Simply Beginning Sue Mueller - Beatin' Path Publications, LLC

Simply Beginning
Sue Mueller
Layout, Design, and Editing - Brent M. Holl
Editor - Karen F. Holl
Associate Editor - Michael R. Nichols
Printed and distributed by
Beatin’ Path Publications, LLC
302 East College Street
Bridgewater, VA 22812
© 2012 Sue Mueller. All rights reserved.
ISBN #
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Simply Beginning, an eclectic collection of kid-tested materials, can be used to introduce a new music concept or skill as you start
or end a day, year, or season. I often found it difficult to find simple activities or songs to use when presenting new ideas to students
and would then create my own to fit my students’ needs. Teaching Suggestions at the end of the book provide an in-depth conversation
about prerequisite skills and preparation.
The lessons are intended to be among the first lessons to teach a new skill or present a music concept but are not intended to be sequentially
organized. Even though a grade level is suggested with the activities, you should make choices based on the needs of your
students. Use music language in a song or activity to provide terms the students can use to describe the music elements of subsequent
activities. There are musical terms listed in the Glossary appropriate to this book.
As always, visuals and suggested processes are provided. Ideas for extending the activities are included, giving your students opportunity
to change and manipulate the material. Each lesson process uses the Orff Schulwerk teaching model of Exploration, Imitation,
Improvisation/Creation, and Literacy. Please do not stop at the imitation stage. Encourage your students to manipulate, change
and use the elements of music to give voice to their ideas and creative thinking. It is not enough for students to simply recognize or
identify a concept. Understanding how to use the concept in music-making is the ultimate goal. The Orff Schulwerk approach emphasizes
this process.
With careful planning and materials that can sustain many weeks of learning, you can use the Orff Schulwerk process to stimulate
students’ exploration and improvisation. The activities presented in this book are just beginnings, I encourage you to experiment, extend
and energize your favorite lessons using the ideas presented and students’ suggestions. Both you are your students will develop
musicianship and find joy in the music you create.

Table of Contents
Let’s Begin Begin the Day (Grades 4 - 6) 6
It’s Time Begin the Day (Grades 5 - 6) 8
Part of Me Begin Pulse and Phrase (Grades K - 1) 10
Speak or Sing Begin Melody (Grades K - 1) 12
Welcome to Music Begin Timbre (Grades 4 - 6) 14
Instrument’s Own Sound Begin Timbre (Grades 3 - 5) 16
‘Round and ‘Round Begin Form (Grades 1 - 2) 18
Rondo Is a Simple Form Begin Form (Grades 2 - 4) 20
Hello, Mr. Groundhog Begin Ostinato (Grades 2 - 4) 22
One More Time Begin Layered Ostinati (Grades 3 - 5) 24
Taxi, Taxi Begin the Bordun (Grades 1 - 2) 26
Bullfrog’s Song Begin the Bordun (Grades 3 - 4) 28
Bumblebee Begin Soprano Recorder (Grades 3 - 4) 30
Traffic Jam Begin Soprano Recorder (Grades 4 - 5) 32
Alto Is So E-C Begin Alto Recorder (Grades 5 - 6) 34
Bubblegum, Bubblegum Begin Improvisation (Grades 4 - 6) 36
Cookies Begin Improvisation (Grades 5 - 6) 38
Come on Now, Let’s Celebrate Begin the New Year (Grades 5 - 6) 40
Glossary 43
Teaching Suggestions 44

Grade 5 - 6
Let's Begin
Let’s Begin
Begin the Day
1
& # # 4 4 œ œ œ
‰ j œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ
2
œ œ œ ‰
j
œ
Sue Mueller
œ œ œ œ œ Œ
Let's be - gin the day with mu - sic mak - ing. With new friends, we'll sure - ly have some fun.
5
& # #
œ
3
œ œ œ
Let's Begin - Movement
œ œ œ œ œ
œ
4
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ
Œ
First we'll
sing, then
add a
lit - tle move-ment.
Clap your hands and stomp your feet and
then you're done.
Movement
4 ˙ ˙
˙
˙
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Please Don’t Copy
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
5
Side, close,
œ
œ œ
œ
do, sol, do', sol,
side,
close,
œ œ œ œ
apart, cross, apart, close,
in, 2, 3, 4,
œ œ œ œ œ œ
out, 2, 3, 4,
˙ ˙
clap, clap, clap, stomp, stomp, stomp, bow, up.
4

