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The Power of Music Unit 2: Violin Basics

Transcript VOICEOVER: At Glacier Valley Elementary in Juneau, Alaska, Lorrie Heagy started a Sistema-inspired program to provide all kindergarten and first-grade students with an amazing opportunity — to play violin. She builds a carefully scaffolded arc of learning that takes them from holding a paper violin to developing the skills necessary to play a real instrument in an ensemble. From joyful songs that teach how to hold the violin to finger play that strengthens finger and arm muscles, Lorrie adapts a variety of pedagogical strategies in service of the Sistema mission. JUNEAU ALASKA MUSIC MATTERS (JAMM), GLACIER VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, JUNEAU, AK TWO STUDENTS (singing “Parts of the Violin” to “Lightly Row”): This is my violin. This is where I put my chin. KINDERGARTEN PAPER VIOLIN CLASS LORRIE HEAGY, KAYE PETERS, AND STUDENTS (singing): E A D G are the four strings, and the F holes let them ring. Here’s the front and here’s the back. If I drop it, it might crack. So I hold it close beside me. Rest position you now see. LORRIE HEAGY, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, JUNEAU ALASKA MUSIC MATTERS (JAMM), GLACIER VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, JUNEAU, AK: Three years ago, I became one of the first Sistema fellows, one of the first ten that had an opportunity to go down to Venezuela and see El Sistema in action. And, the one thing that I brought back that has really changed the way I approach music is: start early. Let’s do our numbers and show what each step looks like. Ready? STUDENTS: One, two… LORRIE HEAGY: Who is that? STUDENTS: Three, four, five, six… LORRIE HEAGY: When I was in Venezuela, I saw the paper violin process being modeled in Caracas and the paper violin idea began because the kids didn’t have real violins at the

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time. But since then, it’s actually become part of the process of learning how to take care of the violin, how to learn how to hold it, how to hold the bow, and how to work together as an ensemble. Elizabeth, would you be a teaching assistant? I now dub Elizabeth teaching assistant. Will you promise to continue to be a statue, a super-freeze statue, when we’re holding our violins? ELIZABETH: I will. LORRIE HEAGY: El Sistema is a program and a philosophy that comes from Venezuela. It’s been thirty-five years in practice, where the mission is to use music for social change and for its musicians to be contributing citizens to their community. I now dub you teaching assistant. Will you help people remember what the numbers look like when we sing them and sing them with a beautiful voice? GIRL: I will. LORRIE HEAGY: You are now teaching assistant. So, is this something that could work in the United States? That was exactly what we hoped to find out, being down in Venezuela and coming back to Juneau and jumping right in with kindergartners learning how to play the violin in a very remote part of the United States, with a very different ethnicity and background. We are having the same results. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): Back and forth like a choo-choo train… LORRIE HEAGY: One of the goals coming back from my fellowship and starting an El Sistema-inspired program called JAMM — Juneau Alaska Music Matters — was to bring music to all kids and make it accessible and equitable for those students who might not be able to afford it. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): Pinkie push-ups One, two, three…

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LORRIE HEAGY: Many of the El Sistema-inspired programs happen after school, but I wanted to make sure that music stays in our schools, because that’s where the kids are. The first year we focused just on kindergartners and all sixty of them received violin instruction for ninety minutes as part of their school week. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): Down up, down up… ERIK HOLMGREN, FORMER DIRECTOR, SISTEMA FELLOW PROGRAM, NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY: Every El Sistema-inspired program is built to meet a specific community need. In Juneau, Alaska, Lorrie Heagy has built her program in school. Most schools don’t have the opportunity for two or three hours of music-making a day. So Lorrie’s partnered with her colleague to create more opportunities for them to learn by making music. KAYE PETERS, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, GLACIER VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JUNEAU, AK: Three years ago, I wouldn’t have thought the things that we’re seeing now are possible. What we’re doing here in the music classroom carries over into our classroom. It’s incredible. The children’s listening skills are amazing. They are more focused. They’re on task. In our reading program, the children really have to focus on listening for those letters and sounds and they are doing an amazing job, and I believe that it that has to do with their tuning into the sounds while they’re playing the violin. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): Twinkle twinkle little starlight… LORRIE HEAGY: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is an example [of] how we use the voice first before they play anything. One of the reasons why we wanted to include instrumental music as part of the kindergarten curriculum is because of all the music research that shows it rewires the brain and prepares kids for school. It develops focus, discipline, perseverance, impulse control, and teamwork. ERIK HOLMGREN: Her program is talked about as an academic intervention. The goal isn’t to create great musicians, it’s to create great students who can learn anything and achieve more throughout their educational career. STUDENTS (singing): Twinkle twinkle little starlight…

