A Five Year Plan

Building a quality instrument inventory can seem like a daunting task, particularly for new music educators. However, with some careful thought and long-range planning, you can present a budget to acquire a full complement of Orff instruments using Brian Burnett’s five-year plan.*

*All model numbers are based on the Studio 49 catalog. 

Melodic percussion instruments are an expensive investment. Here are a few ideas to consider before you lay out a plan. Always strive for durability over price. With the best quality instruments, the parents can plan on this investment lasting for many years to come. An instrument that can’t hold up for at least ten years in children’s hands is a waste of money.

Here are a few considerations:

• Climate control to select a material. If you can’t guarantee the instruments won’t get baked during the summer, choose fiberglass composite bars over rosewood. The bars won’t go out of tune and they won’t chip if dropped.
• Room size/storage space for design. Choose shorter, stacking xylophones if your storage space is an issue or if you may have to travel on a cart.
• Largest class size determines the total inventory. You’ll want an instrument for at least half the largest class. Partner work allows the children to help each other.
• The highest grade level for your scope and sequence defines what you’ll need. Melodic percussion is the key to developing a child’s musical foundation. So, having a melodic instrument is more important than chromatic instruments or bass bars. They are fun to play, but aren’t the best use of your limited budget. You can add these later.

Sample inventory for a maximum class size of 30 students in a K-5 setting:

Barred: 3 SG, 3 AG, 4 SX, 4 AX, 1AM, 1 BX, 1 BM.

Basic Un-pitched: 30 pr. rhythm sticks, 30 nested hand drums, 5 triangles, 5 wood blocks, 2 guiros, 2 mini cabasas, 5 tambourines, 2 pr. maracas, 1 temple block set, 1 suspended cymbal, 1 wind chimes, 1 gong, 6 tunable tubanos.

Sample five-year plan:

1st year: 1 SG, 1 AG, 1 AX, 1 BX

30 pr. rhythm sticks, 10 nested hand drums, temple blocks

2nd year: 1 SG, 1 AG, 1 SX, 1 BM

10 nested hand drums, suspended cymbal

3rd year: 1 SG, 1 AG, 1 SX, 1 AX, 1 AM

5 nested HD, 1 set of 3 tunable tubanos

4th year: 2 SX, 2 AX

5 nested HD, 1 set of 3 tunable tubanos

5th year: 1 set of 3 tunable tubanos, and any remaining un-pitched percussion

Once you have this basic set, make another five-year plan depending on your scope and sequence for your eldest grade level. If you have upper elementary or middle school children you might consider adding chromatic instruments or bass bars for functional harmony accompaniments. The sequence for bass bars depends on whether you have a recorder program. The lowest three pitches cost much more. I recommend purchasing F and G first to cover songs in more keys. Then add a few each year.

Parents and administrators may be more supportive when they see a long-range plan. Good luck!

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Assessment for Learning

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Moving Bordun Assignment

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Functional Harmony I-V Assignment

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Chord or Level Bordun Assignment

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Broken or Arpeggiated bordun setting for pentatonic melodies

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Broken or Arpeggiated Bordun Assignment

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Lesson Objective: Melodic improvisation with syncopation

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I Heard the Angels Singing

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This workshop presents a logical sequence to develop confidence and skill in improvisation. Teachers are required to show their students are mastering student learning objectives (SLOs). Improvisation is the highest form on Bloom’s Taxonomy to demonstrate musical elements through movement, rhythm and melody. An improvisation rubric is included to help students and teachers evaluate specific learning outcomes.

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Simple Rhythm cards are three inch squares in Zip-lock baggies.  Each bag contains: seven blue quarter notes, six purple eighth note pairs with one side beamed and the other flagged, five red quarter rests with one side a simple Z and the other a “Cursive” quarter rest, two half-note cards that are 3 x 6 inches with the rest on the back, six cards with four beamed sixteenth-notes with a single eight and two sixteenths beamed on the back, two 3 x 6 inch cards with syncopation-eighth/quarter/eighth.

Beginners-dictation without the paper/pencil.

Use the cards for rhythm dictation in four-beat patterns and soon eight-beat phrases.   Later, the students can illustrate phrase endings that create a lift or connector with eighth notes, or a cadence with a quarter note, half note or rest.  Once the students are familiar with dictation from the teacher, have them move to the exploration stage and share their own phrases.

Second level-notate simple rhythmic speech

Begin with simple words such as student names, animals or food.  Have the students begin with simple time with words that begin with a downbeat or crusis (ie. Michael, Margrette, Patrick, Ben).  When they have the concept of strong and weak syllables add words that begin with an upbeat or anacrusis (ie. Mariyah, Alonzo, Patricia).  Once the students are familiar with word accents, you can move to nursery rhymes in simple rhythm.

You will need another set of compound rhythm cards to notate most nursery rhymes in English.  Make your own from the examples below.  The colors don’t matter once your students are this advanced   Single eighth notes are three inches tall by one and a half inches long.  You’ll need a few of these for pick-ups.  Or, students can just overlap flagged eighths from the simple rhythm set.  If you need a single eighth followed by a quarter, just turn the card upside down.  Yes, the flags are flying the wrong direction, relax.

If you want a simple way for students to notate rhythmic speech, put rhymes on adding machine tape. Lay out the rhythm first and write the text under to get the spacing correct, then laminate the long strips. Remind the students to place the rhythm cards over the text.

Third level- rhythms to be completed

Following the examples found in Music for Children, Vol. 1, pp. 64-66 have the students listen to the first half of a phrase, then complete the phrase. Have the students use their cards to notate their own answer. For more on this idea read Keetman’s Elementaria beginning on page 53.

Fourth level-creating complementary rhythms with a partner

Have pairs of students work to create complementary rhythm ostinati. Complementary means the two rhythms complete each other. Avoid more than two consecutive beats of parallel rhythm. Two consecutive beats that sound the same are fine, but if my rhythm and your rhythm match anywhere for three beats in a row, the listener’s ears weld the two rhythms together and cause aural confusion. In other words, if the two rhythms are not complementary or different enough, they sound like one part. Here’s a way out of parallel problems: “Slide it, flip it, put in a rest!”

I hope you enjoy this addition to your assessment arsenal.

Cheers, Brian Burnett
b.burnett08@hotmail.com

Update January 2015: Thank you to Stephanie Petry for sharing these Rhythm Cards, already sized and read for you to use!

Rhythm Cards – Manipulatives for Notation

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Open the hose connectors to fasten the circle of ribbons around the pole.  Clip the chain to your rope and you’re ready to go.  Have the dancers select their ribbon and form a circle before you hoist the ring up the pole.

There are many types of Maypole dances.  A great preparation for the Grand right/left is the North Carolinaplay party “Bingo.”  Begin with dancers in pairs randomly scattered around the room. Shake hands with your partner and then travel to a new partner and shake left hands. Continue alternating hands as you travel through the space.  To perform the play party, dancers circle right on the first phrase, dance in and out twice for the second phrase and then alternate past their partner to perform the Grand right/left while spelling “B-I-N-G-O.”  This weaving figure is also found in “Lucky 7” from English Country Dances by Martha Riley.  If you’re really lucky, the dancers will be able to wind and unwind the ribbons.

Bingo

There was a black dog
sat on the back porch
and Bingo was his name.
There was a black dog
sat on the back porch
and Bingo was his name.
B-I-N-G-O,
B-I-N-G-O,
B-I-N-G-O
and Bingo was his name.
B – I – N – G – O.

Photos by Brian Burnett, Eagle Point 2012
Email: b.burnett08@hotmail.com

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