Opening
Hello everyone and I’m so excited to bring you the Welcome to Music Podcast for music/arts & classroom educators in Early Childhood and Primary/Elementary Schools, Music Therapists, Studio Music teachers and anyone who uses music with kids to support their well-being and development from zero to 12 years.
My name is Susie Davies-Splitter and I have been teaching music to all ages in Early Childhood, schools and Universities over many years. With my husband, Phil, we run ‘Welcome to Music’ where we create music resources, have a membership community and present training and programs for kids and educators. Our goal is to help build confidence and creativity and enrich lives through the joy of music. Follow my journey as I have begun a new music teaching position this year in a local primary school just around the corner from our house in Melbourne, Australia for 5-11 year olds. I hope that this podcast can support and inspire you and maybe even make your job a little easier through sharing tips, chats, lesson plans, interviews and great quality music resources to use with your children. I use an inclusive, multi-modal, multi-sensory and Orff-based approach to help make the learning stick. Please enjoy the Welcome to Music teacher podcast and find us at welcometomusic.net
Here is Episode 1 - Music for All
I’ve been wanting to do a podcast for the longest time and finally I’m doing it so I’m very chuffed. It makes sense to start with who I am and why I do what I do and then explore whymusic is important and why it is here in our world for everyone to benefit and enjoy – the kids, you, their teachers, their parents and the wider community.
As I said in the opening credits, I’ve been teaching for many years and last year Phil and I celebrated our 30th anniversary for Welcome to Music – how time flies when you’re having fun. As well as teaching, Phil and I compose and perform. Often, on the weekends we’ll get dressed up in 70’s costumes and together with the guys in the ‘Sounds of the Seventies’ show we sing the hits of the 70’s. At the other end of the scale, Phil and I love to entertain the oldies in aged care facilities. Recently, I have reignited my passion for painting and you’ll see some of my abstract designs on the podcast art work or on Instagram. To top it off, Phil and I love Molly, our adored pussy cat who is our baby since our 3 kids are all grown up and moved out of home.
Why is Music Making for All?
St. Nicholas Hospital Story
Many years ago, I worked as a music therapy student at St Nicholas Hospital in Melbourne which was an institution for severely and profoundly disabled children. In the eighties, these children were all housed together in hospital wards. This doesn’t happen anymore and these days, children with disabilities are integrated into mainstream education with support systems in place.
Many of the children at St Nicks could not move independently and spent their lives on beds or in wheel chairs. Many of these children could not see or hear and none of them could talk. They spent their days trapped in these bodies that didn’t work, drooling, head banging, making noises – totally lost, unconnected and disengaged.
But, once a week, all of this changed. The children were wheeled into the music room by their teachers and we sang and danced and played instruments. I did not believe it was possible. The teachers gently moved each child co-actively to the music. The children could ‘hear’ by having their hands placed on the teachers’ voice boxes and feel the vibrations. We did bed and wheel chair dances. We played instruments together. The children and teachers smiled and even laughed with glee. The children became connected and engaged. There was so much joy in the room. During that time, I learnt about the power of music and how every single person can be touched by its beauty. This was a life changing experience for me – I knew then that active music making can be an enriching and joyous experience for all of us bar none.
Six Hacks & Activities for Music-Making
“I would teach children music, physics and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning” - Plato, the famous philosopher
Music education is a vital component of a well-rounded education
Music and movement can change the brain – It can switch the brain on and activate it for learning lighting up the entire brain. Music is one of the only activities that activates, stimulates and uses the entire brain.
Action Songs
Action Songs for kids up to 8 are so good to start the day or start the music class – the kids come into the space, we make a circle and then we sing a familiar song with clapping and tapping to the beat. We sing it softly and loudly, slowly and quickly. The group are building social skills such as working together as a team, concentrating, cooperating, having fun, taking it in turns to be leaders, being creative, building confidence and self-esteem, beat competence, gross and fine motor skills, working on body awareness and enhancing their learning, well-being and development. Here's an example, a song Phil and I wrote some years ago called ‘It’s Music Time’ recorded on Funkey Monkey and available on streaming platforms.
Hack #1: It’s Music Time (Action Song)
'It's Music Time' is very repetitive so that the kids can pick it up immediately and it has the ‘do do do’ part to make it really inclusive. It starts and stops with a roll at the end so the kids can build their listening skills and learn about the form. You can do this song every day in a different way over a number of weeks ensuring that everyone gets to have a go as a leader.
This action song is on 'Funkey Monkey'
Find this action song on all streaming services and in the Welcome to Music Membership.
Process:
- Sing - sing and do the actions at the same time on the beat
- Dynamics - do the actions and movements soft or loud
- Tempo - do the actions and movements fast or slow
- Game - ask the children to be the leader and suggest their own actions for the song.
