COPPERAS COVE, TX (November 15, 2022)— Learning music can help a child to improve his/her creative skills. If children learn an instrument, they can build unique tunes and give their creativity skills a boost. House Creek Elementary students are learning the timbre of instruments and how to play them independently.
Music Teacher Angela Simecek had students sing songs using high and low voices. They also listened to different voices making high and low sounds. Students then played instruments along with sounds in the book, The Little Old Lady Who was not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams.
“Cues in the story help students listen and play at the right time. The sounds in the story also gave students clues about playing their instrument,” Simecek said. “For example, in the story, the shirt goes ‘shake, shake.’ So, this is a clue that the maracas should play because they are shaking instruments. Students were also able to learn about six different instruments and choose the one that they wanted to play. The book was a cumulative story, so each student got to play multiple times as they were added into the story.”
The lesson not only teaches music skills but reinforces students’ ability to listen, follow instruction, and maintain focus.
“If students are not paying attention, they may miss their turn to play their instruments. They have to concentrate to play their instrument correctly. Students have to continue paying attention as their part repeats,” Simecek said.
Students played six different instruments with the triangle being one of the most challenging.
“It moves if the students move, and students have to concentrate to strike it,” Simecek said. “Students enjoy being able to select their own instruments as it makes them more engaged to choose instruments they are interested in.”
Students clearly had their favorite instruments and favorite parts of the story chosen by the end of the lesson.
“I liked it when the drums played the pumpkin part,” said kindergartner Kayla Pryor.
“I liked when the hat shaked and we banged the triangle,” said kindergartener Elainah Pelebo.
“I liked how the shirt went shake, shake and we did the maracas,” said kindergartener Olivia Wisdom.
Simecek said students were concentrating so hard to listen for when to play their instruments that they sometimes forgot the names of their instruments or even how to play them despite having been introduced to them in a previous lesson.
“It is rewarding to see students being able to play classroom instruments independently,” Simecek said. “It is challenging for them to keep them quiet until it is their turn to play.”
Despite music programs being cut from public schools nationwide due to lack of funding, CCISD maintains music programs on all of its traditional school campuses.
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