Recorder Battle : EPIC ACTIVITY
Solfege and Trichords
Would you call yourself a purist? Or… is your approach more of a “mixed bag.” I find that most people are the latter. We take bits and pieces from different methodologies to make for the most complete education, designed specifically for our classes and communities. I am heavily influenced by the Dalcroze method, and my public school teaching in many ways resembles a traditional Dalcroze approach. However, I wouldn’t call my pedagogy “pure” by any stretch of the imagination. I am pulling a lot of influences from other places, as well as omitting many pillars of the work that I find less helpful. I am a big fan of teaching the recorder, for instance, and I don’t know of a lot of other Dalcroze teachers who incorporate it. Today’s post I’ll show you a game that I use that grows out of the Dalcroze solfege, and just so happens to be SO MUCH FUN. It might be helpful to re-familiarize yourself with the Super Do Re Mi solfege lesson I presented at the DSA National Conference.
From the Archive:
When people find out that I am an elementary music teacher, one comment they are likely to make has to do with the recorder. The instrument has become somewhat synonymous with classroom music lessons. Often the association is negative, and people wince in pain at the thought of the squeaky recorder sound. I really try not to be offended by this, but I do think it’s a bit unhelpful. When taught properly, the recorder has a pleasant tone that is quite satisfying for both the young musicians and the listener. I even have parents who refuse to let the child practice in the house because they find the sound annoying. I think this is an absolute travesty.
How does the recorder fit in to the Dalcroze-inspired approach of MusicXT? I view it is a natural outgrowth of the work. Do we move around the room while holding the recorder? Not so much. However, we will take the lessons learned from a powerful movement session and immediately apply the concepts to the instrument. This gives us a satisfying way to transfer the embodied experience to another medium and demonstrate deep learning.
If you’ve followed this SubStack for long, you might have encountered my work with “trichords.” These three-note patterns are a foundational piece to my solfege approach, and differs slightly from more pentatonic approaches. Many recorder curricula would lean more heavily on the pentatonic scale, as preferred by the Orff and Kodaly method. I am a big fan of the note “Fa.” To me, Fa is much more satisfying and important than La. Introducing Fa and Ti gives us a feeling of DOMINANT that gives us a natural sensation of Tonic. I recommend going back to the Super Do Re Mi posts to review this concept.
Theory aside, the trichordal approach gives us a series of patterns which we can practice on the recorder. These patterns can serve as building blocks for improvisation and ear training. I developed a game called “Recorder Battle” which allows children to practice trichords, improvisation, ear training, and technique.
The battle is an absolutely huge hit. The children love to face each other and compete. When I first started using the battle format, it was a struggle because I would just call children out if they missed one answer. This was a huge disadvantage for the child who went first. They would often miss the first answer and then it was over. When I introduced the “facing elimination” portion of the battle, this required at least one child to get one RIGHT. Therefore, the battle was over when someone was successful, not someone failing. This made a huge difference in the tone of it. Battles can go on a long time if both children are successful, but they also go on a long time if both children struggle. This really encourages the struggling child to get extra practice and push to get one right!