196 | Tinikling in the Elementary Music Classroom

In this episode of That Music Podcast, Bryson explores a fun and engaging Filipino folk dance that’s perfect for getting elementary students moving and connecting with rhythm. He breaks down simple steps to introduce this dance in your classroom, shares practical tips for building confidence with your students, and touches on why cultural respect matters when bringing this tradition into music education. If you’re looking for a fresh way to add movement and rhythm that your students will love, this episode is packed with ideas to get you started.

Episode Chapters:

• 0:00 Introduction & Disclaimer
• 2:44 What is Tinikling and where does it come from?
• 4:06 Tips for teaching Tinikling in your classroom
• 11:01 Takeaways

Links and Resources: 

• The Elementary Music Summit®
• Elementary Newbie Guide
• Disabilities Guide
• Steady Beat Survival Guide
• Join Elementary Music EDGE™

Have questions or want to share feedback? Reach out to us at hello@thatmusicteacher.com - we’d love to hear from you!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:44 What is Tinikling and where does it come from?
• 4:06 Tips for teaching Tinikling in your classroom
• 11:01 Takeaways

Transcript

Bryson Tarbet: 0:01

You are listening to that music podcast with Bryson Tart, the curriculum designer and educational consultant behind that music teacher in the elementary music summit. Each week, Bryson and his guests will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve. Show notes and resources mentioned in this episode can be found@thatmusicteacher.com. Hello everyone and welcome back to that music podcast. Today we are gonna be talking about one of my all time favorite ways to get students up moving, understanding the music, engaging with the music. Which is Ling. Um, so I'm really excited to talk about it because, um, especially with last week's guest with Melissa Fuller Flores, um, we talk a lot about the, the different ways that we can integrate Filipino, uh, American culture into our music classroom. Why it matters, and why it can be a lot. Fun and a lot of really engaging content. Um, but today I wanna share one of my favorite, and this is one, um, that I learned for the first time when I was doing my, I think it was level one, my koi level one at Capital University here in Columbus. Um, it was one of those like special topic things, and it was so much fun. So we're gonna a little bit talk about, uh, about Tin Clean, um, but kind of overarching, you know, a hundred foot view is it is essentially a, a dance that involves using bamboo sticks, um, to kind of make it a little bit more difficult, um, and a little bit more fun, might I say. Um, so today we're, we're gonna talk a little bit about, you know, a little bit of cultural exploration, rhythm, uh, movement and how we can use that in the elementary music classroom. I wanna start off with a little bit of a disclaimer. Um, I am not Filipino. I am a white man. Um, so I want to kind of acknowledge the fact that what I'm sharing is based on what has been shared with me, um, from culture barriers, from, like I said, you know, when I did my, the, um, I, I can't remember who, who bringing it into our Kodi levels. Um, and then from what I've learned, um, online from different, um, different people and kind of in integrating that into my own classroom. So I did wanna kind of acknowledge that. Um, but I also wanna be really clear that when we're using this in the classroom, um, make sure we're using it in a respectful way and in authentic representation of what it is. Um, I'm not necessarily saying that we can't change certain things here and there, um, but if you're changing things, say you're changing things, don't misrepresent. What's, what's going on or, or what you're using in your classroom, um, in, in that way. So, uh, let's talk about it because this is so much fun. Um, it, it really, it, it really is. Cool. So what is Ling? So Ling is based on what I know, um, from the research that I've done and the, um. My experience in the past, I is a traditional Philippine, uh, Filipino, uh, folk dance, um, where it has two people clapping or sliding bamboo poles, um, while Dan dancers are stepping in and out. Um, this, uh, apparently came from a rural folk dance that kind of became this national dance and kind of national art form. Um, there's the cultural significance to it, you know, it's often performed at celebrations. Um, and, and what it's really cool about the musical side of it. Is the, the rhythm of the poles themselves. Add a little bit, a little bit of extra to it. So if you're unfamiliar, essentially, um, you'll have two people on the end of two bare, uh, parallel bamboo poles. Um, and you might hit 'em together, floor, floor, in, out, out, in, out, out, in, out, out, da da, da. Right? And what's cool is it kind of becomes a barrier. So you're kind of the, the, the dancer. So there's a third person is gonna be stepping in and out. In and out, um, and kind of, you know, making that at a very easy level and then kind of making it a little bit crazy crazier and, um, more in depth and more fancy as they go on. There's like so many different levels to it. So what do we, how do we use that in the elementary music classroom? Um, and I think that the, the biggest tip I have for anyone is to start simple and then make it complex. You can show a really complicated, um, YouTube video. There's, so if you just type in 10 clean, um. Performance or whatever. There's so many cool things out there and they're really cool and they're really tricky. Um, you can show one of those kind of to get your students interested, but start. Basic. Um, one of the things that I, I, it, it, there is a lot of hand-eye coordination that's involved and a lot of, of kind of muscle memory that you need to get, um, at before you start adding in these, these kind of fancier moves. Um, so I think it's really important from the musical side of things, you know, pri prioritize that rhythmic is, uh, imitation, really making sure that the people are in charge of those polls in out, out, can do it. Stay steady because otherwise the people that are like going in and out, they're not gonna be able to stay steady if you're aren't steady. Um, so some other things that I kind of wanna recommend, um, especially when you're beginning is maybe using it something different other than a bamboo pole at the beginning. Uh, so for instance, I actually, full transparency, I never had bamboo poles. Um, I wasn't able to get my principal to buy some ones from like a phys ed