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Spring Breeze

50

Category

vocal

Age

14+

Number of participants

10+

Duration

approx. 30 min.

Working method

group work

Musical abilities of the trainers

1  2  3  4 5 6

Equipment and instruments
  • music player / app to play the song
Competences
  • improvisation
  • creativity
  • attention
  • concentration
  • confidence
  • team cohesion
  • inner voice
  • sense of rhythm 

Spring Breeze

An exercise starting from a simple song, which offers a very exciting sound, but requires practice and experience to achieve

AIM

After learning and singing the simple song, this game gives you an opportunity with the sounds of the song, which creates a very interesting atmosphere. If you manage to sound it well, the piece is a lasting experience for everyone who participated in the
process.

Description

1. The first step is to learn the song „Tavaszi szél” so that everyone knows the notes with confidence. This can be done by the leader learning it in advance and the participants learning it from her/him, or by learning the song together with the
recordings.
2. If singing the song at a tempo is already going well, then you can play together by singing it slower and faster.
3. After that, we first divide the participants into two or three groups, and the groups enter the song at different times, essentially like a canon. (This step can even be skipped, but we have found that it is worthwhile to try together before the improvisation so that the song does not play at the same time.)
4. After that, there is only one more step: everyone starts singing the song at different times and at different tempos, but it is important that they start from the same pitch!

When the notes of the song are played together, the notes of the pentatonic scale are heard, which gives it such a special atmosphere.

LYRICS

Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt virágom, virágom.
Minden madár társat választ virágom, virágom.
Hát én immár kit válasszak virágom, virágom.
Te engemet, én tégedet virágom, virágom.

Translation:
Spring wind floods waternmy darling, my darling
Every bird chooses a partner my darling, my darling
Well, who should I choose my darling, my darling?
You choose Me, I choose You my darling, my darling

Sunrise for 7

53

category

instrumental

Age

8+

Number of participants

7

Duration

approx. 20 min.

Working method
  • individual work
  • playing in pairs
  • group work
Musical abilities of the trainers

1  2  3  4  56

Equipment and instruments
  • 7 guitars
Competences
  • concentration
  • attention
  • movement coordination
  • perception
  • cooperation

Sunrise for 7

This activity consists of a conductor-performers activity for 7 guitars. In this activity the facilitator will ask for certain motives (previously assigned) to be done. Each performer has a maximum of 2 notes and the motives are going to be combined to have Bartok’s Sunrise song as a result.

AIM

The aim of the activity is to enable the first approach to the guitar playing. This approach is usually done by doing some technical exercises individually. In our case we are going to do an activity in which a musical piece is divided into simple and feasible motives that can be assigned to different participants. In this way an individual work becomes collective and social, being an activity that goes further than just mechanical practice.

Description

Explanation:

The activity is going to begin with a description of the guitar neck: location of the high and lows etc. and how to perform them.
After that description, the facilitator will explain the activity:
– they will be given a score and they will read it;
– they will put the fingers in the places they are going to use;
– they will practice and ask for help if they need;
– at the end they will do it in order in the big group.

Doubs-Practice:

After the explanation we will give time to clear the doubts and to practise as said before.

Execution:

They will play the piece.

Sharing opinions:

The facilitator will guide a conversation with the participants
about the exercise, found difficulties and the evaluation of the
experience.

COMMENTS FOR FACILITATORS

Convenient to have a good guitar control.
We will observe if any of the participants has difficulties to develop the activity and we will see if the performers play with the correct notes.

Two Guitarists, One Singer, One Team

54

Category

instrumental

Age

8+

Number of participants

multiples of 3

Duration

approx. 30 min.

Working method
  • group work
Musical abilities of the trainers

1  2 3 4 56

Equipment and instruments
  • 3 guitars
Competences
  • improvisation
  • creativity
  • expression
  • confidence
  • attention
  • perception
  • cooperation
  • team cohesion

Two Guitarists, One Singer, One Team

In this activity, we are going to use a guitar by two people to accompany a singer participant.
The idea is to follow the development of the guitar sharing and in this case train the chords making as well. In addition, the singer will improvise some melodies with the help of the accompaniment.

