Hammonds Plains Elementary School Wed. Nov. 7 8.00-9.00am

From Hannah:

In our first class we began by introducing ourselves.
Then we worked through Piano Suite's "Theory Thinker" I from "The Piano" to "Finding the note C". We learned about good piano posture, and good hand position (fingers curved, each finger on one white key, with relaxed arms and shoulders). We also learned that our fingers are numbered. Remember thumbs on both hands are called "1"!

We found that the black keys on a piano are grouped in 2s and 3s. We learned that the note "C" is the white key just below (to the left of) any group of 2 black keys, and that the note "F" is the white key just below any group of 3 black keys. We practiced finding all the Cs and Fs on the keyboard. Then we learned the musical alphabet: A-G, and practiced finding notes by playing the "Word Play" game in Theory Thinker.

We practiced learning to recognise when pitches are "high", "low" or moving up or down. Everyone closed their eyes and I played high notes or low notes; students had to signal whether they heard high or low by raising their arms high in the air, or lowering their arms toward the ground. Then everyone tried this same exercise with their partners.

Finally we logged into Children's Music Journey and everyone played the "High Bird, Low Whale, Middle C" game (1). Then we all had a chance to improvise in the CMJ "improv room".