[Life], it's like a song. Now, I can hold a note for a long time. - Actually, I can hold a note forever. - But eventually, that's just noise. It's the change we're listening for. The note coming after and the one after that. That's what makes it music.
-Joss Whedon
What does it mean to be tuneful, beatful and artful?
Music is a fundamental part of who we are as humans, and significantly shapes a society's culture and values. Tuneful people can sing and improvise vocally in tune. If you are tuneful you will be able to sing happy birthday for your child. Beatful people can keep and move on the beat, as well as group beats in twos and threes. If you are beatful you will be able to dance on the beat at your wedding. Artful people can perform with expression, appreciate and be moved by many types of music. If you are artful you can sing and perform with expression and appreciate music that evokes an emotional response, including but not limited to classical music.When a person can possesses all of these skills they can easily function as a musical member of society.
But, How do we get there?
Dr. John M. Feierabend has created a curriculum First Steps In Music to specifically work on each of these skills in an 8 step "workout":
Pitch and Vocal Exploration- these sliding sound warm-ups may sound silly, but are working muscles of the voice called the head voice (the third range of the human voice used for the highest notes in a person's range) that are essential for singing in tune.
Song Fragments- Echo and call and response songs give the child the opportunity to sing short phrases or fragments alone. In echo songs the child sings exactly what is heard, and call and response songs have separate responses from the leader. For example:
Leader: Oh John the rabbit
Child: oh yes
Simple Songs- have a small range and are short and easy to remember. Children can easily sing its entirety after a few attempts.
Ariosos- tunes are created spontaneously using a variety of pitches.
Movement Exploration- serve as movement warm-ups. Each activity corresponds to the movement themes of Rudolf Laban to develop coordination and expressive sensitivity.
Movement for Form and Expression- These activities are designed to help children experience the expressive qualities in music through movement in a variety of songs, rhymes, and classical music.
Beat Motion Activities- serve to help children find, establish and maintain a steady beat using rhymes, songs and eventually dances.
Song Tales- These songs are the literature of music they are sung for children not by children. You read to a child so that they learn how interesting books can be, song tales are sung so children can learn how interesting music can be.