From hip-hop to reggae, the students at Blue Creek Elementary School love music. In fact, they love it so much, they wanted to be a part of it.
Tricia Carlson, a teacher at Blue Creek in North Colonie, had heard about a program in which Brian Chaevalier, a singer/songwriter from Glens Falls, goes to schools as part of the Capital Region Arts and Education program. Chaevalier teaches children about music and the steps that go into producing an album.
While this is a first for a program like this at Blue Creek, it was previously done at the Glenmont schools in Bethlehem, where Carlson’s child took part in the process of putting together a musical CD. Thinking her own students would enjoy the program, Carlson called Chaevalier and asked him if he would come to Blue Creek.
First, Chaevalier met with the teachers of each grade to discuss what was current in what the students were learning.
Lately, there has been a lot of focus on character education, said Carlson, who said the school decided to focus on that, which involves morality characteristics such as respect, responsibility, perseverance and honesty.
From there, the children in all grades of the elementary school got to work together, by grade, to develop songs of meaning to them.
According to Chaevalier, the kids participated in every step of songwriting, from brainstorming to creating a `sloppy copy,` to revising, to editing and then the final copy.
`I go in and I write with the kids, we brainstorm the general idea of the song, and we kind of get a structure of the song,` he said.
For example, Chaevalier said, say the song is about respect, `I describe how I show it at home, how I show it at school, how I show it around me ` each of those things might be a verse.`
The album being put together is called `Shine Your Light,` said Carlson, based on a song by the sixth grade.
`The message of the song is that your light will shine much brighter when it shines on another,` said Carlson.
Chaevalier said that this song, in particular, showed him how the children really understood the meaning of the music and the proper tune for the lyrics.
`At first they were kind of stuck in what’s cool. They wanted to do rap,` said Chaevalier, `They really ended up picking same kind of music that I would have for the song.`
The kids in all grades learned to match the type of music with the lyrics of the song they were singing. According to 10-year-old Kristian Quackenbush, of Latham, who is in the fifth grade, his grade was singing blues music to their song `The Dishonesty Blues.`
`It’s about a kid who kept being dishonest,` said Quackenbush. `When you’re dishonest, you feel very guilty.`
Duncan Satterlee, 9, of South Colonie, said his grade, the third grade, wrote a rock ‘n’ roll song about responsibility.
`Well, it’s mostly alternative music,` he said.
After the students finalized the lyrics of their songs, Chaevalier would go home and play the guitar and drums to make the musical composition that goes with the song.
`I see [the students] a bunch of times and we mold their song and then I come home and I have a studio here in my house and I record the music,` he said. `I play the bass, a couple different guitar parts and I sing the background music. They put their voices on to what they’ve heard me record, which is the song that we’ve wrote together, and then they have a finished product they get to hear.`
In the making of the CD, Chaevalier met with the students 12 times this semester.
The musical project, however, does not end at the CD, which parents are now ordering and Chaevalier said will be delivered mid-June. On Thursday, May 9, in an all-school event, each grade will be wearing costumes of their choice and performing the song live for their parents and friends.
Quackenbush said his grade is going to wear all black and sunglasses, `Because they’re singing a blues song,` said Carlson, while the third graders are planning to wear tie-dyed T-shirts.
While the children all expressed excitement for the performance, 11-year-old Nick Smith said he had the pre-performance jitters.
`I’m a little nervous. You’re sort of under pressure,` said Smith, who was concerned, as well as Quackenbush, that he may forget some of the words on the day of the performance.
All together, the students said they enjoyed studying music with Chaevalier and that it was nice to be able to make the music with all of their friends.
`I liked that you didn’t have to do it alone,` said Quackenbush.
The performance will be Thursday, May 29, at Shaker High School. For more information, contact the Blue Creek Elementary School at 785-7451.“