Arts Integration - Music

Throughout my work with the Maui Arts and Cultural Center and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, I have gotten the chance to work with three amazing music teacher artists: Imani Gonzalez, James McCarthy, and Frank Leto.

Imani Gonzalez is a professional jazz/world vocalist and teaching artist. She lives in Washington D.C. where she works in schools and for the Kennedy Center. Contact info here.

In Imani's session, I learned how to explore world cultures through music and artifacts. We even got a wonderful book written by Imani with a CD of her singing the songs and a teacher's guide included. The book takes you through three different cultures: India, Senegambia (the region of Senegal and Gambia in Africa), and Brazil.

The book was named for the Hindu song Dhimiki. Dhimiki roughly translates to: The universe is dancing to the rhythm of the sounds vibrating from the drums. The whole song only has 5 words: Dhimiki, dhim, nache, bola, nath. 

In Hawaii, K-3 has very broad social studies standards (you can download free HCPS III standards sheets here)

Here is a 2nd grade social studies standard that fit perfectly with this unit:
SS 2.6.1 Describe ways in which own and other cultures express their cultural beliefs and practices through music and art.

And this is a great way to hit tons of fine arts standards: how art connects to cultures, music standards with rhythm, beat, melody, musical notation, recognizing instruments, physical movement, and dance.

James McCarthy is a professional vocalist and guitarist in Honolulu, HI. He also is a drama teacher, with both an M.Ed. and an MFA in acting. More info can be found here.

In James' workshop, he taught us about place-based songwriting. First, he had us imagine a place that makes us happy - any place. It could be where we grew up, where we once lived, where we visited before, where we live now. He had us brainstorm words and write metaphors to describe this place.  I chose the beach at Hulopoe Bay on Lana‘i where we used to live. It's a gorgeous white sand beach with great snorkeling and sometimes even dolphins come into the bay!

After we got our descriptions and words, we listened to this song: https://youtu.be/sBVMlYqTxwg (skip to 0:40 for the start of the song). We wrote our songs to go with the tune of Wai Ola (Water of Life).

To incorporate songwriting in my classroom, I would write a class song. We could think of a special place we have all been to, or somewhere on campus, like the garden. We would brainstorm the descriptions altogether. Then listen to the song and write words to go with the tune from our descriptions. I know that my first graders would love this process! It would be a great way to build community in the beginning of the year to write a class song - they could even perform it at Open House!

Frank Leto is a professional musician and experienced Montessori teacher in New Mexico. Find more info here. 

Frank taught us all about teaching rhythm and musicality to students. The best part is, his CDs do all the heavy lifting! His Repeat After Me CD is my favorite, as it introduces instruments that students can play alongside the songs. You will need tambourines, rhythm sticks, maracas, triangles, hand drums and cymbals.

Here is a simple exercise you can do with your class as a warm up!   

How do you teach music to young children?