This week and last week in fifth grade music we began to delve into composition, day one! You might think fifth graders might not be prepared to compose anything if they haven't had a great deal of experience with music, however, that is not the case. We are composing rhythm compositions, not melodic compositions. Melody will come later, rhythm can come first. It is complicated enough. We begin by practicing how a quarter note will be counted, then a half note, and a dotted half and a whole note. We practice a quarter rest, a half rest and a whole rest. We discuss what all these are worth, and we also count double eighth notes.
From there, we create a sixteen measure composition together as a class. Sixteen measures of rhythm, combining all the different types of notes that we know, in four/four time. All of the students will contribute their ideas to this first composition, and then we will learn how to play it. We practice it together and perform it together a few times.
After this, students go off on their own, and I am by them to help them when and if they need it, and they create their own sixteen measure composition, all on their own. When they are completed with it, they check it with me, and I can fix whatever is not quite right. After the first check in, they then practice the piece by themselves until they think they are ready. It is funny, because students always believe they are ready after practicing a piece two or three times. They come to me, and do not keep a steady tempo, or they clap the eighth notes the same way they are clapping the quarter notes, so I send them back with feedback on how to count better.
The final day of the week they perform their pieces for me and the class, and it is heartwarming to see and to hear. They have come a long way in a few days with their compositions, and some of them have also learned each other's compositions, and have learned even how to play their compositions together as a duo, two separate pieces in rhythm, in time. For me, a wonderful way to get to know the students quickly, and a wonderful way to get them to play music for each other right away! I look forward to more performances tomorrow and Friday! Have a great week!.
