Hello all, my school is allowing me to teach a 5 day penny whistling class (2 hours a day).
By the end, I want the kids to know a little bit about “Traditional” music, to understand the structure of a tune, basic ornamentaion, and how to play at least ONE tune to perform on Friday. Does anyone have any suggestions on topics to add or subtract, and or ways to go about teaching this class?
The kids are high school age.
Thanks in advance,
Matt
I have taught woodcarving to youth in that age group. Fourty five minutes to one hour seemed to be about right. I have tried two hours but they seem to wear out to soon. If you are confined to two hours than a break might help. But you have to deal with getting them back on task at the end of it. Their motivation for being there is also a factor. Also the number of students. I have been doing this for ten years and have found that each group that comes along will have a different personalty. So how I present it one time may not work another time, and I must be ready to change method immediately. By my changing method only involves one. Changing the group to suit me involves more.
I’d spend significant time on listening. Let them hear recordings of different players to get a sense of style, history, variety. I’d also spend some time on history & culture; this is likely the oldest instrument in Irish music (see Grey Larsen’s book… it’s got a picture of a whistle/end-blown flute dating 40,000 years back).
And they’re in high school so show them how this little instrument can actually be cool… play them some Flook, etc. They’ll be all over it…
Have fun.
tim
If you think the 2-hour thing is going to be a bother, as Tommy said, you could try spending as much as the last half of the class listening to recordings and talking about the history of the instrument, as Tim suggested. That way they’re playing until they’re bored with it, then they’re listening and learning.
And definitely play them some Flook. 
I’ll 2nd that! (3rd actually)
I’ll fourth the listening at the beginning and end. I just tried to buy some Flook, but they would not take Pay Pal. 
I use whistles instead of recorders to teach beginning instruments. My reasons: cheap whistles sound better than cheap recorders. Sounding better means that more kids get addicted to playing music and suddenly become interested in learning more about music. It opens all kinds of doors.
That said, you’re working with an older group than I am. The needs will be different. It’s been my experience, though, that you have all levels of musical experience in any school class, even with the best music program around. Don’t be discouraged if some students aren’t much interested at first. But don’t be surprised if some of the toughest customers become the most avid players later. It’s too bad you don’t have more time with them. I’ve watched students drop their resistance one at a time, get addicted, and then start getting on pretty well.
Good for you, taking whistles into the classroom. Another topic you might want to cover–how to make tin whistles. They’re not hard to make and some students have a knack for it.
C.
P.S. Ditto the Flook.
A little tip: put a sticker on their left wrist or a rubber band, and train them to keep the left on top. Or you’ll be struggling all week with kids who put their right hand on top. Brian (eedbjp)
Thanks for all the responses. I’ve tried to teach them a bit about what traditional music means, but it’s difficult to show them this because I’M not exactly sure I know what kind of “culture” surrounds the music. Does anyone have a movie or something that shows this?
I like the Flook idea, unfortunately I don’t have any–will Lunasa do?
Thanks again,
Matt
Phil Hardy is kind enough to host a number of videos of performers including Flook on his website at www.kerrywhistles.com.
Considering your location, I sugest you download the video files before playing them. Easier on you and on his website.
A movie showing Irish music cluture? I would like to see that too!
Lunasa should do, but I think you need to go for Flook. Maybe you can get a track sent to you.
The Chieftains, Water from the Well; it’s available on DVD and you can get it through Netflix.
Kinda long, though; you may want to use excerpts.
If your aim is to introduce your students to traditional Irish music, I am surprised that people would suggest you have them listen to Flook…
I would sugget you get them playing right away, a tune they are already familiar with such as Mary had a Little Lamb (can be done on top hand only or bottom hand only). Then add some cuts for fun. Show them the D scale then give them a fingering chart and see if they can figure out how to play other simple tunes like Old MacDonald (starting on low D) etc. without giving them notation. This helps develop their ability to play by ear.
Then introduce a simple tune that has a smaill range of notes and a basic A B form. Teach them by ear rather than notation so they learn the correct rhythmic feel. If you want some suggestions send me a PM.
All the best,
Susan
Day 1.
first quarter
perform for them 2 easy major pentatonic pieces in D
Auld lang Syne
Amazing Grace
then almost pentatonic easy piece
Wild Mountain Thyme
Then a G major air like the Londonderry one.
second quarter
call and response teaching of G major scale including dip downs below G
third quarter
call and response G major pentatonic scale including dip downs below G
fourth quarter
call and response Auld Lang Syne (very slow)
DAY 2 (to be continued) …
good luck with the students. children in large groups scare me. one boy i know, any time we give him a musical instrument, he learns how to play the important portion of iron man, then he’s about done with the instrument. he does still compose on the harmonica and write his composion in harmonica tab. kids, they’ll go in the direction that we never think about.
I have sheet music with melody line, tablature (fingerings), and words, organized by difficulty, on my free website, Whistle and Squeak. It’s a labor of love, not commercial in any way. If there is a song you would like, but don’t see, send me an e-mail to the address linked on all the pages.
In particular, look at this page for a progression of songs.
Hope there’s something there you can use.
Mark