Music Education

The EcoSonic Playground ProjectFor Teachers Music Education

Playing Musically

Once students have completed their EcoSonic Playgroud Project™ instrument structure, it becomes an ensemble instrument: To make it sound interesting, several people need to play it at the same time. When students build the final version of their instrument, it is theirs completely – it is owned collaboratively. The students have created something larger than the sum of its parts.

Playing it requires students to:

  • Listen carefully to each other
  • Communicate non-verbally
  • Be sensitive to others’ body language and facial expressions
  • Share and respect others’ musical ideas
  • Be consistently engaged in and focused on their playing

Without using these skills, the ESPP instrument sounds incoherent – like an ensemble full of individual players. The music happens through personal connection to other players and the sense that each player is important to the musical creation.

ESPP sample lesson plan

(This lesson may be given over one class or more depending on time constraints.)

Lesson Objectives: To introduce students to the ESPP ensemble instrument through free and structured improvisation.

Students will:

  1. Improvise through free play.
  2. Improvise through structured play.
  3. Listen to each other’s playing carefully throughout the lesson.
  4. Discuss the differences between these two types of improvisation at the end of the lesson.

Materials:

The finished ESPP structure (of course) and some kind of recording device (can be phone, voice recorder, video recorder, etc.).

Lesson: Part 1 – Free Play:

  1. Tell the students that you will be recording this lesson.
  2. Set up the recorder so that you do not need to hold it – so that it can be part of the classroom background. The students should forget it’s there.
  3. Have each student stand by their own instrument.
  4. Ask the students to start playing their instruments.
  5. Allow this playing to go on until it stops naturally (this part of the lesson will seem like it goes on forever but, I promise, it does not – it is important to allow the students free play that really is free).
  6. Once the playing has stopped, ask the students what they noticed about the free play.
  7. You may want to write down their ideas as a record to come back to later in the unit.
  8. Take a one minute stretch break.

Lesson: Part 2- Structured Play:

  1. Ask the students to stand by their own instrument.
  2. You will be the conductor at first to demonstrate the activity (I do).
  3. Tell the students that the group will be playing an “add on” exercise: One person will start and then each student will come in as the conductor points to them.
  4. Explain that you will be giving them non-verbal signals so that they will need to watch you carefully so that they will know when to play.
  5. Ask for a volunteer to start.
  6. Demonstrate bringing in students one by one until everyone is playing.
  7. Allow play to happen for a minute or so and then give a signal to stop playing.
  8. Ask the students to take turns being the conductor.
  9. Once this part of the lesson is finished, ask the students how the conducted play was different than the free play.
  10. You may want to write down their answers for later reference.
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