We are in our second year of the Arts Demonstration Grant in Sausalito Marin City, and exciting projects and collaborations are evolving.
Last year a foundation in the visual arts was established, and this year students are being exposed to different ways to express themselves musically.
Mr. Allen Biggs has been working with the K-8 students in the SMCSD; teaching them about drumming, rhythm, reading notes, connections to Contemporary artists, and making musical compositions together.
The Willow Creek 8th graders have been learning about collaboration, choices, and challenges. They are thinking about “What inspires musicians?”
Mr.Biggs recently welcomed the students into the music room, and the students were greeted by a bass drum and a snare drum, a vibraphone, xylophones, and keyboards. The students then learned to read the notes to Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” and together, as an ensemble, they put the parts together to create a whole piece. Mr. Biggs then introduced the lyrics, learning through call and response, and all of the students immediately connected them to Nas (Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones). He is an American rapper and actor. Below is a link to his piece, “I Can.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxcNTfP1GzU
So the class continued with the students putting together all of the parts of the song “I Can” and students gained a lot from understanding that musicians look to other musicians for inspiration.
8th grade students working together to create a Nas inspired musical piece.
Students experimenting with the bass drum and the snare drum sounds.
Students recognizing the potential of drumming on buckets.