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VOLUME 1

pulsation & locomotion

This volume includes ten musical pieces mostly focused on the theme of locomotion. Through walking, running, skipping, slow walking, dance steps etc., the pulsation, which is the basis of music, is incarnated in the body. The pulsation (beat), in the body, results in steps. From pulsation to measure, and then to phrasing, VOLUME I brings together these musical notions intimately linked to each other, which give life and meaning to the musical discourse.

1. walk

This music has a regular beat which lends itself to walking:

  • Walking following the pulsation = one step for each beat. What is the style of this music? What type of landscape are we in?

The track contains different textures that stimulate the imagination: the staccato of a walk, with raised knees; alternating chords for walking on the spot, changing body weight; legato phrases for stopping and making slow gestures such as scanning the horizon. To begin with, the teacher gives ideas for activities/gestures; then he/she seeks ideas from the children. Gestures are always related to the music that the children are hearing.

  • Walk in rhythm in the landscape that we imagine (the desert?) And stop sometimes (teacher’s signal in connection with the musical phrases), to mime an activity, always in the same tempo as the music; then return to walking.
  • Walk and change direction when you hear the beginning of a new phrase.

4-5 years and up

2. melodic movement and repeated notes

Music consists of alternating melodic movements and repeated notes.

  • To express this distinction in space: walk forward when the melody is moving, (ascending or descending) and walk on the spot when it is giving repeated notes. Children may take a little time to react to changes, but the music gives them enough time to adapt.

Also pay attention to the different sound textures, translating a light, staccato walk into a gait with knees well up, and adapting the quality of the step to the more legato parts.

  • One child guides the movement of the whole class by walking in front of the group. When repeated sounds arrive, everyone walks on the spot while another child takes the place of the guide, who then leads the whole class forward as soon as the melodic movement resumes.

Beware: towards the end, the music changes frequently!

  • A variation: one child holds a green scarf and a red scarf, and shows the appropriate colour, like traffic lights, according to the music; students follow.

Without a scarf, we can imagine the same kind of game with a policeman managing traffic.

  • If the space is too small for walking, this exercise can be done by clapping in different places when the melody moves, and with a static robotic movement when the notes repeat.

We can imagine a process of raising the awareness of the children to grasp how the melody moves (it often rises and falls). How can we walk to follow this melodic movement?

7 years and up

3. 1 voice, two voices, many voices

This exercise develops listening skills, a sense of phrasing (sensing when a change is coming), a sense of how to use space and interaction with classmates.

  • On the spot, standing or sitting, start with: 1 voice = 1 finger moves, 2 voices = 2 fingers move, several voices = all fingers move.
  • Then: 1 voice = walk alone, 2 voices = walk two by two, many voices = groups of four, make a form (circle, line), move by walking, as if you would design your own floor pattern, or make a big circle for the whole class and walk on a circle.

For the whole first part of the piece: walk in time with the quarter notes. When eighth notes are heard, about halfway through (1:48), use the raised walk.

  • An ear training exercise for adults or more advanced young students: take the beginning of the track only (until “many voices”) and sing the soprano; add the bottom part and write it down (two part dictation).

5-6 years and up (it’s possible to work on 1 voice/several voices with even younger children, as the contrast is more marked. Hearing 2 voices will come with experience).

4. changing tempo

Listen to the ostinato pattern of the bass grouped in four beats:

  • Walk 4 steps forwards, 4 steps backwards.
  • Step forwards only, stepping 3 steps and snap the 4th. Progressively replace a step by a snap, holding the head high.
  • Then step beat 1 and 3; snap 2 and 4. Adapt your way of moving and stepping to the character of the piece. Does the music remind you a little bit of flamenco? Legs move according to the accelerando, but the upper part of the body remains centered (calm). Express in your body the syncopated accents announcing the beginning of the accelerando.
  • Accelerando: one can beat time while stepping the beat.
  • Another option for the accelerando: pass the pulsation around in a circle (no more than 12 people) or adopt a posture one after the other (one student/pulsation), then stand still until your next turn. If all adopt the same posture, it has a domino effect. The difficulty lies in moving at exactly the right moment.
  • Dance with a partner.

