“A” Recorder Session with Charlie Parker

A while back I showed you guys a video about Charlie Parker (set to the Night in Tunisia). Today I pulled that same video back out (I love looping old songs back in later in the year – or in a different grade – in order to teach a new skill). My third graders are learning how to play the recorder. I like to start slow and teach them one note at a time. We used a song from a great resource called Recorder Revolution to learn B. Then, I used the Charlie Parker Played BeBop video to work on our new note A today.

The Process

1. Watch the video. Have the students clap on “BEBOP” and “HIPHOP”.
2. Add recorders. Instead of clapping on BEBOP and HOPHOP, they will play A on the recorder.
3. During the C section (alphabet, alphabet ….) we have some fun motions:
   1. Alphabet, alphabet, alphabet, alph: practice the fingers for B and A silently
   2. Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee, chick: flap elbows like a bird
   3. Overshoe, overshoe, overshoe, oh: kick left then right (small kicks)
   4. Reedifruity, reedifrooty, reddifroo, ree: do a recorder dance side to side
4. Next lesson: we add a call and response section. There is a section in the video where Charlie Parker has a solo and they show two pictures – first the left and then the right. It sort of sounds like a musical conversation with two players (call and response). We let Charlie Parker be part one (call) and then we improvise on A during the  response.
5. If this goes well, I may let them improvise on B and A.