Here's what fellow teacher Isla Noakes can do in one day with three classes and our
G E O R G O U S marimba. A song, rhythm, and the kids' excitement of singing their lungs out to an appreciative audience.
It's wonderful to be teaching alongside another musician who takes things off in unexpected directions. Isla's such a native (natural) musician.
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Friday, 27 March 2015
Bamboozle-a-phone | A Musical Installation
As part of the Enviroweek, I teamed up with Mrs. Renner and Room 13 to build some outdoor musical instruments. The first one to be completed has been named the "Bamboozle-a-phone" by Mrs. Hodder's Room 14 kids. I talked to them about our music room instruments - xylophone (wooden instrument), metalaphone (metal instrument), marimba (giant xylophone). We toyed with several ideas for names that had elements of those instruments. Bamboozle-a-phone was the most popular.
Our "bamboozle-a-phone" is made of 9 pieces of bamboo poles (of varying lengths) strung along two high tension wires and horizontal spacers. The sound comes from tapping the poles with another piece of bamboo.
The name definitely fits with our Dr. Seuss theme for the year. I only hope the noise doesn't bamboozle Miss. Eyre - it's right outside her classroom.
Our "bamboozle-a-phone" is made of 9 pieces of bamboo poles (of varying lengths) strung along two high tension wires and horizontal spacers. The sound comes from tapping the poles with another piece of bamboo.
The name definitely fits with our Dr. Seuss theme for the year. I only hope the noise doesn't bamboozle Miss. Eyre - it's right outside her classroom.
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| Half of the Musical Enviro-garden |
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| Preparing the bamboo poles for sealing |
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| Bamboo poles laid out on my garage floor before drilling holes |
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| Holes did not quite line up as planned - hence the random look! |
Friday, 20 March 2015
Simply Enjoyable
We've been exploring the ukelele. Here is us learning simple chords. This is a Kevin Fogarty song, "Aotearoa Alphabet".
Monday, 9 March 2015
Ukeleles unboxed
The ukeleles now have new homes. I have unwrapped the instruments and put the cardboard boxes through my band saw. Cut down and glued to Pak 'n Save carry bags, they are now portable and can be stored safely.
This past week we began learning the basics of ukelele in our music classes.
We covered things like:
The children are really enthusiastic. And I'm having a ball.
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| Ukeleles in their new carry cases. |
This past week we began learning the basics of ukelele in our music classes.
We covered things like:
- correct posture
- hand positions
- reading chord charts
- C & F chords
The children are really enthusiastic. And I'm having a ball.
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