Stay and Play in Review

Last Wednesday, January 21st, a handful of Alberta Orff Chapter members met at Michael Strembitsky school to play some arrangements from the volumes.  Kim Friesen-Wiens was on hand to lead the group.  Pieces were mostly chosen from Volume one and included those for the whole ensemble as well as a piece just for glockenspiels.  One attendee mentioned that she was grateful for the opportunity because she is appreciative of "any help that [she] can get."  Another attendee noted how it was advantageous to be able to get together and share ideas.  


The last song we all played together was our own version of the famous "Street Song," where we all improvised on the classic theme.  On a side note, it is interesting that "Street Song"  is not only a "fan favourite" made famous by many Orff ensembles, but these days also tends to show up on some TV shows and advertising campaigns.

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All of those in attendance had fun learning how to bring these pieces to life.  Kim noted that because the volumes do not come with instructions, it is up to the teacher to "unpack" the volumes in order to make them accessible to the student.

At the end of the session, Kim challenged all those in attendance to work on their own way to teach something in the volumes that they would be willing to share.  She asked everyone if they would be willing to describe what they did in their class and perhaps even make an audio or video recording and maybe even take a picture to share here on this blog.  Of course we respect your FOIP issues regarding photographs and would be happy with those that do not specifically identify your students or welcome a submission with no pictures at all.

Any kind of submission would be welcome.  If you want to share your method of teaching the piece, it is almost guaranteed that someone else will happily make use of your handiwork.  If you just want to send us an audio or audio/visual recording of the final product, that would be great too.  Anything goes, we would love to hear from you.