Rhythmic haka tryout

Had a go this morning with a group that I run, at the haka in the video I’ve posted. I decided to get all the children to play both rhythms at the same time, which is something I’ve never done before. I did simplify it slightly. For the second rhythm (on the video the bottles play 3 sounds followed by 1 sound) I got them to play two hits rather than three (missing out the middle of the three), followed by one hit, as originally shown. (You need to have seen the video for this to make any sense at all!!!). The two bottle hits coincide exactly with the 3rd and 4th stick hits. For those who are familiar with musical language, the bottles play two bars of 4; the first bar they rest for two beats and then play on beats 3 and 4, and in the second bar they play once on beat number 3. It worked well. Sometimes it just makes life easier if you go with what works!

1st free video for music in schools

First free video idea posted

I’ve just uploaded the first video in what I hope to be a long running project, providing ideas for music activities.

They’re aimed at primary school teachers, but may also work outside of schools with a range of age groups.

I do have another suggestion for making the rhythmic haka (in the video) more difficult.  There is a section in the video where I play two rhythms at the same time, to demonstrate how they should sound together.  The idea in the video though is that there should be two groups in the performance, one group playing one rhythm and the other group playing the second rhythm.  If you are working with a group where you think they could be pushed a bit further, then each person could be given a bottle and a stick to play both rhythms at the same time!  I play the bottle against my shoulder in the video, so that it’s in shot on the video, but if you are asking your group members to play both rhythms at the same time, they could tap their bottle against the stick.

Free videos

At the beginning of next week, I’m hoping to post the first of many videos, aimed mainly at primary school teachers, although they may be useful to other groups as well.
The idea is that some will be explanations of how to perform particular performance pieces, using junk instruments, or standard school percussion instruments, including boomwhackers. Other videos may be tips on techniques for teaching particular aspects of music to particular age groups.
Also I’ve just signed up to Twitter, @toetappingmusic, and will use it to inform when new videos are posted, as well as occasional info on workshops and products.

Toob Trax Performance

Here is a performance, using boomwhackers, of one of the pieces from the Toob Trax DVD.  If you want to look at a teaching extract from the DVD, have a look at Toob Trax Taster, an earlier post.



Toob Trax Taster

This last week has seen the launch of Toob Trax, which is a DVD and CD resource which teaches 5 performance pieces using boomwhackers.

There is a promo video on the Toe Tapping Music website, but I’ve also just added an extract from the DVD to youtube  It’s probably easier to see what it is, rather than explain it!

Nothing quite like it!

It’s a fantastic feeling to make music with others. Whether it’s singing, clapping or playing an instrument, when everyone is working together it feels great. When I work in schools, the children perform pieces which, I’ve worked through hundreds of times before, and yet it still sends a shiver down my spine when you sense that feeling of success going through the group!