Greetings. I have been lurking here for a while, and I finally decided to ask for help.
First, some background…
I played saxophone in middle school and high school marching band (1987 graduate), so when a few weeks ago someone said we should add penny whistle to “Be thou my vision” and then out plopped this Feadog and I picked it up (mistake #1). I was able to play almost instantly because of the similarities, so we decided to play that in church. Sunday rolls around and I play during the offering, and then after the service, my 7th grade students come up and say they want to learn. This all happened about a month ago, and since then I have wasted countless hours denying that I want to buy another whistle (all in vain, I might add), reading about the differences between whistles, learning the new vocabulary (I actually used fipple in a real sentence the other day), etc…
Now, to the point:
I have to provide a sort of project list for these three students. They have to complete basically the equivalent of a 4-H project about the penny whistle, and I want to provide enough stuff for them to do. Are there any suggestions?
ps. I have WHOA so bad I bought the last O’Grady (at least that is what Anne Damm said).
blj…
Sounds like a kick to me! I’ve help scouts earn badges, but…
What are the basic requirements/components for a 4-H project?
I’m sure this list can help you with this, but some of us might need more details.
p.s. Did any other instruments play with you on Be Thou My Vision?
Gotta run and pick up my beautiful daughter, but here are a few quick suggestions: (I have taught Middle School kids for 30 years…)
a. Obviously: In a logical, interesting way, help the kids to learn to play the whistle.
b. Research project into the history of the whistle and its connection to Irish music/culture
c. Research project into how a whistle ‘works’
d. As the kids learn the whistle, help them to create a tutorial for other kids to use in learning the whistle.
e. Research, listen to, and discuss CD’s of music containing whistles.
f. Research and discuss the depths of the C&F and related websites.
g. Have mini-concerts in which kids play for each other and their parents/friends
h. Research live music venues in your area, discover groups which contain whistles, and attend the concerts.
Wow, am I late…Gotta run. Hope this helps to start your thinking process…
Best.
Byll
I would definitely include material about how a whistle works (you can talk about the vibrating column of air and how its length is related to the pitch), along with all the history and background stuff. These kinds of projects are better when you include things from other fields (physics, history, social sciences, etc.)
You can find a lot of the music-related physics stuff on the web.
On 2003-02-14 15:39, Byll wrote:
Gotta run and pick up my beautiful daughter, but here are a few quick suggestions: (I have taught Middle School kids for 30 years…)
What? And the ugly daughter has to walk home? :roll:
Wow Byll and withak, thanks a bunch! I’m in my 3rd year of teaching 7th grade, and I had one year of 4th and two of 5th before this.
Fun4-- I had another guitarist strumming, and then I played Be Thou through two verses on the Feadog and finger-picked one verse on guitar with the whistle under my arm. It was fun.
Welcome aboard, Breedlove! I like that name, indicitave of another guitarist/whistler on board! BTW, check your private messages. Just click on private messages at the top of the page.
