Yellow Indians - Lesson #15

Assessment Day!!!

Great job! Look at everything you’ve learned, Yellow Indians! Last year at this time, most of you couldn’t even play the piano at all, many of you couldn’t read notes and chords and intervals on the staff, and I’ll bet none of you knew how to make a calypso rhythm out of four bugs. But now you do! Bravo!

Keep practicing your recital piece – they’re all sounding great! You also get to play “This Old Man” with the chords you wrote in.

You have put a lot of effort into this semester!  Well done!!!

Keep up the good work over the Summer. Drill those key names from time to time, dust off that yellow or green song book and have your child play some chords. Encourage all kinds of musicianship. Have you heard about that new Phoenix museum of musical instruments? Third year is a challenge, but also the most rewarding of all three years.

RECITAL FAQ’s answered:

1. No need to wear a specific color. Wear what you feel comfortable in, but make sure you look nice!

2. Do something special to recognize your child on this important day. Many of them are very nervous. Mistakes will be made, but this is a great day to triumph in your child’s achievements. Make sure they know you’re proud! And PLEASE make yourself heard after they play (let’s hear you, soccer moms!) No need to hold applause until the end of this concert : )

3. We’ve talked about this in class, but please make a few comments to your child about being part of a respectful audience while other students are playing. Yellow Indian students will be sitting in the front row in assigned seats throughout the recital. We can be our own #1 fans!

4. Please stay until the grand finale at the end. We shouldn’t run ANY longer than 45 minutes at the most.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Please let me know if you have ANY questions or concerns about the Summer, the recital, or next Fall. See you on Saturday!

Recital Information

We get to combine recitals for the 2nd year!  What a grand showcase of all three years!  It is going to be wonderful!

Miss Alyson and I will combine our "First Years," my classes are all of the "Second Years," and Miss Alyson is teaching all the "Third Years."  Please plan on attending from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.  Children need to arrive by 9:15 to be seated and settled.

What do you need to bring?

All students need to wear their Let's Play Music shirt.  I have no preference what they wear on the bottom, just something respectful - no holes, or stains.  Girls, we will be sitting on the edge of a stage, so if you want to wear a skirt, be sure to put some shorts underneath.  :)

What do you need to practice with your child?

Every class will have an opportunity to shine on the bells.  In order to do this, we need to be able to sing all the songs the other classes may have a chance to shine!

Chords in Pieces - Sing

A Frog Went A-Hoppin’ - Sing “Hop, hop, hop, hop” moving bodies up and down throughout song.

Dinosaur Song - Sing and climb up and down like in class

Can’t Bug Me - Chant and clap - focus on getting the bug rhythm correctly

Bill Grogan’s Goat - 1st 4 lines nod head: “yes, yes, yes, yes” - 2nd 4 lines - shake head: “no, no, no, no” - 3rd 4 lines - use finger: “bump, bump, bump, bump” - 4th 4 lines - use finger: “smooth rainbow.” Just like in class.

Are You Sleeping? - Echo

The “Fox Hunt” puppet show - perform with hand actions - no puppets

DO-RE-MI - Your time to shine on the bells! Sing the Major Scale up and down using hand signs.  PLAY the "DO, MI, MI" part… Practice slowly at first and work your way up. You can do it!!!

Music Alphabet - Sing

Turtle Shells - Do the mambo!
(Keyboard:  Sydney Tietz)

I’m an Indian - Practice just like in class - including shoo--oot the arrow, pu-ull the bow.
(Keyboards:  Cade Crismon, Amelia Rodriguez, Bryson Howell, Masen Rowley, Lucy Boyer)

Oh, When the Saints - March just like in class
(Keyboards:  Lydia Hancock, Brooklyn Pierce, Lillie Holt)

Practice Every Day - We will sit on the stage and sing this one
(Keyboard:  Maci Waldron)

Don’t Put Your Trash in My Backyard
Trash:  Hannah, Amelia, Cole, Bryson, Lillie

Fish:  Lydia, Masen, Maci, Maxine

Pop:  Cade, Brooklyn, Lucy, Sydney

The Pirate Ship - no puppets, just actions - do the dance!  :)

DO, RE, MI - Sing whole song using solfeggio signs.   (During DO, MI, MI, part sing, “When you know the notes to sing…”)

(Keyboards:  Hannah Hathcock, Cole Butterfield, Maxine Wood, Sydney Tietz, Amelia Rodriguez)

I hope this gives you a clearer idea of the performance we are trying to create!

