as often as possible.
So, yes, having a guitar around your neck gives you a lot of flexibility in covering the floor plan of your classroom. But to stand behind a mic, strum a guitar convincingly, sing or give commentary over your accompaniment, is a skill that will captivate your students and put you on an entirely new teaching level.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in a cover band playing a wedding reception or in a school music room – people feed off of your confidence, preparation, and presentation. It will take time to master these skills but they are well worth the effort. You’ll know when it’s working . . . .
Especially when you are wearing your guitar, standing behind the mic, and casually ask your chorus during break, “Say, how many of you would like to be able to sing into a microphone while playing guitar . . . like I do?” and all one-hundred kids shoot their hands up into the air.
You, that mic, and that guitar are giving them a dream to aim for.
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