My Musical Musings Blog | betsyleebaileymusic.com - The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey

Pacing is Like Juggling

4/30/2023

The art of PACING is such an important skill to learn! Whether in a Choir Practice or Primary Music Time, good PACING is crucial for success!

PACING is "reading the room" to discern when to change the activity to keep things interesting and to move things along. A good speaker, entertainer, or teacher will keep watching for signs from the audience or class members for what is working and what is NOT. If there are noticeable squirms, yawns, agitation, talking, or general inattention, the savvy leader will take note and try something new to get the attention back.

For Choir Practice, the smart director will have a plan of certain songs to rehearse, but will work intentionally for short periods and then change to a new tactic before the singers lose interest. For example, when "woodshedding parts," the director will not dwell very long on any one section while neglecting the other parts. It is rather like juggling and trying to keep all of the balls in the air at the same time.

In Primary, the song leader should be aware of the children's collective ATTENTION SPAN -- a few minutes at a time is all you've got! Remember that teaching the Gospel through Music does not mean that the children have to master singing an entire song (all 3 verses plus a chorus) in one Music Period! Singing one song for the entire 20 minutes almost always signals that song's untimely death.

It is better to introduce part of a song, sing it a couple of times using good modeling, then go on to something different. Work on several songs each week using a mixture of teaching and reviewing methods. VARIETY is the key to securing proper interest in the songs and moving along towards memorization.

Good PACING brings success!

Varying the TEMPO and STYLE of the songs can also be a great way to keep interest up in Choir Practice and Primary Singing Time. For instance, nobody likes to sing a program of just SLOW songs even if they each are lovely.

Here's an upbeat song for Primary "Put on the Whole Armor of God."

Grandchildren's Concerts

3/7/2023

As a grandmother, I go to a lot of concerts -- elementary, middle, and high school band, orchestra, and chorus concerts as well as other types of shows that my grandkids are performing in. Some of the groups are well prepared and give fine performances. Others are a bit painful, but I go to support them anyway.

This past weekend, I got to go to a very well-prepared concert. SOGO (Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia) presents exciting concerts with their three tiers of student players. My grandchildren's local schools do not offer orchestra, but after some hunting they found and joined SOGO. (The High Schooler plays viola and the Middle Schooler plays Bass Viol.)

The Conservatory level for more advanced students played beautifully. The Academy level also played well, very well for young teen agers. The Debut level was made up of beginners mostly in elementary school and did fine, too.

Each level of orchestra has professional artists that play along within each section and help the students learn their instruments and how to play better. What a difference to have the exemplar playing in amongst the students! That helps make the sound so cohesive. Some of these professional artists are also private teachers for the students or trade off conducting rehearsals and concerts.

The pieces chosen to be played were varied and selected from impressive repertoire. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the concert, including a re-voicing of Gershwin's "An American in Paris" done by the 17 members of the professional artists. So incredible to see these few instrumentalists cover for an entire orchestra!

I am so happy that my violist and bassist grandchildren get the opportunity to play with such a great group!

When and How to Use Wiggle Songs in Primary

1/16/2023

Wiggle Songs can be any activities that provide relief in Music Time.

Question: "When should I use a wiggle song?

Answer: "Whenever the children need it!

It is useful to remember that the children in Primary come in all abilities and all ages -- from 11 down to barely 3 years old. Sometimes the Seniors outnumber the Juniors or vice versa. The older children may be able to pay attention for longer stints, but remember that the little ones probably can't even read yet and to them EVERYTHING IS NEW and different. The last thing they can handle is more sitting still while people are just talking.

January is the beginning of a new year, and that, for most Wards, means a TIME CHANGE. After sitting in Sacrament Meeting for one hour, the children are likely going to be fidgety, especially the very young ones. The new schedule may be spanning lunch time or nap time, too, which complicates things. Younger children have a hard time adjusting to new rhythms in their day.

This is precisely why Wiggle Songs are so important. As valuable as doing movements during a song are, they aren't as laser-targeted as Wiggle Songs can be. Most of the Wiggle songs in the Children's Songbook start with movements but end with calming down. Many times using scarves, ribbon wands, hand signs, marching, rhythm sticks, shakers, or clapping can actually heighten the "free for all" to a fever pitch! It is very hard to regain control once you've lost it.

