[Dixielandjazz] Jazz for kids

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/6/03 11:04:45 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes:

> 
> We're fleshing it out now Bill. A short description of each instrument, then
> all the different sounds one can make with them, then how they communicate
> among each other and the audience in a jazz setting.
> 
> Rubber Ducky is fine as is Barney Song (kindergarten) and anything else they
> might have heard  Some Disney songs, etc. We are getting a list of songs 
> from
> the schools now that are familiar to the kids.
> 
> What jazz is, very general, how a song can be jazzed up, (Twinkle Twinkle
> Little Star) why we like to play jazz etc.
> 
> Interactive is important because of the shortness of their memory spans. I'm 
> a
> little nervous about the really young ones.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone

No need to be nervous about them Steve, my experience is the same as with 
grand kids only they behave better :)

They are actually easier than the high school kids, who are already 
approaching sarcasm about Dixieland music, they are a much harder audience to deal 
with, but we do convert many of them into having a good time.

I did the pre school yesterday by myself, and the kids loved it, they all got 
to play the drums and the giggles and smiles were a big thrill to see.  Heck 
the teachers and the administrators treated me like I was the Rolling Stones.

  They had never had anyone visit the pre school before and do anything like 
this.  I played a couple of CDs and let them beat along with the songs, showed 
them how to use their math and count 1,2,3,4, and told them it was very 
important to learn counting and math to be good musician, and if they learned it 
well they could maybe make enough money next year to buy a hamburger at 
McDonald's. :) 

   Got a big laugh from the teachers, but the kids took it seriously and one 
little boy came over and said he was going to practice real hard so he could 
go to McDonald's every day.

I find the less academic it is with the little ones the better, they don't 
grasp it quickly, but they do respond to the music and clapping and 
participating in the energy.  Showing them seems to work better.

I especially like to have one of the guys do a demonstration of how he played 
when he was their age with his first horn,  fuzzy tone, off notes, etc.  gets 
a big laugh every time, then he does a bit of a routine about how he sounded 
a year later, and a year later etc.  little progressive story till he got so 
good he could join the band and play really good and fast. Etc.

If the school has a kid that is already pretty good, and we know about it we 
will invite him/her up to play a song with us, usually one that we know they 
already know, even Twinkle twinkle little Star works because they all know that 
one, and then we get them to swing it as you guys do, or any similar easy and 
recognizable song.

This is usually when we tell them briefly that what we just did was JAZZ UP 
the song, and explain that you can do that to most songs if you practice hard 
and get very good on your instruments.  You know kids just like Burger King 
Play it Your Way!  Sometimes we will play the line "You deserve a break today at 
McDonald's," then use the Burger King line.  We even get ethnic and play the 
Taca Taca Taca Taca Taca Taca Tac- O-Bell line, for all our Spanish speaking 
friends and everyone else who likes Tacos.  Mexican hat dance works well in this 
spot as well.  Then somebody says Drop the Chalupa !

Not all of your music has to be Dixieland, the important thing is that the 
music is such that they can readily identify and connect to.  We sometimes will 
play a song very slowly as a Blues and then swing it, to explain how the 
emotion response works with music.

A good one for this is Itsy Bitsy Spider or three Blind Mice, almost any 
children's song can be played with and made to swing, and you are doing it with 
their music, at least in the beginning of the program, and if they start to get 
fidgety feet which we hope they do then Fidgety Feet is certainly a good 
Dixieland song to crank them up with.  Ad lib your own stories about the song.

  It is easier to make an impression and hold their attention with familiar 
material.  The same applies to any concert audience (Open and break the ice 
with a familiar tune that everyone in the world knows and build around that to 
establish a repoire with the audience).

 It is important to connect with them from the start to get and hold their 
attention.


We change our approach for the Jr. High and high school groups and add more 
information and history about New Orleans, the Second Line, Mardi Gras, etc., 
many of these kids are now into music and can relate to it better and are 
receptive to learn a few new facts about Jazz which they still may not have been 
exposed to yet, depending upon their music teacher and program.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins