DENNIS WARING

Dennis Waring, ethnomusicologist, music educator, performer, instrument maker, and author of six books, is proprietor of Waring Music, providing music resources for a wide variety of applications. He is a Connecticut Master Teaching Artist and was selected as “Connecticut State Troubadour” for 2003-2004. Dr. Waring has circumnavigated the world twice with the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester At Sea program as shipboard ethnomusicologist. He is presently manufacturing musical instruments for the classroom and community and performs regularly with the world music ensemble, Sirius Coyote.

“We really enjoyed your performance! It was interesting to see how you changed trash into music. We are very inspired to make music from something we would usually throw away” (From Students at Gideon Welles School)

From Trash To Tunes Assembly (Grades K-12)

Music-Science-Fun! Imagine two giant tables covered with magical, mythical, musical instruments. “From Trash To Tunes” is a

performance of scores of handmade musical instruments based on ideas from around the world. Dr. Waring weaves tales of the origins of music and how all cultures through time have built fascinating sound making devices. Interesting sights, sounds and stories provide students with new insight into folklore, music, craft, science and world view. Instruments are from materials which are usually thrown away as trash. Guitars can be made from plastic containers, sticks and fishing line; sweet sounding flutes assembled from water pipe; xylophones fashioned using scrap wood and twine; drums built using tubes and cans.

Length: 45 Minutes

Instrument Making Demonstration

Following the assembly program and prior to the workshop, this “Mr. Wizard style” presentation shows students how to assemble their own string, wind or percussion instrument from recycled materials. Length: 30minutes

Single Performance: $525

Back to Back Performances: $640

Instrument Making Workshop (Grades 3-12)

Participants build their own individual instruments such as the cardboard box banjo.

Length: 1 hour, tables and volunteers required Instrument making kits are also available for independent project activity.

($5 per Student Material Fee)

Extended Residency

Residencies includes sessions involving refining and decorating instruments. Participants are shown how to hold and play the

instruments they have built. Concepts of tuning, melody, scales, rhythm and group playing are explained and practiced. Instruments are then coordinated into small ensembles for performance.

Musical Expeditions (Grades K-12)

Musical Expeditions is a fascinating interactive tour through the musics of six different world cultures. Indigenous musical

instruments, each culturally unique, are demonstrated through story and song. Small ensembles of selected participants then engage in instrument play reflective of each of the culture areas: Native Peoples, Latin America, Africa, India, China, American Folk music. Designed for smaller audiences,* this program emphasizes participation for everyone. Length: 1 hour

*For large audiences, this show can also be performed as a two person ensemble with master musician, Dirck Westervelt. A world

traveler, Dirck has intimate knowledge of and facility with African, Latin, and Indian musics as well as mastery of American folk and jazz.

Multicultural Presentation (Grades 9-12)

Through fun, informed musical activity featuring the latest techniques and resources, ethnomusicologist Dr. Dennis Waring

involves participants in song and instrument play representative of three interconnected cultural traditions: Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. By singing and drumming traditional music of Africa, playing characteristic Cuban rhythms, and experiencing the Brazilian samba,

participants will more fully appreciate how four hundred years of intersecting musical folkways have shaped a large portion of today’s global expressive culture. Length: 1 Hour

Teacher-In-Service and High School…

A TransAtlantic Experience:

Through fun, informed musical activity featuring the latest techniques and resources, ethnomusicologist Dr. Dennis Waring involves participants in song and instrument play representative of three interconnected cultural traditions: Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. By singing and drumming traditional music of Africa, playing characteristic Cuban rhythms, and experiencing the Brazilian samba, participants will more fully appreciate how four hundred years of intersecting musical folkways have shaped a large portion of today’s global expressive culture. This show is intended for small to medium-size groups for maximum participation.

Africa

After an introduction to instruments found in a typical drumming ensemble of West Africa (bells, rattles, various drums), and viewing an introductory video, players will learn simple songs and create traditional polyrhythms characteristic to the culture. A follow-up activity of learning a recreational piece from Ghana called Gahu.

Cuba

Cuba offers the greatest insight of how African music influenced the music of many Latin American countries. By learning about the various percussion instruments in a standard Cuban rhythm ensemble (cowbell, claves, maracas, bongos, conga drums), paraticipants experience through playing how the intricate polyrhythms fit together. Further insight into various styles of Cuban music such as mambo, chachacha, rumba, and santeria, provide special understanding of Cuban culture in general.

Brazil

Brazil is musically noteworthy for the samba. The street samba or batucada samba, heard during the annual Carnival festivities, is most interesting for its special percussion instruments (surdo, reco-reco, ganza, panderio, etc.). Invariably involving song and dance, the samba is known around the world for its intoxicating, driving rhythms and spirit.

Participants will gain:

- A working knowledge of selected world drumming traditions—their history, music literature, and sources in art and folk traditions.

- An awareness of the pluralistic nature of most musical traditions.

-An understanding of various culture’s musical organization form many perspectives: value systems, relationships to language, musical structure, transmission strategies, social hierarchies and, within their socio-cultural contexts, the relationship of music to the other arts, religion, philosophy, and human values.

-An understanding of the fine points of performance, improvisation, and composition in more than one tradition.

-An understanding of the political, social, technological and economic factors which affect the arts in various cultures in order to make informed decisions as listeners, composers, consumers, and/or patrons, taxpayers, and voters.

-An appreciation of classical, folk, tribal and popular musics as essential to a population’s local, regional, national and global identity.

-Development of non-ethnocentric views and positive attitudes regarding diversity issues.

-Recognition of the interconnectedness of all subject disciplines.

CCT Funding Available

Curriculum Connections:

Social Studies, Music, Science
PWRT

Study Guide: Music Around the World