A few classes back, I taught a short lesson on vibration, sound, rhythm and we made a glass xylophone at school. I thought to myself after the class, "I don't know how to teach music...I wish I knew how to teach the kids some basics about music...they really need that...."
Well, you know how the saying goes? Be careful what you wish for!
The next day I was talking to my friend Rosalie who organizes a lot of volunteers who come to Kolkata to work at various schools and NGOs. She said the volunteers working with her this month were both musicians and had been doing terrific music workshops with children at her schools. One thing led to another and a workshop was organized for my students at Shikshamitra last Friday as well.
Alice and Hannah, both from England, had a very well planned out two-hour program that taught the students all the basics of making music. At the end we all put on a short performance that was recorded. They went over concepts like tempo, rhythm, pitch, dynamic, and articulation -- and then put it altogether.
Thanks to both of them for bringing this unique experience to our school! Good luck on your endeavor to do more workshops like this designed to attract a variety of participants.
