I am a K-5 music teacher. I started a marimba band 12 years ago with fourth and fifth graders. It has been the spice of life for me in my job. The students, parents, and teachers are jazzed about it. It has changed my thinking about what can be accomplished musically at this age. I have discovered that the musical skills learned through participating in this exciting instrumental ensemble far outreach the basic skills I typically taught in the music classroom. If you haven't started an Orff ensemble or marimba band you are missing out on some of the best joys of music teaching available to you.
While traditional Orff instruction resources are readily available today, printed resources for alternative/non-traditional music for Orff using barred instruments are not. I am grateful to the few I have found who have successfully published marimba collections.
Jon Maden has two books out, "Marimba Music 1" and "Marimba Music 2", that are fun arrangements for marimba ensemble. However, his songs are mostly in the folk tradition reminding me of the Orff type songs. Walt Hampton is probably the best known writer and publisher of African music for grade school music instruction and performance. His two published books, "Hot Marimba," and "Marimba Mojo" by World Music Press, have been the catalist for many of us starting up our own school marimba programs. I feel so fortunate to have trained under him and also now work as a fellow coleague in the same school district. He, and his bands, are an inspiration to me as a music educator. His song writing in the traditional Shona style is truly amazing to play and listen to. I keep asking him about when his third book is coming out because I need more material. Which brings me to why I started arranging and writing my own pieces.
With my jazz background as a saxophone player, and my instrumental teaching experience with middle school and high school bands, I found this endeavor to be something I was able to do successfully and enjoyed. I now have almost 50 songs written and arranged for Orff/marimba bands. Some are in the traditional African style as Walts, but most are arrangements of popular songs in varied styles including jazz, rock, rhythm and blues, reggae, and even orchestral.
I've composed original songs and arranged others with great kid and audience appeal. The opening music for this web page is one of my holiday arrangements. It starts off sounding a lot like "The Macarena" then evolves into the well known Christmas song: Do You Hear What I Hear? I've arranged Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" and "Unsquare Dance" as Christmas songs too:
We Three Kings
What Child Is This?
Here are some other Christmas arrangements I've done:
Adult marimba bands have also enjoyed these arrangements.
Add some mojo (magic) to your music instruction. wipe the dust off the bars of those xylophones stacked in the corner of your music room and open up the wonderful world of marimba playing to your students. It will energize you and your students and your faculty and your parents. You will also find the much deserved support and appreciation for music in your school and for the valuable work you do with children.