INTRODUCTION In a perfect world, music is part of young children’s lives: mothers and fathers sing to babies as they are fed, changed, bathed, and put to sleep; songs, games, and dances are an integral part of playtime; students entering elementary school can sing, chant, move, and improvise in the musical context of their culture. In reality, music is bought, downloaded, and played via electronic devices; children’s songs are performed on Barney and Sesame Street; families are glued to couches and recliners while watching “Dancing with the Stars”; students entering elementary school do not “speak” the language of music, as they lack the very foundation of audiation: listening and speaking vocabulary. Musical Age vs. Chronological Age natasha sigmund natasha sigmund The term musical age refers to students’ musical development regardless of their age. However, most resources are presented in a format according to chronological age and grade level. Teachers who work wit...

Some of the best teaching moments in my classroom happen spontaneously, without prior planning or expectations. My favorite musical moment of this week was improvising with my choir the last two minutes of rehearsal.  As buses were lining up outside the music room windows, my fourth graders and I were interacting in Dorian tonality. I started by improvising a simple repetitive chord root melody, and invited the altos to join in. As they got comfortable with it, I demonstrated a slightly different part for the sopranos, using the fifth of the tonic chord.  Finally, I added an improvised melody over the two-part harmony. There was a magical feeling in the air: we were making music together, spontaneously, without any preparation or memorization. The music brought us to a logical conclusion as we organically slowed down and struck the last chord. I am inspired to continue exploring this musical journey with my students next week. Perhaps we can try a different chord progr...

Students are naturally curious about other languages Over the years of interacting with my students, I have noticed their natural curiosity whenever we discuss cultures, traditions, and languages. My students love learning new ways to say things. Their eyes light up when I introduce simple vocabulary in other languages: greetings , numbers, movement verbs, body parts, etc. My students get especially excited when I engage in an audible conversation in my native language: Russian.  Greeting songs One of the most accessible ways to incorporate other languages in the music room is exploring various greetings.  Hello and Goodbye songs  are a staple in most elementary classrooms. As students become familiar with the songs, change “hello” to “ hola ”, ”ciao”, or   “bonjour”. With a little creativity and good musicianship, any greeting song can be modified to include other languages.   A peek into my classroom:  “Hello, Everyone” Song Review...