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ERIK HOLMGREN: Lorrie’s students are performing higher than the district average in math tests and reading tests. They’re becoming music learners and a visible and audible part of community life in Juneau. JUDITH HILL BOSE, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES, LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC OF BARD COLLEGE: While it’s pretty common for Suzuki students who are playing stringed instruments to start when they’re very young — sometimes three, four, five years old — when we talk about instrumental study in most public schools in the U.S., students come to their instruments usually much later. The idea of placing a violin in the hands of our very youngest learners, our kindergarteners and our preschoolers, and having them begin to think of themselves from the very beginning as authentic members of an orchestral ensemble. That’s something that’s very uniquely a Sistema idea. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): Funga Alafia Ashe, Ashe Funga Alafia Ashe, Ashe… JoANN STEININGER, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, GLACIER VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, JUNEAU, AK: I myself never had an opportunity to have music lessons. Don’t know much music, and so, it feels like empowering for myself. So, if it feels empowering for me as an adult, it definitely is empowering for the students. I see, in the parents, this, they walk in and they see their kids doing things that I think they never thought they’d be able to give their children. LORRIE HEAGY, JoANN STEININGER, AND STUDENTS (singing “The Tree Song”): This is my trunk, I’m a tall, tall tree In the springtime the blossoms grow on me They open They open… LORRIE HEAGY: “The Tree Song” comes from the New England Dancing Masters series. And, we use that song, because of the imagery that it gives kids, and the fact that they have to watch the conductor — the music teacher — to know when to open their blossoms or when to drop the scarf. And, then, for them to stay in position, frozen, while that scarf floats down to the floor. They just want to pick it up. It’s a way to build discipline and impulse control.

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LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): This is my trunk, I’m a tall, tall tree In the winter the snowflakes fall on me Brrrr! Brrrr! LORRIE HEAGY: I’ve done a lot of reading on brain research, because I see that students get very excited, motivated, engaged when they’re doing music and found that there’s a lot of parallels between what gets the brain’s attention and what the arts have. In Teaching with the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen, he wrote that there are five things that get and keep the brain’s attention. And, if you have these five things you will most likely keep a student’s attention. The five things are: movement, emotion, relevance, novelty, and pattern or familiarity. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): They open. LORRIE HEAGY: Freeze. Any time I’m working on a lesson, I try to make sure I have those five principles as part of the lesson and it works. Story, as I’ve discovered, is a great teaching strategy and tool because it embodies all five. LORRIE HEAGY, JoANN STEININGER, AND STUDENTS (singing “Five Little Monkeys”): Five little monkeys swinging from a tree Teasing Mr. Alligator Can’t catch me Along comes Mr. Alligator quiet as can be And snap that monkey right out of the tree… LORRIE HEAGY: At Glacier Valley, we’re really fortunate that the music teacher teams with the kindergarten teachers. And so, when we first started our violin program, the kindergarten teachers had an opportunity to actually play a real one. And they immediately said, “We have to do a lot of upper arm strength for these little kindergartners to be able to hold a violin.” And, so, they suggested starting with some finger plays that are held above their head. “Five Little Monkeys” is usually sung down here, but now, with the intent of helping our kindergartners build their upper-arm strength, we just had them sing them way up high above their head. And then, because we wanted them to begin to learn watching the conductor and not knowing how fast or when it’s going to happen, we changed that last part to random beats. It used to be sung, you know, “And snap, snap, snap,” but I as a

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music teacher wanted the kindergartners to start looking at me and not know when I’m going to direct them. So, by doing sort of a random snap and freeze, it really helps them build their focus and the fact that they are learning to see non-verbal signals, because with the conductor most everything is done non-verbally. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): And… snap Snap Snap Snap Snap Missed me, missed me Now you gotta kiss me! LORRIE HEAGY: I use story to help teach children something that might seem a bit too technical, abstract, and difficult for them to connect to, and bow-hold is one of them. So we have our alligator that holds tight to our violin. But now, we’re going to have this hand be a fox. I want to tell you about this fox. Do you know that he has ten babies? Ten kits? Can you say kits? STUDENTS: Kits. LORRIE HEAGY: He has ten kits that he has to feed. And so, when he travels to the town to find some food, we have to make sure that his mouth is nice and big. So, what I want you to do is Mrs. Sigler is going to take a pen to help us know exactly where to help his jaw be nice, wide, and open. And, do you notice how my thumb has this bump? How his jaw is jutting out? Mr. Xia, our Suzuki teacher, came in and he said, “Okay, we’re going to teach bow hold and Lorrie, I want you to make sure their thumb is placed between these two joints and it’s really critical that this part of their thumb is jutting out and then, I want you to have them do this twenty times, over and over and over again.” How do you keep them motivated, engaged enough to do this over and over again, without their parents prodding them to practice? Story is the answer. Let’s get your alligator hand, the one that’s holding the violin. Show me your pointer…beautiful. So let’s look what he’s going to do when he goes, “Town-o!” Look what we made. What letter is that? So when I ask the kids, can we help Mr. Fox make sure he can have enough food to bring back to his family? You bet they’re going to focus on this aspect of their fox. It’s not a bow hold and I don’t really reference it as a bow hold. It’s Mr. Fox.

