Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Miss Anita’

Jun
26

Matching Pitch

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Child Development

A while ago, one of my parents asked a good question. I passed it along to Miss Allison, and she sent me a great reply. I thought you all might find this conversation as helpful as I did.

The question from Mom: When do kids tend to get good at matching pitch? The first time I heard Emma (named changed) sing I was kind of shocked that she sounded so off-key, but then I realized that most little kids seem to sound like that.

I’ve always loved singing, and Emma seems to really like it, too, so I was looking into a chorus for Emma to start in a couple years, and then my husband said he thought Emma was kind of tone-deaf like he is sometimes, but I’m hoping it’s something she’ll get better at, and she seems to be.

The question to Miss Allison: When are children able to match pitch and sing on-key?

Miss Allison’s answer: Matching pitch is a pretty advanced skill, although there are children as young as two who can do it. My experience has been that kids sing accurate intervals way before they match pitch with an instrument or another voice.

I hear kids signing the “right” song in the “wrong” key so to speak, in Our Time (ages 18 months to 3.5 years) on a regular basis and in Imagine That (ages 3 to 5) all the time. By Young Child, (kindergarten and first grade) they get better and better at matching pitch with me, though it is still a pretty on and off skill. They will get the pitch, but be flat, usually. It is also easier for them to match my sung pitch than it is for them to match the glockenspiel or the bars.

There is a certain amount of physical development that has to take place before children can really sing. The larynx has to drop (happens in infancy) and they have to be able to force enough air through the larynx to make the chords vibrate. So, the lungs and diaphragm need a certain amount of strength to support the voice.

Even if the child hears really well and has good pitch match at a young age they will continue to go flat until they are able to support their voice on some level. A lot of kids sing in a kind of monotone drone for the first few years, the voice is rising and falling in the basic pattern of the song being sung, but they are not really singing. It’s more like speak-singing.

In the end, I think pitch matching is a skill that can be taught; especially if a child is hearing good quality pitch sung live at an early age. (I’m not talking about good quality vocal production- just clean pitch- and most adults can do that if the range is reasonable.) Then, having some kind of good quality music classes in the early years – Kindermusik, of course, and music in the elementary years will teach that skill.

When I taught 6th grade, everyone could match pitch. By that time, the students had begun to distinguish who could sing and had a lovely voice versus who could match pitch, and I noticed that kids who could match pitch but weren’t passionate about music or the ones who had an average voice began to be less and less interested in music. And therefore, more and more badly behaved in music class.

It is sad, because some of those kids who didn’t have super voices could have gone on to be stars. Search iTunes for Tom Chapin and listen to any of his songs. There’s a guy with an okay voice, but great pitch, and incredible diction, and an ability to sing a story. (To really hear the skill of singing a story, listen to his “Goose Town Halloween.”)

I knew a girl who was as tone deaf as a rock until she was about 6 or 7. She joined the children’s choir at church and the director, a wonderful teacher and incredible woman, taught all the kids how to match pitch, including our little formerly tone deaf friend. I thought it was hopeless… honestly, I did. She recently went to college to major in Vocal Studies. If she can learn to match pitch, I swear anyone can!

-posted by Miss Anita, whose intention is to give parents of seemingly tone-deaf children some hope!

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May
5

Counting Songs: Teaching 1 to 1 Ratio

Posted in Child Development, Music and the brain, Things to do

A favorite version of Hickory, Dickory, Dock!

I (Miss Anita) thought you might like to eaves drop on an email conversation I had with Miss Allison. It involves your child’s mathematical foundation!

Here’s what Miss Allison emailed me: “Chanting numbers in a sequence (like saying 1, 2, 3…) is one skill. But counting objects and understanding the concept of what that quantity means are separate and more advanced skills. True counting implies an understanding of one to one  ratios. From my (Miss Allison’s) personal experience as a mom, a pre-school teacher, a day care provider, big sister, babysitter and the kid who taught all the kids in the neighborhood to read before kindergarten, the number one is typically the hardest number for children to understand.