AIM

The aim is to follow the activities of the shared guitar, but in this case, we are also going to be part of a singer. Therefore, the idea is to mix instruments in a way that they can manage more or less the pairs playing style. In this case, we are going to work on
chords. The left-hand player would have the most demanding part of doing the chords. The other hand is less demanding but not simple. They will do a constant rhythm. The other person is going to improvise singing following the chords.
So with this activity we are going to train guitar in a more complex way and a more attractive one: Accompanying a singer’s improvisation.
Also about the vocal part of the activity, we can say that is an opportunity to explore their improvising skills for the singer participants and of course an expression chance.

Description

1. First of all we will do a guitar and singing warming up.
2. After the warming up the facilitator will give the participants the scores of the chords and the rhythms, and will leave some time to practise them and the singer to acquire the harmonics.
3. The activity will continue with the performing part, they will do the accompanied improvisation. They will change roles on the guitar and the improvisator would have two chances to perform.

Chords progressions:
C-A-C-A-F-G7-C
Am-F-Dm-E7-Am
others

Rhythms:
Regular first
Subdivided after
Mixed
Improvised

Guitar in Pairs

55

Category

instrumental

Age

8+

Number of participants

in multiples of 2

Duration

approx. 20 min.

Working method

playing in pairs

Musical abilities of the trainers

1 2 3 4 56

Equipment and instruments
  • guitar
Competences
  • attention
  • dexterity
  • movement coordination
  • cooperation
  • concentration

Guitar in Pairs

In this activity, participants will play guitar in pairs, in the sense
 of sharing one guitar by two people. In this way, social relationships could be improved and a new way of playing
an instrument can be explored.

AIM

The aim of the activity is to begin the guitar “training” in an attractive way that enables isolated training (hands independence). The idea of sharing a guitar by two people has
a complexity itself: you have to be mentally and physically near the couple and this fact can be a handicap for some people. Considering this, we can say that social competences are going to be developed for some people, for others (people that are more social) on the other hand, the activities are going to be possibly a pleasant activity to participate in.
Other aspects to focus on are aspects we can find in every group music activities, such as: sharing a rhythm, waiting the other if it is necessary, etc.

Description

Warm-up

1. easy melody in 1st string first with thumb
2. easy melody i-m
3. melody with some chord notes and thumb
4. melody with some chord notes and t-i-m

Piece

1. If it is possible demonstration of the piece by the facilitator
2. Exploring the positions of the notes to use
3. Exploring the rhythm
4. Explanation of what they are going to do:
5. First the simple melody and change the roles
6. After add the chords at the original notes if it is possible.

Comments for facilitators

Try to choose partners with affinity between them, if the activity goes well change the couples.
Ensure that they know where and what to play.

Sound Reproduction

59

Category

vocal

Age

8+

Number of participants

10+

Duration

approx. 30 min.

Working method

group work

Musical abilities of the trainers

1  2  3  4 5 6

EQUIPMENT AND INSTRUMENTS
  • music player / app to play the sound
    effects
  • any sound generating device

Competences
  • improvisation
  • creativity
  • expression
  • confidence
  • attention
  • perception
  • cooperation
  • team cohesion

Sound Reproduction

The world around us is full of different sound effects, which we not only have to recognize, but sometimes also have to imitate, which in certain cases results in extremely humorous situations. The game is based on the systematic application and development of voice support.

AIM

In addition to observation and imitation, and the creative use of different sound production methods, it also serves to develop mutual attention, comparison, and self-evaluation.

Description

The members of the group sit in a circle and the animator distributes the piece of paper to everyone, and they each write a sound effect that comes to their mind (you can write more). This can be any effect, whether natural or artificial or human voice, except singing or other musical sounds.

Then, as in the „Activity” game, the participants draw a card and what they read there must be imitated with their own voice, which the others must recognize. It can be played as a team competition, but it can also be played as a scoring competition.
The game can be varied by asking for sound effects thematically: e.g. animal sounds, machine sounds, etc.

At the end of the game, they can listen to a piece of symphonic
music together, which is about voice imitation: e.g. Beethoven: VI.
Symphony – bird sounds; Rossini: Cat Duet, Honegger: Pacific 231;
The Typewriter