Today in MusIQ Club!

I think the sunshine was too much of a shock for us all over the weekend!

In spite of disruptions with two children going home sick, we managed to work on some rhythmic playbacks and Sydney did a brilliant job writing  some rhythms for us to clap using whole, half and quarter notes.  We talked about folk tunes and where they come from (out in the “country,” far from city life, usually) and that they are tunes passed from generation to generation and not written down (originally).  We referred to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star which was originally a French folk song, used by Mozart for his Theme and Variations for piano, and many other songs like the A, B, C’s and Baa Baa Black Sheep.  Adriana and Sydney are currently in the midst of lessons with Villa Lobos who travelled Brazil and collected folk tunes that he used in a lot of his music and to develop a sense of unity for his country.  Adriana, who also speaks Spanish, is one of the only students who has not complained about Mr. Villa-Lobos’ Portuguese accent!  In an effort to keep the children’s stomachs calm in our disrupted class we read the book Pages of Music, by Tony Johnston, which is about a boy who listens to the music played by the shepherds of Sicily, and many years later returns as a famous composer and performs for them a piece based on their pipe (flute) tunes. (I improvised a little at the end of the story swapping a reunion celebration for the otherwise religious context.)

There were four intrepid students remaining at the end of class.  Alexa has completed lesson 19 (and I think 20, musical alphabet?) with Ms. Mendelssohn and learned about “grown up notes” (stems on quarter and half notes).  Sydney and Adriana completed lesson 23  (whole notes —no more “holding” notes!)  and Alex completed lesson 33 in CMJ2 where he learned how the notes middle C, D and E are placed on the Grand Staff.  He also worked on Ode to Joy, being very careful to keep his hand in an excellent position with an ant tunnel and curved fingers, each finger on its own key.  Nice work!

This week – Alex, Sydney, Alexa and Adriana, and Chris too! –

1.  With CMJ1 in free mode go to the last song in Mr. Villa Lobos’ lesson 21 and practice Ode to Joy.  Read the finger numbers a few times, but then try playing with your eyes closed.  We will play this on the recital two classes from now!  (Alexa – you have not done this lesson in class, but you can go through this lesson on your own, or just put your right hand in C position and play Ode to Joy by ear.)

2.  Find a short solo piece to practice, either on your own that you have learned by ear (like Chris’ Darth Vader music) or a folk tune which you can find in the library by clicking on the computer.  Keep the beat very steady when you practice it, and you can play it on the recital if you wish.  Special challenge for Chris: play the Darth Vader Music with your left hand!  Keep your hand relaxed and don’t forget your ant tunnel.

3.  Spend some time in the Improvisation room, and with a sound track you like and your hands in C position (both thumbs sharing the same note, middle C) make up a tune using half notes (2 beats), quarter notes (1 beat) and whole notes (four beats).

Andrew and Adam –!

1.  Go to the Improvisation Room and find your favorite Rock and Roll music.  After dancing for a minute or so, go to the keyboard and see if you can play middle C’s in time with the music!  Then play two C’s, also in time with the music, but use only one finger on each hand.  See if you can hear how the notes are grouped, and then play on only the strongest beat in each grouping.  You might have to count up to three or four between each of the notes you play.

2.  In the Games Room spend some time playing Cliff Hanger, listen carefully to whether the notes are going UP or going DOWN.

See you next Monday

Filed under: Blanchard Memorial Elementary