Music Makers: At the Keyboard – An Overview
Music Makers: At the Keyboard is a specific area of Musikgarten that focuses on aural training, movement, and of course, the keyboard! The aural training and movement translates to the keyboard with ease. The activities that are completed in the course are fun, engaging, and educational for everyone involved, even the parents of the students.
From September 12th – October 3rd, I led students in Music Makers: At the Keyboard – we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Having new members this month was extremely exciting and there was an exponential amount of social and musical development. During our third class, I introduced a song titled “Debka Hora.” After listening to me sing the minor mode song for about 3 minutes during various activities, one of my students was able to outline the melody on the piano. By the end of the month, the students were very comfortable asking questions. One of my students asked questions like “What are those things sticking out of the bottom of the piano?” and “How many notes are there on the piano?”
We also worked on an essential musical – audiation. What is audiation? To audiate is to hear in your mind’s ear. This is something implemented in every level of Musikgarten. I sing the first note of a song and ask the students to sing the next note after thinking about it to themselves. My students have made it extremely clear that they love singing the songs with me and their intonation is improving with every class! At the end of this month, the students were all able to play the melody of “Mouse, Mousie” on their right hand, a drone on D and A on their left hand, both hands together, recite the Gordon Rhythms of the song, analyze the phrasing, sing the song using solfege, and tap and dance at a steady beat while the song was being sung.
With the continuation of Music Makers: At the Keyboard, my students will be able to hone their natural musical abilities and learn more skills that they can cherish for a long time. The social and musical connections made are special and will easily apply to other aspects of their developing lives!
