Update and Ideas

As of right now, I am waiting on several of my collaborators to return e-mails. I am very excited to receive new e-mails from them, however, I realize that they have been exceptionally busy as well! As for the composition project, I was able to, on the last e-mail, receive a Chinese Folksong in traditional notation. My plans are to work with Joanna to realize this song in Western notation and then complete an SATB harmonization of this folk song. I feel that this will be an interesting project and am curious how the melody will sound once Western chords are applied to it. I am also thinking of harmonizing the melody with pentatonic-sounding chords (perhaps as a B section) to show the differences/similarities between Western sounds and non-Western sounds. Not being exceptionally versed in non-Western music theory, though, I am anticipating several delays in the B section.

As for the lessons in the schools, one of the main elements that I would like to share would be the actual instruments themselves. From what I have learned so far, there is a rich instrumental history in China and several of their instruments are very different (both in appearance and timbre) from anything that Western cultures use on a regular basis. I feel that a "show-and-tell" type lesson (probably better suited for the 2nd graders) that incorporates both pictures and sounds of the instruments, would be very engaging and informative for these students. Also, depending on the physical layout of the room, a motion activity (possibly a beginning dance step) would also be a good lesson to share with the children. I look forward to further discussion of this and also the chance to construct the lesson plan.