Let me know what’s on your mind
Hi Everyone,
My name is Maria Alley. I teach music to young children and I find that exciting and very rewarding. I’m very passionate about what I do and I wanted us to have a space where we could share experiences, ask questions, make suggestions, etc. Let me know what’s on your mind. I hope to read you soon.
Maria.
Tags: Experiences, Music, Music Find, Young Children
Preschool Composition
It’s always fun to start making up songs with the kids, telling them that they are now composers. We have, by this point, usually introduced one or more of the greats, so they just need to be reminded as to what composition is. They usually relate to the concept of making up your own song. Quite a few children are timid about it at first. They could be shy about improvising a song on the spot in front of their friends; yes, it starts that early, or not be able to think up anything promptly. That’s why I start with the kids who like to ham it up at any opportunity. These guys will be the first to sing, dance or tell a long tale of whatever they are thinking about at the moment. The other children, after seeing this, will at least attempt to compose a song, and whatever material they come up with is greeted with cheers.
That’s why when they came running into the music room yesterday with their stuffed groundhog who they had named Muckmuck, I decided to forego part of the prepared lesson and ask them to make up a song about their stuffed friend. When I realized they were having trouble composing a tune, I gave them a 2 note call and response theme which allowed them to concentrate on the lyrics alone, very easy to remember and the whole class repeated the singer’s line. They decided that Muckmuck was in the Olympics and therefore their song included many of the Olympic sports: speed skating, curling, bobsleigh, luge, figure skating and, of course, ice hockey. They were clearly keen on their groundhog being an Olympic Athlete.
Catch you next time!
Maria
Tags: Call And Response, Composers, Composition, Groundhog, Lyrics, Music Room
Underwater play
A few weeks ago, at Armbrae Academy where I teach a music class, the children were doing an underwater theme with their teachers. They wanted to sing two Beatles songs, Octopus’s Garden and Yellow Submarine and had fun singing and clapping along as I played. Great music always stands the test of time, regardless of one’s demographics. Here is an MP3 of Octopus’s Garden for you and your kids to enjoy. Another good song for underwater play is Baby Beluga where the children can pretend to be the beluga whales and the diving dolphins.
Audio files: Octopus’s Garden & Baby Beluga
Enjoy!
Maria
Tags: Baby Beluga, Beatles Songs, Beluga Whales, Diving Dolphins, Dolphins, Music Class, Octopus's Garden, Underwater Theme
The healing power of music
As we are learning more about our brain, we are realizing more and more that music, due to its inherent nature, can help us heal with its power. I believe that even the oldest cultures intrinsically knew this. As primitive mankind learned to make tools to meet their needs, they also learned to create percussion instruments. From the beginning, these instruments were considered sacred and magical; they were associated with religious and healing rites. In many cases only chosen individuals were allowed to play these instruments. The players were often priests or shaman, using their percussion instruments to drive away evil spirits and to cure sickness.
It is interesting to note that our physicians today are rediscovering the healing power of music, albeit without the driving away of spirits. Regardless if we are driving away spirits or in modern day terms, releasing anxiety and depression, we have come to realize that music releases the neurotransmitter serotonin, one of the most abundant neurotransmitters in the brain which plays an important role in the regulation of mood and a key role in the treatment of depression. Another activity which increases serotonin thereby releasing endorphins, a hormone responsible for increasing a feeling of pleasure is exercise; so if you are depressed and feeling lethargic, time to go out dancing, giving yourself a blast of both music and movement.
Maria
Tags: Anxiety And Depression, Cultures, Evil Spirits, Exercise, Healing Music, Healing Power, Key Role, Mankind, Music And Movement, Music Releases, Neurotransmitter Serotonin, Neurotransmitters In The Brain, Percussion Instruments, Physicians, Pleasure, Power Music, Power Of Music, Priests, Shaman, Treatment Of Depression
Stroke victims regain speech with song
I read, on Sunday February 21, 2010, this article and found it fascinating as it gives hope for the treatment of many medical conditions. Here’s one.
“US scientists have restored speech to stroke victims by getting them to sing words instead of speaking them, says a leading neurologist.
Gottfried Schlaug, an associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Centre and Harvard Medical School, has found that patients who have suffered a stroke in the left side of the brain and are unable to speak words are often able to sing them.
He showed reporters at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on Saturday a video of a patient with a stroke lesion on the left side of the brain, whom he asked to recite the words of the birthday song.
The patient was unable to comply, and merely repeated the letters N and O.
But when Schlaug asked him to sing the song, while someone held the patient’s left hand and tapped it rhythmically, the words Happy birthday to you came out clear as day.
This patient has meaningless utterances when we ask him to say the words but as soon as we asked him to sing, he was able to speak the words, Schlaug said.
Another patient was taught to say, I am thirsty by singing, while another patient who had a large lesion on the left side of the brain and had for several years tried various therapies to try to regain the power of speech, all unsuccessful, was taught to say his address.
Images of the brains of patients with stroke lesions on the left side of the brain – which is typically used more for speech – show functional and structural changes on the right side of the brain after they have undergone this form of therapy through song, called Music Intonation Therapy (MIT).
Schlaug is currently running a randomised clinical trial of MIT with a view to gaining acceptance of the therapy in the medical field.
In the United States, MIT could potentially help up to 70,000 nonverbal stroke victims to retrieve the ability to speak, Schlaug said.”
This article reminds me of one of my students a number of years ago when I taught music at The Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority for the Visually Impaired, (APSEA). I am not sure if she had had a stroke; her speech was very limited although she could sing both melody and harmony and, for the most part, understood what you wanted her to do. Even when she spoke her few short phrases, they were in a sing-song vocal style, reaffirming the studies that the part of the brain used for speech is different than the part utilized when one is singing. More on that topic in future posts.
Maria
Tags: Association For The Advancement Of Science, Birthday Song, Clinical Trial, Gottfried Schlaug, Left Side Of The Brain, Lesion, Lesions, Power Of Speech, Stroke Victims
Autism and music
Last year I taught music to a close to non verbal boy with autism named Stephen. We played a game in the class called Jingle at the Window. It involved the children sitting in a circle passing a tambourine from one child to the next. Each child held the tambourine just long enough to play 3 beats on it in time to the music. Not only did Stephen take the tambourine, play his 3 beats and pass it on to the next child in time to the music, he judged where the tambourine would be in a particular part of the circle, ran to a point just beyond that, and succeeded in getting himself another turn out of the deal; very forward thinking I thought. He is about 7 years old now and has gone on to play the drums. It is clear that he has great musical talent which is nurtured by his family.
Maria
Tags: Autism, Music, Musical Talent
