9 minute read
What's in a name?
Alan Herron investigates music terminology and its effect on learning outcomes in the primary curriculum
As a newly qualified music teacher, part of my first job was running a school strings programme, delivering whole-class violin and cello lessons in Years 1, 2 and 3. Initially this facet of the job didn’t faze me because as a principal study cellist, I had just completed 2 years of study at the RNCM specialising in teaching strings.
However, increasingly over the course of my first couple of years in the job I found myself asking: ‘Why aren’t they getting it?’
Something was holding my pupils back, but I couldn’t work out what it was. This was before Wider Opps and so there was very little available in the way of teaching materials and advice and the fact that I happened to be teaching in an international school in Rome, left me feeling isolated and bewildered.
It seemed that no matter how much I simplified the material, my pupils still struggled to grasp the fundamental concepts. Years later I worked out that even a basic instrumental piece requires roughly 17 calculations per note.
Below is an example of the kind of extensive inner dialogue a beginner violinist might have even before they’ve made a sound. And as teachers, we expect this entire conversation to take place in a split second! Is it any wonder beginners struggle?! And so, I asked myself, ‘how can I make this more accessible?’
Is this note on a line or in a space?
Ok, it’s in a space, but which space is it?
Ok, 1-2, it’s in the second space, but which letter is it?
So, I need to remember the rhyme which tells me the spaces. Ah yes, it’s ‘F-A-C-E’
So, I need the 2nd letter of FACE? Which letter is that?
Ok, F, A, it’s an A, so how do I play an A on the violin?
I need the rhyme that helps me remember the strings on the violin
Ah yes, Good, Dogs, Always, Eat.
So, which string is A? Good, Dogs, Always, 1-2-3, that’s the third string, so I’m looking for the third string.
How long do I need to hold this note?
What colour is the note? It’s white. So that means it’s long, but how many beats?
Does it have a dot?
Yes, it has a dot, so how many beats is that?
I’m not sure, I think it’s either 2 or 3, let’s go with 3
So, is it an upbow or a down-bow?
I don’t know, it doesn’t say.
Let’s just go for a down-bow, on the third string and hold it for 3 beats
I was fortunate in that my teacher training included Dalcroze Eurthymics, but I found that when translating ‘walk’ and ‘jogging’ to the violin, it seemed less relevant when the children weren’t moving around the room. I had also studied the Kodaly method but found that my pupils were getting confused between a ‘ta’ or ‘ta-a’ or a ‘ta-a-a’ and struggled to tell them apart.
One day whilst browsing online (I had little other point of reference at this stage) I came across the image of a caterpillar, next to a group of semiquavers. As an adult I understood straight away that the four semiquavers corresponded to the four syllables in the word ‘ca-ter-pil-lar’, but I wondered if the children would get it too? I thought the image was cute, so I decided to give it a try.
In the next violin lesson, I challenged the class to play a ‘caterpillar’ on the violin? Would they get it? Sure enough, one of the children played four, short notes on the violin and we agreed that this ‘sounded’ like a caterpillar. I showed the class the picture of the caterpillar and then a mouse, a ladybird, and a spider and within minutes the children were playing short rhythm sequences based on the images of the animals.
‘Ok, but can you do it with the music notes?’ I asked and sure enough, the children were able to match the animal picture cards with the corresponding notation. It was as if I didn’t even have to teach them - they already knew!
The next challenge was to introduce pitch. Thinking back to my training, I remembered that the colourstrings method differentiates by colour and so I started using rainbow colours to differentiate the violin strings and pitches.
Suddenly, the black and white dots on the page seemed to make more sense and soon the children were playing crisp and accurate rhythms on each of the four strings, and it was at this point that I knew I’d made some sort of breakthrough.
If it worked on the violin, could it work on the recorder, could it work on chimebars, boomwhackers, the piano even? The answer of course, was ‘yes, yes, and yes’ and I started to use animals and colours in all my lessons, from nursery through to Year 6.
It didn’t take long to build up a bank of over a hundred lessons and at one point a colleague said, ‘you really ought to consider putting these into a book and sharing them with other teachers –the children love it, they are clearly learning, and it could really help and inspire other teachers and pupils.’ And so, I did and the ‘AnimaRhythm’ scheme was born.
