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Saturday, July 23, 2011

A bit about bells. Part 1

A while ago, someone commented that they didn't see how the work done in the Primary class with the Montessori bells can be called music.  I've been mulling over that comment for some while because it is obvious to me that when the bells are presented properly they can be nothing other than music. It is true that the very first presentations are simple matching exercises but as a child progresses through the material, notation and composition are learned.

The material consist of a series of bells representing the whole and half tones of one octave. There are two sets: one white (the control) and one brown.  They are part of the sensorial materials and each bell differs from the others in only one quality.  In other words, the brown bells are all the same size and shape but each produces a different note. (I have singled out the brown bells here because there are some sets in which the bells of the white set are different sizes.)   A child must match the brown bells to the white bells by ear since there are no visual clues.

The bells sit on a white, black and green board  - the white representing whole tones and the black representing half tones. 


As with every other activity, the children begin by learning how to use and handle the material.






The next step is learning how to match three bells.  Slowly the children work their way up to matching all 8 bells.  There are lots of games that can (and should) be played during this matching period to reinforce a child's memory of the different pitches, develop the ability to hold a sound in one's head, and to hear the difference between high and low notes.  From there, the children practice grading the bells and learning the major scale pattern (whole steps, half steps and the tetrachord).

Here the bells are being graded from lowest to highest without using the white bells as a guide.

 


As a child works sensorially with the bells he or she will eventually come to the last sensorial lesson.  This is the Name Lesson and it entails singing the name of the note as it is played.  For example,  the teacher might choose c & g.  She will strike one and sing "c, this is c", mute the bell and then invite the child to sing the note.  Then the other bell is played/sung "g, this is g" and again, the child is be invited to sing the note. Over time, the teacher and child will review and add more notes until all 8 have can be identified by ear. 




More to come in part 2................












The Montessori bells are one of my favourite materials in the classroom.

12 comments:

Ann said...

Great post! I am looking forward to working with the bells more this year with my class.

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http://destinationent.blogspot.com/ said...

Hi I have been poking into your bogs noticing the Music education you do.I own Destination Preschool and Entertainment services. I think you are so on target with this blog.I am blogging andworking on an advocacy effort with my Early Childhood class. My research and efforts are on Music Education in Early Childood. I ffeel that Music is lost in our school systems and preschools in America. Music is very important for Cognotive and resoning skills. The frontal lobes are also helped to increase and stimulate brain responses. I was so Happy to see this post on bloggerspot.http://destinationent.blogspot.com/
Darlene

6to9 Maitland 2010-2011 said...

We would love to implement the Montessori Bells in our Lower Elementary classroom. What needs to be done, so that they are not disruptive to the whole environment? Thank you for you answer!

6to9 Maitland 2010-2011 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bookwormz said...

This is a fantastic post and it has indeed expand my knowledge of The Montessori Bells and music in general. Now, I need to find out what is the equivalent of note c and g to 'do re mi'?

Cynthia: could you write about Part 2 of this post, on the musical notation?

Cynthia Dyer said...

Hi Bookwormz:

I know I have been very slow getting Part 2 written. I promise to get on it very soon.

Thanks for prodding me. :-)

Cynthia

Anonymous said...

Excellent post! I have recently attended an AMI music workshop and I am completely in love with the bells and tone bars. I see that in some of the photos however; your g-clef appears to be reversed (back-to-front)... just thought you might want to know!

Cynthia Dyer said...

Yes, I did not notice that. These pictures were not posed and taken as the child was working. It was a while ago, but I probably waited a day or two and reviewed the lesson with a little extra emphasis on proper placement of the clef.

You bring up an interesting point, however. Montessori teachers do not correct in an instance like this one. To reach in and correct the work just for the sake of this a picture could have completely destroyed the child's focus and chances are the lesson would have been packed up and put away.

Thanks for your comment!

Anonymous said...

For anyone who reads this blog in the future, I just wanted to post a nifty trick --which is to say that a very inexpensive picture frame holders does a great job of holding sheet music (and this can be set behind the bells so the child can read as they play the notes).

http://cdn.gottabemobile.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_00153.jpg

teapot said...

Hope you can help me out. I have the music notation/symbols set shown in your picture and I'm trying to figure out the brand to possibly order replacement pieces. Do you recall the brand you own? TIA!

Cynthia Dyer said...

Hi Teapot:

As far as any of us can remember, that is Neinhuis material. It was purchased a long time ago so the style may have changed over the year.

Hope this helps!