| Music | Information | Troop Meetings | Main Event |
Printable PDF file of Meeting Plans and Ideas for Music
OBJECTIVES
This month’s activities should:
- Help Scouts learn about the five groups of musical instruments.
- Give Scouts knowledge of musical symbols and terminology.
- Prepare Scouts to go to a live performance or participate in a performance.
- Give Scouts the opportunity to compose music.
- Teach Scouts how to catalog a personal or family music collection.
- Help Scouts learn about the development of music and influential musicians in the United States.
LEADERSHIP PLANNING
As a leadership team, you may want to discuss the following items when choosing music as your program feature during your planning meetings.
- Do Scouts in our unit have musical interests and abilities?
- Would our unit benefit from the opportunity to share musical talents with the community?
- Are there any music teachers or other individuals in the music profession who could help?
- Do we have local venues that host live performances such as symphony orchestras, opera, choral music, or pop music?
- Do our schools have music programs where members of the unit can participate in a musical group such as band, choir, or orchestra?
- Does a member of our unit have the ability to compose music?
- If we were to build traditional musical instruments, is there someone in the area who is good with tools and could assist?
- How can we involve our parents?
- What changes should we make to the sample meeting plans that would fit our needs better?
PREOPENING IDEAS
Preopening Ideas on Troop Program Resources
- As Scouts arrive, challenge them to sort flash cards of musical instruments into groups. Have music playing in the background to set the tone for the night. If possible, use several interpretations of a familiar song in different genres.
- Prepare flash cards of musical notation such as quarter notes and rests, half notes and rests, etc., and cards with the names of each of these symbols. Have the Scouts organize them side by side, matching notation with the description. Have music playing in the background that resembles the music they’ll be performing or listening to or that relates to the instruments they will be building or that comes from an individual family’s music collection.
- Play Musical Chairs using excerpts of the music that will be featured at the concert your unit will attend or the genres you discussed last week.
OPENING IDEAS
Opening Ideas on Troop Program Resources
GROUP INSTRUCTION IDEAS
Genres and Composers
- Introduce the group to the different possible main events. Have them discuss what main event they may want to pursue.
Instruments and Ensembles
- Practice identifying instruments in the five different musical groups. Use flash cards, and have the members shout out the names. For an added challenge, include less familiar instruments like the basset horn or zither.
Collecting Music
- Learn three songs that you could teach to a Cub Scout pack or another troop around a campfire.
Mood and Meaning
- Lead a session of echo clapping, starting with four-beat rhythm patterns and progressing to eight-beat patterns.
SKILLS INSTRUCTION IDEAS
Genres and Composers
Discuss different genres in music.- Research different musical groups in your area that perform in these genres.
Review the information above.- Discuss which members of the troop have musical ability and could participate in a unit recital. Find out which genres they like to perform.
Review the information above.- Talk about music composers over the centuries.
- Listen to recordings of the music.
- Try to identify characteristics of the period in which they wrote.
Instruments and Ensembles
- Using the Internet or other sources, determine the instrument makeup of various ensembles (symphony orchestra, string quartet, jazz band, rock band).
- Review the information above.
- Look over printed music for various instruments, and discuss any instrument-specific characteristics.
- Review the information above.
- Discuss how leadership plays a role in musical ensembles. Who sets the tempo? Is there a director, as in an orchestra, or does one of the players direct? Who leads each section of larger ensembles?
Collecting Music
- Catalog a collection of CDs belonging to one of your Scouts, or review how a collection of audio files is organized in a program like iTunes.
- Review the information above.
Using the Internet or other sources, find a favorite artist’s discography. Discuss ways to complete your collection of the artist’s works.
- Review the information above.
- Discuss the ethics of file-sharing and illegal downloads.
Mood and Meaning
- Brainstorm a list of moods. Using someone’s CD or MP3 collection, find songs or other compositions that convey those moods and discuss how music translates those moods.
- Review the information above.
- Read the lyrics of several popular songs. Discuss how the lyrics support the mood of the song and whether the music and lyrics communicate the same mood.
- Review the information above.