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LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing “The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night”): The fox went out on a chilly night He prayed to the moon to give him light He’d many miles to go that night Before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o, He’d many miles to go that night Before he reached the town-o. LORRIE HEAGY: What did the little ones chew on? Who can give a raise of a hand and…oh, I’m gonna take a quiet hand. Leon, what did the little ones chew on? LEON: On the bones-o. LORRIE HEAGY: On the bones-o. Put your fox behind your back. Put your bone behind your back. Okay. Now we’re gonna practice. Your family doesn’t know you have these. Are you ready for the trick? Say, “Hey, Mom or Dad.” STUDENTS: Hey, Mom or Dad. LORRIE HEAGY: Guess what? STUDENTS: Guess what? LORRIE HEAGY: I have a friend! STUDENTS: I have a friend! LORRIE HEAGY: Ready? Here we go. Mr. Fox! STUDENTS: Mr. Fox. LORRIE HEAGY: Say hello, Mr. Fox.

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STUDENTS: Hello, Mr. Fox. LORRIE HEAGY: Mr. Fox is very talented. STUDENTS: Mr. Fox is very talented. LORRIE HEAGY: Here’s your bone. STUDENTS: Here’s your bone. LORRIE HEAGY: Roll over, Mr. Fox. STUDENTS: Roll over, Mr. Fox. LORRIE HEAGY: Open your mouth. STUDENTS: Open your mouth. LORRIE HEAGY: Here’s your bone. STUDENTS: Here’s your bone. LORRIE HEAGY: Watch. No, here’s your bone, Mr. Fox. STUDENTS: Here’s your bone, Mr. Fox. LORRIE HEAGY: They have an emotional connection, it’s relevant. I mean, kids love animals. And there’s a song to it. So that they can go home, they can teach their parents, and they can show what Mr. Fox can do. Who can raise their hand and tell me how many times we should munch? Mary? MARY: Two.

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LORRIE HEAGY: Two. Here we go. (singing) One, two. (speaking) Who has another one? Dylan. DYLAN: Five. LORRIE HEAGY: Five. Here we go. (singing) One, two, three, four, five. And then, once he has his bone, say, “Roll over, Mr. Fox.” KIDS: Roll over Mr. Fox. LORRIE HEAGY: Does he still have his bumpy thumb? Say, “Behave, Mr. Fox.” Oh! He did behave. Wow, that was great, Kahleil, because he wasn’t behaving and then you helped him. Take a bow. FIRST GRADE VIOLIN CLASS Ready position. STUDENTS: Ready position. (Singing) One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. LORRIE HEAGY: In first grade, before they start playing, we sing this — the D scale — which is the key that they most often play in, so that we can help them develop their ear. Elbow up and forward. STUDENTS: Elbow up and forward. LORRIE HEAGY: The numbers that we use for getting the students prepared for holding their violin is also a way to instill the sense of being a member of an orchestra, and that we do things a certain way and that there’s a discipline to that. Down bow. Eyes on the music. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”): Two, one, D, one, two, two, two…

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LORRIE HEAGY: For “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” even when they’re playing, bowing and fingering, you’ll see some of the kids singing the numbers because, if they can sing it, see it, and do it, they’re having multiple access points to learning that piece, because they’re using all of their senses. LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing): Two, one, D, D. LORRIE HEAGY: The hardest part of this piece, take a look. If we were to memorize this, we have, let’s count how many measures we have. Ready? STUDENTS: One, two, three… LORRIE HEAGY: We put the music up on the board so that it’s very easy for us to see who is scanning and reading the music. And I’ll say to them, “Musicians are very smart. They see these lines and lines of music, but they’re instantly looking for patterns to break it down so that it’s something accessible to them.” And they’ll find out that if they can learn four of those measures, they already know the whole piece. Remember we talked about musicians are pattern seekers. They’re always looking for patterns. Right? So Cecilia, can you tell us what two measures are exactly the same? CECILIA: Two and six. LORRIE HEAGY: Yes, two and six. What are you going to play on two and six? CECILIA: Two… LORRIE HEAGY AND CECILIA: Two, two. LORRIE HEAGY: Exactly. Kaden, can you tell us which two measures are similar? KADEN: Three and seven. LORRIE HEAGY: Three and seven. And can you tell us which beat? Right? We have one, two, three. One, two, three. Which one is different?