Leading by Example - Be sure that you practice doing the Wiggle activity or song that you intend to use. Use your hands and facial expressions as well as your whole body just like you expect the children to do. You can't be looking at sheet music!

A few of my favorite "go to's" from the CSB are "My Hands" 273, "Oh, How We Love to Stand" 279, and "Hinges" 277. I usually sing them unaccompanied so I can vary the Tempo. I often go faster and slower in places or even put in complete stops. That way I am training the children to watch me for Tempo, Breathing, Facial Expressions, and Physical Movements - including any "freeze" pauses.

Maintaining Eye Contact - Memorize the words and music! That way you can keep your eyes on the children. How else can you really judge how they are participating and how effective your teaching methods are?

Read the Room - Even the older children will give you signs that they are bored or just "checking out." You can bring them back by doing a quick BREATHING EXERCISE or a FULL BODY SHAKE. Better yet, plan VARIETY into your teaching methods from the get go. Change things up every few minutes.

Magic 7 Rule - To the very young children in Primary, every song is new. They likely cannot read or even understand most of the words to the songs. They cannot be expected to catch on to the melody and lyrics (let alone to doctrinal meanings) from just experiencing them one or two times through. Let your goal be to introduce and review the songs 7 times in various ways (and in fairly close succession) before expecting the children to start participating. Be sure to SING MORE and TALK LESS!

The key is to use a wiggle song or activity in quick, surgical strikes. A few seconds change of pace is all you need to provide relief and regain the children's attention. Then you can go back to teaching whatever you had planned.

Wiggle Songs are your FRIENDS!

Time Wasters in Singing Time

5/16/2022

Time is very precious in Primary Singing Time. Twenty minutes goes by in the blink of an eye. So, it seems obvious to me that the primary activity in Singing Time should be SINGING. And although explanations may be necessary, talking and doing other activities such as games, coloring, puzzles, visual aids, dressing in costumes, etc., should really be kept to a minimum.

Occasionally I get the chance to visit Singing Times in different places across the country. So, I speak from years of my own teaching experience and also years of observing. I wish I could say that all Primary Singing Times were run by talented music leaders, but alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Sadly, many Singing Times are run like the old Sharing Times. More attention is paid to teaching a lesson than teaching the children the Gospel through Music —- more especially by SINGING. I have actually timed how long the Song Leader spent TALKING compared to the amount of time the children spent SINGING. Sometimes the leader spent 15 minutes or more talking and the kids sang for just 5 minutes or less. The children should be able to sing for at least 50% of the time, better to aim for 75% of the time.

REMEMBER THE RULE OF 7 — children need to hear the song up to seven times before they even feel comfortable participating in singing. And learning a song means MEMORIZING. THAT ONLY HAPPENS THROUGH a lot of REPETITION.

Time wasting seems to be more consistent across the country than actual singing. Let me point out some of the most popular TIME WASTERS:

1. OPENER: Asking this particular question: “Who knows what song we sang last week?” Then the Song Leader gazes around the room into blank stares from the few children who are paying attention. (Most are not.) Let’s face it, nobody remembers, not even the adults. And it wastes a lot of time when the Song Leader waits for an answer. (Besides, you should be singing more than one song each week!)

Better to open by saying something like: “We were working on _________ last week and I wonder if I sang part of a line, could you sing the rest?” Then proceed to jog their memories right away with a quick lyric and melody review by singing back and forth.

2. CONNECTIONS to "Come Follow Me” - The Song Leader takes up a lot of time arranging Visual Aids and explaining the directions for the Activity. She retells the story from the scriptures and shows many pictures or something even more spectacular. She may give out reading or writing instructions or pass out papers and pencils. Then she explains how this relates to the song they will be learning. Suddenly she realizes that time is running out and the children barely get to sing (or more likely just listen to) the song through once.

Better to limit the pictures and storytelling to small doses that can be told quickly in between singing the song phrases or verses. Point out how these lyrics point back to the Old Testament story of ______. Briefly mention a few things to help focus attention on the meaning of the lyrics, guide the children's listening to how to sing properly, or challenge them to commit to memory a portion of the song. But never go more than a FEW SECONDS before singing again. The goal should be to SING each song several times through.

3. CHOOSING HELPERS - Using a choosing strategy like pulling names out of a hat consumes so much time. First off, more often than not, a few names are drawn of kids that aren’t in attendance that day. It also shows that the leaders are not really paying attention to connecting personally with each child each week.

