Very often we are so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey. We invite you to journey with us... Sign up to connect with Rhythm MP or follow us on facebook.com/MusicJamboree


Kid’s Percussion Band Workshop

Come and make music!

This is a fun and interactive program suitable for all kids age 5 and above, with or without music background. Percussion playing is the simplest form of musical creativity. Come as you are. We will provide a percussion instrument for you to perform on.

What is fun about this program?
  1. Making music through playing percussion.
  2. Experience and enjoy performing music with other kids.
Why is this activity good for you?
  1. Helps to build and develop good rhythmic sense.
  2. Using the left and right brain together to make music.
  3. Improve motor-skill coordination.
Here is a little project you can do that can help Mother Earth. You are going to make a percussion instrument using recycled containers. You can use your homemade percussion at our percussion workshops, or on your own by creating rhythms to play. We shall talk more about this at another time. Now, let's get started with some ideas for this project.

Any type and size of container that can be hand-held is ideal. Below are some examples of containers that you can recycle for this project.


Two items above that many of you may not recognize are the black and white containers in the front. They are film containers that are difficult to find these days in the digital age.

To fill these containers, you can use some food items like shown below.



Or, you can use a combination of the above items. Below is a mix of all the above ingredients and some barley.


All these food items create a different sound. The construction of the container also contributes to the overall sound. You can explore and experiment by creating a mix of those items in different containers. Do remember to clean and dry the containers well before filling them with the above food items.

Any kind of carton box can also be used. Here are some examples.


The above is a cereal box filled with recycled aluminum foil rolled into balls and in small sheets.


Above is a soup carton filled with crumpled paper balls. The paper balls are recycled from two sheets of A4 paper.

So, get creative and make your own percussion instrument. Also, be sure to use recycled items. You are helping to lessen pollution and improve the environment.

========================================================

Rhythmic Activity for the Whole Family

Let's get the family involved and make music at home.

Ask your parents, brothers and sisters to be part of your music ensemble group. You will need a minimum of 2 persons, yourself and another person.

You will need a song to perform to, which makes it much more enjoyable.

We are going to use the 'Good Morning' from the Piano Lesson Made Easy Level 1 book for this activity.

There are two simple rhythm patterns below. These rhythms were created using the Card Games Made Easy. Practice rhythm pattern #1 first.

Count 2 bars to set a steady tempo and play the rhythm together continuously for at least 8 bars, or more. Use your metronome to help with tempo. Set the metronome at a comfortable tempo that suits everyone. Also try out rhythm pattern #2 in the same manner.

Both of you can each play a different rhythm together too. This will make it more interesting and challenging. If you have a big family, divide everyone into two groups and each group will play a different rhythm pattern.

Finally, perform the song with your ensemble using the rhythm patterns below.

Try out the above two simple rhythms first. Then, create your own one-bar rhythm or try out the different rhythm patterns below.


Printable page instructions:
For Mozilla Firefox Web browser
1. Click on the image
2. Select Print Preview from the File menu
3. Click Page Setup
4. In the Format Orientation: click Portrait
5. In the Format Scale: click Shrink To Fit Page Width
6. In the Margins: set Top, Bottom, Left and Right to zero (0)
7. Click OK
8. Click Print, click OK

========================================================

To perform music well, one must have a steady pulse and good rhythmic sense/feel. The student can acquire this through frequent rhythmic exercises during lessons right from the beginning.

All beginner students have to do written theory work to be able to read and write music. One of the standard theory exercises is to fill in counts to the various types of notes.

Let’s take a few sample pages (see below) from the Theory Made Easy for Little Children Level 2 and My First Theory Book where the student is required to fill in the counts to these note types.
After writing in the counts to the exercises above, the student has to ‘realize’ the rhythm either by: clapping, tapping or playing a percussion instrument to the rhythm. Use your homemade percussion instrument to play the rhythm instead.

PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

Why use percussion instruments?
light to carry, easy to use
only one way of playing the instrument, either shake it or hit it!

How will this help you in music?
develop good rhythmic sense
motor skill coordination

Intrinsic benefits?
peer learning
group integration
building leadership qualities

Start by counting two bars to set a steady tempo and try to play the rhythm using a percussion instrument. This is putting theory into practice and making the theory-practical connection in learning music.

On this page below, the exercise requires the student to fill in bar lines. Once the bar lines are written in the correct places, fill in the counts to the notes and play the rhythm using a percussion instrument. The more the student practices, the better he/she will be.

The rhythm patterns below allows you to form a group of four persons or more to perform together. Everyone chooses one pattern each and you lead them in a practice together. Then, perform the rhythm patterns to the Good Morning song. You can do this performance many times with everyone choosing a different rhythm pattern each time.

The above 4-part rhythm is created using the Card Games Made Easy, and is to be performed to the song “Good Morning” (Piano Lesson Made Easy Level 1).

I would encourage you to sing the lyrics to the instrumental recording (Click here for MP3 audio of the Good Morning song). If this activity is carried out in the afternoon or evening, use this alternate set of lyrics instead.

How are you?
How are you?
How are you my little friend?

How are you?
How are you?
I hope you are fine.

Very, very, very fine.
Happy, happy all the time.

How are you?
How are you?
I hope you are fine.


========================================================
Here is a clip of the students performing during their Teachers Day celebrations at the school.


Taken from Rhythm MP's CSR music outreach program

1 comment:

  1. a song would become popular and all the singers would want to record it as soon as possible. GospelPianos.com.au

    ReplyDelete