I don't know the first thing about teaching music but didn't want to neglect musical education when we started homeschooling this year. So I've focused on exposing my kids to different musical experiences. As with art, there's been no overarching plan or sequence to my approach with music. We've taken advantage of some good venues near us and field trip opportunities to see live music whenever possible and I've leaned on good resources and recommendations from others. Here are nine things we've done to experience and appreciate music this year.
We have watched a few musicals this year, including Annie and Singin' in the Rain, but the first was The Sound of Music (over several sittings). My 9-year-old really enjoyed it. What's not to love? It's a beautiful movie with a wonderful spirit. The war-related suspense in the plot kept him captivated as well. (He liked it so much, we even watched the whole interview with Julie Andrews after the movie, reminiscing on production and on being in Salzburg fifty years ago.) Then, not long after we had watched The Sound of Music, we got to go see a live evening production of it. As we left the theater on a cold winter night and and were walking down the sidewalk to our car, W was so animated, talking about the actors and props and costumes and set changes, surmising why things were done differently than in the movie in some cases. He made a comment like, "Wow, I never realized there are so many decisions you have to make to put on a play!"
2. Instrument Lessons
Our journey in the Suzuki music program with our daughter this year has shifted some of our routines as a family, as music has become a regular part of our lives and as we figured out the best ways to make practice happen (almost) daily while keeping it positive. My son, too started an instrument not long after my daughter started Suzuki violin. His dad, who took piano lessons for years as a kid, gives him a little lesson at least once a week on an electronic keyboard we have. Even though W didn't ask for the lessons (as his sister had), we have been pleased how positive he has been about it. He likes having a little talent to show off. He's worked up to practicing for a solid ten minutes a day. He often uses piano practice as a break between academics during our school day. M doesn't want to be left out and requests her own piano mini lessons from Dad as well. There are also rare sweet moments when siblings play for each other (as W did when he learned "Happy Birthday" in time for his sister's birthday) or play a duet of a piece they both know.
3. Dives into Themed Music
Sometimes we've used holidays or units of study as a way to guide our music time. We came across the Music in our Homeschool web site, and took advantage of a few of the free sample lessons to help with this. We listened to recordings of patriotic music, and looked into the origins of various pieces-- "Yankee Doodle," "American the Beautiful," "This Land is Your Land." Also, near Chinese New Year, we did a mini study of that holiday and learned about traditional Chinese instruments like the pipa, gong, and erhu.
4. Core Knowledge Music Guidelines
The free, downloadable Core Knowledge curriculum has been helpful in our history studies and occasionally in other areas. Within the Core Knowledge K-8 Sequence of all subjects I found a two-page overview of music guidelines for grade four. It wasn't a whole curriculum (and I wouldn't have been able to teach it if it was), but it gave me a sense of some things to talk about and general guidance on broadening horizons. Sometimes I would go to this list of composers and songs and terms that the Core Knowledge Foundation has deemed fourth graders should know and we would look up YouTube recordings of the pieces mentioned. We'd also do a little research about the origin or meaning of pieces or styles. Because of this guiding song list, we heard all the official songs of the U.S. Armed Forces, which my son was fascinated by; we learned about how Gregorian Chant was a turning point in Western music as we know it; we learned the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne;" and we sang along with a children's choir to "I Love the Mountains" in rounds.
5. Following Kids' Interests
One day I asked W if there were any artists or songs he was interested in learning more about. He told me he really wanted to know what was so great about Elvis, "Like why was he so popular?" That was all we needed to set us off on a productive session. We researched this question online and read a few articles and looked at pictures of Elvis and Graceland, and we watched YouTube videos of concert performances and screaming, fainting crowds, catching handkerchief after handkerchief that Elvis would brush along his neck and then toss out. W found it hilarious and fascinating at the same time. We saw a couple of clips from movies Elvis starred in as well, and glimpsed the young and the old Elvis, and many impersonators. It was fun and a good reminder that following your kids' interests is certainly a great way to learn.
6. Can you Hear It? Book and CD
A friend who is a veteran homeschool parent recommended Can you Hear It?. Each two page spread shows a Metropolitan Museum of Art painting and is matched with a track on the accompanying classical music CD. The kids and I look closely at a painting, seeing what we can see and reading who painted it and what it is called. Then, with book in hand, we listen to the song that has been matched with it, also learning the name of the piece and the composer. The "clues" on each spread tell us certain instruments to listen for that are intended to depict certain things-- a woodblock that sounds like horses feet clip-clopping, or violins to sound like a bee hovering. The book also has a section on the families of instruments, with photos, which we read through a little bit at a time. The kids have gotten better at identifying instruments by sound, and when I have them close their eyes and I play one of the pieces we have covered so far in this book, they can always identify which it is. The Flight of the Bumblebee is a favorite, as is An American in Paris.
7. Concerts
We have some wonderful venues near us, and earlier this year (before everything was closed), we took advantage of some great opportunities to go see live music. I took both my kids to see Infinitus String Trio when they performed locally during the day. They are a "beatboxing string trio" made up of violin, viola, and cello. They were full of energy, playing classical music and contemporary. They did an awesome job of performing and teaching and kept a room full of wiggly young kids engaged. Before the show started, M kept bumping up and down in her seat that kept flipping up because she wasn't heavy enough. Once the show started, M was so engaged she forgot to keep bumping and just soaked it up. It was inspiring to watched really talented musicians and hear them say how much they practice. We had several school-day and weekend live musical performances lined up this spring that have been cancelled, and I look forward to when some inspiring outings can be part of our homeschool life again.
Since we can't go out into our community to see live music recently, we've been taking advantage of the many performances there are now online. Some are live, but when we don't catch them live most are available to view after the fact as well. We watched Bocelli perform in the empty Milan Duomo and that inspired just a bit of research about him. We've watched Yo-Yo Ma on his Facebook page videos. Yesterday we watched a live afternoon performance of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 that one of M's music teachers did from his home. I've just begun to plumb this amazing list of live virtual concerts to watch during coronavirus shutdown that NPR is updating daily.
9. Sing Alongs
One of my children in particular loves to dance and sing along with popular favorites, preferably in costume. These consist mostly of hit songs to Disney movies she's never seen. She can't read yet, but she still loves sing-along versions with the words going across the screen so we can help her learn the words. We all had fun with the live Disney Family Singalong that was this past week. (We also like Barefoot Books sing alongs sometimes, which are sweet little songs, just not billboard hits.)
This is what we've done so far, but I'm always in need of more ideas, especially in areas like music!
what a wonderfully varied and rich musical menu!
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