If your school has lost its music program, I hope that this blog can offer you a simple way to share music with your students, regardless of your own musical background.
At Back-to-School Night in my daughter's kindergarten class I heard the bad news that music had been cut. Unfortunately in Philadelphia and around the country, we are struggling with skeleton budgets and many schools are missing core staff, including nurses, librarians, music and art teachers.
I have a B.A. in Music and Italian Studies, an M.M. in Vocal Performance and an M.A. in Speech Language Pathology. Immediately, I thought- "I may not be able to fix everything, but I certainly can fix this."
I spoke with some very talented music educators in my community and developed a music curriculum to bring to the kids. I visit once a week and alternate between teaching pitch, melody and music theory via games (I call this "Music and Play"), and teaching music appreciation (I call this "Music and Art").
Music and Art is a lesson in which I share 2 pieces of music while children draw as the music inspires them. In exploring their similarities and differences there is the opportunity to teach about instruments, culture and music history. I always try to choose cultures that are represented in the classroom and school community.
You can visit the blog here to find free lesson plans, visual aids and links to the recordings.