This school year, students at Shelby Elementary were lucky enough to get to learn and play handchimes.  Handchimes are an amazing tool.  It takes very little time to learn to play them correctly and they are easy to create beautiful sounds with!  This year I used chimes with my elementary age students, although any age group can benefit from their use, and would certainly enjoy them.  Here are just a few ways I was able to incorporate chimes into my classroom.

     All of the grades I taught chimes with spent some time learning the basic technique and terminology of chimes.  Then with early elementary, the kids began by playing simple songs, like Mary Had a Little Lamb and Lightly Row.  For this age, I made smartboard files with notes that showed the rhythmic value, but the note name was written in the middle of the note head, not put on the staff.  Upper elementary practiced reading music on the staff and had to recognize the notes this way. 

     We also used the chimes as accompaniment to our singing.  Early elementary students learned what a chord was and played chords to accompany our singing by reading notes on a smartboard file.  Using songs in our textbook, upper elementary learned how to build chords by using the chord names written above our songs to build the chords, then they were able to play along while they sang.

     Chimes were also very helpful when teaching the chromatic scale to 5th and 6th grade.  It was great to have something tangible to understand that Bb and A# are the same.  At one point, we lined a group of students up with chimes and played a major C scale, then added the accidentals in between in order to hear and see the different types of scales.  This was a great activity; you could literally see the light bulbs lighting up on the students' faces!

             
     These are just a few of the ways I was able to incorporate chimes into my classroom.  As I stated earlier, they could easily be utilized in a Jr. High or High School setting as well.  They are such an amazing tool for any classroom!  It was so nice to have access to an instrument that takes so little time to learn, but creates such an incredible tone.  The reward is so instant and the possibilities are endless!  Thank you for the opportunity to use these wonderful tools in my music room!

Amy Daiss, general music & choir teacher