PK-12 General Music RI Newsletter
Rhode Island Music Education Association
March 2021
What do you think of Boomwhackers? You know, those multicolored plastic tubes that seem to come prefabricated with a special magnet that attracts the heads of elementary school students. While they can be viewed as the antithesis of a “proper” musical instrument, I happen to think they’re a versatile, and often overlooked, tool in any music teacher’s arsenal.
Boomwhackers were created by Craig Ramsell and first produced in 1995. Rasmell, a finance manager and graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, observed the pitch variation of cut cardboard tubes destined for the recycling bin. A long time lover of music, he and his wife began producing the tubes and would eventually find notoriety in music classrooms around the world. [1] [2]
Throughout this Covid season, I have heard from several teachers regarding their rediscovery of Boomwhackers. They are easily transported from classroom to classroom and can be quickly sanitized after each use. With singing and recorder playing out of the equation for most, Boomwhackers have been an attractive option for making music in a limited environment. So after you’ve fished them out of storage and dusted them off, what options do you have for making some whacky music?
The most pragmatic use for Boomwhackers lies in the broad category of “classroom percussion.” The variety of colors and sizes instantly attracts most students, so student buy-in is already swinging in your favor. Boomwhackers are really good at keeping a steady beat and playing simple rhythms, allowing those with limited gross motor abilities to find easy success. So after a brief warm up identifying the steady beat in the repertoire selection and/or working through the rhythm of the day, you’re ready to start boomin’ and whackin’, right?
Because the tubes are pitched, there are some inherent issues in accompanying an entire song with the same tube(s). Most songs utilize, at least, the I and V chords. This necessitates the need for two autonomous groups that can follow the chord changes while maintaining the designated rhythm with a steady beat. This is an acceptable challenge for middle school and upper elementary, but an alienating ordeal (at first) for the age range that is most drawn to the tubes in the first place! While this challenge is possible, it takes some practice to work up to. Those 1st graders want to start whackin’ now!
A work around for this issue is to find songs that use only one chord. There are a few folk selections that spring to mind, like “Frere Jacques,” “John the Rabbit” and “Row, Row Your Boat” that stick to the I chord. There are also a handful of songs that technically use I and V, but powering through on the tonic shouldn’t raise too many eyebrows. “The Farmer In the Dell,” “Hot Cross Buns,” “The Noble Duke of York” and “Bought Me A Cat” can all be accompanied with a single set of tubes, throughout, keeping the steady beat or a rhythmic ostinato.
Looking at the songs mentioned above, my focus immediately migrates to lower elementary grade levels. If you are starting Boomwhackers with older groups, these titles may not be appealing to the sophisticated tastes of say, a 5th grader. In these situations, I tend to turn to the dark side…...pop music! (just kidding about “the dark side,” sort of). Because of the repetitive nature of pop music, many songs can be accompanied by using just one chord. As with some folk songs, there are some moments where, technically, the notes create a dissonance, but it’s usually over with quickly and most students won’t notice. Some of my favorites include “Coconut” by Harry Nillson (C major), “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys (Emin) and “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone (G major). If you limit your tubes to only roots and 5ths, this list gets far more expansive as fewer notes work better over varied chord changes.
The exploratory phase of your Boomwhacker journey is an important one. As students get over the novelty of the colors and limitless options for striking the tubes, they will recognize their musical appeal. Ideally, they also get used to the physical act of playing and will improve their steady beat and rhythm reading skills in the process. Eventually, you will be ready to tackle two groups playing different tubes at designated times.
Veering into two part playing is exciting! Personally, I try to turn most of my elementary music activities into some sort of game. “Follow the conductor” is fun for everyone, cueing groups of players to start and stop, copying the pattern you present to them (try extending this to an elimination game where you try and catch players not stopping on cue). These skills seque naturally into “pass the pattern,” tasking pitch groups of tubes to play a rhythm pattern in a predetermined sequence. Once your students get the hang of this, provide groups with I, IV and V chords. Now you can navigate hundreds of pop songs, and improve ear training at the same time. The Kingsem’s 1963 classic “Louie Louie” is a fun one to experiment with I, IV and V(7)!
