I firmly believe in using sound before sight pedagogies, including elements of Gordon’s Music Learning Theory, when teaching beginning instrumentalists.I focus largely on teaching music kinesthetically, aurally, and visually through movement, chanting, singing, and playing. I also emphasize experience before explanation/theory after practice and incorporate exploratory learning, creativity, collaboration, and student choice. These approaches help students develop strong  tonal and rhythmic vocabularies, facilitate transfer between aural and visual (notation) to promote musical literacy, and foster opportunities for autonomy and individual musical growth.

As students build music literacy skills and begin performing repertoire I incorporate the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) model because of its flexible structure and focus on promoting deeper musical understanding. Creating lesson plans using the CMP model engages students in activities to develop and apply skills and knowledge, allows them to connect with the repertoire and perform with deeper meaning and expression, provides opportunities for them to be active in all parts of the learning process, and empowers them to make meaningful musical decisions. 

We are all creative and students of all levels and instruments can improvise! Improvisation and creative activities can help build fundamental performance skills; develop aural, improvisation, arranging, and theory skills; provide opportunities for students to  perform in various meters, tonalities, genres, and styles; and the absence of notation can encourage more focus on fundamentals. They allow students autonomy and provide them opportunities to participate at their own level, and self-assess. They allow you opportunities to assess students quickly and informally.

Focus on incorporating improvisatory activities as early as possible and make it a regular part of your class routines. Use them to develop and reinforce performance skills and knowledge such as articulation, meter, beat, dynamics, phrasing, tempo, rhythm, range, tone, style. Connect them  to your method book and repertoire rather than “othering” it as something extra to find time for. Here  are some suggestions, which I added in order of simpler to more complex, although you can modify any of them to increase or decrease challenge as appropriate.

Call and Response: 

• Teacher calls patterns and participants echo. Mix up articulations, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, meter.

• Students improvise their own pattern. If they are not yet comfortable creating their own they have the option to respond with the pattern you called. 

  • Have a student lead the call.

• As an assessment, have students “pass a pattern.” Set parameters as appropriate (tonality, starting pitch, certain pitches and/or rhythms). One student improvises a pattern, everyone else responds, then the next student creates a pattern, etc. 

Ostinato: 

• Good for beginners, can be solely rhythmic to work on embouchure, tone,and  articulations. One person starts playing a repeated pattern (duple or triple meter); next person creates a fitting pattern that elongates the original in some way (sustained notes: whole, dotted half, half, dotted quarter); next person creates a subdivided pattern to accompany the other two. Can add pitches or keep it rhythmic. Can add a fourth. 

One Change.

• This can be done in duet, small, or larger groups. 

• The teacher calls a pattern, students echo. 

• Each student takes a turn, changing one thing about the original pattern: a pitch, rhythm, dynamic, articulation, meter, tempo, etc. Continue as long as students can keep it going.

• Variation: for added challenge, see if each student can change one thing about the pattern the player ahead of them played. 

Number of…

• Can be beats, pitches, measures, types of notes (half and eighth) depending on the level of challenge. Duet, conversation back and forth. Can be a trio or quartet.

• Each student is assigned a number of [whatever you decide] and they have to have musical conversations using only their number.  Can change the number of throughout to keep it interesting. Can switch partners. 

Do Re Mi: 

• Teacher or one student starts and ends a pattern on do, the next student starts and ends a pattern on re, the next on mi, etc. until all patterns have formed a scale. 

• Use different tonalities and meters to mix it up.

Animal: 

• Each student creates a short motif or 2-4 bar phrase that represents an animal (you can make a “no sharks of any kind--baby or Jaws” rule so students have to make up their own), and everyone guesses what animal they portrayed. 

• Make it as specific or general as you want: only sea animals, only birds, Safari animals, reptiles, etc. 

What am I: 

• A variation of animal. Students create a short musical motif or phrase to portray a cartoon character, mode of transportation, tree/flower, place on campus, etc.  

Storytime

• Collectively, students create a musical story. It can be based on an actual one (Three Bears, Goldilocks) or students can make one up together. Include setting, plot, characters, and line of action--conflict, resolution, etc. 

