Then once the video is over, I have an attentive class ready to get started. This avoids that whole awkward transition time right after a break.Īt the very beginning, I like using these videos because it goes through one note at a time and adds to what they know.Īnother great video tool when they are just starting out is rhythm play along videos. They quietly trickle in, get their recorders and start to play with everyone else. This gets them excited to try and get to class as soon as possible because they know 2 minutes after the bell (or 5 in winter because I’m in Canada) there is a play-along video that is going to start. I usually use them for classes right after transitions like my recorder classes that I see right after recess. Then they would all sing “and a happy new year!” or for us in French “et une très bonne année!”. They had specific rhythms to follow so they just had to choose what notes they wanted to put where in between. Group 1 had to start and end on G, group 2 had to start and end on A, and group 3 had to start and end on B. They would each have 2 measures to write. This song lends itself perfectly to BAG recorder composition!Īfter the students learned the lyrics, I told them they would be getting into 3 groups to create a very small guided composition. This year for our Christmas concert, one of my grade 3 classes played We Wish You a Merry Christmas. This is an excellent way for them to practice performing, and for other students to practice concert etiquette in a way that only takes a couple of minutes. Once they have found 4 cards and have copied them it is time to start playing their composition! I like to give them the chance to play their song (or part of it) once centers are cleaned up for the day. How to play: Students will go around finding recorder cards with the notes BAG on them, and then copy what they see on their composition page. Write the Room is another great game for your recorder students, and the best thing is… I like to especially use this game to practice the double-tonguing technique with tik-a-tik-a. It is also an excellent way for students to really focus on working on their new rhythms, and recorder tone. Once students understand this game, it is something you can do as a music center. If the teacher played the poison rhythm, whoever repeated that would be out. Then the teacher will say what note we are using for this round, the teacher will play a card, and the students will repeat it on their recorders. How to play: Students have rhythm cards on the board and the class will choose one to be the poison rhythm card. Group Music Class BAG Games Poison Rhythms with recorders are always a big hit! French resources can be so hard to find, so I started making my own. I do have a French BAG recorder book on my tpt which only uses BAG songs in French. Merrily we roll along (or Mary had a little lamb) Sometimes I like to give them the melody and they work in groups to try and play name that tune! We keep the songs pretty traditional and mostly use for decoding or sight reading them. I like to use the time they are on BAG to really focus on skills like breath control, double-tonguing, and mastering rhythms. Hot Crossed Buns is usually the go-to when you start teaching how to play easy recorder songs, but here are other ones I’ve done. If I have another combined class like this I would definitely be using the G E method to start them off before transitioning to the BAG recorder songs. They were studying So Mi songs anyways so this was definitely a better transition for my grade 2s to start recorder at the beginning of the year. This year I decided to try G and E after coming back from maternity leave (plus dealing with the pandemic slide before that), on top of that I had a grade ⅔ combined class and at first, I wasn’t sure if my grade 2s were ready for recorder. Personally I’ve always used the BAG method and it’s what makes the most sense for the songs and resources I use in my class. Some teachers like using G,E first then adding the A. Here are some ways that I like to mix it up with these three notes. And it absolutely can be! Recorder BAG songs are a staple in starting out your students on their first wind instrument journey! BAG recorder songs for music teachers though can get a little dull. If you’re a new music teacher you may be wondering ‘is recorder easy to learn?’.
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