Sad but true

I posted some time ago about the bell tree, one of my favourite instruments. A couple of year three classes (7 & 8 years old) are doing some imaginative work involving magic potions and I have been developing ways of supporting this with music. The bell tree is just right for this; it gives the perfect sound for the casting of a spell.

I don't have a bell tree of my own so was delighted to come across one in the school's music cupboard. It is a fine example, reminscent of a Victorian laboratory or a film set for a Sherlock Holmes movie. Unlike the one in the picture, borrowed from another school for a short while last spring, it is mounted in a hard-wood frame making holding it unnecessary and reducing the chances of it being dropped on some poor child's foot. Including, as it does, a fair amount of heavy brass in it's make-up it would hurt a lot and parents would be bound to ask where that nasty bruise came from.

So many schools I visit have very poor storage facilities for instruments. In this particular school the cupboard was big enough for what they had but the instruments were in disarray and the space was being encroached upon by unrelated materials and equipment including an enormous television on a trolley that made it hard to reach many of the shelves. Various objects, including an ornate wooden conductor's stand, spoke of former glories and present neglect.

I wasn't surprised to discover that the year 3 children had never seen the school's bell tree. They had only been there for a few months after all. What did surprise me was that children in year 5, who had spent more than two years at the place, had never seen it. I know a lot of primary school teachers shy away from music because of the noise and apparent chaos. Speaking to practitioners in other fields suggests that there are teachers equally reluctant to explore drama and even art, preferring to stay within their comfort zones but this is unnecessary.

While I can sympathise with this 'anything for a quiet life' attitude it is possible to explore music with children without ending up with over-excited children, frosty looks from the person trying to teach in the next room and splitting headache. It doesn't have to be a chaotic free-for-all and I shall share some approaches and techniques in the March edition of Playing With Sound, the free newsletter I put out once a month. In the mean time I intend to make the most of what's left of the half term holiday.

February's Game of the Month

Regular readers will know I post a free music game at the beginning of every month on the PlayWithSound website.

This month's is called Supercar and is a rhythm and speaking game, equally suited to both music classes and drama workshops.

It requires neither instruments nor any specialist knowledge but will nevertheless give your students and colleagues something to get their teeth into.

More free music games

October's free music Game of the Month, Phasing Out, is now on the website. The site is undergoing some changes and they are all for the better. It will soon feature more free music games suitable for workshop leaders, drama teachers and classroom teachers at both primary and secondary levels. And if you play in a band you could even cause a stir by playing then with your fellow musicians.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Last week I found myself in a reception class of nearly thirty four and five year olds. I was helping them tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk with musical instruments and I have to say it all went very well. Not wishing to overstretch the attention spans of such a young group the class teacher and I split the project into three half hour sessions which we spread out over the course of the day.

The first session was spent demonstrating some of the instruments and passing them around the circle. These were mainly percussion instruments of one sort or another. The children were very good at having a quick go and then passing it on. With the more unusual instruments I would wait until it had returned before placing it in the middle and handing round something else. If I had more than one of anything I would send one to my right and the other to my left, collecting them when they met across the circle. Familiar instruments would be demonstrated and placed in the middle of the circle straight away.

After about half an hour of this we put all the instruments on a table and allowed the children to play there in groups of five or six at a time in rotation with the other (non-musical) activities on offer. At no time did we mention the story.

The second formal session took place after morning break. The class teacher read the story and the class 'spotted' it for potential sound effects. To involve more children in the process, and to develop their acting skills, characters from the story were enacted by members of the class. There was a certain amount of prompting, especially to begin with, but they quickly got the idea. Occasionally we would steer a child in another direction if they chose something very inappropriate. There is an understandable urge to choose the instrument you want to play regardless of its relevance to the task at hand. However, for the most part we went along with their choices. The bell tree gave us the magic I had hoped for when Jack trades in his cow for a handful of beans. But somehow the bell for the cows neck was passed over. We did get some coconuts for the sound of the cow's feet on the road but I confess I may have seeded this idea in the first demonstration session. By the time half an hour had passed we were only half way through the story but the children were beginning to lose their focus so we stopped for a free play period. Again, the instruments were available to small groups for this.

The final session took place after lunch. We recapped the story so far and continued to the end in the same manner as in the previous session. The children remained engaged in the process. By this time the familiarity they had gained with the instruments was leading to noticeably more informed choices being made. I have never worked with this particular class before so can't say how their behaviour was in relation to this activity compared to other things they have done. However, the teacher appeared well satisfied with the way the day went and more inclined to use musical instruments from the school's music cupboard in future.