I really want to take this time of digital learning to share more world culture with students.  What an amazing opportunity we have to find videos, recordings, and examples of music from around the world performed by the actual culture bearers.  For my students I'm providing a little bit of information, websites where they can do more research, and usually a video or recording of the original artist.

The term Inuit refers broadly to the Arctic indigenous population of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Inuit means “people,” and the language they speak is called Inuktitut, though there are regional dialects that are known by slightly different names. Today, the Inuit communities of Canada live in the Inuit Nunangat—loosely defined as “Inuit homeland”—which is divided into four regions.   In 2011, there were nearly 60,000 Inuit in Canada, 73 per cent of whom lived in Inuit Nunangat.

Referred to as Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland comprises those inland and coastal areas north of the treeline. It is for this reason that the terms Inuit — itself a generic term — and Arctic peoples are often used interchangeably.​

Learn more about the Inuit People here:  ​https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people-arctic
​https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/inuit

I love this book by Tim Hopgood.  Everything he illustrates is beautiful and exciting for kids to look at and bonus (for music teachers) he often illustrates songs.  This illustrated version of "What a Wonderful World" is totally captivating and gives us the chance to make connections between the well-known song, Louis Armstrong, and topics about nature/Earth Day/etc. if we want!

You might have heard the song "What a Wonderful World" before in TV, movies, or on the radio.  In the video below you'll see a singer perform the song with a guitar accompaniment and you'll also see a book illustrated by one of our favorite illustrators, Tim Hopgood!  Watch below to see and hear.

The book has beautiful illustrations and shows scenes from around the world.  ​Long before this book was ever created, the song "What a Wonderful World" was made.  It was first recorded in 1967 by a recording artist named Louis Armstrong.   Since then the song has sold over one million copies and people all around the world have sung their own versions of the song.  Watch below and you'll be able to see Louis Armstrong himself sing this song.  Can you see that he has an instrument in his hand?  Watch carefully and look for details in the video about where the musicians are, what instruments they're playing, and other details that tell you about their setting.

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. He sang the blues and played the trumpet and the cornet. He was famous in many countries. He was also known for his good singing voice. Armstrong won many awards during his career.

Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. Around 1922, he followed his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to Chicago to play in the Creole Jazz Band. In the Windy City, he networked with other jazz musicians, reconnecting with his friend, Bix Biederbecke, and made new contacts, which included Hoagy Carmichael and Lil Hardin. He earned a reputation at "cutting contests", and moved to New York in order to join Fletcher Henderson's band.

With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also very skilled at scat singing. Armstrong is renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet playing. Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general.

Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided at the time. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him access to the upper echelons of American society, then highly restricted for black men. He died of a heart attack in July 6, 1971 in Corona, Queens, New York City.

Earlier this year I talked with my students about dynamics and the different vocabulary words that we use to describe what we hear:  piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, etc.  Kids loved learning the terms and so this video is a way for them to test out their knowledge and describe what they hear.

You might remember that earlier this year we talked about the vocabulary word Dynamics. We use the word dynamics to explain the volume of a sound:  how loud or soft it is.  Piano means quiet and Forte means lous.  Mezzo is a word that means something like "a little bit."  When you add mezzo to piano you mean a little quiet.  And when you add mezzo to forte you get a little loud.  Here are some of the dynamics we talked about:

Fortissimo - Very loud
Forte - Loud
Mezzo Forte - A little loud
Mezzo Piano - A little quiet
Piano - Quiet
Pianissimo - Very Quiet

Watch the video below to listen for changes in dynamics.

What changes in dynamics did you hear in this video?  The singer, Björk, would change from one dynamic to another.  Which dyanmics do you think best describe the way that she sang?  Did you hear a pattern?  Use the space below to describe what you heard.

This is not an exhaustive "learn EVERYTHING about the orchestra" sort of activity.  My hope with this activity is that kids will start to hear and learn a bit.  Then in later assignments I can give them more in-depth activities where they can explore specific instruments and learn even more.

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the orchestra?  What does each section do and what do they sound like?  Click the picture below to visit the Classics For Kids website where.  There you can click on each section, learn which instruments are involved, hear a short example of those instruments playing, and read more.  

When you're finished on their Classics for Kids website, come back here and tell me which instrument family was your favorite, and why!

This lesson has two parts:  the video read aloud and instrument creation.  I hope that students will at LEAST do the read aloud and get inspired to do the second part.  I don't know how many will actually do the instrument creation but I'm going to post the assignment anyway and see what sort of responses I get.  :)

A summer parade, a drummer parade, a magical bucket-and-bowl serenade!  What begins with one boy’s beat on a kettle soon spreads to pots and pans and cartons and cans all across the neighborhood. When everyone joins in, together they create the catchy, driving tempo of a bright, hot DRUM CITY!​

Creating Your Own Instruments!
In this book people pick up all sorts of things to make music.  They play rhythms on pots and pans, cartons, barrels, bins, pails, buckets, and lots more!  Have you ever thought of using an everyday item to make your own instrument?

With your parent's help you can visit this website created by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.  Click on the image below to see how you can make your own instruments out of everyday objects!
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If you decide to make your own instrument, send me an email or leave a comment below describing what instrument you created and how!  My email is...