- Create - an ostinato pattern of 2, 3 or 4 that keeps repeating
Hack #2: Beep Bop Diddley Day (Name Game)
Next, you could play a name game, particularly good at the beginning of the year. Games are great to take it in turns to be leaders which enhances self-expression and creativity, building self-esteem and confidence. Games also give kids the opportunity to enhance their emotional development including self-awareness, self-control, empathy, listening, resolving conflicts and cooperating. This game was written by Phil and I and is called ‘Beep, bop, diddley day’
Beep Bop Diddley Day (Written & recorded by Susie & Phil)
You can play this over a number of weeks and do it in a different way each time – using improvised body percussion rhythmic patterns to be echoed first then showing something you like to do through an action or movement, then vocal sounds and then it could be extended to instruments. The kids are developing beat competence, social and emotional skills throughout and can also say the rhyme softly, loudly, slowly or quickly, high or low and use different voices. They are developing creativity through improvisation and continuing to learn whilst having fun and enjoyment.
Beep, bop, diddley day,
Let’s all play this real cool game
What's your name if you please
My name’s Phil won’t you copy me
Process:
- Accompany with clicks on the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar
- Leader makes up a 1 bar rhythm pattern on their body and group echoes
- Leader can then use movement, vocables or instruments
This name game is on 'Sing, Jam & Jive'
Find this name game on all streaming services and in the Welcome to Music Membership
Hack #3: Let's Join Hands and Make a Circle (Transition Song)
Process
- This is how I start each music class with my 5-8 year olds.
Hack #4: Come and Sit in Front of Me (Transition Song) - To the tune of 'If you're happy and you know it'
Everybody come and sit in front of me
Let’s see who’s sitting very beautifully
Let’s see who’s listening very beautifully
Everybody come and sit in front of me
And let’s begin
Hack #5: It's Time for a Story (Transition Song) - To the tune of 'If you're happy and you know it'
It’s time for a story, come and sit in front of me
It’s time for a story, come and sit in front of me
Now it’s time for a story, time for a story.
It’s time for a story, come and sit in front of me
Process:
- With these two transition songs, this is a way to get the kids to come and sit in front of you without verbal instructions
Hack #6: Story Songs - Down By the Bay
Story songs are brilliant for so much skill development. The musical aspect of stories enhances the experience even further through the rhythm, alliteration, melody, pitch, dynamics, tempo and so forth. Rhyming words help children learn language and sounds which assist with reading and spelling.
Musical stories also enhance language development and literacy skills through story structure, grammar, pronunciation, accents, telling, expressing and analysing a story, and empathising with the character/s. Through musical stories, children can develop cognitive skills including memory, ability to reflect, discuss, evaluate, analyse, think critically and problem solve.
Mem Fox (renowned Australian children’s writer) says “The foundations of learning to read are laid down from the moment a child hears: The sounds of people talking. The lines of a song and the rhythms and repetitions of rhymes and stories”
Here is a traditional musical story called ‘Down by the Bay’ which has so much educational nourishment. Children sing which increases some brain chemicals such as dopamine and reduces cortisol which is a stress hormone, there is echo and repetition, there are funny pictures of grapes swimming in the lake and goats sailing in a boat and there is beat keeping in the choruses. We have turned this into a flip book which is available on our website.
Down By the Bay
Chorus Echo
Down by the bay (down by the bay)
Where the watermelons grow (where the watermelons grow)
Back to my home (back to my home)
I dare not go (I dare not go)
For if I do (for if I do)
My mother would say (my mother would say)
Verses
Did you ever see a grape swimming in the lake? Down by the bay
Did you ever see a goat sailing in a boat ? Down by the bay
To purchase the digital full sized story song picture book of 'Down By the Bay' click HERE!
This story song and resource pack includes:
- A fully illustrated story song for kids up to 8 years
- The story words repeated with blanks for children to fill in the words
- Writing pages
- Colouring page
- Learning Outcomes
- Music notation and ukulele chords
- Lyrics
- The Verse pictures reproduced without the lyrics
- Activities – including musical outcomes, literacy (pre-reading, reading, writing and spelling) and art
We Invite You to Check Out Our Welcome to Music Membership
Highlights of the Welcome to Music Membership:
- Over 50 hours of music and movement education and video recordings suitable for Early Childhood and the Primary/Elementary School
- PD certificates for courses, webinars and workshops
- 100's of musical resources to use in your classrooms.
- Discounts on all products and events
Sign up here and receive our 30 day money back guarantee - only AUD $19.99 per month
The 'Uke N Sing' Beginners, Intermediate & Advanced online Courses are now available inside the Membership with a total of 16+ hours of PD with certificates.
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Closing
Music Advantage – Anita Collins
“The ability to keep a beat is a foundation stone for many other learned skills, including reading”. Page 45 Anita Collins
This podcast has been brought to you by Welcome to Music – building confidence, creativity and enriching lives through the joy of music. In the show notes, you'll find links to a summary of this episode and our social media platforms. We would love you to join our WtM Community membership for a small monthly or yearly fee for you to access over 50 hours of music education and video recordings suitable for Early Childhood and the Primary/Elementary School, PD certificates for courses, webinars and workshops, great discounts on events and products and 100's of musical resources to use in your classrooms.
Our goal is to help make teaching and learning music easy and fun for all. I use an inclusive, multi-modal, multi-sensory and Orff-based approach to help make the learning stick.
I hope you have a fabulous rest of the week and fabulous weekend, and enjoy Welcome to Music
