Category Archives: Clarinets

Issue 144: Once a man fell in a well

Posted on November 16, 2014 by

This is one of the first songs I learned to teach when I started teaching the Wider Opportunities Programme. Many of my colleagues will now scroll straight onto the next post as they have been teaching this to a dozen … Continue reading →

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Issue 132: Music Writing

Posted on June 8, 2014 by

I came across this article recently: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/science/whats-lost-as-handwriting-fades.html?referrer= I was fascinated to read how important handwriting appears to be for children as part of process of learning to read. I’ve always felt that writing music notation is a really helpful way of … Continue reading →

Posted in Clarinets, Class Teaching, Keyboards, Learning, Recorders, Theory, Ukulele | Tagged | Leave a comment

Issue 105: Rabbit run on the frozen ground

Posted on September 29, 2013 by

This is a great little children’s song from Kentucky. I first came across is in Jo McNally’s “Young Voiceworks” anthology – a resource I go back to time and time again (Warm up and Stomp Cannon, Star light, star bright, … Continue reading →

Posted in Clarinets, Djembe, Early Years, Keyboards, Percussion, Piano, Recorders, Resources, Samba | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Issue 34: The secret weapon – Wider Opportunities Classes

Posted on April 13, 2012 by

It very much depends on the instrument, and the age of the class, but I have found that the rate of progress in Wider Opportunities classes often seems to peak in the Spring Term, and then diminish in the Summer Term. … Continue reading →

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Issue 33: Pease Pudding and London Bridge

Posted on April 6, 2012 by

I have made a start on my lesson planning for Wider Opportunities programmes for the coming term. I shall be using these two tunes in my keyboard, clarinet and treble recorder classes, to revise the notes that they already know … Continue reading →

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Issue 32: “New Note A”

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

Keyboards, Clarinets and Treble recorders all start with the notes C D E F and G. There comes a point when you want to venture one note higher, to “new note A”. The obvious choice is good old “Twinkle, twinkle, … Continue reading →

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Issue 28: The Game of Four – Warm up and Compostition

Posted on March 3, 2012 by

This has proved to be a useful warm up for any session involving keeping a steady pulse, and learning to internalise the pulse. As a preparation, do the “counting to eight game” first, to establish a pulse. Now, explain that you … Continue reading →

Posted in Clarinets, Composition, Djembe, Keyboards, Ocarina, Recorders, Samba, The organised teacher | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Issue 19: Mega Whole-Class Singing Activity – Singing Playgrounds

Posted on December 30, 2011 by

On the website, www.singup.org, is a set of playground singing games called “Singing Playgrounds”, which is a wonderful resource for at least half a term’s work. At its simplest level, there are five songs to sing through, which all work … Continue reading →

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