“Playing Music” with scarves, hoops, pom pons and other “musical instruments” offer many creative options for Rhythm and Tonal Activities, inviting children to engage directly and repeatedly with wordless rhythm and tonal content. Art Songs and Gem Songs, on the other hand, add the dimension of words to rhythm and tonal, plus the artistic intertwining of rhythm, melody, and text. Children’s artistry, immersed in meters and tonalities, needs no props with Art Songs and Gem Songs. Rather, musicality is the driving force—the turn of a phrase, the shift in meter, the energy of the line. Little children are mesmerized by musicality and love being musical.
There is no need for a frog puppet for an Art Song about a frog, nor scarves to propel movement of the wind. The props draw attention to the literal meaning of the song words, rather than their sound and artistic interaction with rhythm and melody. Props with Art Songs and Gem Songs defeat the process of moving children beyond Play Songs with their focus on the words, to the art itself.
Art Songs and Gem Songs also do not need accompanying rhythm instruments, Orff instruments, or sound effects. Children engage directly with the art. This is not to say that the tasteful use of finger cymbals or drum on occasion might not be acceptable, but the wonder of Art Songs and Gem Songs is in their naked musicality. Movement is the finest accompaniment to Art Songs and Gem Songs and allows the expression of every musical nuance.
Children are artists. We have to trust their artistry and our own to engage musically in Art Songs and Gem Songs that give voice to children’s artistry.
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