Posted by Caroline on April 08, 2008 at 00:20:16:
I'm in my first year of teaching and am experiencing the "My band thinks slow music is boring!" phenomenon. I think that playing lyrical music is so important to my 8th graders' musical development, but I need help finding ways to keep them engaged. I've heard to limit rehearsal time each day on slow pieces, but I'm looking for any "fun" suggestions to try. The main tune in the "slow" piece we're working on now is a folk melody, and I thought maybe I could use this somehow to give them a better connection to the piece. Any suggestions would be appreciated!! Thanks!