We capture the musical mind with meter and tonality, and literally, exercise it through movement. The greater the exposure to various meters and tonalities, the longer children attend to any given meter or tonality. We know that words to songs, words to movement, and verbalizations speak to the thinking mind rather than to the musical mind, and that it is the “musical narrative” that carries the musical imagination on one journey after another. Children familiar with various meters and tonalities are musically ready for longer journeys.
Expand the “musical narrative” not only through successive verses, but through successive activities within a given meter or tonality. You'll find that the meter or tonality becomes a “magic carpet,” transporting children to greater adventure. An experience in duple meter, for example, can take children for a ride in that meter from a simple chant to dialogue in the same meter and tempo. An experience in Dorian tonality might morph from singing a song without words to engaging with resting tone, to an Art Song, providing a captivating long ride in the tonality. When children are comfortable with the various tonalities, even changing keys or meters within the tonality will not derail the “magic carpet,” as long as rhythm and tonal preps are provided for the new key or meter, and any verbalization deemed necessary is chanted on the resting tone.
A series of activities in one meter or one tonality, without verbalization, can hold the musical imagination spellbound. Managing the collective musical imagination supersedes managing collective discipline, as children on the “magic carpet” are in the palm of your hand, ready for a musical yarn that transports the musical imagination to new and exciting adventure.