Better to have many activities for helpers that give opportunities for everyone present that day. Limit the solo helpers to just a few. Then have activities that small groups can do such as waving scarves then passing them on to another group quickly until everyone gets a turn. This kind of activity is useful to hit the goal of singing a song through several times towards memorization.

SINGING TIME is for singing, reviewing and memorizing. Twenty minutes is plenty of time to sing several songs several times through. When challenged, kids can be smart. They are QUITE CAPABLE of learning more than just five songs per year!!!!!

Singing in Nursery

9/27/2021

For many years, I worked in Primary --- occasionally as the President, but for a cumulative 37 years as the Song Leader. Most of my Primaries had enough children that we split for Junior and Senior Singing Times and I also spent a few minutes in the Nursery. I had never been the Nursery Leader before, but as of three weeks ago, I am now. And thank goodness, I already know a LOT of songs and have a bunch of VISUAL AIDS!

We have one very young boy who is our sole regular, plus a handicapped older boy who sometimes comes into the Nursery. However, this ward has a lot of Grandparents who often have visiting grandchildren. I was told to plan for at least five children every week because of visitors. I was also told that the previous leaders basically gave up on giving lessons, even short ones, because the children just wanted to play with the toys.

Well, the first day we had no manual yet, so we just let the children play. But after talking around to previous Nursery Leaders "par excellence," I learned that we had to do more than just allow the kids to play. So we came up with a schedule to fill our 50 minutes that starts with a Gathering Time (tactile) activity at our small table, a short Lesson with visual aids, Singing Time with all sorts of manipulatives, and then Play Time with the toys.

After two weeks, I can report that having a schedule works so much better than just letting the kids play with toys. We find that the children like how we sing nearly the entire time. We sing when we bounce balloons, twirl with scarves, shake our little shakers, drop falling Autumn leaves, dance with finger puppets, and share smiles with the silly paper plate frowny/smiley faces.

These children are COVID Kids. The youngest ones were actually born during the pandemic quarantine. Most of them have never had play dates with other children or even been tended by anyone outside of their own households. It may take time for them to get used to our ways of doing things, but one thing we know for sure, they enjoy dancing, twirling and moving to our SINGING!

Introducing Something New Each Day

8/3/2021

Geese Family

For the past week and a half, I have been working with 23 children ages 5-12 on a Children's Theater production of "The Tale of Chicken Licken." We had such a wide span of ages and experience, I wasn't sure just how we would pull off an entertaining show. But, with the help of a talented choreographer and two Mom assistants, I think we will be ready for our performance on Saturday.

I didn't know if we could do a Summer Theater Camp at all this summer due to COVID-19 restrictions. But, we decided to go ahead. We couldn't do my first choice of a show because of lower enrollment. However, the show we are doing seems to be a perfect fit for this group.

Geese Family

I am happy to report that we are really making good progress towards a polished show. Whenever the cast covers such a wide range of ages and abilities, as a director, you have to be flexible with expectations. The goal is to do blocking, acting, and dance moves that suit the ages appropriately. The younger kids have that "cute factor" that will boost their performance no matter what. The older kids need extra to keep them interested.

The Fox with the Bluebirds Trio

We have been working hard to give each actor what they need to develop their character as well as learn some new skills. For the older girls, that means giving them real choreography. Our oldest boy really needed more. So I wrote him an entirely new character and gave him a new song to boot.

Chicken Family

For the "littles," they may have limited dance moves with mostly gestures. But it has to feel like choreography.

Turkey

For the "middles," they get as many challenges as they can handle. We have been surprised at how well they have done.

Each day they have been faced with new challenges. Some have been weather related. Some have been imposed upon them from their directors. They have been real troupers with good attitudes. They really want to do their best.

I am very pleased with their efforts. They have been learning songs, dances, lines, and acting as well as taking personal responsibility for the show. All in 10 short days

Well done, cast!

Primary Music Time - Make It Sing!

4/21/2021

Over the past 13 months, I have heard of almost every conceivable form of Primary Music time activity I thought possible. I admire the Ward Primary song leaders who have worked so creatively to come up with ideas to teach music virtually. They really know the value of teaching the Primary Songs and Hymns although so much has been shifted to the shoulders of the parents.

I have seen everything from interesting word charts, to virtual games, to giving out bags of rhythm props, to playing sing-along videos.

