Do you hear music in your head?

The last few weeks I’ve introduced my 3^rd and 4^th graders to the activity I call, “Let’s Make a Band!” I assign a group of 3-5 students to a ‘band’ and guide them through the steps of choosing a band name, a style (or styles) of music, and instruments to use in their band. It’s funny to see how art reflects life. Some groups immediately get to working on a name and democratically sharing their ideas, other groups are more like real bands: at least one person gets mad and wants to quit, and everybody wants to be the drummer. Before the students get involved with the instruments, they must have lyrics written to a song.

            No matter the age, it is not always easy to just write a song on the spot. “How do I write a song?” is the question I encourage the kids to ask me before releasing them to the assignment. This can be achieved by remembering the preliminary activity of ARRANGMENT. We took a song that we all knew (in our case it was the African game song “Kye Kye Kule” SAY chay-chay-coo-lay) and changed the lyrics. It’s really a form of PARODY, but it can help get the brain thinking about creating something original using something that is familiar.

            What amazes me is to see the artists that want to go ‘solo.’ At least one or two students in class of about 25 have these ideas churning through their minds. Finally giving them a piece of paper and guidance gives them the opportunity to splurge their ideas into reality. Do you have a songwriter in your house? Encourage them to develop those skills, along with the reading and writing skills that are reinforced by songwriting. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the worksheet that I use with my students or want to take it a step further and enroll your child (or yourself) in songwriting development lessons, contact me by email: justin@songharper.com or call 704-600-5138

“I like to dream/Right between the sound machine.”

Steppenwolf- “Magic Carpet Ride”

Over the last 50 years, DJs, or Disc Jockeys, have graced our ears with their tasteful choice of music and charismatic voices. Before the digital music age, before CDs, before iPods and computers, there was ‘the DJ.’ Some of you may remember “Casey” Kasem, (who also starred as the voiceover for ‘Shaggy’ in Scooby Doo), relaying all the facts and need-to-know information about the artists and the music scene, all right there through your radio speakers. DJ’s were the connection between the music and the people. Maybe when you’re driving in your car, you hear a DJ on your favorite station (if you don’t have a favorite station yet, check out Spindale’s own 88.7 WNCW). But now, large populations of listeners in the United States make their own playlists. What are we missing? When you buy music digitally, there is no record cover, or CD insert. I remember the joy of buying a new CD (yes, in the 90’s) and looking at the artwork, studying the producers and engineers, or reviewing the “thank you” section. It was an experience that connects oneself into the music. You may remember getting the album cover or sleeve of your favorite record and memorizing the lyrics to your favorite song, or staring into the artwork as you listen. It takes a lot more than just the voices or instruments you hear to produce a song. Be the detective, find out who is involved in the creation of the music to which you listen. You may be surprised that there are some similarities between the people involved in the songs you like. It may be the same songwriter, or the same producer, or even recorded in the same studio!