In 2008 I made the decision that it may be time to
begin a guitar program as part of general music instruction at my school. The popularity of the instrument in music
programs was growing, there was a great deal of interest because of the
guitar’s traditional connection to popular music, and I felt my fifth graders
who were reaching the usual “too cool for school” point could use a little
motivation. I must also add that living
on the Texas/Mexico border was a key motivator for me to begin this
program. The mariachi tradition is rich
here and given the instrument’s prominent place in these groups (along with its
cousins the guitarrón and the vihuela) made the decision to start teaching it
in elementary school a no-brainer. Our
middle schools and high schools have award-winning mariachi and conjunto
programs, and it is, after all, our duty as elementary music specialists to
prepare our students for what lies ahead once they leave our instruction.
As a keyboardist/vocalist/saxophone player, the
guitar was always the “mystery instrument” for me. The piano has always made sense to me
visually and since that was my first instrument at the age of 10 it was easy to
transfer my piano knowledge to other instruments – including my voice. But the guitar was just “weird.” I marveled at those who could play it and
play it well and knew that picking one up to play would be a challenge due to
the fact that it was unlike any other instrument with which I was
familiar. But…as we are to instill that
“life-long learner” attitude in our students, I put my fears aside and decided
to model this ideal and learn the guitar for myself. After all, I certainly didn’t want to
embarrass myself in front of a “real” guitar teacher because I was an accomplished
musician (Old dog, new trick? Hey, I
have my pride!), so I took the guitar to the woodshed as it were, and got to
it.
I prepared by getting a decent, inexpensive, steel
string guitar for myself along with a “learn-to-play-guitar” method book that came
with a play-along CD. It was rough
going, but I gave myself a few months before the actual start of the 2008-2009
school year. Besides, when it comes to
teaching elementary students, you really only need to stay one or two lessons
ahead of your students, right?
Preparing
for the "Big Buy"
I knew if I was going to do this, I was going to go
at it all the way – I wasn’t about to have six guitars with four students
sharing each one – especially in fifth grade.
This being my mission, my next step was to consolidate my budget
accounts so I could actually purchase 24 guitars. If your experience is
anything like mine, you know that transferring monies from your 54321 account
to your 12345 account usually requires an act of congress and a promissory note
to sign over your first born child upon completion of the transfer. But this was important, so I was willing to
endure whatever “the system” was willing to throw at me for the sake of getting
this program off the ground.
I made the decision to buy twelve ½-size, nylon
string guitars and twelve ¾ -size guitars.
Learn from my mistakes if you have not already begun the guitar
adventure in your own classroom: the ½
-size guitars work just fine and they’re not really all that different from a
full size. I am six feet tall and have
absolutely no problems maneuvering with a ½ -size guitar. The ½ -size guitars are less expensive too.
If you're going to go as big as getting an entire
class set of guitars, keep storage in mind.
I was able to purchase 24 guitar wall hangers for a reasonable
price. Take the time to set up
procedures for students getting guitars as well as returning them to their
proper place carefully. This "ounce of prevention" will
avoid headaches and mishaps that could easily drop your 24 guitars down to 18.
Prepare
to Repair
As every music specialist is well-aware, you not
only have to be a crackerjack teacher when it comes to music, but you also have
to be somewhat of an instrument repair person.
When you are using nylon strings in this setting, you have to expect a
broken string here and there - have some spares. Also, learn from my pain, get yourself a
string winder! They only cost a couple
bucks and save you loads of frustration in an already packed-full school day,
not to mention avoiding the contraction of a case of carpel tunnel
syndrome. Finally, I have learned that
Gorilla Glue® is my best friend. I have had
the saddle of a couple of my guitars come off while hanging in place over the
weekend. I have also had the wood on the
saddle crack and cause the bridge to fall.
Gorilla Glue® has saved all
guitars involved. Just remember to read
the directions - it's not like any other glue.
