Bach’s Musette For Boomwhackers

Rebecca A. Jones
jonesre@lmsd.org
Gladwyne Elementary

TI:ME Technology Areas Addressed:

Notation
Internet

Level:

Elementary

Class:

General Music

Equipment:

Sibelius 3
Adobe Acrobat Reader

Duration:

30 Minutes

Prior Knowledge and Skills:

The students should know single eighth note/rests and proper use of Boomwackers.

NAfME standard of 1994 Addressed:

NAfME standard of 1994: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

NAfME 2014: Performing 

NAfME standard of 1994: Reading and notating music.

NAfME 2014: Creating 

Materials:

Connie Herbon has transposed “Musette” from Bach’s Notebook for Anna Magdalena and wrote a Boomwhacker part. It can be found on MusicK8.com under Boomwackers and is easily downloaded if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader. I then entered the worksheet into Sibelius and added the Boomwacker colors.

Objectives:

The students will be able to play Bach’s “Musette” for Boomwhackers focusing on the eighth note/eighth rest patterns.

Procedures:

Using Connie Herbon’s arranged version of Bach’s Musette each class was able to play through the piece after about 15 minutes of practice. The hardest parts were the measures of eighth rest/eighth note patterns. The eighth note/ rest patterns could be simplified by turning the patterns around, but playing the eighth notes after the rests was one of the main objectives I had for my students.

Evaluation:

After about 20 minutes of performing and practicing the piece, we then audio recorded the piece to be played back for the students to listen to. You could also have the students play the Boomwackers to Musette with a piano accompaniment, or recording off of Sibelius.

Follow Up:

Take a simple Bach invention, or another piece and have the students compose their own Boomwacker part in cooperative groups focusing on the eighth rest/eighth note patterns they have been previously practicing.