Second-graders Hannah Viars and Matt Sharpe listen as music teacher Eric Young teaches them a traditional American folk song.

David Christle heads the alto xylophone section as he and other Price's Fork Elementary second-graders learn words and beats of the song "Tideo."

Christina O'Connor | Special to The Roanoke Times

Montgomery County music instructor Eric Young introduces a Price's Fork Elementary second-grade music class to a folk song called "Tideo." Young said he wants to offer an after-school Orff-style ensemble for third, fourth and fifth-grade students in the fall. The Orff theory is that teaching children music should based on things typical youth enjoy — singing, dancing, clapping or just beating on things to rhythm.

BLACKSBURG -- Eric Young has to remind his second-graders to sing while they grip miniature red and green mallets and plunk them onto the bars of their tiny glockenspiels.

"Are we singing?" he asked.

"We're musicians, so we do more than one thing at a time," he told the group of about 20 Price's Fork Elementary School students who were learning words and beats of the song "Tideo."

It's a tough job, he admitted.

Sometimes, youngsters lack the coordination needed to bang out notes and belt out tunes, he said.

"When I was hired four years ago, they said these kids can't keep a beat," said Young, who splits his time between Price's Fork and Auburn elementaries.

Young said he thinks everyone can learn music. He now smiles with pride when his students pick up their songs. On March 27, they'll showcase some of what they've learned at an evening of fine arts that celebrates Music in the Schools Month.

Most of Young's lessons use the Orff-Schulwerk method. It's one of the two ways Montgomery County elementary students learn music and emphasizes using everyday activities and objects to teach rhythms. The other process, called the Kodaly method, stresses learning to sing before any other lessons.

As one of 12 primary-school music teachers in the county, Young has grander plans for music lessons at his school.

Young said many of the county's music teachers are trying to focus on out-of-classroom experiences, and he plans to offer an after-school Orff-style ensemble for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in the fall. The after-school music club would focus on percussion instruments, bells and the like. Anyone interested will be able to join, Young said.

It would be a revival, or sorts, of an old countywide orchestra that used more intuitive instruments, such as xylophones and jingle bells instead of band classics.

With help -- about $1,800 in the past two years -- from the PTA at Price's Fork, Young has supplemented the $400 annual music budget he's given and has nearly doubled the instruments he uses.

"If I don't give it to them here, a lot of these kids might not get to be part of something," he said. "This way, they get to be part of an ensemble, which is something that was missing from my elementary school."

Now, students are limited to a half-hour of instruction, split with physical education time.

Sometimes that's enough.

A group of kids picked up "Tideo," a 15-second song and dance, during an end-of-day 30-minute class. Other times, they'll be tired by the time they reach music class and Young will need more time, Young said.

Sandy Findley, a music teacher for the Radford schools, applauds the plan. She said she hopes to bring back her own after-school Orff-inspired ensemble soon. Teacher training kept her from continuing her group this year, but she said it was a positive experience.

"I had some kids who were really begging to do more than what they were doing in class," she said.

But an ensemble doesn't just work for advanced students, she said. Students with disabilities can easily pick up instruments such as drums and bells.

"I don't know who's good at reading or math," she said. "When they come in my class, they're on an even field."

Young said more students have embraced music during the past few years. Students and parents alike are asking about private lessons for band instruments. He credits, in part, an Appalachian heritage, but suspects that incorporating a more "learning by doing" approach to music into all the classes he teaches has helped.

Named after German-born composer Carl Orff, the theory is that teaching children music should be elemental, or based on the things typical youth enjoy -- singing, dancing, clapping or just beating on things to rhythm.

It lets students pound on xylophones and glockenspiels, shake jingle bells to their heart's content and slap their knees until they find a rhythm. First, they'll learn the music by their own beat, then transform it to the instruments. But, even if they don't learn, the bar instruments have removable pieces.

"You don't have to be the stellar A students to use these instruments," Young said. "They're doing complex things and they don't even know it."

Young has applied for a grant to obtain more instruments, but even if that doesn't come through, the music club is expected to go forward.