Kumbaya - Pandemic Music Education

Topic: Pandemic Versions
When schools closed their buildings, parents were expected to take over the functions of teaching reading, arithmetic, and subject matter like history and science.  Fortunately, websites already existed where teachers could sell curriculum support materials.  Amazon had experimented with a marketplace in 2016, then reintroduced one in November 2019, [1] a month before the COVID-19 strain of Coronavirus appeared in China.

Music has been peripheral since schools began cutting programs for budgetary reasons in the 1960s.  Only 728 items come up on the Amazon site for the keyword “music.”  In comparison, there are over 6,000 results for “reading,” 4,000 for “math,” and 2,000 for “history.” [2]

Some have turned to YouTube as a better alternative for offering free music lessons.  Kristin Young began posting weekly lessons on 1 June 2020 on her church’s website.  She teaches a religious song each week, and introduces a few simple concepts.  For “Kumbaya,” she discussed breathing from the diaphragm and showed the scale as a series of numbers, before singing four verses.

Technology has been the challenge for everyone doing remote learning, from figuring out how to use Zoom and other software, to determining what works in this medium.  Young is director of worship at Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church, and so had a portable, headset microphone available.

Katherine Hicks had more problems with her instrumental lessons.  She apparently had one microphone available, which picked up the louder, higher-pitched sounds of the flute and recorder.  Her voice was soft, and almost impossible to hear.

She also used “Kum Bay Yah!” to teach how to read music.  She showed the notes on both the staff and as a list of numbers.  Like the clarinet method books, she commented on the extra key used for the upper register. [3]  Her main concern was the duration of notes and so focused on the dotted-quarter, eighth, whole note combination at the ends of phrases.

Performers
Young: vocal soloist accompanied by grand piano.
Hicks: recorder soloist

Credits
Young said it came from the Gullah culture of the southeastern US slaves, and that “kumbaya” was Gullah for “come by here.”

Hicks described it as a “beautiful spiritual campfire song.”

Notes on Lyrics
Young
Language: English
Verses: kumbaya, crying, praying, singing
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Basic Form: four-verse song
Influences: Tommy Leonetti verse order

Hicks
Language: English
Verses: kumbaya
Term for Deity: Lord

Notes on Music
Young
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one note to one syllable, including the final “Lord”

Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: right hand played the melody, left a note (not a chord) at the beginning of measures

Hicks
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: moderate
Key Signature: one sharp
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Ending: slowed the last line the last time

Notes on Performance
Both took on the personae of teachers.  The married Kristin Young introduced herself as Miss Kristin.  Katherine Hicks called herself Mrs. Hicks.

Young
Location: in the church in front of the altar platform; chairs had been moved to the perimeter
Microphones: headset

Clothing: dark top and mid-calf black-and-white print skirt; in other videos she wore a white choir robe or dress; her dark, shoulder-length hair was loose

Hicks
Location: in a room, probably in her home
Microphones: not visible

Clothing: a red tee-shirt with “Music Teacher” in white script; the back had her name in block letters.  Her blond air was pulled back and she wore glasses; she wore a simple ring on one finger.

Notes on Movement
Both moved as they talked, and both used props in addition to their musical instruments.  Young used a portable white board with staff lines inscribed on it.  Hicks displayed the sheet music and also used a plain white board.

Audience Perceptions
Eight people had viewed Young’s video the first time I saw it.  I do not know the size of her church’s congregation, but the day care center has less than sixty students. [4]

Eighty-nine people had seen Hicks’ video.

Notes on Performers
Saint Mark’s in Aurora, Illinois, is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. [5]  Young graduated from the Roman Catholic DePaul University with a “with a degree in piano performance and a minor in voice and conducting.”  She has been the music director at Saint Mark’s since 1996. [6]

Hicks has teacher certification in California, where she is a member of the University of California Riverside Orchestra. [7]

Availability
Video: Kristin Young.  “Kumbaya.”  Uploaded to YouTube by St. Mark’s Lutheran - Aurora, IL on 6 October 2020.

Video: Mrs. Hicks.  “Kum Ba Yah !”  Uploaded to YouTube by Mrs. Hicks on 16 May 2020.

End Notes
1.  Jeffrey R. Young.  “Amazon Starts Marketplace for Teachers to Sell Online Educational Resources.”  Ed Surge website, 13 November 2019.  He says the first resource was Teachers Pay Teachers in 2006.

2.  Amazon search in Digital Educational Resources section on 30 April 2021.
3.  The use of “Kumbaya” with clarinets is discussed in the post for 11 July 2018.
4.  “St. Mark’s Child Development Center.”  Private School Review website.
5.  “About Us.”  Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church website on Alignable.
6.  “Kristin Young.”  Saint Mark’s website, “Our Staff” tab.
7.  “Katherine Hicks.”  Lessons Face website.