How do you teach a music class to a bunch of eight-to-ten-year-olds in thirty minutes on a Friday afternoon? (For that matter, how do you teach them anything in thirty minutes on a Friday afternoon?) Well, we’ve actually met with good success this year, even at this trying hour, by following the principle of multum, non multa (learning “much, not many” things). This often-cited Latin phrase just means that, as every good teacher agrees, it’s better for students to really master a few ideas or skills rather than get vague exposure to many.
So instead of trying to memorize the names of all the notes on the staff or work through a whole music history curriculum, my class this year has been playing a game called “Know Famous Pieces.” Each Friday, I introduce a new famous piece, such as Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue, Bach’s Little Fugue, or that iconic first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Before we listen, I give the class a little background, such as some brief anecdotes from the composer’s biography, the story behind the composition, or something in particular to listen for. Then we listen. So far we’ve covered pieces from Pachelbel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, with a plan to add Brahms, Dvorak, and Grieg by the end of the year.
Once we had covered a few pieces, we began to start every music class playing through these pieces in a scrambled order. Students raise their hands to name the piece and composer (for house points of course!). Once a piece is guessed correctly, I ask a follow-up question assigned to that piece: “What is a concerto?” or “Tell the story of the Farewell Symphony.” Now that we’ve been playing “Know Famous Pieces” for over a quarter, we’ve accumulated a dozen pieces, and counting, that the students are learning to recognize by ear. Sometimes students also recognize these pieces when they come up during homework time on other days of the week.
As part of this weekly review, one fun activity we’ve recently added is listening for themes and patterns in Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major (that fast, crazy one you’ve probably heard or maybe played before). To introduce the idea of themes, I drew different pictures of a mouse doing silly things on a playground (e.g., spinning an a merry-go-round or going down a slide). Then as we listened to the sonata, whenever the theme changed, I pointed to the matching picture. The kids got the idea quickly. After one listen all the way through, I asked the students if they could identify the themes and point to the pictures at the right times. The kids, of course, were all over it, and some very eager volunteers successfully repeated the demonstration as we listened to the piece again. It was a riot! And I was impressed with how quickly the ear-training took effect. Needless to say, Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 is now a class favorite!
The saying “familiarity breeds contempt” might be true in some contexts, but it certainly isn’t for third and fourth graders and music. Covering “much, not many” gives them the chance for real familiarity and memory, and they get so excited when they recognize a piece we’ve learned about! With a balanced concoction of understanding and fun, I think these students will be set up for a lifelong love of great music.
In Christ,
Miss Hahn
