The Quelbe Method: Music Fundamentals in Quelbe Ensembles

By Dale Francis

In the early 1700s, the Danish administration of the Virgin Islands suppressed African music. Undeterred, Virgin Island minstrels combined the African, European, and Taino music elements that created the eclectic genre quelbe. In The Quelbe Method, Dale Francis offers a comprehensive approach that demystifies music, develops artistry in tandem with fundamentals, and provides repertoire to build musicianship and individual performance skills.

Francis shares his classical and jazz guitar skills, teaching practices, and performing artist perspective in an innovative approach to learning music. The three-part arrangements are open to interpretation and variation. Part two simulates the banjo, ukulele or guitar sound, and part three portrays a bass pattern that can be played on a one-string washtub bass. Students can learn cultural rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic concepts in addition to learning to play melodies and chord progressions by ear.

The Quelbe Method provides a comprehensive approach to learning music through practical theory, ear training, rhythm, technique, and performance activities, enabling both adult and young musicians to further develop their abilities to read and write music, play by ear, and improvise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475926859

Dale Francis

Dale Francis is a music, public affairs, and Christian writer. His nonfiction books include The Quelbe Method: Music fundamentals in quelbe ensembles, and The Quelbe Commentary 1672-2012, which documents the sociopolitical dynamics associated with the quelbe folk music art form. This historical fiction, Bru Nansi’s Revival: The Separation of the M’animal Kingdom reveals how a disheartened community is revived through the power of brotherhood. For more information, please see: http://www.royalpowermission.com/, http://www.dalefrancisbooks.com/, or email [e-mail] or [e-mail].

Book preview

Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

THE CHROMATIC SCALE

SCALES & VOCAL SYLLABLES

GUITAR CHROMATIC FINGERING CHART

STAFF & CLEF SIGNS

STAFF & CLEF SIGNS

RHYTHM

QUELBE STRUMS

QUELBE & BAMBOULA RHYTHMS

BOMBOLO, CARISO & SEVEN STEP RHYTHMS

FINGERING & POSITIONS

FINGERING & POSITIONS

MAJOR SCALE

INTERVALS

CHORDS & HARMONY

DIATONIC CORDS AND INTERVALS

SHARP KEY SIGNATURES

FLAT KEY SIGNATURES

QUELBE METHOD CLASS ACTIVITIES

QUELBE METHOD DATA AND ACTIVITIES

QUELBE METHOD DATA AND ACTIVITIES

QUELBE METHOD DATA AND ACTIVITIES

QUELBE METHOD DATA AND ACTIVITIES

QUELBE METHOD DATA AND ACTIVITIES

GUITAR CLASS CURRICULUM GUIDE

GUITAR TECHNIQUE

CHROMATIC SCALE

STAFF & CLEF SIGNS

RHYTHM & TIME SIGNATURE

MAJOR SCALE

MAJOR SCALE CHART

CHORD & HARMONY EXERCISE

CHORD & HARMONY EXERCISE

KEY SIGNATURE ACTIVITY

KEY SIGNATURE ACTIVITY

SHARP KEY SIGNATURE

FLAT KEY SIGNATURE

REFERENCES

PREFACE

The Quelbe Method is based on more than twenty years of interaction with budding musicians from age five to eighty five. It demystifies music and develops artistry in tandem with music fundamentals. The songs provide repertoire for building musicianship as well as for developing lead and solo playing skills. As a comprehensive method it presents beginning to advanced music fundamentals, and uses chamber music arrangements to instill music artistry. It also provides effective curriculum and resource material that help music instructors to excel in teaching string instruments.

As for quelbe, in the early 1700s, the Danish administration of the Virgin Islands suppressed African music. The suppression created a need for the Africans to express themselves musically so they combined European, African, and Taino music elements. This eclectic genre is summed up in the name quelbe, a French Creole reference to some music.

Through the integration of quelbe with classical and jazz pedagogy, The Quelbe Method develops competence in both classical and jazz music performance. In addition, the quelbe songs serve as both performance pieces and etudes that give students a unique opportunity to learn cultural rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic concepts.

One objective of the Method is to develop the ability to play melodies and chord progressions by ear. These short melodies with simple chord progressions are ideal for learning about chord melody playing. They are practical models for building chords using chord tones and intervals in addition to learning about diagramed and notated chords.

In sum, the course is written to take students from a beginning to an advanced level of musicianship. It is not the conventional note reading book. Instead it develops music fundamentals through ensemble playing and a variety of music activities. Suggested activities are listed on page 223. The activities range from saying the notes, patting, clapping, or singing solfege to transposing and improvising. More specifically, the beginner activities are linked to the first six songs, the intermediate to the subsequent five, and the advanced activities are linked to the last five songs.

This Method provides a comprehensive approach to learning music through practical theory, ear training, and performance activities. This enables adult and young musicians to focus on the ability to read and write music, or to play by ear and improvise. It is a music curriculum as well as an independent study and instructor resource. Therefore, it correlates with elementary through high school music standards, and is good for private lesson instructions and music camps.

The Quelbe Method was written to address a need for:

• A basic theory application course

• A method that includes guitar in string instrument instruction

• A music curriculum that supplements note reading methods

• Ensemble arrangements for all instruments including viola

• Guitar ensemble and course material

• Quelbe resources

This eclectic Quelbe approach uses best practices in music as well as principles used in Bloom’s Taxonomy, Montessori, and other comprehensive learning processes. After years of research, development and evaluation, The Quelbe Method emerged with a chamber music format that fulfills student performance needs and provides dynamic resources for instructors. It presents developmentally meaningful multicultural repertoire for various ensembles including guitar and viola.

INTRODUCTION

The Quelbe Method is a comprehensive music course that synthesizes key music elements into a practical format to maximize learning. It uses sixteen quelbe songs that are uniquely formatted to develop music fundamentals.

The units covered in this method are:

• Ear training (solfege, singing, memorizing and