It does expand (like the directions say) so use sparingly, and rather
than "clamping" as suggested in the directions, I found setting a
couple textbooks on the saddle while the glue dried over night did the trick
just fine.
How
to Avoid Doing Your Best Pete Townshend Impersonation (Out of Frustration, Not
to Be Cool)
I began my classroom guitar adventure thinking I
could approach it in traditional lesson-by-lesson fashion. I diligently went about preparing lessons
incorporating the first pages of the guitar method that had so aptly taught me
my way around the first, second, and third strings of the guitar. I am a stickler for copyright, so I would
never photocopy a book – but I can project a page from it onto the screen using
my document camera for my students to view.
Besides, the method book worked for me, so it should be a breeze for my
fifth graders, right? WRONG! I’m not certain what, exactly, caused this to
be such a failure. Even though guitar
was to be included as only a portion of the day's music lesson, it just wasn't
working the way I had imagined. Maybe it
was too much information on one page, maybe my expectations were too high,
maybe my conservatory-approach training caused me to be too much of a
perfectionist, or maybe it was a combination of all of these. Whatever it was, it was definitely not what I
wanted my classes to look like.
As the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year
arrived, I decided to get a handle on this.
The start of a new school year is always the same for upper elementary
grades - review concepts from previous years and then start to build on
them. It's always a challenge to have
fifth grade students review very basic concepts and still hold their interest,
so I decided this would be the way I would introduce the guitar rather than use
the method book approach.
A
Tool for Review
When reviewing basic rhythm reading skills, I
incorporated the guitar by having my classes play simple quarter note-quarter
rest-eighth note rhythms that I keep printed on homemade flashcards. By simply having the students play the rhythms
on the first string of the guitar (as opposed to clapping or playing classroom
rhythm instruments) I was able to accomplish two goals: first, the students were solidifying their
basic rhythm reading skills and second, I was able to introduce the guitar
without a lot of lesson book reading.
They learned how to hold the guitar, which string was the
"first" string, and how to play on only one string. The following week I augmented the review to
include patterns with whole notes and half notes. I took this opportunity to introduce placing
the fingers on the fingerboard - first finger, first fret, first string (the
pitch "F"). After getting the
idea of how much pressure was required to change the pitch on the first string
from "E" to "F," I had them identify notes by giving this
instruction: "When I show you each
card, play E's for every quarter note or whole note, play F's for each eighth
note or half note..." Here they
were able to read simple four-beat rhythm patterns, identify notes by their
proper names, and practice playing on the first string simultaneously. The concentration required was enough to keep
them focused without being overwhelming which can sometimes cause the "I give
up" attitude with this age group.
Later we were reviewing basic meter - meter in 2 and
meter in 3. I had the students practice
something this simple by having them open their textbooks to "Amazing
Grace." We identified the time signature
and what it meant, discussed the concepts of "strong beat" and
"weak beats," then accompanied the song (which, thankfully, is in the
key of G major in our text) by playing the fourth, third, and second strings
(D, G, B) in succession. True, this
accompaniment doesn't fit the song exactly,
but when you are learning how to pick individual strings on the guitar - it's
good enough!
Go
for It!
These are just a couple of examples of using the
guitar to accomplish musical goals you were most likely already teaching in
your music class. When introducing an
instrument to young children, we need to buck traditional music instruction
slightly and get creative. Teaching
techniques like peer evaluation, cooperative learning, and the use of
"centers" can all be incorporated to keep your students interested
and motivated. Take a look at your
existing curriculum and take some "pondering time" to come up with
unique ways of including the guitar as a regular part of your general music
instruction. I still only include guitar
as a part of each lesson, and
occasionally we don't use them at all.
This keeps the learning less tedious and keeps the excitement fresh.
If you haven't already started this adventure and
are considering it, or if you have already started and may be feeling a bit
discouraged, I hope my experience will help you press forward with it. Your students will thank you for it.
My next try is going to be with a few apps...I'll
give you the verdict after I've had a chance to try and fail at a few things.
Until then, happy strumming and I'll be writing
again next week...
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