Finger plays and other counting games that are designed to teach one to one ratios tend to start higher, with a number like five and count down. Some examples would be Five Little Ducks, the Sea Shell poem from Creatures at the Ocean and Five Little Monkeys.

These counting down rhymes are more successful, in my experience than counting games that go up. Counting songs that go up tend to be more successful in teaching rhyming words. Examples of counting up rhymes would be This Old Man, The Ants Go Marching, Hickory Dickory, and Dr. Knickerbocker.

My question to you, since you have elementary school math experience, why does counting backwards make it easier to understand one to one ratio? It is obvious to me that it does. I just know it works better based on my experiences and common sense. I know it has a light bulb effect. I’ve seen that happen in a kid’s face. You get to one and all of a sudden the light goes on and they understand the concept. Any thoughts about the counting backwards phenomenon?

And I (Miss Anita) replied: “You’re right about the counting up rhymes like This Old Man, etc. Usually when those songs are sung they reinforce the rote memory of the number sequence. The ants march 1×1 and then 2×2 and then 3×3 etc. But you aren’t seeing those ants, pointing to them and counting them. You have to add something to make them a 1-1 teaching tool. That’s why, in our Kindermusik classes, we’ve added the ant counting cards for that song. With visuals of the ants, the children can see them and count them.

Another way to turn a song like This Old Man into a 1-1 ratio learning experience is to sing it with rhythm sticks. Every time you get to a number, stop and tap and count each tap. “This Old Man, he played one…stop…ONE TAP & SAY ONE…he played two… TWO TAPS and count out loud on each tap ONE, TWO…”

When it comes to counting backwards songs, I think the answer to the success is the emotional payoff of either excitement or satisfaction. Think about when a rocket launch counts down: 3 -2-1 BLASTOFF! So very exciting!

My boys learned to count backwards by watching the numbers on the microwave count down and chanting those numbers along with me. There was a huge payoff there, because our food was ready! When you count down, there is an END – either zero or one. (It’s really not the end since there are the negative numbers but we don’t go there with the little ones because their concrete minds aren’t ready for that yet.) So they get to one or zero and that’s the end… a very satisfying place to be.”

-posted by Miss Anita and Miss Allison, who hope that when you sing “Hickory Dickory Dock” with your child, you will add one-to-one ratio and do it like this:

‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one (STOP and clap one time and say “one” while you clap it. Then say, “Let’s clap and count to one again. ONE.) and down he did run. Hickory Dickory Dock.

‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck two (STOP and clap two times and count the two claps ONE, TWO. Then say, “Let’s count again. ONE. TWO) the mouse said, “Peek-a-boo.” Hickory Dickory Dock.

‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck three (STOP and clap three times and count the three claps ONE, TWO, THREE. Then say, “Let’s count again. ONE. TWO, THREE) the mouse said, “ WHEE!” Hickory Dickory Dock.

‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck four (STOP and clap four times and count the four claps ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR. Then say, “Let’s count again. ONE. TWO, THREE, FOUR) the mouse said, “ NO MORE!” Hickory Dickory Dock.

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Mar
16

I’m a Mom. How on earth am I supposed to exercise?

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Things to do

Before I was a mom, I went to the gym and exercised fairly regularly.  And, I tried to keep doing that.  But adding in first one child and then another and then a part-time job, made the logistics of getting to a gym tough.  There were extra costs for the childcare and sometimes the fact that the boys just didn’t like going there.  I tried going in the evenings when my husband was home with the boys but didn’t like missing the family time.   I tried to exercise at home but I never stuck with it. 

Last fall, I was tired, and tired of not being able to exercise.  I remembered that I had a DVD that a friend recommended that took about 25 minutes to complete.  I decided to make it a priority to schedule in that DVD workout everyday.  I set a goal of 30 workouts and promised myself a treat when I was done.   The “treat” would be a shopping trip to buy myself a new skirt.  I got a calendar and numbered off the days I worked out. 

My new clothes!

When I exercised, I would sometimes post my workout number on Facebook.  It was fun to get cheers of encouragement from my Facebook friends.

