Let's learn a song!

[franceslievens]

Teaching the little ones means I can give it all on the creative front in my classes: drawing, games, painting... You name it and I'll probably do it with the kids. This week I had the great idea to teach them a song. Who didn't like the teacher bringing her guitar into class and singing? I'm sort of regretting it at the moment, because it means I have to learn the song first. I can sing it, but those fingers don't want to wrap around the guitar's neck properly. There's still a week to go before I have to perform before the 6- and 7-year-olds. And if it doesn't work we can always use the good old cassette player.

Comments

[candlelightfrot.livejournal.com]

I bought a 'beginner's 6-string guitar' a while back at an auction for $25. I just cannot seem to get the fingering down, even though I know music and play the organ. Maybe it's just that I started out on the organ but it seems to me that it, whether a simple keyboard or the church pipe organ, is easier than a guitar. At least now you can more easily transport a keyboard and speaker than in the past. My old L-100 Hammond organ weighs about 500 pounds!

Remember to teach your song in phrases.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the difficult part: teaching the song to the kids that can't read very well. Hohum. It'll be an experience!

I'm actually rather good at the guitar, but not at chords. I've always played classical guitar. Keyboard is hard then, you know! I can play an easy tune on my guitar from the book, but on a keyboard?? I don't know where the notes are and am frequently switching between looking at my book and looking at the keys!

[candlelightfrot.livejournal.com]

What's even worse is kids that age often don't have any rhythm... I know I didn't; and my organ playing nearly drove my mother crazy at an early age. My rhythm kinda kicked in with puberty though; and my organ playing picked up the rhythm... ;~)

But one way of getting kids that age to get the rhythm is to learn the words first without the music, and have them recite them at the rhythm of the song as if it were poetry. Then later add in the music to it. Don't mean to step on what you might already know.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Hee, I was going to do that, but I didn't know if it would work. I've never taught the kids a song, but I know we learned a lot of easy songs when I was that age.
I don't really know how to work with the little ones, so it's a bit trial and error for me. Thanks for the tip, Lij!

Kids can have rythm! The only thing is they have difficulty keeping the same rythm when they're together. ;-) It's only a couple of years later that children learn to work together.