About the author: Jim Burkhardt is a musician and educator in the Philadelphia area specializing in percussion. This is his second semester teaching with ASI. Jim aims to instill the importance of music, and it’s connection to culture and everyday life in his students, as well as expose them to …
About the author: Jim Burkhardt is a musician and educator in the Philadelphia area specializing in percussion. This is his second semester teaching with ASI. Jim aims to instill the importance of music, and it’s connection to culture and everyday life in his students, as well as expose them to …
When did music become a part of education? Music has been an important part of daily life for humans for thousands of years. African tribes have been performing songs and dances for hundreds of years, kept alive through aural tradition rather than notation. African musicians aim to express life, in …
Reading is always more fun if you can sing the book! We had a lot of fun with our “Starry Night” lesson at Fishtown Recreation this semester. The students learned about Van Gogh’s famous painting and made their own interpretations. For the music portion of the class, I did a …
Dancing is a great way to have a high energy and engaging class. Freeze dancing is always fun. Dance to the music, then freeze when the music stops. This encourages the students to listen carefully to the music, becoming aware of different patterns and rhythms in the song. My students …
Who doesn’t love to dance? Not only is it a joyful and fun activity, but it’s also a great way to learn about music! I love showing my students at Fishtown Recreation new music from all over the world. I usually try to give them a little background on where …
Rhythm can be a very abstract concept to grasp, especially for young students. When teaching students new rhythms, mnemonic devices can be very useful. The easier to remember the better, and for young students, that usually means the simpler, the better. A great way to keep things simple is to …
One of the first lessons I like to do with pre-schoolers is teaching about the families of instruments. I try to use instruments that the students likely already know as examples, as well as introducing them to some instruments that they may be new to them. Instruments are divided into …
