5: Tips for Teaching Dynamics to Kids in Your Homeschool

Welcome to the Music in Our Homeschool Podcast, your go-to resource for integrating quality music education into your homeschooling journey! I'm Gena Mayo, your host/homeschooling mama/music teacher, and today's episode is packed with exciting tips for teaching dynamics to your children. Find all links are resources mentioned in this episode here: https://MusicinOurHomeschool.com/DynamicsTips

Dynamics, the variations in volume in music, play a crucial role in conveying emotion and mood in a musical piece or song. Join me as we explore engaging strategies to help your kids grasp this fundamental musical concept with ease and enjoyment.

Discover the significance of dynamics, from forte to pianississimo, in shaping the emotional landscape of music and enhancing sight-reading skills. Learn how incorporating flashcards and picture cards can transform dynamic learning into a fun and interactive experience for your homeschool. (Get your own set of flashcards here: https://MusicinOurHomeschool.com/DynamicsTips .)

Explore a variety of dynamic teaching activities, from memory games to musical bingo, charades, and obstacle courses, designed to captivate your child's interest and deepen their understanding of the abstract concept dynamics.

Uncover the benefits of using visual and hands-on tools like flashcards and picture cards to reinforce dynamic concepts. Enhance your child's musical journey by providing them with a tangible representation of abstract musical elements of basic music theory.

Ready to embark on a dynamic musical adventure with your children? Dive into the world of dynamics with our expert tips and resources available here:  https://MusicinOurHomeschool.com/DynamicsTips

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Transcript

Tips for Teaching Dynamics to Kids in Your Homeschool

[00:00:00] Today, I'd like to talk about something really fun and important for your homeschooled kids to learn, and this is dynamics. 

If you are a homeschooler looking for ways to easily and affordably include a quality music education in your homeschool, you've come to the right place. This is the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. I'm Gena Mayo, homeschooling mom of eight and music teacher for over 30 years.

So here are some tips for teaching dynamics to your children. Dynamics are an important part of music, but they can be tricky to teach to young children. Homeschool moms can use flashcards and picture cards to help their children understand and master

dynamics in a fun and engaging way. What exactly are dynamics? Dynamics are the volume variations in music. They can be used to create different moods and emotions from soft and gentle to loud and boisterous. [00:01:00] The most common dynamics are forte, signified by the letter F, fortissimo, FF and Forte means loud.

Fortissimo means very loud. Fortississimo, FFF means very, very loud. Mezzo forte, mf, moderately loud. Mezzo piano, mp, moderately soft. Piano is soft. Pianissimo is pp, very soft. Pianississimo, three Ps, very, very soft, And then there's some that tell you how to gradually change. Crescendo means to gradually get louder, kind of looks like a greater than sign. And decrescendo

or diminuendo gradually gets softer. Looks like a less than sign. Why should you teach dynamics? Well, it's important for a number of reasons. First, it helps students understand and appreciate the different [00:02:00] moods and emotions that can be created through music or that the composer wanted

to be expressed through the music that they wrote. Second, dynamics can help students develop their own personal musicality and expressiveness. And third, it helps them improve their sight reading skills. There are some different ways to actually use the flash cards and picture cards to teach dynamics, and I will have a link to those at the end of this video in the description or the show notes. So flashcards, you can show the student a flashcard with a dynamic symbol on it and have them sing or play a phrase or a note at that dynamic level. For example, if you show them the letter F, they will sing or play the note or phrase loudly. Picture cards, you show a student a picture card and have them identify the dynamic level that matches the picture.

For example, if you show them the picture of a lion roaring, then they might [00:03:00] say that that's forte or fortissimo because it's very loud. If you show them a picture of a Butterfly. They might say pianississimo. Very, very soft. Memory games. You could turn all the flash cards or picture cards over and play a game of memory.

When a student turns over two cards that match, they identify the dynamic level. Musical bingo. You could create bingo cards with the dynamic symbols or pictures on them. And as you play music, have students identify the dynamics that they're hearing in the music and mark them off on their bingo cards.

Sing-alongs. Choose a song that has a variety of dynamics and sing it with your child. And as you sing, point to the flashcards or the picture cards to help them identify the dynamics or look through the lyrics of the song and determine which lyrics should be sung softly and which ones loudly.

Listening activities, play music or [00:04:00] sounds like animal sounds, transportation sounds like a train or a car. Environmental sounds like rain or ocean waves, and have students identify those dynamics. Here's some additional tips for using flashcards and picture cards to teach dynamics. Make it fun. Dynamics should be enjoyable to learn, so choose activities and games that your child will enjoy playing for their particular age or skill level.

Be patient. Sometimes it takes children a while to understand dynamics, to hear the variations and sometimes it's kind of slight, so it takes them a while to train their ears. Don't get discouraged if they don't get it right away. Just keep practicing. And be creative. There's so many different ways you can use flashcards and picture cards to teach dynamics.

Don't be afraid to come up with your own games and ideas and activities. Here are a couple more games to try. [00:05:00] Charades. You can act out a dynamic level for your child to guess. You could stomp your feet loudly. Or softly, you can whisper or yell. Normally with charades, we don't make sounds, but you're not going to be speaking.

You're going to be making a sound with your body or with your voice. This is a really fun one. A dynamics obstacle course. Set up an obstacle course in your backyard or your living room and label each obstacle with a dynamic level. For example, jump over the couch could be forte. Crawl under the table, could be piano. And when your child completes the obstacle course have them sing or play a note or a phrase at that particular dynamic level that was labeled at that particular obstacle.

So, what are some of the benefits for using flashcards and picture cards to teach dynamics to your children? Well, they're visual and hands-on and anytime we can get our children to [00:06:00] actually do something hands on. That's even better. We know that it really makes a bigger difference for their learning. They provide a visual representation of dynamics, which is an abstract concept, and that helps children understand and remember it more easily.

Picture cards and flashcards are fun and engaging. They have fun pictures on them and they're affordable and easy to use. I have a set that you can get at the link in the description or the show notes. I would encourage you to take some time and work on the skill of dynamics, that musical concept this week with your children.

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