Roger Sams shares a collection of favorite music lessons that are perfect for teaching in person or remotely. They utilize hand drums and rhythm sticks which are easily sterilized and can be substituted with body percussion and found sound for students who are learning from home.

Hand Drums, Rhythm Sticks

• Teacher recites poem. Students listen for repeated patterns.
• “Did you notice any patterns that repeated?” (Hand drums. Rhythm sticks.)
• Students join teacher on the repeated pattern. Listen to the contrasting pattern.
• Students recite entire poem, with teacher and then without teacher support.
• Teacher models body percussion. Pat on “hand drums.” Clap on “rhythm sticks.”
• Students join teacher on poem and body percussion.

Transfer body percussion to hand drums and rhythm sticks. Perform with spoken poem.

Composition Activity

• Use these hand drum and rhythm sticks cards to compose 8-beat patterns.
• Each card is a 2-beat rhythmic building block.
• Students arrange four cards to compose an 8-beat pattern.
• Repeat that pattern two times as a B Section. Perform with the poem in ABA form

The Robin and the Squirrel

• Due to the difficulty of reading the anacrusis, teach the poem by rote.
• Clap what the robin said and pat what the squirrel said.
• Support the students in figuring out how to notate those two rhythms.
• Say the poem, but when you get to those patterns, have the students play them rather than say them.
• Add the final body percussion sounds at the final cadence.
• Transfer clapping to rhythm sticks and patting to hand drum.
• Consider using this final cadence, following the last word of the rhyme, as an opportunity for three beats of rhythmic improvisation. You could also make it a four-beat improvisation by having the students begin improvising when they say the word, “stew.” You may wish to notate all of the possible rhythms that the students can play in three beats.

Hetty Hutton

• Read rhythm of poem, using syllable system of your choice.
• Add text.
• Chant poem and clap rhythm simultaneously. Practice until students are independent of teacher.
• Students chant poem and clap. Teacher chants ostinato and pats.
• Rote teaching of ostinato using simultaneous imitation. “Join me when you’re ready.”
• Divide the class in half. Half performs poem/clapping. Half performs ostinato/patting.
• Transfer clapping to rhythm sticks and patting to hand drum.
• If students are developmentally ready, consider using this simple hand drum ostinato to introduce down and up strokes on the hand drum. “Down, Up, Down, Rest.”

Click here to download a pdf of these lessons.

The post Lessons: Hand Drums and Rhythm Sticks first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Click here to download a sample lesson, Lavender’s Blue, from Lorelei and Roger.

The post Elemental ‘Ukulele Lesson: Lavender’s Blue first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
– Dale Carnegie

Name games are a fun way to brush up on remembering students’ names from last year and learning the names of new students. Roger Sams shares two name games that are musical, fun, and ready for you to use in class tomorrow! 

Click here to download this lesson plan.

The post Name Games first appeared on Teaching With Orff.