I have even heard complaints that these valiant song leaders are supposed to teach music SILENTLY. (What is that exactly?!!!)

I suppose that some wards are beginning to have in-person Primary Music Time, but are not yet allowed to sing. I guess the only choices have been to play rhythmic games or to teach sign language to the songs on video. NOT REALLY SINGING TIME, is it.

These valiant song leaders have been scrambling to share ideas with each other. They say they are hoping that their efforts are helping the kids learn the songs. I sure hope so!

My experience tells me, though, that only a small percentage of children actually gain the ability to LISTEN and MATCH PITCHES without learning from someone who will give them FEEDBACK. Usually, parents are the first and best teachers. But when the parents don't or won't sing, the children lose out on their earliest instruction. I admit that some children are just born with musical ears, but most need close-up and personal training.

Movies, virtual presentation videos, and recordings may not be the best instructors. They are too impersonal and cannot give FEEDBACK. Most young children are not aware of their own sounds. Most need help learning to listen to and match the model. Also, when they are left to follow an adult voice singing in a range much bigger than the child can produce or has "affected" timbres, they get confused about pitch and appropriate vocal quality.

As a voice teacher, I have had first hand experience trying to help struggling singers overcome issues begun in their youth.

Primary Song Leaders get it. They want desperately to sing in person with the children. They want to help them learn the melodies and words properly. Most of all they want to inspire the children to feel the Spirit by internalizing the simple Gospel truths taught in the Primary Songs.

In-Person Primary Music Time can't come soon enough for me!

When Simple Does Not Mean Easy

1/28/2017

Sometimes in this busy world of ours, we are asked to SIMPLIFY. You know, to stop filling our lives with non-essentials that make us crazy or to stop taking on so many projects that we are constantly burning the candle at both ends. But some well-meaning people will take that to mean "just do what is SIMPLE and EASY -- you shouldn't have to work too hard." For a musician, the word "SIMPLE" can be mystifying.

I have always had a hard time with the word SIMPLE when it comes to being a musician. Most people equate SIMPLE with EASY. In my estimation, there is nothing SIMPLE or Easy about learning to play or sing or conduct or compose or engineer sound. We musicians value quality so we practice until we get it right. That takes work and many hours of diligence. What do we answer to the Church leader who says to "keep it simple - just play a hymn." They have no idea that playing a hymn takes years of practice to acquire enough skills to do the job. That request is never SIMPLE or Easy! And what about conquering the nerves to be able to play in public? That may be even more challenging!

Okay, when non-musicians ask musicians to do something musical, many times they put the musician on the spot. The musician is expected to perform without any preparation. They may rightly even refuse to do it. And yet, when the musician asks for an opportunity to perform (with enough time to prepare), they are brushed off. It seems that people in charge of some activities do not want to plan ahead enough to insure the quality of the entertainment. They know that they want entertainment, but they don't know what it takes to make it happen.

Possibly, we musicians make singing or playing look effortless, so it looks like we do it so naturally that a beautiful performance happens spontaneously like in the movies. But that isn't reality. In real life, we cannot get around the fact that we need PREPARATION and PRACTICE. So, in my opinion, where we still have to work to prepare and practice, we can SIMPLIFY by carefully choosing the projects we take on and the methods we use to do those projects. We can SIMPLIFY by EDITING. It still takes work (and that is not EASY), but it does strip away the non-essentials that clutter up our lives.

I can live with that definition.

Using Transition Songs in Primary

5/17/2016

Transition songs can be almost any song you choose, preferably short songs --- such as "Reverently Quietly" as a reverent song transitioning to a quiet activity, or "We Bow Our Heads" as a Prayer Song, or "My Hands" as a wiggle song to be used going from a quiet story in Sharing Time to an Activity such as coloring in Sharing Time. The key is to use the same Transition songs for a long enough time. You may want to use the same Opening Song, Prayer Song, Reverence Song and Wiggle Song for an entire month. These can be signals for what comes next.

The Opening song (always a song about Heavenly Father or Christ and His Gospel) calls the meeting to order and signals when to focus on the speaker at the pulpit for announcements. The Prayer song signals to fold your arms and get ready for prayer. The Reverent Song can be used at any moment to transition from a louder activity to a quiet story or talk or a special Guest's message. The "wiggle" song is important to use as a change of pace or for when the children just need to move. It is important to have variations in doing a wiggle song - fast, slow, loud, soft, high, low. It can be done with broad movements or completely silent or anything in between depending on what needs to be taught or accomplished. "My Hands" is an excellent choice because it ends quietly with the arms folded. When the children understand that there are plenty of different activities in Primary including movement and creative expression, they are very willing to sit patiently through the periods of quiet time.

