Monthly Archives: February 2012

Issue 27: Welcome to the Music Jungle

Hello again. This week there is an  update to the samba course posted earlier. a quotation to reflect upon, and a new listen-and-copy pulse game, We would love to encourage genuine comments and feedback on the articles, and have installed a spam-trap … Continue reading

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Issue 27: Update on the first short samba course

Way back in September, I wrote an outline of a six-week samba “taster” course. Several months passed while the school sorted out all the administration around acquiring the samba kit, so the first course didn’t happen until this term. I … Continue reading

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Issue 27: “Put all your soul into it”

“Put all your soul into it, play it the way you feel!” Frederic Chopin, possibly born on 22nd February in 1810 This is another quotation snaffled from DailyMusicQuote on twitter. The problem is that many students go straight to this … Continue reading

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Issue 27: Whatcher gonna do – pulse game

This is a simple listen and copy game which is proving very popular with my Primary School Classes. Everyone chants  “Whatcher gonna do? Whatcher gonna do?” while performing the actions. Then the leader performs an action, and everyone copies it. … Continue reading

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Issue 26: Welcome to the Music Jungle

Twenty-six issues to date – that must mean we have been up and running for six months. I have been researching web-sites over the half-term break (that sounds so much more impressive than just saying “surfin da web” and have … Continue reading

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Issue 26: Kodaly and Orff Music Teacher’s blog

This is a blog I have been following for a while: http://www.herdingcatsgeorge.blogspot.com/ It is called the Kodaly and Orff Music Teacher’s blog and has some inspirational ideas in it. The current entry has video clips of a couple of pulse/circle … Continue reading

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Issue 26: Partner Percussion

This is a video of a Memphis City Orff Music concert; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvpFgUMBiqQ from the Kodaly and Orff Music Teacher’s Blog; www.herdingcatsgeorge.blogspot.com In the front right hand corner of the stage, during a song near the end of the clip, there … Continue reading

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Issue 26: Play it again, Sam. And again. And again…

Repetition is a cornerstone of learning – that is, Intelligent Repetition, where each time you repeat the phrase or bar, or section, you play it accurately. I feel I have made a breakthrough with one of my teenage piano students … Continue reading

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