7-8 years and up

5. 4/4 phrases

This piece is made up of phrases of different lengths and endings. Although these elements are inextricably linked in the music and in our listening experience, we suggest first paying particular attention to the question of length.

  • Start in a circle for visual group support. Move to the music by drawing the contours and duration of each phrase (proportional space/time relationship): a single line per phrase. Change arms with each phrase.
  • Each with a hoop or stick, walk to the beat of the music and meet a friend, touching the material together on the last note of the phrase. Continue on your way to meet someone else.
  • Then, one child (A) starts alone and walks with his phrase towards a second (B) who goes towards a third (C) and so on. Each child respects the length of his own phrase and chooses the length of his journey accordingly.
  • In a further development, attention can be paid to the end of each phrase, noting that it ends either in suspension or in conclusion, and expressing these musical intentions in the body.

To do this, students should already have experienced in their body and facial vocabulary contrasting reactions relating to the expression of a phrase: questioning, hesitation, disappointment, affirmation, joy, astonishment etc.

  • Make a dialogue between two partners: each in turn expresses a phrase in movement.

7-8 years and up

6. 4/4 playing with 5 different rhythms

These are all rhythms made of quarters, eighths and halves.

Rhythms 1, 4 and 5 are played 8 times.
Rhythms 2 and 3 are played 4 times (rhythm 3 being a slight variation of rhythm 2).

  • All together, move or dance to each rhythm value. Each person comes up with a specific idea for each rhythm. Choose from the ideas suggested and set a common movement for each rhythm for everyone.
  • Clap each rhythm; then add: walking quarters, eighths or halves.
  • Walk the values of the rhythm while clapping the first beat.
  • Children are scattered around the room. 1 to 4 children at a time (depending on the size of the group) walk the rhythm values, “passing” the rhythm to someone else who is waiting on the spot and will take over.
  • Write the values on the board: one student shows the different note values of the rhythm while listening to it. Students write the rhythms.
  • Make up your own rhythms with the same note values.

7-8 years and up

7. walk in 3/4

  • Listen to the music and walk the beat. Feel the groups of three steps, the phrases and the legato movement. Indicate the downbeat by clapping on the thigh of the leg that takes the first step of the measure, so once with one hand, and the next time with the other. Draw the children’s attention to the alternation of feet.
    • To get a good feel for the phrasing: while walking, indicate the direction of the steps with your arm, so that the whole body is involved in the musical intention. Change of phrase = change of arm and direction.

Pay attention to the quality of the step: imagine drawing a line on the floor that resonates with the linear aspect of the music.

This piece contains several modulations that create changes of color or atmosphere.

  • On the spot, sitting, standing or lying down, listen to the modulations (colour changes) and signal them with a change of posture, in preparation for the next development of the exercise.

Note: a new phrase does not necessarily mean a modulation!

  • Instinctively follow these modulations (some are predictable, others not), walking in pairs and changing partners when the color changes.
  • Same activity as above, but replace walking with swinging or dancing 2 by 2.

This concept can be dealt with at different levels: either by instinctive reaction (color, atmosphere), or analytically (modulation). In the latter case, the instinctive stage should precede analysis, but not replace it.

Ages 7-8 and up

8. five beats (changing tempo)

  • Listen to the bass and sing it (long values), to feel the globality of the measure. Trace the length of the measure with hand/arm gestures, change hand at each measure, adapt gesture to the accelerando.
  • Step all the beats and clap the first, changing direction at each new measure. Stepping 5 beats imposes a change of foot at each first beat, as does a measure of 3 beats. In a measure of 5 beats the weight change happens more slowly. Feel the sensation of the feet on the floor; the faster the tempo, the more you feel the ball of your foot.
  • Do the opposite, walking a step on the first beat and clapping all the beats; feel the gradual transfer of body weight.

