Handchimes Classroom Archives ~ Page 2 of 2 ~ ChimeWorks

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Strike a Chord and Join the Chorus – Easy Christmas Lesson Plans

Bring some cheer to your class, singing choir rehearsal or Christmas party with these simple carol activities from ChimeWorks. Using chords or ostinati with handchimes or handbells, our easy to learn harmonizations will put your musicians in the Christmas spirit and have them wanting more throughout the year!

Surprise your pre-readers by working on eye-hand coordination with icons and delight them when they ring their beloved carol, Jingle Bells!

Pat-a-pan

Ostinati create a delightful accompaniment to Pat-a-pan, a French Christmas carol written by Bernard de la Monnoye (1641-1728) who collected folk songs of Burgundian dialect. The carol tells of the birth of Christ from the perspective of the shepherds with the text reflecting the sound of the drum – pat-a-pan and of the flute – tu-re-lu-re-lu.

Sing Noel!

Go global and celebrate the season with this rhythmic Christmas carol from Liberia using only three chords for harmonic foundation.

Joy to the World

A great addition for any social activity during the holidays – distribute the song sheets with handchimes or handbells. When a word is boxed, the pitch is rung and when it is underscored, the pitch is damped. Sing in perfect harmony!

Christmas Round

Ostinati make this simple, two-part canon sparkle! God Bless All is a Christmas canon that has been sung throughout the centuries. It’s origin is unknown.

Jingle Bells

Three chords chime in Jingle Bells, one of the best known and loved American Christmas carol written in the 1850’s in Massachusetts.

Christ Was Born on Christmas Day

Using four chords, harmonize the tune, RESONET IN LAUDIBUS, which dates from the 14th century and was used throughout Europe through the centuries. The translation below by John Mason Neale is based upon Piae Cantiones, the Swedish collection published in 1582. Christus natus hodie translates to Christ is born today!

Good King Wenceslas

Good King Wenceslas’ text comes from Jon Mason Neale written in 1853. It is combined with a 13th century tune, Tempus Adest Floridum, a spring-time tune taken from the collection, Piae Cantiones. The text tells the story of a Czech king, St. Wenceslas, who travels on a winter journey on the feast of St. Stephen to give alms to the poor. Four chords harmonize this carol beautifully.

Angels We Have Heard on High

Perfect for older students and adults, this lesson uses five chords to harmonize the melody. Angels We Have Heard On High is a French Christmas carol by an unknown text writer and is based on the Gospel of Luke. It was translated into English during the mid-19th century and gained popularity. The tune, GLORIA, was arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Using seven chords, harmonize this holiday favorite! We Wish You A Merry Christmas is a traditional English carol celebrating the tradition of giving carolers rewards for singing at one’s door.

The above lesson plans are on the ChimeWorks website and available at the low price of $2.29 for immediate purchase and digital download. If you’re not already a member, log on for your FREE two-week trial today!

One, Two…. Who Knew It Would Be This Easy!

So, you’d like to use handchimes in the general music classroom or children’s choir rehearsal but you’re not quite sure where to start? We have the solution for you!

Start slowly – choose a folk song which you can teach by rote and has a melody that can be harmonized with two chords. Once the text and melody are learnt, add handchimes in by having your students accompany their singing with chords.

Do this by distributing one handchime to each student and separate the students by chords having the students holding the common pitch stand in the center. Practice each chord separately. Then point to group one or two and practice ringing as indicated.

A chord chart indicating the chord by pitch name or color displayed by projector may also be used. Simply point to the chord at the appropriate time. This is a great way to begin teaching eye-hand coordination. Consider putting Malmark’s colored bands on the handchimes to make chord recognition easier.

Begin to practice singing the song along with the chords indicating which chord is to be rung with the text. If you don’t have enough handchimes to go around add some non-pitched percussion for added rhythm. In no time, you’ll have music in a snap – of the wrist that is!

Here are some recommended folk songs from the ChimeWorks website that use two chords:

O, Music, Sweet Music

Rocky Mountain

Six Little Ducks

Skip To My Lou

Recorder and Handchimes Together

Look no further for lesson plans using recorder and handchimes! As music educators, we try to engage as many students as possible in our classroom with hands-on music making. Adding handchimes and non-pitched percussion with recorders is a sure-fire way to heat things up!

With ChimeWorks’ chordal lesson plans, students will learn to harmonize the melodies they sing by ringing the accompanying chords on handchimes. Non-pitched percussion can be improvised to add more rhythmic interest. You might consider doubling the melody on recorder by assigning it to some of your more accomplished students.

