Bob Stagner and Dennis Palmer
Shaking Ray Levi Society
P.O. Box 21534,
Chattanooga, TN 37424
Phone: 423.267.6688

Contact us to discuss the possibility of bringing one of these programs to your classroom or event.

The Shaking Ray Levi Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to education through innovative and exciting music. Based in Chattanooga, this group, comprised of two professional musicians and numerous guest artists, travels extensively and conducts music workshops for local schools. Workshops can be modified to suit any grade level, elementary through high school. The Shaking Ray Levi Society is dedicated to the creative possibilities inherent within each student. The programs offered expose students to multi-cultural music and ideas. At the same time, programs emphasize the importance and necessity of the individual personalities, skills and environments of each student while achieving an exciting end result.

Three Day Marimba Workshop:

• Students build 2 x 4 marimbas
• Students create an instrument of African origin
• Students learn how African music creates a sense of community
• Students learn the physics involved in the creation of a real musical instrument
• Students create instruments using objects from their own environment
• Students work with instructors on an individual basis
  Includes study guides

Three Day Hand Drum Workshop:

• Students learn to play a hand drum
• Students learn to understand the physics of sound
• Students learn that sound is a method of communication
• Students build self esteem as a result of improved communication skills
• Students create instruments using objects from their own environment
• Students work with instructors on an individual basis
  Includes study guides

Design Your Own Workshop:

• Work with professional musicians in your classroom
• Teach students to create musical instruments from everyday objects
• Unlock the creative potential in students by allowing them freedom to express themselves through sound
• Build the self-esteem of individual students as they acquire a new skill
• Increase teamwork and communication in the classroom by introducing new methods of communication through music

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Lesson Plan: Making Marimbas

Long Range Objective: Students will observe the elements of design and physics involved in the creation of musical instruments.

Instructional Objectives:
1. The student will construct a marimba when given cut pieces of 2x4 lengths of wood.
2. The student will identify the node of each board.
3. The student will demonstrate the pentatonic or five-note scale.
4. The student will perform using the marimba

Instructional Considerations:
1. Students must be reminded to follow proper audience etiquette and show respect for performers.
2. Students will need a work area to lightly sand boards.
3. Students will be comfortable sitting on the floor to perform.

Set:
The Shaking Ray Levi Society, (SRLS), a Chattanooga-based improvisational music group, will perform a completed marimba.

Instructional Strategies:
1. The SRLS will demonstrate the steps to make the marimba.
2. The SRLS will demonstrate how to find the node of the marimba by sprinkling sawdust on the board and lightly tapping.
3. The SRLS will demonstrate the five-note or pentatonic scale.

Materials:
The SRLS will provide the 2x4 lengths of boards and other materials used in constructing the marimbas. The mallets used to strike the marimbas must be provided by the teacher (regular rhythm sticks used in most elementary music classes are adequate).

Student Practice:
1. Students will work in groups to construct marimbas.
2. Each student will play the five-note or pentatonic scale.

Supplemental Activities:
1. Students can be encouraged to design other musical instruments.
2. Students can make oral presentations on how their instruments were constructed.
3. Students can look at various pictures of Western and non-Western instruments and determine how they were made.
4. Students can speculate on how folk instruments evolved.
5. Students can identify ways instruments have been modernized such as through the development of plastics and electronics.

Evaluation:
Students will be evaluated on their ability to work cooperatively to complete marimbas and explain how they were made.

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