Walking the first beat requires a very slow gait, which is difficult for children. It would be necessary to work on the physical sensation of slow walking.

Invent rhythms with quarter notes, eighth notes and half notes on these groups of five. See Volume 9 for more ideas on working with five-beat meters.

7-8 years and up

9. quarter notes & syncopations

This 4/4 track features alternating quarter notes and a syncopated rhythm.

  • Start by following the music spontaneously: Feel the difference between the straight quarter notes and the undulation and suspension of the syncopation by stepping what you hear and pivoting on the second beat (long note) of the syncopated rhythm, or stepping beat 1 and 4 forwards and beat 2 backwards. Adapt the energy and space used to the tempo of the music. Find a way to emphasize the downbeat (beat 1) of the syncopated rhythm (bend knee, change direction) to avoid shifting the feeling of the downbeat to the long note.
  • Step the quarter notes forward and the syncopated rhythm sideways (one measure to the right, one to the left).
  • Learn the sequence so you can anticipate the changes and incorporate them easily and smoothly:

4 bars of quarter notes, 4 bars of syncopations, twice
2 bars of quarter notes, 2 bars of syncopations, 4 times
1 bar of quarter notes, 1 bar of syncopations, 4 times
4 bars of quarter notes, 4 bars of syncopations, once
2 bars of quarter notes, 2 bars of syncopations, twice

  • Standing in a circle, each child holds a tambourine in his left hand. Clap the quarter notes on your own tambourine and the syncopated rhythms on the tambourine of the neighbour to your right.

8 years and up

10. folk dance in 2/4

In a circle, or two lines facing each other: create your own dance, according to the musical phrases: use step patterns such as walking forward/backward, left/right, making a turn, changing partner. Middle part (call/response between bass and group or between partners): soloist goes in the middle of the circle and expresses the call parts, group answers. Step beats, or twice as fast, or twice as slow.

  • Choreography suggestion, simple version:

1. 2 by 2 on a double circle arm in arm, walk together 16 steps counterclockwise to the beat (given in the introduction); turn around and take 16 steps in the other direction; stop in a single circle, look towards the center and join hands.

2. Walk 8 steps forward by raising your arms and 8 steps backward by lowering your arms, twice slower than the original pulsation.

3. At the initial tempo: clap 4 times in the hands of the partner, turn around, clap 4 times in the hands of the other neighbor; U-turn, take your own partner by the right hand and make a circle of 8 beats in place. Repeat sequence 3 a second time. Repeat sequences 1 and 2 and finish by greeting each other on the circle, facing the center of the circle.

  • Advanced version (concerns only part 2.):

1. 2 by 2 on a double circle, arm in arm, walk all together 16 paces counterclockwise to the beat (given in the introduction); turn around and take 16 steps in the other direction; stop in front of your partner in a single circle.

2. Make a “Grand Chain” (chaîne anglaise) over 16 beats: start by giving the right hand to your partner; as you let go of your partner’s hand and walk forward (pulsation tempo), take the left hand of the person coming towards you and pass her by the left (2 steps for 1 handshake); keep on passing right and left alternately 7 times and make a U-turn to finish the musical phrase; repeat the same pattern in the other direction (starting again by giving the hand to the partner with whom we have just turned around in place) to return to your first partner. (Exercise the “Grand Chain” first in place by walking the pulse and alternately giving the right hand then the left hand to your partner, before doing it while advancing towards the next person).

3. Clap 4 times in the hands of the partner, turn around, clap 4 times in the hands of the other neighbor; turn around again, take your own partner by the right hand and make a circle of 8 beats in place. Repeat sequence 3 a second time. Repeat sequences 1 and 2 and finish by greeting each other on the circle, facing the center of the circle.

7 years and up