Republic of the Philippines

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Commission on Higher Education
ILLANA BAY INTEGRATED COMPUTER COLLEGE, INC.
Tomawis Bldg. Poblacion 1, Parang, Maguindanao, BARMM, Philippines
Telephone No. (064) 425-0257; Email: registrar.illiana@yahoo.com

TEACHING MUSIC IN ELEMENTARY GRADES

SPEC3

MODULE 9
The creating child and the singing child

DATUMAMA K. DIMA, LPT

Instructor
 I. INTRODUCTION

This module is about growing the creative side of a child's musical abilities. It deals with
teaching improvisational and compositional skills.

II. OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module the learner should be able to:

a. discuss the creating child; and

b. identify the singing child.

III. LECTURE/DISCUSSION

The Creating Child

Creating is a natural part of music, but it can be neglected if you're not careful. The
creativity and imagination of children are very important to their overall musicianship. Children
at younger ages tend to have more diverse and unstructured musical ideas. This is because as
they age, they try to fit their ideas into the forms and styles of the music they regularly hear. It is
similar, in a way, to how after age eight children tend to be less experimental with what types of
music they listen to. They conform to the music they hear around them. Therefore it is important
to get young children to express their musical ideas from the beginning, so these novel ideas will
not be lost to them.

Children should be encouraged to experiment with sound. This is very important as it will
give them various ways to play a single instrument or ways to sing. Experimentation should
encompass tone color, dynamic contrast, technique and duration. John Cage was very much in
favor of this idea of discovery of new sound from familiar objects and composed many pieces
based around this idea, such as Branches. Since children are naturally creative it is a great idea to
involve them in some form of improvisation very early on.

When allowing children the possibility to improvise it is crucial to make sure that they
are aware that there isn't really a wrong way to do so. That doesn't mean you shouldn't set rules
for their improve, but rather that they shouldn't feel bad if they don't do something that conforms
to "normal" musical standards. Sometimes you may have to do this y removing choices that may
sound "bad". This could be done by removing bars from an Orff instrument or by telling the
student to only improvise the melody or rhythm, while keeping the other constant.

Composition was the other main idea of this chapter. It is more structured than
improvisation. It usually requires some more advanced knowledge of music theory. Because of
this, it is oftentimes ignored or less value is placed on it. I only ever remember one case of
composition being explored in my elementary education. We were asked to compose a short
melody and then told to play it on our instruments.

Many students struggled with the idea of notating a piece and coming up with a melody
they enjoyed listening to, because they hadn't been instructed fully on how this was done.
However, there are certain other methods of composition that don't require more advanced
knowledge. Sound scaping, the use of everyday objects to create a piece that doesn't have any
strictly structured melody, can be extremely useful for teaching kids about composition without
first teaching them theory.
The Singing Child

For children, singing is often an easy way to express how they feel. It is one of the first
ways a child will express their natural ability for music. Children love to sing, unless otherwise
discouraged from it. Because of these facts it is very important to encourage children's singing
from the time they are very young. There are two main methods for teaching a child to sing. The
first is by rote. In the rote approach, children listen to a song preformed many times by the
teacher.

The teacher then tries to teach the song by singing the song in small sections. The
students are expected to sing the phrases until they have them learned. Then the teacher puts the
sections together and has the students sing the full song. The other approach is the note approach.
With this approach children must learn to understand notation.

It focuses a good deal on the children's ability to analyze the notation given to them.
Often times the rhythmic notation is separated from the melodic in order to make it easier to
comprehend. Children are taught rhythm using whatever syllables the teacher prefers. Melodies
are often taught using solfege. This approach is useful for letting children be able to accomplish
learning the material on their own. When teaching singing it is important to note whether they
are on pitch, whether or not they are paying attention, how well they are keeping on beat, and if
the children are singing with a good clear tone quality.

The educational value of singing

Singing encourages a child to express their emotions and sharpens their ability to
communicate while exercising lip and tongue movement. But one of the biggest benefits of
singing is the repeated use of the ‘memory muscle’.

Learning a piece of information attached to a tune embeds that information more rapidly
in a child’s mind. The majority of children learn the alphabet not by simply saying the letters but
singing them.

As children get older the power of singing in their lives can still be extremely beneficial.
Matthew Freeman, development manager of ‘Sing up’, a national singing project to help enhance
music in children’s education, has found that singing can be a great teaching tool for children. It
can be used as a creative and fun way to increase enjoyment and achievement in subject areas
where children normally struggle.

“Many children do not think of singing as ‘work’ and willingly participate in sessions,” he says,
“Singing can be used as a tool to increase enjoyment and participation in a number of different
subjects. A skilled singing tutor can cover subjects as diverse as English, numeracy, science,
languages, and culture to name but a few.”

Singing together

Singing is, of course, not something that has to be done alone. Learning to work together
in a group or choir can give children a sense of collectiveness and can help children make
friends.

Tips to get your child singing

 Use singing resources, such as books and CDs with activities, to make children associate
singing with fun games

 Look out for singing classes or encourage your child to participate in the school choir and
other singing groups in your area
  Try singing a bedtime story and encourage them to join in with you

 Make up songs to help children learn spellings they find difficult to remember

 Encourage children to sing around the house or sing along to the radio in the car on the
way to school

MATERILAS NEEDED:
Online platforms
Book

REFERENCES:
 Anvari, S., Trainor, L., Woodside, J., & Levy, A. (2002). Relations among musical skills,
phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. Journal of
Experimental Child Psychology, 83(2), 111–130.

 Chen-Hafteck, L. (1997). Music and language development in early childhood:

Integrating past research in the two domains In Early Child Development and Care 130
(1): 85-97.

 Deliège, I. and Sloboda, J. (Eds.). (1996). Musical beginnings: Origins and development
of musical competence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 Feierabend, J. (2001). First steps in classical music: Keeping the beat. Chicago, IL: GIA
Publications.

 Feierabend, J. (2006). First steps in music for preschool and beyond : The curriculum.
Chicago, IL: GIA Publications.

 Gordon, E. E. (2007). Learning sequences in music: A contemporary music learning

theory. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications
Prepared by:

DATUMAMA K. DIMA, LPT

Instructor

Checked by:

JOHANA U. CAKA, LPT

Head- Education Department

Approved by:

ABEGAEL B. BILLOSO,RN,MSCIED
ACADEMIC HEAD