“Rhythm School”: a book published by donors to foster musical abilities
Recently, “Rhythm School”, a book for teachers and student musicians planning to work with children, was published. The collection is based on exercises for developing brain neuroplasticity via musical pieces from native authentic folklore. The publication was funded by the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation. This is the second book by Maria Pylypchak, to be published with the support of the Foundation. Last year, the musical community received a reissue of ‘Hrailyk.’ Since the beginning of the war, the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation has supported cultural initiatives worth about UAH 80 million in total.
The author believes that by learning music through simple exercises rooted in traditional Ukrainian folklore elements, a child acquires the habit of polyphonic thinking and analyzing information from multiple sources. Maria Pylypchak spent 30 years gathering materials for the book an additional 5 years working on the manuscripts based on about 500 exercises.
Learning rhythm should be multi-dimentional, incorporating the use of various pictograms and body movements. I tested all the exercises with the students of the Tsviten ensemble, and at times, I had to do 8 rewritings to make them flawless. This is important for the fundamental character of the work.
Arseniy Bondarchuk, a 9th-grade student, is a member of the Tsviten ensemble. For more than a year, he has been practicing various pictograms and exercises to develop rhythm with Maria Pylypchak, so he realizes the importance of such classes for children.
We have been working on these materials for a long time but it is the book publication that made them easier to understand. The book is more convenient to be used in a choir.
The publication helps to rediscover Ukrainian identity as it contains exercises based on Ukrainian poems, tongue twisters, and certain exercises.
The works of Maria Pylypchak, a folklorist, ethnographer, and composer, focus on the Ukrainian approach to teaching rhythm, distinct from the Soviet one, and, therefore, essential for nurturing and educating conscious Ukrainians. This book is the basis to set new pedagogical approaches and shape Ukrainian identity from an early age. The MHP-Gromadi Foundation supports projects that reveal national identity: developing kobzarism, supporting museums, publishing books, organizing film screenings, etc.
According to Natalia Kryvda, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, books embody the values for which we live, laugh, cry, and pass on our experience to future generations.
The first thing the invaders do in the occupied territories is burn literature and audit library collections. Therefore, our primary resistance is supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine, followed by preserving the cultural practices, values, and senses we create in our lives. From the vast variety of Ukrainian folklore, we choose what is important nowadays so that it is saved in time, space, and the minds of our people as a nation.
The book was published in 1,100 copies. Pedagogical and musical institutions may get a free copy by writing a motivation letter at mhpgromadi@mhp.com.ua indicating the Nova Post address and the recipient’s contacts. For personal use, the book can be purchased from Maria Pylypchak by writing to her messenger.