A daily intercom listening program is an easy and effective way to include listening to classical music in every child’s musical education. Using a track with the school PA system, the same piece of music is played over the intercom every day for a week. A brief script is read that will teach the name of the piece and the composer, and highlight some of the musical concepts in the piece. The script is written so that each day of the week, the students learn a little more about the piece, the period of music and the composer.
A sample script for “Fossils” from Carnival of the Animals, could read as follows:
Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Composition: “Fossils”, from ‘Carnival of the Animals.
Time: 1:17
Monday: This week’s feature composer is Camille Saint-Saëns. The feature composition is “Fossils”, from Carnival of the Animals. Do you know what a fossil is? A fossil is the remains or impression of a prehistoric plant or animal hardened in rock.
Tuesday: This week’s feature composer is Camille Saint-Saëns. The feature composition is “Fossils”, from Carnival of the Animals. What instrument plays the melody in the first part of “Fossils”? It is played by the xylophone. Why do you think Saint-Saëns chose this instrument?
Wednesday: This week’s feature composer is Camille Saint-Saëns. The feature composition is “Fossils”, from Carnival of the Animals. Is the music loud or soft?
Thursday: This week’s feature composer is Camille Saint-Saëns. The feature composition is “Fossils”, from Carnival of the Animals. What do you remember about the music? Does it have a steady beat? Is it fast or slow? Is it loud or soft?
Friday: This week’s feature composer is Camille Saint-Saëns. The feature composition is “Fossils”, from Carnival of the Animals.
The scripts are short and would take less than a minute to read. The piece is only 1 minute and 17 seconds long. It takes less than 3 minutes out of the school day.
Implementing a daily intercom listening program requires the support of the entire staff of your school. For the intercom program to be effective, all staff have to model good listening skills. If the teachers hold whispered conversations while the music is playing, the students will get the message that listening isn’t important.
An intercom listening program about more than just listening to classical music. Listening skills are crucial to learning in every subject area. Every teacher in the world would love to have students in his classes that were perceptive, engaged listeners. An intercom listening program teaches listening skills that are applicable to any discipline. Daily listening to classical music will ensure that the students in your school reap the benefits.
Intercom listening can be held any time during the school day. At one school, we had the listening program immediately after the morning announcements. At another school we had the listening in the early afternoon. Since the support of the staff is so crucial to the success of the program, staff consensus on the best time to present it is important.
The program is easiest to implement if the person who reads the announcements each day in your school is the person who reads the script and starts the track. At one school we had a wonderful principal who presented the scripts and selections each day. At another school, we rehearsed and prepared two fifth grade students who divided the scripts and took turns reading for the week. This gave the fifth grade students an opportunity to take on a leadership role, and I found that the students in the school liked hearing them read. Some schools tape the students reading the scripts, and copy the listening selection onto the tape immediately after the spoken introduction. Label the tapes with the day of the week, and give the person who does the announcements the five tapes to play.
To encourage good listening, hold periodic listening quizzes. You could call this “Who wants to be a music listening millionaire?” Ask the teachers to stand by the intercom and buzz in the answers to your questions. Give a prize to the class with the most correct answers. Hold listening quizzes in your music classes so that individual students are accountable for their listening. Use this for assessment, or just as a fun activity. I observed a kindergarten class listening to the music on the intercom, just after lunch one day. They were relaxed on the floor while listening. When the music ended, the kindergarten teacher quizzed the children on what they had heard. She asked them to name the composer, the name of the piece, when the composer had lived, and what instruments they had heard in the piece. I was amazed that the students in the class were able to correctly answer each and every question.
Some schools don’t have an intercom system. If you are unable to use the intercom, the music teacher or classroom teachers can still present the program and scripts in the classroom starting each music class or each school day with a listening selection.
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