store. Um, so they're essentially PVC pipes. Um, and those, those were fine. Um, but I never started with those. I always started with, um, essentially stretchy bands. Uh, because if you get hit by a stretchy band, it's, it's not that big of a deal. I mean, if you get hit by PC pipe or baby pull, it's, it's not a super big deal either. Um, but it's a little easier when you, students are still getting used to, you know, doing the, the in and out pattern of the tickling sticks. Um, I think it's really important to set clear expectations that, hey, it is okay to make a mistake. If you're going in and out, you're probably gonna get chomped or once you know here or there. If you're the one people that are in charge of the polls, you're probably gonna mess up here and there. And that's okay. It's just part of the game. It's part of what we're doing. Um, and I think setting those expectations is really helpful. Um, and then always start, start slow. So again, taking it like 10 steps back, um, the very first thing that I would do with my students is just doing it with our, with our hands. So we would go clap floor, floor clap, floor, floor clap, floor, floor clap, floor, floor. And then I might do a song, I might add a song into it that has the clap on the floor. Clap floor, floor clap, floor, floor. And we're really just practicing getting that pattern. Of together, out, out, together, out, out, together, out, out. Whatever practice you can do with that, it, it's going to be so helpful for you. It's going to be one of those things where. You, you really can't practice it enough because it's just so foundational to what you're doing. So step one for me is always clapping. Step two is adding in the stretchy bands. Step three is to adding in the poles, but nobody's dancing yet. Nobody's actually going in and out of them. And then step four is adding somebody, kind of doing the in and out part. And I think what's really important is when you first start adding in a new person. So start adding in a student that's doing the in and out part. You as the teacher grab one of the ends of the polls and really lead it to kind of set the tone of what's going on. Because again, students are gonna make mistakes. It's totally fine, it's totally expectable, we know it's gonna happen. Uh, but we want to set the students that are going in and out for as most, most success as possible. So when I'm doing the first few things, so if I'm even just the clapping and hitting the floor, I'm really looking around and I'm seeing which of my students are really getting this concept and are really sticking with the beat. Um, those are the students that I'm gonna ask to help me and the other. End of the poll when we first start doing this, just to kind of, again, start us up off from onto successful note, um, and then kind of rotate out as we go. So again. No poles, just hands, stretchy bands, poles, poles and people. Those are the four different steps that I use, um, to kind of scaffold it so that we're not just jumping in. And once you do that, you can really take it so many different places you can. Um. Do different songs to go along with it. What I love about using, um, things like YouTube is that you can change the, the playback speed to like 75% or even use the custom speed if you wanna go to like 80% or whatever. Um, and then really you can throw in pretty much any song or that's in triple meter with that same in, out, out pattern, right. Bu bu bu, bu bu So you can change up the music a little bit. Um, you can uplevel it. And what I love about what I love about this, honestly, my favorite part is that when you're giving students options for doing the in and out is you can give them. Different levels that they can choose. So level one is just go right through. Just take a step in, take a step out, and you're done. Um, level two might be take a step in, spin around and go out. Um, and as you, you kind of give students more opportunities for this. They're going to, they're going to try new things. Um, I love using this again, I used like PVC pulses. I think I had like three or four sets for my students, but I would always just start out with one. Central set that I could kind of help keep an eye on without getting things a little bit wild. There are so many resources online, um, that share, um, you know, different pop songs that you can use with it or, uh, uh, different ways that you can integrate it into your curriculum, you know, even, even more seamlessly. And there's a lot more on the cultural relevancy of 10 claims that I highly encourage you to check out. Um, but if you are unfamiliar with this. I want my, my challenge to you is this. Go to YouTube, type in technically dance, and just watch It is really cool and your elementary music students can do this. I did this as simple as first grade. Now in first grade, when I did this, I did it very simply and I only used the stretchy bands, but I would do it a little bit trickier. With a little every at higher grade. So my fourth graders, when they were doing it, they, you know, by the time we got done with kind of the sequence, they would have the, you know, every, they have, you know, four or five different groups around the room going in, out, out, in, out, out, doing things, different levels. Um, people are going in and out trying to come up with their own, you know, creative ways to do it. And it really is cool to see that connection, to rotate through different styles of music, to different, different songs, different tempos. It's a really great way to just. Engage with the music in a. Such a cool way that's not just, here's a song, let's play a game and then let's do some rhythms with it. Right? There's so much more to it. Um, again, this is only the beginning. I highly encourage you to go down the rabbit hole and learn a little bit more about this and how you can use it in the elementary music classroom. With that being said, we're gonna wrap up today's episode because I want you to have some time to give it a shot and to do it, and to go down that rabbit hole on YouTube because again, there's so much out there and it's so cool. Uh, with that being said, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of That Music podcast. I appreciate you being here. If you have not left a review, wherever you are listening or watching, it would mean the world to us. If you would do so, let us know what you like about the episodes, what topics you're interested in, and until next time. Thank you for listening and thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of the students that you teach.