Yellow Indians - Lesson #13

I’m thinking about putting together a summer CD..."Tinga Layo" repeated over and over again.  LOL!  I have had a hard time getting that song out of my head this semester.

In planning for the upcoming assessments, these are the skills I will be looking for:

Assessment Skills:

Play C Major scale with each hand – “Scales in and Out”, p.26

Recognize, sing, sign, and play Melodic Cadences, p. 14

ID key names

ID note names on staff: lowC, middle B,C, and D, and high C

BUG RHYTHMS

ID treble and bass clef and function of each

ID and play intervals (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th)

Sight-read simple 4-note step and skip pattern

Recognize and play all 3 primary chords with each hand

Plays in contrasting motion : “Caterpillar Song,” p.6

Plays in parallel motion: “Hickory Dickoy Dock,” p.16

**Any Song of choice from the Yellow Songbook**

Take some time during practice this over the next couple of weeks to make sure your child feels comfortable with each of these things. Also, please look through your notebook and make sure all homework has been turned in. I WILL still have stickers on the keyboard next week. But it’s almost time to remove them all and see what you can do!

Many of the activities in this lesson were pointed at our review/pre-assessment. We also took some time to show off our recital songs and practice being a good audience. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s recital participation/song choice, etc. I have an informational post to help with the nitty-gritty details.

HOMEWORK:

“This Old Man” – page 28 in the Yellow Songbook. It’s our job to fill in the missing chords! We took time in class to listen for and decide which chords should go in which spots. A reminder at the top of the page shows what each chord looks like on the staff. Can you write in all the chords?

PRACTICING:

Try “Practice Every Day” and “How to Skip” with hands together.

Blue Bugs - Lesson #13

This class really challenged in some ways and was a great review in others.  Did you find it fun to try and make different rhythms at the same time?

As a review, I also gave you a glimpse of what I expect your children to perform at the recital in less than TWO weeks!  I have created an informational post to help with the nitty-gritty details.  Be sure to read it to answer any questions you may have.

We didn't get a chance to sing "El Gallo" in a round today.  Turn the CD on and see if your child can sing one part while you sing the other.  It is a great challenge!

Homework:  We went over how to do it in class.  Is it a baby step or skip?  Up or down?  Use that to mark the bell you would play.

Next Week:  last Blue Bug lesson with just children!  Homework #13 due.  We've done all the songs on the CD now, so it's just review and more fun discovery!

Yellow Indians - Lesson #12

Do you still find melodic patterns in songs around you? I remember a Red Balloons homework that challenged us to find the ending cadence patterns in a few simple tunes. In class this week, the kids played a “SOL MI DO” pattern and then kept their hands ready. I sang a few songs such as, “Wheels on the Bus,” “Girls and Boys,” Gotta Shake,” and “How to Skip,” and when I got to a SOL MI DO pattern, everyone played along. Great fun. Still audiating, too!

We ran through our scales – still in contrary motion – and I heard what you’ve done with “Practice Every Day” and “How to Skip.” We made harmony with our favorite song about trash, played the Music Alphabet game, and marched and played “When the Saints.”

The second page of Tinga Layo demonstrates yet another way to break up chords. We thought it sounded pretty – but a little TOO pretty for this silly song. The students reminded me how to change plain old bugs into the Indian (or Calypso) rhythm. Dot the first note, put a feather on the second, and leave the next two as bugs. With pencils, the children changed the bug rhythm on page 21 into a Calypso groove : ) while I walked around and used markers to mark the chord colors. Then we played it, of course.