- Identify several songs or compositions that have become identified with a particular country, political movement, or cause. Using the Internet or other sources, learn more about those connections.
BREAKOUT GROUP IDEAS
Discussion Topics
- Discuss what needs to be accomplished before the main event.
Getting Ready for the Main Event
- Menu Planning (if applicable)
- Duty Roster Planning (if applicable)
- Patrols discuss what special items they will need for the main event.
Preparation for the meeting’s game or challenge
GAME AND CHALLENGE IDEAS
Library of Games and Challenges on Troop Program Resources
- Symphony Orchestra
– Materials: Chairs
– Method: Scouts seat themselves in a circle of chairs in a large room or open outdoor area. There should be enough chairs for all the Scouts but one; that Scout is the “conductor.” Each of the other Scouts are assigned a typeof instrument by going around the circle and saying, “Wind, percussion, brass, string, electronic,” until everyone has a label. The conductor stands in the middle of the circle and calls out a type of instrument. When they do so, all Scouts assigned to that group must get up and scramble to find another seat. The conductor, meanwhile, also tries to get a seat. Whichever Scout is left standing becomes the new conductor, and the old conductor assumes the Scout’s instrument type.
– Variation: Assign each Scout an actual instrument instead of an instrument group (e.g. bass drum instead of percussion). Call out instrument groups as before; Scouts must then figure out which group they belong in.
- Name That Tune
– Materials: CD or MP3 player with an assortment of music, 30-second timer, bell or buzzer for each patrol
– Method: Play a musical selection. Patrols try to buzz in and name the song.
– Variations: If you have recordings of instrumental solos,
teams can try to name the instruments or instrument groups. If you have recordings of various genres of music, teams can try to name the genres they hear. (Keep these broad: classical, jazz, pop/rock, gospel, etc.)
– Scoring: Each correct guess earns a point; first team to score 10 points wins.
- Rhythm Pattern Contest
– Materials: A large chalkboard or dry erase board, chalk or dry erase pens, erasers
– Method: A leader claps out a simple, four beat rhythm pattern consisting of quarter notes and eighth notes. Patrols echo the pattern. Once the pattern is well-defined, patrols select a member to come up to the chalk board and write out the pattern with the correct combination of quarter notes and eight notes. A different patrol member is selected for each round.
– Scoring: The first patrol to correctly write the pattern gets two points, All patrols who can correctly write the pattern get one point.
- Minute to Win It
– Materials:
Station 1: a collection of 10 to 20 CDs of various artists and genres
Station 2: paper and pencil
Station 3: flash cards that show the names of instruments by family (percussion, woodwind, brass, string, electronic) and each member of each family (e.g., soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone)
Station 4: CD or MP3 player with a collection of pop songs
Station 5: music rhythm flash cards that build the rhythm tree (one whole note, two half notes, four quarter notes, eight eighth notes, 16 sixteenth notes) along with a similar set for rests
– Method: Set up stations as described above. Patrols visit the stations, and as a team, work together to do the following:
Station 1: Organize the CDs in alphabetical order by title in less than a minute.
Station 2: On a piece of paper write the order of dynamics from soft to loud, Italian terms for tempo from slow to fast, and all five musical families in less than a minute. (Dynamics are pianissimo (pp), piano (p), mezzo piano (mp), mezzo forte (mf), forte (f), and fortissimo (ff). Italian terms include grave (extremely slow), largo (very slow), andante (at a walking pace), moderato (moderately), allegro (quick and bright), and presto (extremely fast). Musical families are percussion, woodwind, brass, string, and electronic.
Station 3: In one minute, sort the cards by family (woodwind, brass, string, etc.) and then put each family in order from highest pitch to lowest.
Station 4: Identify as many one- or two-second song snippets as possible in one minute.
Station 5: Set up the cards with the whole note on top, two half notes below the whole note, four quarter notes below the half notes, etc. Do the same with rests.
– Scoring: Patrols are timed at each station. Give 3 points to the fastest patrol that completes the challenge at each station correctly, 2 points to the second fastest, and 1 point to the third fastest. The patrol with the most points overall wins.
CLOSING IDEAS
| Music | Information | Troop Meetings | Main Event |