1. hobbies and interests
2. games
3. card games

SEE SAW AND SOLFA
Sequential songs and games for preschool
kindergarten and elementary school .
“The education of the musical ear can be most successful if it is begun early,
in kindergarten and the primary grades, even earlier if possible. … To be
internalized, musical learning must begin with the child’s own natural
instrument – the voice.” Zoltan Kodaly
See Saw and Solfa is designed to help teachers offer a comprehensive
Kodaly based music education program for young children. The goals are to
maximize music learning in a child’s early formative years and to create a
supportive environment encouraging co-operation and self-confidence as well
as musical knowledge
Preschools, Kindergartens and Elementary schools are ideal places to introduce
the structure and language of music.
To this end my presentation will:
- outline basic concepts needed for a teacher to gain confidence in offering a
Kodaly based music education program.
- offer insights into teaching sequential music classes through singing and
action games.
- help prepare effective lesson plans which incorporate teaching basic rhythms,
pitch accuracy, staff notation and music symbols.
-involve active participation in songs and games – come prepared to play!
- suggest resource books to use in classroom or private lessons.
BASIC SEQUENTIAL CONCEPT:
Hearing – singing – internalizing – reading – writing – creating
-a learning sequence also recognized by Montessori and Suzuki methods
EFFECTIVE LESSONS PLANS:
-½ hour optimum class length
-½ hour outline:
gathering game or song – 5 minutes
review challenging game or song - 10 minutes
main new concept - 10 minutes
easy song or game and closing song - 10 minutes
-sequence: start with a quiet seated game, alternate seated with movement
activities, build to a “climax” (main concept of lesson) , “cool down”
with familiar or easy material.
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GUIDELINES
(S&S = See Saw & Solfa; TT = Tune Travels; * song sheets in S&S)
YEAR ONE
Social Goals: participation in a group, co-operation, development of selfconfidence.
Musical goals: exploration of sound through singing and action group games
which use ta, ti-ti and s m, s l m
Rhythm - ta, titi – by rote only
Pitch – s m and s l m - by rote only
Repertoire:
seated
Stuffies game
Doggie
*Bounce High
Pumpkin (little pumpkins)
Snowman (K4 puzzle)
Truck
Twinkle (with cloud)
Timbre game
movement
*See Saw
Bell Horses
Bow Down
Buttercup
Tick Tock
Juba
Hippity Hop
Jennifer Smith
YEAR TWO
Musical Goals: through simple songs and games refine listening skills, introduce
visual recognition of basic rhythmic and interval patterns, write rhythms
Rhythm: ta, ti-ti, rest, too-oo (visual and written recognition)
Pitch: (aural only) review s m and s l m
introduce m r d and s m d
Hand signs: (visual only) for above pitches
Contrasts: high-low, loud-soft, fast-slow
Repertoire: (also review Year One repertoire adding visual and
written elements)
seated
movement
*Lucy Locket (rocket, snowball) Hill Dill
*Mouse Mousie
*Tideo
Cobbler Cobbler
Cut the Cake
Snowman puzzle
*Hot Cross Buns
Popsicle Stick Rhythms
Oliver Twist
Mystery Song
Live Rhythms
*Match Me card game
Treasure Hunt - rhythm
Twinkle (with cloud)
Elevator & Candle
Disappearing note
Rhythmic “dictation” of
known songs (S&S sheets)
*Song card games
*Contrast cards
*Emotion cards
*R Fish
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YEAR THREE
Musical Goals: learn more complex rhythms and intervals, develop accuracy of
pitch, introduce music staff, more emphasis on visual and written games
Rhythms: aural, visual and written - review ta, ti-ti, rest, too-oo;
learn tika-tika
Pitch: review s m and s l m later m r d – introduce on 3 line staff:
aural only - s m d and d m s; introduce d r m l s
Hand Signs: reinforce above pitches, Treasure Hunt (TT pp.80-83 sfa & hand
signs)
Repertoire:
seated
*Dinah
*Who’s that?
*Great Big House
The Friends of Jo
Lemonade
movement
*Knock the Cymbals
Gregory Grats
Peas Porridge
Tinker, tailor
Charlie over the Ocean
Closet Key
Games:
felt staff; magnetic staff; Rhythm cards (TT pp.21-22) Match Me - rhythm (TT
pp.46-47), Hand sign cards for solfa learned (S&S p.117), First Liners –rhythm &
solfa (S&S pp.95-102), worksheets (S&S pp105-113),
YEAR FOUR/FIVE Excellent preparation for the study of an instrument.
Musical Goals: ready knowledge of solfa notation and hand signs, names of
treble clef notes on staff, joining up rhythmic patterns and pitch notes
on the staff, begin to study the structure of scales.
Rhythm: ti-tika, tika-ti, ti-ta-ti (syn-co-pa), tri-o-la (TT Rhythm Fish pp43-44);
time signatures (TT Rhythm Layout pp64-70)
note values (TT Pizza & Pizette pp53-63)
Pitch solfa: drmsl (TT Treasure Hunt pp.80-83, Card Games p.25)
Pitch names on staff: (TT Tune pp.12-16, Card Games pp.25-29; 34-39),
Flying Note
Pitch: minor scale (aural only) Willum, My Paddle, Land of the Silver Birch
Scales: modulator (TT p.99)
Signs and Italian terms: Tune (pp.9 & 89)
Repertoire:
*Weevily Wheat, Circle ‘round the Zero, Obiswana, Green Grows the Willow
Tree, A Sailor Went to Sea, *Wallflowers, *Rocky Mountain, How many Miles to
Babylon, Willum, My Paddle, Land of the Silver Birch
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