Steve Elmore | Wichita Collegiate School | Wichita, Kansas
This lesson shows how a teacher teaches students to play a simple song on the xylophone. Using a song the students already know and have sung many times, the teacher explains and demonstrates how to play it, then has the students play along. The lesson also reinforces skills of clapping a steady beat, rhythm, and understanding that low notes are made by big things and high notes by small things.
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What I want you to see, is watch, I do four beats on each note. When I get to the top I do four beats, and then when I go down, one beat going down. It’s our goodbye song, all right who remembers which, which is big, loud, I mean sorry, which is lower sound? These things are smaller, big. So, which side is the low side? So, I start on this one and this goes up and down. So, clap again. Do is on your knees and Re is on your thighs. Mi is on your hips. Fa is on your waist. So is on your chest, and La is on your shoulders. Ti is on your head, and Do is way up high. Do-Ti-La-So-Fa-Mi-Re-Do. And then I stop. Think you got it? Okay, was I singing while I was playing? Yeah, yes, I was. Do I want you to sing? You know the song right? Remember not too loud, ready? We’re going to start, we’re going to do a count off first, and then we will start with the long note, the big note. Yes, with your mallets. You ready? We’re going to do, I’m going to go one, two ready go, and then we start wait, wait, wait. I’ll do four beats and then we’ll start singing with four beats. You ready, wait don’t start yet. One, two ready go. Do is on your knees and Re is on your thighs. Mi is on your hips and Fa is on your waist. So is on your chest and La is on your shoulders. Ti is on your head and Do is way up high. Do-Ti-La-So-Fa-Mi-Re-Do. That was pretty good.