Aim
Sing and move in 4-part canon. Show phrases through creative
locomotor and non-locomotor movement. Begin the day.
Anticipatory Set
Students have prior experience singing and moving in canon.
Exploration
uu
Students explore ways to move in a circle formation.
uu
Practice moving different ways in circle formation at students’
Suggestions (in/out, forward/backward, individual/
group, down/up, etc.).
Imitation
uu
Teach song through echo process until secure.
uu
Practice singing in 2-part, then 4-part canon.
Performance Suggestions
uu
Sing and move in unison.
uu
Sing and move in 4-part canon.
uu
Move in 4-part canon.
uu
Sing and move in 4-part canon.
uu
As each group finishes, repeat last phrase until all parts are
finished.
Extensions
uu
Play on barred instruments.
uu
Rearrange the melody, using retrograde, inversion. Change
the words to fit another day, holiday, season, etc.
uu
Sing the song in another meter.
uu
Create and accompaniment using a I - V chord change and/
or a melodic ostinato.
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Please Don’t Copy
Improvisation/Creation
uu
Students improvise movement to illustrate the text and
length of each phrase.
uu
Students finalize movement to each phrase and practice in
unison, 2-part, 4-part. Practice with and without singing.
Literacy
uu
Notate movement creations.
uu
Movement notation can be created with devised notation
or notated with note values as in score format.
uu
Identify the melodic sequences in melody. Students identify
the melodic sequences easily when referring to solfege
warm-up.
5

I Can Feel the Phrase
Grade K - 1
Part of Me
Begin Pulse and Phrase
& b 4 2 œ œ œ œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
Sue Mueller
Œ
5
& b
I can feel the beat
phrase
right
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
here
œ
you
œ
see.
œ
Œ
Please Don’t Copy
I can feel the
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beat
phrase
'cause
it's
part
of
me.
Aim
Begin exploring the pulse and demonstrate phrase length through movement, body percussion and barred instrument exploration.
Anticipatory Set
Students have explored pulse for the length of a phrase.
Exploration
uu
Teacher sings the song while students show pulse through locomotor and non-locomotor movement.
uu
Students explore keeping pulse on different parts of their body with both hands (bilateral movement).
uu
Students show pulse with scarf exploring high/low, in/out levels moving through space.
Imitation
uu
Students learn song through echo process until secure.
uu
Students imitate teacher’s hand movements showing the phrase. Teacher shows phrase length while moving right to left and
drawing an arch or “rainbow” in the air (mirror).
6

Improvisation/Creation
uu
Students explore showing the phrase length with a scarf
while singing.
uu
Students internalize each phrase after singing and show
pulse to the length of the phrase with scarf dances. (see
glossary)
Literacy
uu
Students draw pulse using stick notation for each phrase.
uu
Students demonstrate understanding of phrase length and
realizing each phrase contains the same number of beats.
uu
Ask a student to trace the shape of each phrase on the visual.
Performance Suggestions
uu
Students internalize each phrase after singing and show the
pulse to the length of the phrase with scarf dances.
uu
Divide class into players and dancers. Players are at the
barred instruments, dancers are scattered in the space with
uu
uu
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Please Don’t Copy
scarves.
Everyone sings song in unison one time without playing or
moving.
Everyone sings phrase one followed by the internalization of
the phrase - players play any two notes in the C pentatonic
scale on the pulse to the length of the phrase. Dancers move
to the pulse with their scarves, showing the phrase length,
stopping at the end of the phrase. Encourage dancers to
interact while moving through space.
non-tuned percussion.
uu
Students sing phrase one as a question and sing a melodic
answer the length of the phrase. (Use sol - mi or sol - la - mi.)
uu
Students speak the length of the phrase using nonsense or
made-up words. Let half the class speak the first phrase as
a pretend question, and half the class an answer.
uu
Students use the question/answer approach to create new
phrases given a theme.
Example: Recess.
Question, “Do you want to go outside to play”
Answer, “Yes, I think I’ll jump rope with my friend.”
uu
Extend the question/answer approach to new questions and
answers with new melodic rhythms, songs, phrase lengths,
and meters.
Extensions
uu
Students play pulse on barred instruments choosing a
sequence of notes in the F pentatonic scale creating a new
melody.
uu
Students sing phrase one as a question and respond with
a rhythmic answer the same length on body percussion or
7

