General Music Teachers Guide
The RhythmBee General Music material includes the Rhythm Instruction Elementary Edition, the Melody (Solfege) Edition in C, D, F, & G, the Kodaly (Ta-ka-di-mi) Rhythm Program, the Curwen Solfege Program, the General Music Sets, and the Core Curriculum Series (largely math at this writing). Each title is somewhat self-explanatory except for the General Music Sets. The General Music Sets usage and contents are detailed below.
There is consensus among students of brain theory that musicians usually develop extraordinary brain characteristics. This fact has been observed in post-mortem examination and in living subjects through the MRI process. After finding unusual brain activity and larger than normal concentrations of myelin, scientists conclude that musicians' activities develop the brain. It seems logical that leading young children (as early as 3 years) in a simulation of a musician's activities could develop these highly plastic young brains to a noticeable degree.
The General Music Sets allow our very youngest students to engage in activities that simulate music reading. That is, they see and interpret known images, then they say (perform) that interpretation in a prescribed rhythm. The only difference is that the General Music Sets use pictures of objects that young students will recognize easily or can quickly be taught to recognize. The elements of instruction that are addressed by use of the General Music Sets include but are not limited to:
Vocabulary development
Sequencing practice
Eye tracking
ESL enhancement
Language fluency
Reading readiness
Preparation for music reading and performance
The teacher will quickly see how the units are structured, and that structure remains consistent throughout. Here is the sequence that exists in each unit:
Title
Review page (The teacher should be sure that the students recognize all of the images. The teacher should lead the class in practicing from this review page so that the students can say the names of these images in rhythm with fluency.
Each unit then reminds the teacher to set the speed and press play to begin the activity.
The unit activity begins, encouraging the students to say the names of the featured images in unison (all students speaking together) and in the rhythm indicated by the animated guide in each unit.
The teacher may have to model the choral speaking in the very early stages. But the students should be allowed to perform without the teacher's assistance as quickly as possible. This puts the responsibility for recognition and interpretation on the students and allows the teacher to circulate around the room to encourage those students who may be likely to participate meekly or not at all. The purpose of this activity is not "perfect performance." The purpose is to place a demand (or load) on each student's brain, thereby encouraging the brain to develop the necessary means of participating enthusiastically and accurately.
Some students will have an almost innate ability to participate accurately. Others will need many opportunities to develop the necessary skills. Remember that this process is no different from any other physiological development process. Some students will perform these tasks very naturally. Others will need hundreds of repetitions in order to gain any level of fluency. You will soon come to understand that large numbers of repetitions are not only possible, but inevitable as the class works through these fun activities.
In summary: Enthusiastic participation encourages the student to voluntarily stress the brain. Consistent stress results in the development of completely new and unique neural connections, allowing the student to meet these new demands at progressively higher levels of proficiency. The connections that are created assist in many activities and conceptual tasks which the brain will face for the entire life of the child. These include but are not limited to:
Spatial-temporal reasoning
Creativity
Reading
Verbal fluency
Aural acuity
Synchronous criticality
Problem solving