Kids and Microphones
August 17th, 2007 by vincebates
The other day I came across a microphone that we bought for one of the boys a couple of years ago and I hooked it up to my keyboard amp. It’s just a cheap American Idol mic, but the kids had a great time with it. Sophie (she’s three now) sang into it for quite a while. She sings songs that she knows, but she’s also pretty good and making up her own stuff. As she was singing I started playing some ‘rhythm changes’ (I, iv, ii, V) on the keyboard in the key of E flat and eventually she gravitated to the Eb major scale (with that chord progression any note from the major scale works). What fun! William (5) and Landon (8) were more into improvising rhythmic sounds (beat box?). That was fun to listen to as well.
I imagine that with an inexpensive karaoke machine with a mic and a set of headphones, an elementary teacher or parent could set up a microphone/karaoke music station in the classroom or at home. I think kids could have a great time and develop some practical musical/creative skill. Also, if the environment is free from judgment, kids might stay comfortable with their voices as they become teenagers and eventually adults.
When I was teaching elementary music we used to pass the mic when we were singing with pre-recorded accompaniments. Some students really enjoyed it, although there were a few that chose not to sing in the mic (and I never forced them). When we sang concerts for the community all students had the option to sing a solo or duet into the microphone. The ‘problem’ was that most of them wanted to sing a solo! So, we ended up with 5 or 6 students singing ’solos’ all at the same time.
That does sound like fun. Great what you can do with a old cheap mic!!
Karaoke…
Karaoke pronounced [karaoke]; listen is a form of entertainment in which an amateur singer or singers sing along with recorded music on microphone. The music is typically of a well-known song in which the voice of the original singer is absent or reduc…
I ‘ve been doing that for a number of years. The kids love it! I actually have to keep the machine out of sight on the days we are not “doing karaoke”
or they become too disappointed. Unfortunately, I do have colleagues who disapprove of this because it does not promote “good singing”. I am so thankful for this website and others like Mayday . It reassures me that I am not completely crazy re garding my educational pedagogy and philosophy!