Music Education: Home

Ages 3 to 9 years. These wonderful games to play in circles have been passed down from generation to generation and are full of music, wonder, magic, and make-believe. Some of these circle games are stationary games in which one child chases after another while the rest of the group does not move, while others begin with stationary circles but end with travelling circles as, one by one, children join a group moving around the circle. All of these games encourage a variety of developmentally appropriate behaviours, including social skills, cognitive development, creativity, language development, motor skills, and musical skills. Some of the favourite songs included are "Muffin Man," "Charlie over the Ocean," "The Farmer in the Dell," "Allee Galloo," and "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush."

Ages 3 to 9 years. All of the songs and rhymes in this book, passed down from generation to generation, are full of wonder, magic, and make-believe and encourage children -- and parents -- to move with the beat. This collection includes beat games in which the song or rhyme follows the child's preferred beat tempo, games in which everyone stays in one place and the beat is felt in hand movements, and activities where the beat is put in the feet as everyone travels around the room. Among the popular songs included are "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," "Rig-a-Jig Jig," "Did You Ever See a Lassie," and "Cobbler, Cobbler."

Island Fun with Orff and Drum is a creative and fresh new unison collection with reproducible parts of original classroom Orff pieces, drum ensembles, rhythmic activities by music educator and certified Orff specialist, Jane Lamb. These "kid-tested" pieces are appropriate for students in a performing ensemble or an upper elementary Orff classroom. The Caribbean-style pieces could easily be performed separately or combined into an entire island-theme music program. The pieces in this book provide hands-on opportunities for singing, drumming, moving, improvising, speaking, reading rhythms, and playing Orff instruments. Come to the island and join the fun with Orff and Drum!

Designed to providesample month-by-month and yearly plans for each grade level from one to six, this step-by-step guide features a collection ofmore than 200 songs -many of which are new to theThird Edition -organized precisely in the sequence of the Kodaly Method.KEY TOPICS: It presents a highly sequential music program in which singing, moving, listening, musical reading and writing, improvising and composing are the means through which children develop skills and acquire knowledge about melody, harmony, rhythm, form, tempo, timbre, and dynamics.

Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion charts a path through American music and musical life using as guides the words of composers, performers, writers and the rest of us ordinary folks who sing, dance, and listen. The anthology of primary sources contains about 160 selections from 1540 to2000. Sometimes the sources are classics in the literature around American music, for example, the Preface to the Bay Psalm Book, excerpts from Slave Songs of the United States, and Charles Ives extolling Emerson. But many other selections offer uncommon sources, including a satirical story about aYankee music teacher; various columns from 19th-century German American newspapers; the memoirs of a 19th-century diva; Lottie Joplin remembering her husband Scott; a little-known reflection of Copland about Stravinsky; an interview with Muddy Waters from the Chicago Defender; a letter from WoodyGuthrie on the "spunkfire" attitude of a folk song; a press release from the Country Music Association; and the Congressional testimony around "Napster." "Sidebar" entries occasionally bring a topic or an idea into the present, acknowledging the extent to which revivals of many kinds of music playa role in American contemporary culture. This book focuses on the connections between theory and practice to enrich our understanding of the diversity of American musical experiences. Designed especially to accompany college courses which survey American music as a whole, the book is also relevantto courses in American history and American Studies.