Familiar tune

• Independently or in a  group students work together choosing a familiar tune. Can be a simple song from a method book, one they know by ear or from childhood, or a portion of a pop song, movie theme, video game, anything. Some examples here:  

• Soft Kitty from Big Bang, do-sol

• Lean on Me

• America (My Country tis of Thee)

• Happy Birthday

• Twinkle Twinkle

• Frere Jacques

• Hickory Dickory Dock

• This Old Man

• Ode to Joy

• When the Saints Go Marching in

• Best Day of my Life American Authors D major pentatonic scale: D-E-F#-A-B. 

• Students learn the melody by ear, then work as a group to create accompaniment parts–harmonies, ostinatos, countermelodies, bass line, variations, chordal accompaniment, whatever they want. They can change the style of the song, meter, tempo, ornament the melody, whatever they want. 

• Similarly they could choose a poem from a list you provide, a familiar poem or nursery rhyme. They create melody for words in a chosen meter, then write accompaniment parts as they did for the familiar song. 

Props:

• Use real props if you have them--can be any items. Or, use pictures of the game from Whose Line is it Anyway. 

• Students create a motif or musical phrase to describe the prop (programmatic in a way--give the prop a personality, consider how it may move, what it may be used for) 

• Can be done in duets with students going back and forth with their props. If using it in a large group students could just jump in when they have something, like an open improv.

Hats: 

• Students create a motif to represent the style of various hats such as fedora, top, bucket, beret, newsboy, panama, cowboy, floppy, party, hard hat, pillbox. 

• Create a motif representing the personality or traits of someone wearing this type of hat.

• This can be done using pictures of different styles of hat listed above; could be from a box of hats in the music room--borrowed from theater, collected by students, etc. Students could put one on then play a motif that represents the hat while wearing it.

Three Headed Broadway Star: This was taken from Whose Line is it Anyway? 

• Show a clip from the show if students are unfamiliar (a school appropriate clip). Have students get into trios and make up a song one note at a time. Choose meter, tonality, style (could have a theme), and go with it.

Theme Song 

• Students can collectively create a sitcom and compose a theme song based on the premise, take an already existing theme song and figure it out by ear, or take an already existing theme song and make up a new one. 

• Challenge: Make it the entire length of the existing song so they can play over the video with no sound.

Cartoon soundtrack

• You supply the cartoon, students supply the music. 

• Play a cartoon scene without sound, have students compose the music to accompany the action. Please be mindful of the content you’re using. Here’s an example (link): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUS8x4xZ3m4&list=PLJB_pGpMGTSjsMNePVG8fBxysDdB_0k8f&index=4

Method books

• Apply some of these concepts to method book activities. You can change one thing including the meter or tonality, create ostinatos, create a variation to the melody, a countermelody to play along with it…lots of possibilities. 

Sources used and suggested:

Agrell, J. (2016). Improvisation games for classical musicians : a collection of musical games with suggestions for use, Vol.2. GIA Publications.

Agrell, J. (2008). Improvisation games for classical musicians : a collection of musical games with suggestions for use. GIA Publications.

Students and teachers are challenged with managing multiple responsibilities, and may experience excessive amounts of stress, anxiety, and fatigue, which can negatively impact mental health and wellness. It is important that we are equipped with coping skills and strategies to combat stress and anxiety, practice self care, and promote overall wellness. 

Mindfulness strategies are one way to do that. Integrating mindfulness practices in musical settings and engaging students in short, regular activities such as breathing techniques, mantras, centering activities, and self-compassion exercises may help you and students stay present, focused, calm, and centered; promote a focused and mindful learning environment for all; and empower students to practice mindfulness outside of class.

Breathing Techniques

Simply sit still and breathe–focus on your breath in and out. You may try:

• Counting your breath (in/out or one, two) if that helps you stay present.

• Adding visuals if you are struggling to stay present. The mind will wander, but you can notice thoughts without judgement. Try visualizing your thoughts as

  • clouds floating by

  • waves gently crashing on the sand and then disappearing

• Using a breathing or mindfulness ball as a tactile and visual tool, something to expand as you breathe in and contract as you breathe out.

Breathing with mantras

• Breathing in something you need on the inhale (peace, joy, calm, positivity) and releasing something that is not serving you on the exhale (stress, anger, anxiety, negativity).

  • Add a mantra: I breathe in peace, and I exhale stress, or whatever words you choose.

Box breathing. 

• Inhale slowly for a count of four.

• Hold the breath for a count of four.

• Exhale slowly for a count of four.

• Hold: the breath again for a count of four.

• Repeat this cycle for as long as you desire.