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KADEN: Seven. LORRIE HEAGY: Seven is different but do you know which beat? Is this the same? STUDENTS: Yes. LORRIE HEAGY: Is this the same? STUDENTS: Yes. LORRIE HEAGY: Is this the same? STUDENTS: No. LORRIE HEAGY: No. So beat three is different. We found out that the snag in that piece is because one of the measures is similar, and it’s off by one note. And that’s where they kept making the mistake. So we focused on that one measure. STUDENT: So, like, four and eight are similar because they almost have the same notes but two, A, A and one, D, D. LORRIE HEAGY: Wow, so you noticed a pattern that this is open… STUDENT: A. LORRIE HEAGY: And this is open…. STUDENT: D. LORRIE HEAGY: Wow. Kiss your brain.

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LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”): Two, one, D, one, two, two, two… LORRIE HEAGY: I use levels for a lot of my teaching, because it simplifies the process. I try to make each level accessible. So if they can do level one, then they know that level two should be easy enough for them to accomplish. And oftentimes, our students will say, “Well, how many levels does this piece have?” Because like video games, they want to know what the highest level is and they want to reach it. I’ll say, “I’ll let you know when we get there,” and I’ll just keep making up more levels as they accomplish them. And it’s amazing how far we can get in a class because of their desire to reach the highest level for that piece. We’re ready for level two. Now you’re not going to be able to look at the music so everybody, let’s turn this way. Level two, I will finger it for you, sing it, and then I’m going to slowly take all of those away. Learning an instrument helps them develop their working memory. So, we incorporated in these levels of mastery memorization. It just simplifies the environment so that our class can take place standing as an orchestra rather than having to put stands in place, music and chairs, because you don’t have students fiddling with stands and playing with papers. And so by having them memorize, we show them that that’s a skill that a professional musician needs to do when they’re onstage. And we do it together as a team. All right, now I’m just going to stand here and you have to do it all by yourself. I can’t open my mouth. We’re going to jump levels. I’m not even going to put it on my forearms. How many are able to jump levels, to level four? Meaning, I take away my voice, my mouth, and my body? All right, here we go. Ready? LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”): Two, one, D, one, two, two, two… LORRIE HEAGY: When I ask them to turn around, that is my assessment of do they have it memorized and can they sing it before they put the violin on their shoulder? Because if they’re not singing it correctly, the chances of them knowing whether they’re accurately putting their fingers in the right place, they won’t be able to self-check. So it’s a way for them to be evaluators and assessors of whether they’re placing their fingers in the right place. Here we go.

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LORRIE HEAGY AND STUDENTS (singing and playing to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”): Two, one, D, one, two, two, two, one, one, one, one, two, A, A… Two, one, D, one, two, two, two, one, one, two, one, D, D… LORRIE HEAGY: Rest position. STUDENTS: Rest position. LORRIE HEAGY: Face your leaders. STUDENTS: Face your leaders. STUDENT: Feet together. STUDENTS AND LORRIE HEAGY: Feet together. STUDENT: Hand on violin. STUDENTS AND LORRIE HEAGY: Hand on violin. LORRIE HEAGY: When I use levels, I think it’s really important to celebrate the fact that as a team, they accomplished that level, before we move on to the next one. How you recognize that success as a musician is to take a bow. I like doing that, because we start with silence, they play, and then they wait, and they look, and then we take a bow. And it’s just another opportunity for them to know that the silence is just as important as the sound that they make in music. Should we end with “Boil Them Cabbage Down”? All right. Who can sing and play? Here we go. Who’s my singers? [LORRIE conducting, STUDENTS playing “Boil Them Cabbage Down”] LORRIE HEAGY: “Boil Them Cabbage Down” is a fiddle tune that our students prepare to play at the Alaska Folk Festival in the spring, and they have learned only part one. There’s an A and a B part. And I think in the past, I would have thought, well, we’re not ready. We don’t have both parts ready, so we can’t perform it. But being in

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Venezuela, I noticed how they would make it possible for students to play at whatever level and use that opportunity to teach a skill for ensemble. Super freeze! The second part, they don’t know but they sure can sing it, and they can practice staying frozen in position ready to pick it up when the A part comes back. It also allows Mrs. Barnett, who knows that part, to play it, so that they can hear it accurately at least seven times before they will produce it on their violin. Here we go! [STUDENTS playing “Boil Them Cabbage Down”] LORRIE HEAGY: In Venezuela, one of the things that was very gratifying for me as a teacher was to see that musicians are teachers and teachers are musicians. The musician has to learn all of the skills and techniques before they can begin to be creative. Teachers need to do the same thing. Every child is different. Every day is different. And so, as a teacher, it’s not just about learning the content and learning the skills, it’s about how you play with those and adapt based upon each moment in the classroom. It makes it challenging, but it makes it one of the most exciting professions to be in.