Each of these activities incorporates following notation on some level. Reading music for Boomwhackers can be scaled to just about any skill/age group. Color coding provides the option of iconic notation which is very useful for younger grades. If you’re hesitant to pass over all those Good Boys shoving Deserving Fudge into their FACEs, the National Core Arts Standards advocate the use of iconic notation all the way through grade 4 (Pr4.2).
So far, I have focussed on Boomwhackers as rhythmic percussion instruments. If you’ve managed to get your students playing in one or more alternating chordal groups, you may be ready to try using them to play melody! This is a little more taxing on the students, who are now wholly responsible for playing a single note and making it fit rhythmically into a larger melodic sequence. Many teachers equate this to a handbell choir, which seems like a reasonable comparison. I have never had the experience of directing or playing in a handbell choir, so here’s my thinking.
Like most skills in music, it makes sense to start small. Guide students in reading two note melodies. Cueing individual tubes to play at the right time will feel similar to previous group activities. A potential setback for this type of playing is lack of instruments. I have never had more than 3 tubes of the same pitch, which limits how many students get to simultaneously play a 2 note melody. In this situation, the actual chance to play the tubes becomes a bit of a dangling carrot and giving students additional practice tracking the notation while waiting for their turn is never a wasted opportunity.
If you’re scratching your head as to what kind of melodies utilize only two or three pitches, look no further than some of your favorite solfege staples. Singing classic melodies like “Rain, Rain Go Away” or “Apple Tree” can reinforce solfege singing, give the students not playing tubes something to do (hand signs with singing) and, depending on the grade level, offer familiar melodies that students will know. Plus, Boomwhackers include the solfa words right on the tubes (C = Do), making this connection conveniently easy. All these factors boil down to improved student outcomes.
I’ve been exploring ways to take the solfege based activities to even further reaches by, once again, incorporating pop music. My thought process started with the question “what kind of melodic accompaniment could be used to accompany a pop or rock song that would support simple solfege, barred instruments and/or boomwhackers?” My first answer was “it would help if the song was in C major. That way Sol = G and Mi = E, two pitches available on the xylophone and boomwhackers that even kindergarten students could play.”
Then I found this very helpful website: https://www.songkeyfinder.com/songs-in-key/c-major
After scouring the C major list for (1) songs I knew and liked, (2) songs that were appropriate and (3) songs that were fairly repetitive, I found loads of options! For example, “Can’t Feel My Face” by the Weeknd fits my criteria. A 4 bar melodic ostinato with just sol and mi that works over the entire song might look like:
After singing through this with hand signs (or playing on recorder or xylophone!), transfer the pattern to Boomwhackers:
There you have it, a three note melodic ostinato that will accompany a pop song that, presumably, many of the students will enjoy listening to!
Another option for stretching melodic skills is using YouTube play along videos. There are TONS of “follow the bouncing ball” style videos that use boomwhackers to play a familiar melody. While you’re surfing YouTube, search up “Harvard THUD Boomwhackers.” This percussion ensemble (The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers) has some pretty wild arrangements of pop and rock music using Boomwhackers and will surely captivate the imaginations of your students and motivate them in their own Boomwhacking pursuits.
When you’ve had your fill of accompanying songs and tapping out simple melodies, turn the tables and have students compose their own songs! I like to give groups a short rhythm pattern, as well as a few select tubes, and have them create their own compositions. Assign a pitch to each note in the rhythm and practice until you’ve got it (after a healthy dose of preparatory activities to learn the rhythm). You’ll likely be amazed at the variance you will get, even if each group starts with the same rhythm and pitch set.