You can add a motion to this: trace your finger in the shape of a box as you practice. It can be in the air or on your leg, table, or other surface.

Alternate nostril breathing: alternate inhalations and exhalations through each nostril.

• Sit up straight but comfortably.

• Close your right nostril with your right thumb.

• Inhale through your left nostril.

• Close your left nostril with your right ring finger.

• Exhale through your right nostril.

• Repeat this process, alternating between nostrils. 

Calming and Centering 

Simply pause right now and say three nice things about yourself. 

Mindful Mountain

• Stand or sit with your arms at your side

• Raise your arms overhead with fingers spread as if you’re a mountain as you inhale

• Bring your arms down on an exhale

Finger tapping

• Sit straight but comfortable and focus on slow mindful breaths.

• Press the fingertips of both hands together in front of your chest

• Keep fingertips touching and tap thumbs together 5x

• Move on to pointer, middle, ring, and pinky. 5x each, keep others connected.

• Start at the pinky and tap each finger 5x, going back to your thumbs. Maintain slow, mindful breaths

• Wiggle your fingers and shake out your hands to come back

Floating Smiles

• Close your eyes and settle into your breath. Breathe slowly and mindfully.

• Imagine you’re floating–either on a cloud or in the water. You’re completely safe, still breathing. If a thought comes by, let it gently float away.

• Gently smile. Notice how your face changes–do your eyes lift, or your jaw relax, do your cheeks move?

• Keep smiling and breathing, noticing any other changes in your body or if you can feel your smile inward.

• Gently come back to your space.

Body scan

• Purposefully focusing attention on different body parts to notice any sensations without judgement. This can help you increase  awareness and connect with the present moment. 

• You may do this sitting or lying down. Close your eyes.

• Focus on your breath and focus on your head. Just notice any sensations, and relax the top of your head. On each exhale try relaxing them a bit more. Continue this as you move down your body while mindfully observing any sensations and relaxing each part:

  • Forehead, face, ears, jaw, neck, shoulders

  • Torso: arms, back, belly

  • Legs: thighs, top of your legs, calves, feet, toes

• With your final few exhales, relax the body a bit more–10% more for three to five breaths, then slowly open your eyes and come back to your space. 

Mantras

Mantras are a “a tool for the mind” and can be a sound, word, or phrase repeated out loud or internally to focus the mind or provide affirmation.

You can create your own mantras and meditate on them for a short period of time:

• Something as simple as I am…(fill in with what is applicable to you: strong, calm, safe, etc.)

• You can focus on a chant or “om”

• You may follow a guided meditation using mantras on an app or video of your choice to hear various mantras.

• Try a “just for today” mantra. Say “just for today I will…then fill it in with what you need today, such as:

  • speak to myself kindly, give myself grace, stay present, show up, be patient, listen intently, take a walk, go to bed early…

Gratitude

Showing gratitude helps us appreciate what is valuable and meaningful to us. There are many ways to show it:

• Keep a gratitude journal. 

• Stop in the moment at various points in the day and say out loud three things you’re grateful for right then

• Keep a gratitude jar. Write something you’re grateful for on a slip of paper and put it in a jar. When the jar is full or once a month or whenever you want, take them out and read them.

Self-Compassion 

Self-compassion is the process of turning compassion inward; the ability to be understanding, warm, and easy with yourself during  times of struggle or self-doubt.

Self compassion can help develop resilience, a growth mindset, authenticity, purpose, and meaning, and improve immune function and overall physical health

You can practice self-compassion by:

• Creating a success file filled with pictures and things that make you feel fulfilled and referring to them when you need a pick-me-up.

• Treating yourself as you would a best friend. Talk to yourself as you would someone you love.

• Leaning into your feelings. Practice RAIN:

  • Recognize what’s going on with curiosity rather than judgement.

  • Allow the experience to exist

  • Investigate with interest and care

  • Nurture with mindful self-compassion

 “You’ve been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” --Louise L. Hay

If students are skeptical or you’re unsure how they will receive mindfulness activities, introduce them slowly. Musicians have to breathe, so start with some breathing exercises they may use to sing or play, then slowly merge into a mindful one. Use a body scan to prepare the body for singing or playing. Or if they are willing to try new things, just introduce something and see what happens.

Sources used and suggested: 

​​Neff, K. (2015). Self-Compassion. Self-Compassion. https://self-compassion.org/