Dillywhops and dinosaurs

Quote of the day:

Me, to 6th grade percussionists: "Guys, you're still having trouble with measure four. What's the problem?"

Student: "I keep messing up on that last part, on those triplets."

Me: "There aren't any triplets in this measure..."

Student: "No, you know, those three dillywhops at the end."

Me: "Oh, those... wait a second! What are dillywhops? You can call them 'dillywhops' if you want, but we musicians like to call them 'eighth notes.'"

The kids thought that was absolutely hilarious, so I would frequently remind them throughout the class to not mess up on the "dillywhops." We saw that rhythm in other lines of the book, so I would refer to it as "[student's name]'s favorite rhythm," which would set off the giggles again. I started teaching this group on Monday, and it didn't take long at all to figure out exactly how to relate to them and to make them laugh. Middle schoolers are just fun, and even though my jokes go over my head sometimes, I love to let them laugh and have fun in class, because I know from experience that that makes learning more fun. I had to teach snare drum with them again today, but I did much better than I did on Monday. Half the class was on a field trip today, so I was able to give students more individualized instruction and correct individual errors. I think having fewer students helped me calm down a bit, too.

I also got the opportunity today to take the 6th grade horn players out and work with them. Again, half of them were on a field trip, but I was able to help the ones that were there so much. They have never gotten the opportunity to work with an adult horn player, so they were fascinated with me (and my shiny horn, and my detachable bell, and my dinosaur that I stuck on my horn). One girl who was not able to match pitches at all and couldn't play low notes for anything was playing lower than every other student in the group at the end of the class. The directors said that she's not been able to keep up since the beginning, and this is the first time that she's hit right notes. She definitely benefited from having a real horn player help her out, and I hope that the others did, too. I get to teach them- and the percussionists- again tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll do better than I did today!