Category Archives: Recorders

Issue 23: Winning the Battle with Beginner Recorders

And the battle is “you CAN read the music without writing the letters in”. I am bound and determined that my beginner recorder classes WILL read the dots on the stave, but sometimes it seems little a battle. Or pushing … Continue reading

Posted in Lessons that have happened, Recorders | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Issue 20: Composing using Pentatonic Scales

Pentatonic scales are used in music all over the world. They are scales that use just five (penta) different notes (tones). The scale that sounds most familiar uses the first, second, third, fifth and sixth notes of the scale; do, re, mi, soh … Continue reading

Posted in Composition, Keyboards, Recorders, Songs, The organised teacher | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

Posted in Clarinets, Keyboards, Lessons that have happened, Listening Music, Recorders, Songs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Issue 17: Easy Christmas Carols and Tunes

This is a bit of a post-in-a-hurry; but here are a few ideas; Mary had a Baby, yes, Lord Mary had a Baby, yes my Lord Mary had a Baby, yes Lord The people keep-a-coming and the train done gone. … Continue reading

Posted in Clarinets, Keyboards, Ocarina, Piano, Recorders, The organised teacher | Leave a comment

Issue 15: Miss Mary Mack – a versatile singing game

You can find the tune for this song in several books; Young Voiceworks (OUP) and Okki-Tokki-Unga (A C Black) to name just two. Here it is anyway;  There are a couple more verses; She asked her Mother, Mother, Mother for … Continue reading

Posted in Clarinets, Keyboards, Piano, Recorders, Songs, The organised teacher, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Issue 14: 101 things to do with “Rain on the Green Grass”

There’s a nice little 3-note round on the www.singup.org website; Rain on the green grass          Rain on the tree          Rain on the house tops          But not on me. If you want to see the notation, have a look at the website. … Continue reading

Posted in Clarinets, Composition, Djembe, Keyboards, Lessons that have happened, Ocarina, Piano, Recorders, Songs, The organised teacher, Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Issue 13: The Magic Hand of Silence

I have a lively year 5 and 6 recorder ensemble which meets in the lunchtime. There are about 15 or so children, playing descant, treble and tenor recorders at varying levels of ability and experience. The ensemble meets at lunchtime, … Continue reading

Posted in Recorders, The organised teacher | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Issue 10: The Lokey-Cokey (Or “Left hand on Top”)

Hands up if you know the “Hokey Cokey”? Here’s a version to sing as a warm-up before clarinet and recorder lessons: WORDS ACTIONS You put your Left Hand in Put your left hand in You put your Left hand out … Continue reading

Posted in Clarinets, Recorders, Songs, The organised teacher, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment