This is an idea that has come from our facebook group, and I thought it was so good that it was worth sharing with everyone via the blog, and everyone can join in, wether they are on facebook or not.

The internet makes the world a much smaller place – it is possible to be in contact with people on the other side of the world with very little cost due to the internet.

This idea came from Beth in Manchester NH, where she said:

“I was trying to think of ways to integrate music with cultures around the world, in more of a hands-on approach than just listening to CDs. Then it hit me: if children are exposed to penpals so that they can write and get a feel for new cultures, why not do the same with music? I would love to find some sort of a way to record my students performing music from the United States, and send it to another class of students in another country. The students in the other country could, in turn, perform some of their music for us. I was thinking the kids could sing, play instruments, do dances, perform their National Anthem, maybe even sing a song they know from the radio. They could even talk on the recording about what the piece of music means to them. This way, they could see in what ways music is the same among different cultures, and what ways it is the same”

What a fantastic idea – and we would love to help you make contact with a school to do this for you, so that is why we are posting this here.

If you are interested, or would like to make a similar collection, all you need to do is join our facebook group, and contact beth or someone else to make “musical penpals” for your class. If you’ve never used facebook don’t be concerned about signing up – its just a way to get in touch with people and communicate, and best of all its completely free.

Make sure you add me as a friend – I’d love to catch up.