Paterson Music Project Final Winter Concert

Check out our final concert from December 2013.  The students worked so hard and sound great after only one year of playing! 

Looking forward to a successful and very musical 2014 at the Paterson Music Project. Happy New Year!

00:00 Ode to Joy

01:24 Ba Ba Black Sheep

04:15 Song of the Wind

05:32 Lightly Row

06:34 French Folk Song

07:43 Tango Twinkle Variations

Photos From Orchestra

Students were laser-focused yesterday as they rehearsed in their respective small orchestra groups with Erika Tesi and Jeff Grogan.  They are preparing for their winter concert on December 10th.  Students are working on orchestra etiquette and focus in addition to the music they are making.  These students will become the program leaders once we begin our new class of students in January!

Anticipation and Excitement for First Concert

The second grade students at the Community Charter School of Paterson (CCSP) are getting ready for their first concert ever!  They will be playing with the New Jersey Youth Symphony on Saturday at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, NJ.  High School students from the NJYS have been visiting the program as mentors in the classroom since January.  Teachers, students, and families from CCSP are brimming with excitement and anticipation for Saturday.  The Alternative Press of Paterson published an article about the concert and the Paterson Music Project.  Click on the link to read the Alternative Press Article!

The Paterson Music Project was all ears yesterday, when "Mr. George"Marriner Maull came to lead a lesson in music listening!  His subject was the last movement of the Fourth Brandenburg; clearly no one warned him that second-graders can't understand Bach.

Come to find out -- second-graders can absolutely understand Bach, at least when Mr. George is leaping about, impersonating now the violas, now the cellos, now the violins.  The kids counted appearances of the theme, yelled "Duh! Duh!" in unison along with the big chords, guessed correctly the identity of the recorder when it came in -- and a few even noticed when he tried to fool them by playing a different piece of music.  Many of the kids played along with great gusto on their air violins and air cellos.

After Mr. George left, the kids got back to the business of making music themselves.  I haven't visited for six weeks or so and was astounded at how much progress they have made; they are playing multiple notes and rhythms on instruments they didn't know how to pick up, last time I was there.  Just as striking was an overall sense of pride and accomplishment among most of the children, and an understanding that they are working as a team.  Bravo to all!  I can't wait to visit again.

Ready Position

It's been a while since we've posted anything about the Paterson Music Project.  The students have come a long way in a few short weeks.  As second graders, these students are not only learning to play their instruments and be musicians, but they are developing socially, mentally, and emotionally.  They absorb every interaction and piece of information.  They spend much of their day encountering and learning new things.  Students spend their time in class not only adjusting to their instruments, but to learning how to work as a team, and how to meet high expectations.  As second graders, energy is high but attention spans are short.  When they first received their instruments, they were wild with excitement.  This quickly evaporated as they realized how much focus, hard work, and repetition it takes to actually make music.  For the violins and violas, they stand while they play.  Initially, it was a process to get students to stand, in proper playing posture, ready all at the same time to begin playing even one note- instrument in the correct hand (distinguishing left from right, which isn't completely solid yet at age 7), bow grip perfect (pinky & thumb bent), no slouching, feet apart, "stay on your square, don't be too close to your neighbor!", eyes on conductor, "no raising your hand, we're not taking questions right now", etc...we would play a few notes and exercises and right when we began to hit a groove someone would beg to sit down.  "Are we done?  My arms hurt!".

As I said before, the students have grown so much since their initial few days with the instruments.  On Thursday, we had our first large orchestra rehearsal (before we were doing small ensemble groups).  They had had an hour of separate instrument instruction and were rallied into the cafeteria for yet another hour of playing (most of them standing the entire time).  They played through their music for their upcoming concert with the New Jersey Youth Symphony and focused as a group, staying in their squares, going from ready position to playing position together, eyes on conductor, with focus and pride.  Seeing them successfully playing in orchestra highlighted their maturity and social achievements just as much, if not more than their musical achievements.  The group and team mentality is strong with these young students.  Behavior issues, which were prominent in the beginning of the program, are giving way to characteristics of ownership, responsibility, and leadership.  I can only imagine what this program will look like when these students are in fifth grade and have been playing for several years.  They will be the leaders in the school, with new groups of second, third, and fourth graders behind them.

We look forward to the New Jersey Youth Symphony concert on April 20th where our students will get to perform on stage as a featured ensemble with their "big brother" orchestra.  We have lots of work to do between now and then, but from watching the students in orchestra on Thursday, just seeing them go from ready positions to playing position as a team, I know that much has already been achieved.

Article in The Ensemble

Check out the article on the Paterson Music Project, published in the most recent edition of The Ensemble.  To view the full newsletter and read the article, click on the link: The Ensemble March 2013

Some photos from our fourth week

It is hard to believe that we are in our FOURTH week!  We had a lovely visit today from Tricia Tunstall who graciously took pictures for us and helped out with bow holds and finding notes on the staff.  Students have learned so much in such a short amount of time.  It's hard for us (Terrence, Shanna, and I) to always realize the progress the students have made because we see them three times a week and do the hard and detailed work with them.  But Tricia pointed out that they have really come so far in less than a month.  They are playing their instruments, reading notes on the staff, reading rhythms, creating their own musical patterns, singing solfege, and learning about composers.  Having students three times a week (some El Sistema programs meet much more!) and having small class sizes does wonders.  We are starting to know the students' personalities and learning modalities.  It has been so much fun and such an exciting and rewarding experience for us as teachers.  So many stories and many more to come!  Take a look at the pictures from today (click on them to expand and watch as a slideshow).