Do you have favorite recorder melodies? Consider adding basic chords to the score and have some of your students join in with handchimes. The handchimes will add a rich, harmonic accompaniment that will serve as an in-tune foundation for your little pipers! Consider sharing your successful lesson plans with others by submitting them here.

Here are some ChimeWorks lesson plans that will surely create some pipe dreams:

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Tallis Canon

Kum-bah-yah

Michael, Row the Boat Ashore

Ode to Music

Children will remember the songs that we teach them throughout their lives. Be it a catchy tune, silly lyrics or an engaging movement, the music that we teach will impact our students in different ways but the end results are the same – lifelong memories.

As teachers of music, we hope to instill an appreciation, love or passion for music into our students. We do this best by actively involving them in the music-making process allowing them to be creative as they go and encouraging them to connect their experiences to the world around them. We also know that music will stimulate the intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social growth of our students affecting their lives in so many ways.

We balance our choice of lessons and repertoire to broaden our students – classical, folk, world and nonsense songs fill our teaching space – all to provide our students with a varying wealth of repertoire. Along with our singing, we introduce drums and other percussion, recorders, Orff instruments, ukuleles, Boomwhackers®, KidsPlay® bells and handchimes all in effort for our students to find their voice. In the end, our hope is for well-rounded young musicians leading to accomplished adults who are kinder, gentler and welcoming.

How often do we stop and sing about it? Music, that is. As we close the school year, we have an opportunity to sum up all that we offer with songs that praise our beloved art. Words that express how wonderful music is that our students will remember for a lifetime.

Share the joy of music with some of the following ChimeWorks lesson plans that will allow your students to sing and ring about it!

Merrily, Merrily Greet The Morn (LP00053)

Music Alone Shall Live (LP00043)

O Music, Sweet Music (LP00021)

Sing Together (LP00055)

Viva La Musica (LP00065)

Welcome Ev’ry Guest (LP00072)

O, How Lovely (LP00066)

Using Handchimes in the Classroom

You, like many general music teachers, may have a set of handchimes in the instrument cabinet of your classroom that have been sitting for years. Now’s the time to open them up and get them into the hands of your students and begin reaping the benefits of using handchimes in the classroom.

Why?

Using handchimes in the classroom offers bountiful benefits in teaching music skills that will bring excitement to you and your students. Handchimes create a beautiful tone – they have been said to create the purest tone known to mankind. Children do not have to master the instrument to create this beauty – they hold the instrument and snap their wrist – no worries about embouchure, fingerings and being in tune – the beauty is instantaneous using the wrist to create the sound and the arm to sustain it.

The music skills that can be taught by ringing are many. Students can learn about note duration, rhythm, harmony and melodic line though the mental and physical aspects of ringing. Through ringing, students will increase their independent thinking, listening skills, attention span, physical coordination, self-discipline and personal expression. They also gain positive social and emotional skills through collaboration and the development of self-esteem. Working with a group of ringers teaches tolerance, patience, support and cooperation to name a few.

How?

Using handchimes in the classroom does not require all the equipment that goes along with a handchime ensemble – tables, foam and music. Distribute one handchime to each student and allow them to sit at their desks, sit in a circle on the floor or stand. With a chime in hand, the students can learn to ring and damp, ring note durations, scales, chords and melodies all by rote.

If you desire to start slowly, use your handchimes along with your Orff instruments allowing students to double ostinati on handchimes. If Kodaly is your method, use the handchimes to intone a song by ringing a chord, accompany a modal melody by choosing the pitches of the mode on handchimes and have them ring randomly throughout the piece. If you have students who are not successful in playing the recorder, have them ring chords on the handchimes to accompany the melody that the students on recorders are playing. The incorporation of handchimes into your existing lesson plans is easy and will embellish your teaching!

Once you have experienced the positive benefits of using handchimes with your existing lesson plans, expand your curriculum by engaging your students with more ringing! Through the ChimeWorks® Online Resource Community at www.chimeworks.com, you have access to over a hundred lesson plans using icons, chords and ostinati. Use these lessons to accompany singing or to teach music literacy. Add in non-pitched percussion for students to improvise rhythms along with the singing and handchime parts. All your students will have hands on experience!

When?

Begin or finish the school year with ringing success – it’s never too late in the academic year to introduce handchimes. Because of the instant success in creating beauty of tone by ringing a handchime, your students will have the opportunity to jump right into the music!