 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2007-07-14 10:26
I haven't been teaching all that long... only about a year. The teaching I do is all one on one, but in a couple of days time I have to take a group of young kids at the school I teach at... on their band camp. I am absolutely dreading it because I don't like dealing with groups of naughty little kids. Has anyone had experience in this and can you suggest some ways to help me get through the tutorial sessions/masterclass? Someone suggested playing musical games with them but I have no ideas. Help!?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Aussiegirl
Date: 2007-07-14 10:53
I've just got back from a similar situation with a community band...except the campers ages literally were spread between 9 and 77 years old! I was lucky enough to have the clarinets aged between about 9 and 13. One thing that i found worked really well was getting them to pass notes/rhythms from one player to each other and trying to match the sound/articulation/dynamic of the player before them. So, person A plays a crotchet C, person B plays a crotchet C etc, with the aim that it will sound like one person playing a few bars of consecutive crotchet C's. This will take a few goes for them to get the hang of but i found that it really helped with their balance and being able to mimic the player who played before them. This works well with rhythms are well....if theyre having trouble with triplets or a dotted quaver-semiquaver pattern they can pass it around the group until they get more confident with it.
Another game is a musical variation on "I went to grandmothers house and i took a....". Person 1 plays a note. Person 2 plays the note of person 1 and then a note of their own. Person 3 plays note 1, note 2 and then a note of their own...and then so on. This is really good for their aural skills and they will pick up on it a lot quicker than you think!
Pretty much, if you keep it pretty fast moving so that theyve all got something to do most of the time, like remembering what rhythm or note the person before them played, they shouldnt be <i>too</i> naughty. And chocolate is always good reinforcement, especially on a special occasion like a camp. Good luck with it! :D
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Morrigan
Date: 2007-07-14 11:54
I taught at a big music camp a few years ago in Melbourne and I had the 9 - 13 year olds... And they were monsters!
Due to the organisation of the camp, I had them in 2 hour sessions, WAY too long for kids that age. Break it up into bits, is all I can say. They can only really concentrate on things for about 5 minutes at a time. If you're running out of ideas and have time to spare, the best thing you can do of course is just simply play through the music. Go over hard sections a few times. When issues crop up, focus on that.
When you get a group of kids in a room, strange hyperactive things happen. Be prepared to match their energy!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-07-14 13:14
Do what every teacher does (or should be doing) - break up the time in chunks; after a very short break (open the windows, let the players get some oxygen, crackle their knuckles (kidding) etc) resume playing via one or two variations of a simple tune in a hymn book (we have "120 hymns for brass band"), so that the players can concentrate on sound and harmony instead of technique, then resume the normal pattern.
My daughter's teacher uses simple Kinesiology exercises (she has an education in that) to calm down the class in no time, if the kids are getting overboard (or overbored).
--
Ben
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bill28099
Date: 2007-07-14 14:54
I go to orchestra camp with a group of 12 and up year olds and find the kids are great, dedicated and for the most part well mannered. Maybe it's because of the small town rural farming environment, the kids appreciate a week break from doing chores in 100F weather. Maybe it's because our conductor is just plain good with kids. Maybe it's because there are participating adults mixed into the group. During the winter the student orchestra has two hour rehearsals and things go well until the break when everyone stuffs their faces with cookies and goes on a sugar high. We even go off on weekend retreats with the kids and will play up to 6 hours a day. After 6 hours playing bassoon music on the bass clarinet I'm even inattentive and want to go home.
The music camp and student orchestra will end up supplying some of the string and wind players to the "grown up" orchestra, the orchestra that should really never be.
http://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/oregonian/multimedia/index.ssf?SF_11SYMF027
http://kennethwoods.net/files/Round_Up_the_Usual_Suspects.pdf
If you want to be with group of noodling, tardy, inattentive, gabby, inconsiderate "kids", well join the college band I play with.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
Post Edited (2007-07-14 14:55)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: massa
Date: 2007-07-14 15:50
If you don't have previous teaching experience with youngsters, I'd definitely recommend you to have someone as a teaching assistant. I don't know how big the group is you are going to deal with, but the extra set(s) of hands will ease the classroom management tremendously. Even a parental volunteer will be helpful.
You have one-on-one teaching experiences, so you probably know what they are like and what activities they may enjoy. They know you as a teacher already, so don't be too stressed. I hope you have a lot of fun!
- m
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tom A
Date: 2007-07-14 23:04
-Be there, ready to start;
-Begin with a brief warm-up, which gives you an idea of the sound they make, any obvious embouchure problems among them, and the chance to praise them for something straight away;
-Keep an eye on the clock. In each session, you want to run through the easy parts briefly and use them to get a strong sound and balance. You also want to pin down the one or two hard bars in a piece and help them to get it technically right using your own practice techniques in a simpler way;
-There will often be one or two in a group who have less idea than the others about everything. Don't get bogged down teaching one child how to play individual notes. That's for their own practice to deal with;
-In the middle of each session, do something different to rest them. It might be a rhythm game, or turning their clarinets around and fingering a fast passage while each child blows, or a demo by you of "the highest notes";
-At the end of each session, or the last session, try to revise some specific things they've done, like some of the harder parts that they used to fudge but can now play. Remind them that if they're just as careful when they rehearse in band, it will stay with them, and they'll be the one section who can play that bit really well, etc. etc.
-If they do something correctly, or better than before, TELL THEM! Individually if appropriate, and sometimes as a whole group. That can work if you have a ratty kid, who will often be the insecure one.
-If you are helping one child with something and it's not getting better, praise that child for listening and trying, and for making it a bit better, say to keep practising the way they just did, and then move on. No matter how nice you are, you have to be careful not to zero in on on kid for too long.
-If there is an ongoing behaviour problem, remove the child in a calm voice to the side of the room, and tell the conductor during a break. You can't change a child's personality, so don't try. The main problem is that child is taking time from the others.
If it's good, praise them genuinely. If something needs work, praise them for trying and then say "But it will be easier/better if you..."
And have fun.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SavvyClarinet
Date: 2007-07-16 00:28
I just finished teaching 9 year old kids how to play the clarinet. There were only a few, but they were all very squirrely and disruptive. They continuously groaned about learning new things, so I thought of all I could to make it more fun. When explaining about lung capacity and the most beneficial way to use your air, I had them blow up balloons. For embouchure, I saw how long they could hold a pencil in their mouth where it stuck straight out. After that, they were at least a little more eager to learn because they saw it could be partially fun. It might seems futile, but just remember that we all had to start somehow.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