I’m often asked, (usually by slightly sceptical musicians) - when I introduce the ‘ proper ’ music terminology. Well, I would challenge anyone to define - what is ‘ proper ’ music terminology?
If you mean crotchets, quavers, and minims, then you should consider that the word crotchet comes from the French word meaning ‘little hook’ and minim is from the Latin meaning ‘smallest’! So, if you think ‘ proper ’ music terminology is the English terminology, well, it’s not really ‘English’ at all and as my pupils were finding out, it certainly wasn’t helping them to play the violin!
At first glance, the American system appears more logical – whole note, half note, sixteenth note – but try using these terms with four- and five-yearolds who haven’t studied fractions!
Usually, my answer to the terminology question is quite simple - ‘whenever they’re ready’ Often after a year or two on the programme, a child will come into class and announce ‘Mr Herron, did you know that a mouse is actually called a crotchet?’ To which I usually reply (with a smile)‘what a strange name!’ and usually, we’ll have a conversation about terminology and the fact that mouse and crotchet are different ways of talking about the same thing. Usually my pupils concur that ‘mouse’ makes far more sense than ‘crotchet’!
Over the years I’ve observed that ‘cross-pollination’ of terminology seems to happen quite organically, and that this coexistence doesn’t hinder their musical growth, but actually enhances it.
But what are the implications as the children reach adolescence? At the time I was teaching in a school that taught right through to GCSE and IB and one day a colleague in the senior school asked me, ‘what’s all this about mouse, spider and caterpillar?’ ‘That’s how I teach rhythm in the junior school’ I replied. ‘Well, they still remember it. I’ve just been doing GCSE rhythmic dictation and the children were all tapping mouse, spider, and caterpillar on their desks.’ I was thrilled - to me this was proof that the system works and that AnimaRhythms sink in. Of course, after this conversation I went straight back to my classroom to write an AnimaRhythm lesson on rhythmic dictation!
Another question I’m often asked is how I select the repertoire for the programme. Well, the list is everexpanding, and I aim to include music from diverse traditions, styles, and genres. Several years back whilst listening to Schubert’s 5th symphony I couldn’t help but hear:
Monkey, spider, mouse, shush, Monkey, spider, mouse, shush, Monkey, spider, mouse, caterpillar, Monkey, spider, mouse, shush
I realised that AnimaRhythms were starting to become part of my music DNA and I was hearing them wherever I went!
So, what is it that makes animal rhythms such an instinctive and accessible approach? I feel the beauty of AnimaRhythm lies in the fact that it is a multi-sensory approach which appeals to a broader range of learners
The connection between the notes and syllables means it ties in with children’s language acquisition, making it an auditory, verbal, visual and kinaesthetic approach. I’ve often discovered to my joy, that what the children are learning in their literacy lessons often seems to compliment with what we study in music.
The programme has grown to the point where we now have 14 animal characters representing the 14 of the most common rhythmic building blocks in music. As a progressive scheme, children love the sense of anticipation that comes with learning a new animal They’ll often ask me: ‘When do we get to learn the elephant?’ or ‘When do we get to learn the hippo?’
After completing the first draft of the curriculum book the next question was - ‘how do I share this with other music teachers?’
During the pandemic I started transforming the programme into an online platform to make it more accessible. So, on today’s website you will find the original teaching manual which is packed full of lesson plans and all the resources you’ll need to deliver a fun and interactive music curriculum, all in one handy place. You’ll also find bite-size video tutorials for each lesson to help get you started. The website also includes ready-made backing tracks, downloadable pupil resources, posters, flashcards and more. The programme can be used with children as young as 3 and with three volumes, there is plenty to keep your pupils inspired and occupied from nursery right through to Year 6.
So, thinking back to my original question – ‘What’s in a Name?’ Initially you might think ‘not that much’? Who cares if in the UK we call them ‘crotchets’ and in the US, they’re called ‘quarter notes’ and in Italy they’re called ‘semiminime’? Surely it doesn’t matter since they all mean the same thing? Well, actually it does matter, and my experience has shown that terminology can create a barrier where some children ‘get it’ and others are left struggling. Terminology represents a hurdle that can grant or deny children full freedom of musical expression and if in the future it is indeed our aim, (as it should be) to make music accessible to all and and to ignite the ‘spark’ of creativity, engagement and understanding that will transcend the music curriculum then I say: ‘bring on the caterpillars!’
