Creating Music for the Elementary Classroom

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All online MECA courses begin
on February 3 and conclude on
May 4, 2020.

Registration for all online
courses closes at 12:00 noon CST
on Friday, January 31.

Spring break for online
courses is March 16-20, 2020;
no courses will be held.

Dates for on-campus courses vary; please check each course's page
for specific dates. Registration
for all on-campus courses closes two weeks prior to the course
start date.

On-Campus Course Hours

Saturdays: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sundays: 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

All single-credit weekend courses
will have pre- and post-course
components. Check each course's

page for specific details.

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Finding material that suits your students' skill set can be a challenge, but when you create your own, you are able to tailor it to meet your students' needs. This course will show you how to create unique and flexible music for your elementary music students, including writing complementary rhythmic pieces; lyrics for original melodies; setting child-centered poetry to music, and writing pentatonic, modal and diatonic melodies over a simple accompaniment using a variety of media. Experience with a notation program (Sibelius, Finale, Noteflight) is required. Sharing of pieces is strongly encouraged.

Outcomes: By the end of this course, students will be able to:

- Write complementary rhythmic pieces.

- Write pentatonic, modal and diatonic melodies over a simple accompaniment using a variety of media.

- Create lyrics for original melodies.

- Set child centered poetry to music.

- Work with simple forms.

Instructor: Cyndee B. Giebler

Giebler_right

Cyndee B. Giebler is a composer and educator currently teaching in the Menominee Elementary Schools in Michigan. From 1992-1998, she taught classroom music, chorus, orchestra and directed an annual musical at Holy Family School in Marinette, WI, during which time she composed some of her most well-known pieces, including Away in a Manger, Gloria Deo, Il Est Ne, I Heard a Bird Sing and The Bullfrog’s Song. Prior to teaching at Holy Family, she had a private Suzuki violin and piano studio. Giebler studied composition at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, from which she has received her master’s degree in 2004. She is active member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association and frequently presents workshops around the country. As a composer, Giebler writes melodies specifically for children’s voices with accessible harmony parts.