For all you distance learners out there, there are options for you as well. Many websites have virtual Boomwhackers that students can play right from their Chromebooks. Music K8’s sound like real tubes (https://www.musick8.com/boomwhackers/playboomwhackers.php?bwswitch=true), but require clicking with the mouse, which limits the accuracy of virtual playing. Many sites, however, have virtual xylophones that utilize the typing keyboard. While the sound is not authentic to Boomwhackers, the pitches and colors are compatible, so students should have a similar experience (https://playxylo.com/?colors=boomwhacker). I suspect there are countless other websites out there that have the same end in mind. And even if you’re not distance learning, perhaps virtual Boomwhackers will provide a fun music making opportunity for the next asynchronous snow day!
I hope this article has given you a few ideas on how you can start incorporating Boomwhackers into your general music lessons. This is really just the tip of the iceberg and the tubes can be used to realize complex arrangements that even high school players would enjoy, as evident when looking at THUD. On the surface, these colorful tubes surely seem like a fun novelty to amuse second graders. Lying in wait, however, is a musical tool and a vehicle for music literacy!
Questions or comments? I would love to hear from you: sjohnsonbass@yahoo.com
Shameless plugs:
TPT:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mr-J-Music
YouTube:
http://tinyurl.com/mrjohnsonvideos
Musical Analysis Blog:
[1] https://boomwhackers.com/pages/about-boomwhackers
[2] https://www.westmusic.com/b/boomwhackers/
(Image of Boomwhackers from Wikimedia Commons.)
Important dates...
General Music Coffee Hours...
Tuesday, April 27, 6:00 PM: Topic tailored to high school level general music.
May: TBA
1-hour Professional Learning Units certificate will be offered.
RIMEA Spring All-Member Meeting
Wednesday, Jun 9, 2021, 07:00 PM
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Educator Spotlight....
Melena Schug – Winsor Elementary School/Old County Road Elementary School
What a year to be a first year teacher! After graduating from the University of Rhode Island in Spring 2019 with a Bachelors of Music in Education and a Minor Studies in History, I chose to further my education by moving to Cork, Ireland and pursuing a Masters in Music and Cultural History. Being immersed in Irish Music while living in Cork was wonderful. I was fortunate enough to take an introductory course in Sean-nós song, the traditional style of singing passed down aurally. Sean-nós, like much of Irish traditional music, is learned entirely by ear and stylized through ornamentation. There is no sheet music; musicality is celebrated and passed on through making music! Our tutor, the heavily awarded Máire Ní Chéileachair, took time in lessons to discuss the uniqueness of Sean-nós singing. I particularly latched on to her saying that the singing is very personal to each singer, and not for the purpose of wowing listeners. This is something I have decided to incorporate into my musical pedagogy. My goal is to create an understanding and acceptance that our voices are incredibly personal instruments, and through that message allow my students to realize that their voices and songs are important no matter what the circumstance.
I am so excited to be teaching general music at both Winsor Elementary School and Old County Road Elementary School in Smithfield. It goes without saying that beginning my teaching career during the Covid-19 pandemic has been extremely challenging and at times frustrating. Nevertheless, my students’ love of music class has thankfully stayed with them through all the changes. Their smiling eyes above the masks help me imagine the future of our music classroom. One where we can return to singing, dancing, and playing as many instruments as we can!
Local offering...
Upcoming area workshops...
Dalcroze USA
Sunday, Mar 28, 2021, 10:00 AM
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Back to "Normal"" Transitioning Back into the Classroom
Saturday, Apr 10, 2021, 10:00 AM
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Feierabend Association for Music Education
Saturday, Apr 10, 2021, 12:00 AM
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Kodály Music Institute (Boston)
Monday, Jul 5, 2021, 12:00 AM
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PK-12 General Music RI
General Music Council Mission: The establishment and mission of the RIMEA General Music Council is to strengthen general music education in Rhode Island by…
Advocating for the value of building a strong foundation in students in pre-K through 12th grades.
Connecting general music teachers to resources and each other, fostering a network of support.
Promoting cultural diversity, inclusion, and engagement in music and our general music community.
Celebrating general music teachers and raising the quality of music instruction.
Email: cputka@rimea.org
Website: www.rimea.org/gm/
Location: 667 Waterman Avenue, East Providence, RI, USA
Phone: 401-248-7080
Twitter: @RIMEAorg