The semesters have changed and I am now teaching a grade ten music class instead of drama. They don't know me; they don't trust me and I feel like I am starting all over again. I guess that's what happens every year... just when you get a group working well together, they move on and you start at ground zero with a new bunch.
On a brighter note, I have been really pleased with the rest of my classes (the grade six, seven and eights in particular... the grade nines are still a difficult bunch). I decided I would make February "reading and writing" month. I have been working on basic theory concepts and trying to make it fun. My big piano has come in handy, as has the fact that the music I ordered arrived. We started out reading some basic tunes in the "Standards of Excellence" books, but we were quickly able to translate our reading skills to the actual music for our concert in June.
I talked a little bit about key signatures and I have created a fabulous table to help me (and the kids!) when we're using instruments that are not in the same key. I'm really quite proud of it- I've never seen one before, but I think all band teachers should have a copy. Basically I have written out the notes of the chromatic scale in solfège, then I translate them into the letters of the alphabet, since that is the system I am used to and the system most kids who take music lessons are taught. After that, I have grouped the commonly used band instruments by the key their music is in and translated (transposed) all the notes into solfège and the alphabetical note names.
Wow- I just re-read that last paragraph and realized how incredibly technical it sounds if you're not into music theory... my apologies! I have included a copy of it below, which might help understand it a little better (feel free to scoop it if you think it would help you!).
In any case, it has been great for me... I have used it at least five or six times a day since I created it. I have a big copy on my music stand and if a student asks me if they are playing their part right we can check it with the piano easily.
Here it is in very small print, which was the only way I could fit it in the post:
Instruments | Noms des notes | |||||||||||
Piano, Flute, Trombone, Guitare et tous instruments A440 solfège | Do | Do# Ré♭ | Ré | Ré# Mi♭ | Mi | Fa | Fa# Sol♭ | Sol | Sol# La♭ | La | La# Si♭ | Si |
Piano, Flute, Trombone, Guitare et tous instruments A440 ABC | C | C# D♭ | D | D# E♭ | E | F | F# G♭ | G | G# A♭ | A | A# B♭ | B |
Clarinette, Trompette, Sax Ténor, (Si bémol) + un ton solfège | Ré | Ré# Mi♭ | Mi | Fa | Fa# Sol♭ | Sol | Sol# La♭ | La | La# Si♭ | Si | Do | Do# Ré♭ |
Clarinette, Trompette, Sax Ténor, (Si bémol) + un ton ABC | D | D# E♭ | E | F | F# G♭ | G | G# A♭ | A | A# B♭ | B | C | C# D♭ |
Sax Alto (Mi bémol) + 9 demi-tons solfège | La | La# Si♭ | Si | Do | Do# Ré♭ | Ré | Ré# Mi♭ | Mi | Fa | Fa# Sol♭ | Sol | Sol# La♭ |
Sax Alto (Mi bémol) + 9 demi-tons ABC | A | A# B♭ | B | C | C# D♭ | D | D# E♭ | E | F | F# G♭ | G | G# A♭ |
This tool has gained me some respect from the kids who know a little theory, and many of them have asked for copies, which is cool.
I feel more and more like the students are understanding the simple theory I am teaching and that they are seeing why it's important to have a written musical language. The fact that they had to compose something and keep notes in order to remember what they did week to week was a great prequel, and the fact that they have to start working on their parts for the June concert was another great reason to acquire theory concepts.
I could go on and on... I should probably write more often. I am really pleased with the progression I see... my students no longer fear theory, and I think they are starting to understand the basics and more importantly, they are starting to use their knowledge to help them create music.