NEVER --- AT ANY TIME --- and I repeat --- NEVER should the singing be allowed to get out of control with yelling, wildness, or using obnoxious sounds, disrespectful voices or motions. (Most kids, when given the chance will always opt for silliness over respectfulness. So never give them that opportunity!!!!) Children naturally have light high voices and should NEVER be encouraged to sing louder than their instruments can produce healthfully. If children are encouraged to yell, they do not learn to LISTEN to and match PITCHES.

A good music leader should ALWAYS try to teach in-tune singing!!!!!!! The children should be encouraged to fill up with air and use their support muscles to sing with beauty. That is true power. They should be taught that music can be a conduit to the Spirit. Through their lovely in-tune singing, they can invite the Spirit to be with them in Primary.

I have visited many, many Ward Primaries throughout the Church and a common problem is that the inexperienced Song Leader does not realize that by encouraging the children to sing loudly and always do big actions, they are creating their own worst nightmares. They wonder why the children are so irreverent and uncontrollable and why they do silly things like jump up when they sing "Jesus wants me for a Sun -- BEEP!" Save the silly actions for the wiggle songs and cultivate an attitude of respect for songs about Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.

I know through many years of practical experience that these principles work. My heart aches to see the rising generation growing up without learning to feel and know the Spirit through these beautiful Primary songs. When children learn these songs, they can draw upon the powerful yet simple gospel messages they contain as they need guidance in their lives.

Musical Transitions

5/16/2016

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to teach music at a school for children with learning differences. These children came to this special school to learn reading, writing, math, science, all the subjects, even though they had difficulties with dyslexia, dysgraphia, executive functioning disorders, Asperger's Syndrome, many problems on the Autism spectrum, and other types of learning differences. In working with these children, I was encouraged to use Music in particular ways to help them TRANSITION from one activity to another activity. The younger children especially needed very regular patterns and schedules to help them feel comfortable during the class period and help them understand and patiently endure the passing of time.

We teachers were encouraged to post the daily class schedule on the board or on a poster in the front of the class. Our 40 minute periods needed to be divided into activities that could be accomplished in small increments time. And each period needed to be scheduled in a very regular pattern of expected activities. A major goal of this school was to help these students learn to manage themselves, their expectations, their patience and comfort levels, so that they could function doing difficult learning tasks.

Even the regular classroom teachers used music for TRANSITIONS between activities. Music helped regulate the tasks and help the students know what was expected of them. A certain song was played to help the K-3 students finish a task and put away their "tools." A certain song was played to set the mood of the activity. A certain song was played to unify the group in getting excited about an activity, or calm them down for a quiet activity, etc.

At the same time, our Ward Primary had two young people with severe Autism. The presidency was at their wits end trying to figure out what to do to see to their needs as well as serve the other children in Primary. I suggested that we use some of the same principles I was using at this special school. We made a Schedule poster for the front of the classroom and gave the two children their own smaller version of the schedule poster. Their versions were laminated so that they could mark when we had accomplished each of the sections of the schedule. We decided that until the schedule was well understood, we would use the same songs as TRANSITIONS between activities. We used the same Reverence Song, Prayer Song, Activity Song, and other short songs as TRANSITIONS for an entire month. The Opening Exercises, Sharing and Music Times went on as normal, but a bit more time regimented.

What we discovered is that all of the children in Primary benefited from the regularities of the schedule. Reverence was at a high level because the children understood the routines. They could manage to be still and quiet during the Opening Exercises because they knew it was fairly short. Then they would get a "wiggle song" to help them TRANSITION to Sharing Time or Music time. We learned to "read" the signs of just how long our presentations could reasonably be, and learned to adjust accordingly to maintain reverence or interest in the activity.

Before long, routines were in place and we no longer needed the Schedule Posters (but we kept to the routine). The key ingredient in our success was to use MUSIC for TRANSITIONS. Music is a Heavenly gift. And where something has a use for GOOD, the Adversary understands it has an equal use for nefarious purposes. May we understand and always use MUSIC FOR GOOD.

The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey copyright 2020