Before we got to our puppet show, we had time to figure out some parallel motion so we can now finally play ”Hickory Dickory Dock” with both hands!

HOMEWORK:

Follow the instructions to color in the keys. A heavy line is drawn to help you locate middle C.

PRACTICING:

I think we’ve all mastered the block chords. Now it’s time to see what else we can do with these great tools! In many songs, we’re taking the basic chords and breaking them up in new ways.

Try to play “How to Skip” with both hands if you’re ready!

Singing letter names along with “Practice Every Day” not only helps keep your place in the song, but reinforces the names of those notes!

COMING SOON: Watch the blog for a short guide to helping your child achieve his or her best in our lesson 15 assessment. REMEMBER – Moms come to lesson 13 next week AND lesson 15 assessment.

Blue Bugs - Lesson #12

Where has the year gone?  Can you believe we are already starting to wind down, review, and put it all together?  We still have a few tricks up our sleeves, so don't relax too much!  You'll be playing keyboards and pianos before you know it!  Speaking of keyboards, if you do not have a piano at home, now is the time to start looking for a good deal on a nice keyboard.  Most keyboards are only about 60 keys, but please make sure the size (width) of the keys in standard, piano-size.  If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me about that.  (FYI, I bought my class set at Target.  Do you need this EXACT one?  NO!  But it is a great deal and a really good starter keyboard.)

There were a couple of new songs this week - "The Ants Go Marching" uses our "sol-la-ti-do" pattern.  Do you hear it?  "Baby Butterfly" shows how to put those bug cards into a song!  Can you learn the second verse "bug caterpillar beetle..."?  For now, your child should at least be able to touch his or her ear each time the "butterfly" appears in the song.

We practiced subdividing with our Jungle Animals song, too.  They are getting really good!  We found that it helps to count.  Try that at home!

Homework:  Red, Blue, and Yellow chords - cut out and glue the correct solfege on the triangle chords.

Next Week:  Moms, bells, bags, homework #12, and FINAL tuition payment for this semester!

Yellow Indians - Lesson #11

Wow! I can hardly believe we just have 4 lessons left! Remember, moms come to lesson 13 and 15.  Our 13 lesson will get us moving on our recital and the 15th lesson is our 2nd semester assessment day. More to come on that soon. The recital will be at the Red Mountain Multigenerational Center on Saturday April 28th at 9:30am. Kids should arrive about 10-15 minutes early. They will have assigned seats. Parents will not. Mark your calendars!

This week in class, we started the lesson with a few new things, including our newest song, “Practice Every Day” – the LAST song in the yellow songbook! The students were able to sight read the right hand melody. Singing the names of the notes (as is advised in the practicing assignment this week) helps to keep focus and improve that mind-body connection. We learned the left hand of “How to Skip,” and played our scales in contrary motion all the way in (starting on the high and low C’s) and then all the way back out. Here the contrary motion really comes in handy. Finger numbers are the same and both hands “pop” at the same time.

We are still working on learning the notes on the keyboard. Check this week to make sure your child can easily name the notes on the keys of the piano. If you feel they need more work, now is a good time to bring out those alphabet pieces again!

In “Gotta Shake,” we figured out that to play the rests correctly, it almost feels like your hand is jumping on a trampoline! In “Tinga Layo,” we learned how to play the chords using our calypso rhythm. We even pulled out the steel drum to hear a true calypso.  How fun!

HOMEWORK:

Instead of a student workbook page, this week turn to “When the Saints Go Marching In” on page 24 of your songbook. These chords were broken in a marching way. Color in the marching chords. (hints are at the top).

PRACTICING:

Hickory Dickory Dock is making a comeback this week. Next week is the week we are going to try the parallel motion activity to help them putting those hands together!