How to teach music to children?
In case you have been using boring manuscripts and dull pencils to teach music to children, it is time that you reinvent your teaching methods. While tutoring music to children can be challenging especially when you are introducing new concepts, here are four innovative ideas that you could use:
Adopting music theory micro cars
A car-themed music activity is an excellent way to practice various components of music including learning new spaces and lines, note reading, intervals, and much more. This style is effective if the group of children you are training is composed of car enthusiasts but for you to adopt this method, you need to come up with props. For example, if you are teaching piano, you need about three micro cars, several colored markers, and a large piece of paper. First, you need to draw parking lots on the edges of the piece of paper and in the middle write the theory of the content that you want to teach. For students to play the game, you need to ask them to choose a specific car and park it at a particular spot on the paper (i.e. you need to tell them that spot represents a rhythm that sounds like a certain key on the piano). You can then switch “parking spots” three times and then let them take over as the “driver” and direct you. Repeating this game often will automatically reinforce the theory that you want to teach.
Use of lyrical treasure hunt
This strategy borrows a lot from the Easter eggs hunt. The catch is to incorporate phrases on the eggs and hide them around your backyard. You can use this method to teach your children how to compose music. The beauty of a lyrical treasure hunt is that by the end of the day, your kids get to run around to exercise and learn music at the same time. So, once you place your eggs on the areas that you want, the next step is to have your children go out to find them and attempt to construct a melody once they discover a phrase. If you have three more children, you can put up a score chart so that each child earns points for finding the eggs and coming up with a good composition. Introducing some competition will have every child work harder as they would want to top the chart.
Note: The strategy works best when you have a sizable backyard.
Leverage digital tools
Integrating technology in music lessons is an exceptional way for you to teach your students how to create and compose music. The great thing about using digital tools is that they enhance the learning experience so that it is more personal and meaningful. There is great free music making software that you can get for your children. Among them are:
- Digital audio workstation (DAW): You can get your children this recording software so that they can start working on developing full songs. Some of the most-sought after DAW that you can buy for them include GarageBand, Stagelight, Ableton Live, and LMMS (Free).
- Headphones: Creating a room with better acoustics for music-making costs a fortune, however, with high-quality headphones your children can make music without interruptions. Some of the best headphones include Shure SRH440 or Sennheiser HD-280.
- Fast-computer or laptop: You can get your child any of the Apple computers as they are fast and easy to use.
Note: with these devices at hand, your children can develop cutting-edge skills in electronic music.
Have them perform to an online audience
Performing is a critical element in music education. The culmination of learning music is to give a concert to share the skills that your children have acquired. Performing also makes your children or students develop a sense of pride in showcasing their achievements with an audience. Given that we are living in pandemic times, setting up physical concerts is not possible hence the need to leverage technology to have a virtual concert. You can use a platform such as Zoom to create an event and share the link with people that you want to attend. During the performance, you could have the children dress up to create the mood. Additionally, you could live-stream your performance on platforms such as YouTube for the world to see.
Conclusion
Music is supposed to be fun and there is no better way to teach it to children than with the tips discussed above. Utilizing games and technology will have your students looking forward to your music sessions every time!