| Music has also been a large part of my curriculum the past five years as well, through RECYouth (Reel Education and Communication for Youth) Program run through both the New York City Parks & Recreation Department and City Parks’ Foundation (the City’s non-profit agency of Parks). In my classrooms students have learned to deconstruct and create music without the confines of intimidating musical-language barriers. Initially students mastered bar-counting via song-mapping (individually or in small groups) devising their own color coded system to identify what sounds they hear in a song (of their choice), how the song changes and repeats over time. They then moved on to collaborative rhythm making with actual percussion instruments as well as their voice. They have also learned scales and chords through a free-jazz / blues approach to piano lessons and recorded collaboratively written lyrics, ultimately creating their own original electronic music. | In December 2007 I took over as the RECYouth & Computer Resource Coordinator at Hamilton Fish Recreation Center in the Lower East Side, NYC and stayed on through January 2010 (upon moving to India).
These are the first crop of electronic music tacks made by my (middle and high school) students during the first year. |