Students learning bow holds- showing their bow "coyotes".

Buckets with Mr. Terrence

Students learning "Here Comes a Blue Bird" with an ostinato.  Terrence teaching, Jeff filming.

These are the days that make it all worth it...

Today the students sang a song for their parents at a parent meeting.  We treated it like a formal performance.  They worked on a simple song for two classes.  They learned the rhythm and solfege of the song.  We added buckets & drumsticks and motions.  We prepped them for how to behave on stage, how to bow, how to smile, and how to follow a conductor.  We told them that only the "best of the best" can go on a stage and perform.  They did excellent.

Today marks the end of week two.  In the beginning of the program, we- the teachers, had considerable trouble with behavior.  Students were excited, enthusiastic, and crazy.  Most of them had never had music before.  They didn't know what to do with themselves, how to act, or what to expect.  Over the past few classes, we have figured out how to channel this excitement into productivity and create a controlled classroom environment.  The biggest factor is having a routine and creating motivation.  The students begin class with hello song and snack.  Two specially appointed "snack ambassadors" (a highly contended position) hand out snack.  The students then go on to work on solfege and rhythm. We have also been breaking them into their newly assigned instrument groups.  They are full of anticipation for the arrival of all of their instruments (next week!) after having been measured for their proper sizes.  Today, it seemed as if we had really begun to hit our stride as a group with expectations, routine, teacher-students roles etc.

I wondered if amidst the chaos and excitement of the first two weeks if the students had learned that much.  I found out today that they've learned a lot.  I was practically floored when I reviewed the solfege notes they know so far (do, re, mi, sol, la) and found out that they could tell me the order of the notes and the accompanying hand signs.  I discovered that they could sing the intervals properly up and down if I gave them a starting pitch.  They notated the rhythm of the song "Fuzzy Wuzzy Was a Bear" today, with ease.  I actually skipped steps in my lesson plan!  They just began singing it using our rhythm words without me asking (jello, jello, jello, blue).  They figured out the beginning and ending solfege notes to their song "Here Comes a Bluebird"- even though we haven't gone over the solfege for it yet.

And then, when they sang for the parents- however simple, silly and short the song was, they nailed it!  After all of the behavior issues, slow transitions, and lectures about being the "best of the best", something clicked.  Their parents were proud.  They were proud.  They stood, they bowed, they smiled.  Just like we practiced.  I can only imagine what this means for when they get their instruments.  This is why I say, these are the days that make it all worth it.

Pictures!

The photos say it all!  Good first week.

Today we are the newest El Sistema Program in the world...

After all the planning, momentum, and the false start on Monday, today was finally day one.  As Tricia said, today we are the newest El Sistema program in the world!  How cool!?  The kids came in very excited and ready to learn.  The students got a chance to rotate between classes and try out all the instruments (violin, viola, cello) before choosing which one they would like to learn for the semester.   The students were adorable, funny, curious, sassy, and energetic.  Above all, they were very excited to be there.  There was a positive energy in the room.  The first day was not without a few chaotic moments.  Everything is so new to the students.  We tried our best as teachers to just make music and do activities, but the first day came with a lot of explaining- rules, expectations, introductions etc.  As the program continues we will find our groove.  I came home today exhausted and full of ideas and adjustments for next class. 

This is where the hard work begins.  It is fun to dream and get lost in the glamorous excitement of music and social objectives.  However, it is within the ordinary classroom interactions that we will make this program something real.  It is the repeated non-glamorous, mundane (and sometimes challenging) daily lessons, teaching the building blocks of music, that will hopefully lead to something extraordinary.

Getting Ready for Day One

Wow, Monday is almost here!  Monday is day one of what promises to be an exciting and groundbreaking program at the Community Charter School of Paterson.  I’m writing as one of the three teachers for the Paterson Music Program.  The three teachers, Shanna, Terrence & I (Liz) went to the school yesterday to set up our classrooms and plan.  The school has a positive and supportive environment that I know will go a long way in making this program successful.  The faculty is friendly and helpful.  The students are energetic and inquisitive.   After having done a few demos for classes two weeks ago, many students came up to us yesterday asking when the program was starting.  A group of boys came up to Terrence as we waited in the lobby and exchanged handshakes.  We got many smiles and frenzied hand waves as students passed by in the hallways to their next classes. 

A giant driving force behind the school’s positive energy is the amazing, energetic, upbeat, and engaging Marnie McKoy- principle of the school.   She has been so helpful in getting us everything we need to get this program up and running. She may even be joining us in the program- not as a teacher, but as a student! I hear she wants to do cello with Mr. Terrence.

As for our Paterson Music Project teachers, we are pretty lucky- and so are the kids!  Shanna is a devoted violist and teacher.  She is caring, sincere, encouraging and demanding with her students.  Terrence is a one-of-a-kind loveable and caring person.  Students are drawn to him.  His strong teaching and musical skills as a cellist will serve the students well.   We are also lucky to have the leadership of Jeff Grogan who shares the passion and vision for this project, in addition to Tricia Tunstall, Derek Mithaug, and all those at NJYS/Wharton, supporting this program.

I strongly believe that within the next few years this program will come to serve not only the 28 students from the Community Charter School of Paterson who are beginning on Monday, but it will serve their peers, families, and community.  With no mandatory music programs in the public schools in Paterson, I hope that this will be an opportunity for comprehensive and community-oriented music programs to be introduced to a large population of children.  I hope that all children in Paterson can be offered meaningful and life-changing experiences through the vehicle of music.  These are experiences that will validate them as individuals, offer them skills and confidence, and propel them into a world of successful adulthood.