on dry land

Búzios

TABLES
THE CHALLENGES OF MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

“The municipality of Lousada is located in the north of Portugal, covers an area of 96.08 km2 and is part of the natural region of Douro Litoral, in the sub-region of Vale do Sousa. This is a territory profoundly shaped by human hand, coexisting in a true intricate agroforestry network, of areas whose traditional agricultural methods are still maintained today, such as plowing with donkeys, the traditional grinding of cereal in a water mill or the division of agricultural plots with the hanged man's vineyard. The Sousa valley is home to more than 400 botanical species and more than 170 species of vertebrates, highlighting the occurrence of more than fifty species of particular value for conservation, such as Iberian endemisms, protected species or species with unfavorable conservation status. In addition to the natural values, Lousada has preserved its traditional heritage, which is ensured by institutions such as the Route of the Romanesque, a tourist-cultural project, which in Lousada brings together six monuments, but also by federated folklore groups, groups of cavaquinhos, groups of theater, among others. The Associação de Cultura Musical de Lousada (ACML) stands out, founded in 1975, with the aim of boosting the music band of Lousada, existing since 1855. ACML is, therefore, an institution with competence in the area of musical training, through the Vale do Sousa Conservatory, which promotes heritage and culture, or with its Music Band and Female Choir, and Ballet School. All these artistic expressions have in their roots, in Lousada, a deep connection to nature, which, given the high pressures of human activities, is increasingly important to preserve and conserve. From the songs, whose lyrics talk about agricultural crops, trees and animals, we can extract knowledge about the natural heritage and even draw a scenario of what the territory would have been like tens or hundreds of years ago. Environmental awareness and the importance of conserving the natural and cultural heritage has grown in Lousada, culminating in the creation and management of the Local Protected Landscape of Sousa Superior, whose objective is the integrated promotion of the sustainability of the territory of the Sousa Superior valley, with benefits social, economic and environmental, without forgetting the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, in an active promotion of environmental, scientific and civic literacy of the entire population.”

Ana Maria Pereira - Nature Conservation and Environmental Education Sector of the Municipality of Lousada

Suggestions for exploring the contents of the video at home or in the classroom:

This video was all filmed in Mata de Vilar in the municipality of Lousada. As with all traditional repertoire, regardless of its origin or context, music can and should be a companion in our individual or collective tasks and also in our free time. In this case, we created a picnic situation in a wonderful space like Mata de Vilar to underline that it is always possible to find something to do even without having great resources. The place and situation we are in can define what to do with time and inspire us to be creative and develop important things about our personality and our connection with others. Musical practice is undoubtedly a great way to discover new paths in our daily lives.
Marrafinha.Taking Marrafinha's verses, start by reading and understanding the text; then repeat everything from the beginning in a group and with the rhythm of the song (in the spoken/declaimed version); then do the same exercise but this time each child can start a different block (24 marrafas all making a candy – solo – 24 marrafas all making a candy – all – Male blackbird, wet the beak, I have 12 of the marrafas - 2x all); then they can replace the rhymes in the song with new rhymes created by all the children or by small groups; finally sing the song following the same steps (first all, then each child sings the beginning of each quatrain, then they sing the quatrains they made up). The objective is to be, in addition to the exercise of creativity, a moment of development of individual resourcefulness, respect and collective listening. It is important to create a moment of disinhibition, capacity for improvisation and group fun, without pressure. They can even find rhymes for the missing numbers (between 24 and 12). It doesn't matter if there are mistakes! We also did our best to screw up in the video! Nothing ventured, nothing gained… and in music, nothing is irreversible!
Domino game.Pick up dominoes (the easiest ones are the ones from 0 to 4) and play rhythmic games. Keeping a pulse, read the combination of dominoes according to the number of marbles; each half of the domino piece equals 1 heartbeat. It can always be read with the same syllable (pan pan pan, tan tan tan, etc) or you can use words with as many syllables as little balls: 1 little ball (stick, dog, foot, etc); 2 small balls (sil-va, ga-to, lu-a, etc); 3 balls (tree-re, ca-ga-do, mar-mo-re, etc); 4 balls (co-gu-me-lo, bor-bo-le-ta, co-to-ve-lo, etc); if it is a piece without balls, it must be assumed as silence. Try different combinations, first with just one or two pieces, then with 3, 4, 5, according to the capacity and ease of the group. Then, divide the class into groups, assign one or two pieces to each one and play games of coordination and attention: everyone keeps the pulse and the adult points to each group, deciding who says their sentence; everyone says their phrase at the same time doing rhythmic overlap (it's important that they say their phrases softly, otherwise it can get too confusing). The aim is for children to have contact with the concept of rhythmic writing through intuitive play.
The little bird.Listen and learn the song using the video or sheet music. Pick up objects that can produce sound or small instruments in the room and distribute them among the children; if there is nothing around, you can also use body parts (feet on the ground, palms, hands on legs or chest, etc). First they all sing and play until the music is internalized; then divide the class into small groups and assign them different blocks. The idea is to improve the music until they are able to repeat it always in the same way: finding rhythms with the objects/instruments/parts of the body, being able to coordinate them with the different quatrains, discovering and defining dynamics. Through watching the video and experimenting, find out what to do during the musical performance: control the volume, listen to others, don't fill in too much, keep in tune and attention, know the structure of the song, be careful with the beginnings and endings, etc.
And it's not going well anymore.This song is traditionally used when the singer feels that something is not going well in their performance. Someone then starts this melody, leading the rest of the group to find themselves in it and then restart the song they were doing initially. It is an interesting resource to teach children and make them feel free to use it when they feel that something is wrong with their performance. It is important that they have the ability to detect errors and identify them verbally. After learning the song, explain to the children that they can use this resource, that the rest of the group should join in when they recognize the melody and, finally, be able to verbalize what the mistake was and how to correct it, leaving afterwards for the your correction.
Lemongrass🇧🇷 Song with a flexible rhythm that requires a special focus on prosody. It has a spirit of contemplation and allows you to prolong the last syllable of each sentence as long as the group wants. After learning the song through the video or the score, work on collective listening, coordinating breathing before each phrase, when to say each syllable and when to finish each phrase. In these heartless songs, the group ends up finding a comfortable collective rhythm and there are elements that end up putting themselves in a leadership position and others that allow themselves to be directed. It's a fun exercise to do with children because it reveals some curious aspects of their personality. It might be interesting to assign each child the responsibility of directing the rest of the group without using their hands, just facial expression, breathing and syllable articulation.
During the exercises it is important to manage behaviors and emotions that arise: nervousness, shame, intolerance, impatience, selfishness, frustration, disrespect. By watching the video (especially in the section dedicated to errors typical of inexperienced musical performance) and small situations that arise in class, discuss what could be better and how problems can be solved, trying to identify them and find collective solutions and individual for its resolution.