I finished 30 workouts and got my skirt.  Then, I decided I needed boots to go with the skirt…30 more workouts – check!  And a sweater to complete the outfit – 30 more workouts – check!

Some of my cousins who had seen my Facebook posts wanted to try it too.  So we formed a private Facebook group and they have now all finished their first 30 workouts.  They are exercising with their families, friends, neighbors, and even their dogs are getting in on the great health benefits.

There were a LOT of days I didn’t feel like working out.  But, I had a goal, a reward to earn, and I had friends cheering me on.  So, I forced myself to start the workout and was so glad at the end!

I challenge you to try 30 workouts.  Get a DVD (there are lot of them that are 30 minutes or less), go to the gym if that works for you, or go for walks.  Set a goal of 30 workouts, pick your reward, and find a friend to tell when you are done with each workout.  Or, tell your Facebook or Twitter friends.  You never know how many people will join the ripple effect.

And, if you are doing a 25 minute workout DVD at home, you don’t have to get up before your children, wait until they are napping, or tucked in for the night.   Unless it’s an emergency, you can say, “Not now, Mommy is exercising.  You can exercise with me or wait until I’m done.”  You are setting a wonderful example for your children.

-posted by Miss Anita, whose 9 & 11 year old sons just voluntarily put “workout with weights” on their daily schedules.  She is enjoying more energy and has finished 134 workouts since she began in September 2010.

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Jan
3

Am I a Towering Parent?

Posted in Family, parenting

I have a box for the special things my boys have made for me over the years.  As I looked through it recently, I found a Mother’s Day card from my then 9-year-old son.  In it he thanked me for being nice, kind, a good cook, and towering.  Towering?  What?  I remember how surprised I was to read “towering” as one of the things he liked about me.  I’m only 5 foot 2 so I never think of myself as “towering.”

I asked him what he meant.  He replied, “That’s when me and Alex and having a problem and you come and make everything right.”  And, he likes it when I do that.  He knows that there is help when he has a relationship problem with his brother.  He likes it that I don’t just let them do whatever they want to.  I keep them safe.

Peter is now old enough to articulate one of the things that all children want.  They want to be safe. And, they want and need the grown-ups around them to set limits and boundaries for their behavior and the behavior of other children around them to keep them safe.

I need to set boundaries about the things my sons cannot say to each other.  That keeps their emotions safe.  I need to help them work out disagreements. Those lessons keep their friendship with each other safe. I need to make sure they aren’t talking to each other and step in front of a moving car in a parking lot. That keeps them physically safe.

The children in my classes want and need the same thing. They need to be safe. I use those words, to make sure they all know that they are in a safe place and that it is my job to keep them safe.  When we are putting the resonator bars, which include metal parts, away in the tub, I tell them.  “Slowly, gently, we want to keep our friends safe.”  For my Imagine That preschoolers who attend without their parents, safety is very important.  I say, “We all run the same direction.  That keeps us safe.”

Sometimes rules, guidelines, and the “no’s” are hard for parents to say and hard for children to hear.  But, they are important, they keep everyone safe.  All of us want to be safe.

- posted by Miss Anita, who still needs to tower over her two boys at times, even though the physical difference in our heights grows less each day.

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Dec
18

You’ve just GOT to do this!

Posted in Bits and Pieces

Take a snuggle hint from this momma and baby combo. This little flamingo was hatched at the Woodland Park Zoo in October.

It’s a busy to-do list time of year.  You need to add something to your list: relaxation!  Even if it means you cross out something else without doing it, make relaxing a priority.

Children need down time too. Take a few minutes at a time other than nap or bedtime.  Turn on some peaceful music and give them a snuggle.  It may be a 10 second snuggle before they wiggle away, off on their next adventure.  That’s OK.  Then, you can sit down and set an example of relaxing.  If they’ve run off to another room and you need to supervise, turn up the music and go sit in the room where they are.

- posted by Miss Anita, who is going to turn on some music and sit by the Christmas tree and do nothing but look at it and breathe deeply.

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