Glossary
Anticipatory Set is a brief activity or discussion at the beginning
of the lesson that effectively engages students’ attention and focuses
their thoughts on the learning objective.
Articulation for soprano and alto recorder is the process of joining
or separating the individual notes. See Teaching Suggestions.
Two styles of articulation on the recorder easily achieved by
young recorder players are:
Simple Bordun Examples:
& c œ œ
Œ œ œ
Œ
&
3
Chord Bordun
œ
œ œ œ
Crossover Bordun
œ
œ
œ
Broken Chord
˙
˙
Level Bordun
œ
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Please Don’t Copy
Legato the tongue starts and ends the note, connecting the end
of the first note with the beginning of the next.
Staccato The tongue starts and closes the notes in a very rapid
manner, the quicker the tongue movement the shorter the note.
Barred Instruments are a unique set of Xylophones, Metallophones,
and Glockenspiels with ranges of 13 - 15 pitches, arranged
in three pitch groupings, Bass, Alto, and Soprano. With Orff-style
barred instruments, bars are removable.
Body Instruments are sounds made with the hands and feet: snapping,
clapping, patschen and stamping. Also called body percussion.
Body Percussion utilizes the body as a percussion instrument.
Typical body instruments in Orff Schulwerk include, but aren’t
limited to, Snap (fingers), Clap (hands), Patschen (pat knees), and
Stomp (feet).
Bordun (Drone) The bordun is a single chord harmonic accompainment
based on the tonic chord using a perfect fifth. The bordun is
made up of the first and fifth degrees of the scale, where the tonic
pitch must occur on every strong beat.
Complementary Rhythms go together well and are interesting to
the ear. The integrity of all parts is maintained.
Curwen Hand Signs provide a physical action for a vocal pitch. Low
do begins at waist level and ends with high do at eye level.
Echo Process, or Imitation, starts when the teacher speaks the
entire poem while students listen (usually keeping a pulse on the
body). Teacher speaks the first phrase of the poem; students echo.
Teacher speaks the first two phrases; students echo. Teacher speaks
the entire poem; students echo. Repeat or remediate any part of the
process until students can perform the entire piece independently.
This process can be used for teaching poems, songs, rhythm patterns,
and instrument parts.
Exploration is a teaching tool in which learning of concepts takes
place through experimentation with the elements of music. Often
introduced with “What would happen if. ...” or “Can you do it in
another way”
Fingerplay is a word I use to indicate to students to finger the notes
on recorder while speaking or singing words.
8

Beginning the Day
uu
uu
Teaching Suggestions
Sing a song or a round/canon to start the day making music.
Bring back a previously taught song or activity and use it to
teach new material. Students are able to better understand
the music elements when they know the activity well.
Perform a previously taught body percussion piece to “wake
them up”.
Begin pulse
uu
uu
uu
uu
uu
uu
uu
Young students need to experience and feel the pulse in
many ways, through movement, body percussion, playing
tuned and non-tuned percussion, visualization (iconic representation,
stick notation) and listening. Feeling the pulse
is paramount to playing or reading.
Discern between pulse and rhythmic patterns.
Discern between showing the pulse and playing, speaking
and singing to the pulse.
Younger students sense of pulse is much quicker than an
adult’s tempo. Observe what is natural for the student before
imposing your tempo.
Recognize pulse as being able to change (tempo) and gradually
changing (accelerando and ritardando). Always keep the
pulse steady when speaking poems, playing, or singing unless
changes in tempo are part of the expression of the piece.
Recognize the accented pulse which leads to the organization
of pulse into metric groupings. This can be done through
words, poems, and certainly movement exercises. Use the
student’s name, spelling words for the week, musical terms,
etc.
Work with short ostinato patterns, combining them as students
are able and maintain the pulse.
Begin Phrase
Preview Only
Please Don’t Copy
uu
Understanding the length of a phrase best begins with movement
and speech.
uu
Start with half phrases, then full phrases, much like teaching
a song in chunks.
••
Walk (or other locomotor movement) a pathway to the
length of a phrase of text or melody being spoken, sung,
or played by teacher and or students.
••
Walk (or other locomotor movement) the length of a
phrase away from partner, then back to a partner.
••
Show phrase length using creative movement with the aid
of props (scarves, ribbon sticks, or whirley gigs).
••
Create movement with a partner showing the length of
the phrase.
••
“Draw” the phrase length in the air using a pleasing visual
shape.
••
Divide class into two groups positioned on opposite sides
of the room or space. One group moves across the room
or space to the other side for the length of a phrase. The
second group moves across the room or space on the next
phrase. Continue in this fashion while speaking a poem,
singing a song, or listening to music.
••
Using a parachute, students move many ways to show
phrase length.
••
In circle formation, students create ways to move, showing
the length of phrase (around, backward, in/out, etc.)
uu
Students identify phrases that are the same or different in
rhythm, melody and/or text. Provide many ways to show
same or different.
••
Use hand signals or body percussion.
••
Sing or speak phrases antiphonally (between rows, girls/
boys, solo/group, teacher/students). Girls could sing all
the phrases that are the same, boys sing the phrases that
are different.
9