The next compositional idea would be in the form of accompanying the texts. In the first section we also accompanied the nursery rhymes, but the material with which they played along came from the rhythm of the words. In this case we are using body parts and sounds, pitched and unpitched instruments and sounds from other objects to play along with the text. From this I hope to develop listening and analytical skills that should help the students' writing.
We'll use
Hickory Dickory Dock
again. This time the class will be divided into different parts. At the end of the first line everyone will clap once: Hickory, Dickory, Dock (clap). At the end of the next line selected students will make a squeak sound with a rising inflection: The mouse ran up the clock (squeak). Everyone claps once at the end of the next line: The clock struck one (clap). The same students squeak again but this time with a falling inflection: The mouse ran down (squeak). And everyone claps once at the end of the last line: Hickory, Dickory, Dock (clap).
Another rhyme that would be helpful is
Engine Number 9
.
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Engine, Engine, Number Nine,
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Going down Chicago line,
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If the train should jump the track,
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Do I get my money back?
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Yes, no, maybe so.
I will split the class into different groups. One group will say "chug-ga, chug-ga" (rest, rest). Another group will say (rest, rest) choo-choo. A third group will say click-ety clack, click-ety clack. The chugga's will start, then the choo choo's will come in followed by the clickety clacks. The final group will recite the rhyme. Alternately, the chugga group could make their sound with a shaker of some type. The clickety clack people could play some kind of wood blocks or claves and the choo-choo might be played on a recorder or flute like instrument.
Then we would discuss the text of the rhyme. The first line has the repetitions of Engine and the number nine, where both paired words start with the same letter. In poetry as well as in music, when we repeat the same word or tone, we have given a different meaning to the repeated subject. The emphasis is on the use of this technique to make a poem, not on the student's ability to identify alliteration or even know what that is. Then I would help the students identify where the rhymes are in the poem.
This mode of accompaniment is like much music making; we have a main part and everything else is somewhat background to it. The parts are still derived from the text but not quite so directly, a little more imaginatively than in the first section. I know that this will help students analytically. I am also hoping that it helps them in their own writing because they will seek to craft poems that not only sound good but also have opportunities to be augmented by other sounds.
