J. W. MacLeod Elementary School Fri. Oct. 5 2.45-3.45pm

Wow guys, you were awesome students today. So well-behaved and interested in MusIQ Club. I was really impressed with how well you listened.

Today we did our first lesson in the "Theory Thinker". You learned about the history of the Piano and about how to sit and hold your hands over the keys. You learned that each of your fingers has a number. Thumbs are 1, Index fingers are 2, Middle fingers are 3, Ring fingers are 4 and Pinkies are 5. Together, we practiced playing some notes on the piano using finger numbers, for example "Right Hand: 1-2-1", or "Left Hand: 5-4-2"

Then, we learned about Pitch, Notation and Time.

Pitch is how high or low a sound is. PITCH IS NOT THE SAME THING AS VOLUME. High and low does not mean loud and soft. The low notes on your piano are to the left and the high notes are to the right.

Learning the musical alphabet was the next thing we did. You were really excellent at finding the note names on the keyboard. Remember the musical alphabet often starts with C, because it is easy to find on the keyboard. After C is D, E, F, G, A, B and back to C. Remember, there are only 7 notes in the musical alphabet that repeat all the way up the keyboard.

Then we talked about beat. This was a lot of fun. We clapped out some really good beats along to music. The music we listened to today was by J.S. Bach, in case you were wondering.
'Beat' in music is like a heartbeat... It is a measured pulse that stays the same speed and helps to organize a piece of music. This is why you can dance to music. This is how music 'makes sense' to our ears.
Count or tap when you practice your music at home, and line up the notes with a good steady beat.

Alright, so here's your homework for practicing piano! Thanks for being such nice kids and I'll see you again next Friday.

• "Mary had a little lamb" finger number song.
• "Saints go marching in" finger number song.
• Practice finding Middle C and naming the keys with the musical alphabet, both forwards and backwards.
• Listen to some music that you like and practice clapping or tapping your foot to the beat!

Have fun :)
Alice

Fleming Tower Elementary School Mon. Oct 1 2.15-3.15pm

Hi everyone,
Welcome to our Musiq Club Blog. It was great to meet all of you yesterday.

In our lesson, we talked about Beethoven - a famous composer who lived 200 years ago and wrote music even though he lost his hearing.

We learned about 'high bird notes' and 'low whale notes', and where to find middle C on the piano. We learned that 'high' and 'low' are not the same thing as 'loud' and 'soft' in music.

Mr. Beethoven helped us to learn the musical alphabet: A-B-C-D-E-F-G. Remember, no H! There are just 7 letters in the musical alphabet that repeat all the way up the keyboard.

We had fun trying out the improvisation room at the end of class. Improvisation is when musicians make up music on the spot, from their imaginations.

Next time, we'll find out more about how to make our own music by going on to level 2 of Mr. Beethoven's lesson room and Miss Melody's practice room.
We'll visit the games room and the library again too!

Here's what you can practice at home:

• Beethoven - a great composer in history, who went deaf. Try listening to some of his famous Symphonies (no. 9) or piano music (Fur Elise).
• Sing or play high bird notes and low whale notes. See if you can find middle C on your keyboard at home.
• Practice naming the keys with the musical alphabet.
  

If you would like to purchase the Children's Music Journey software and a keyboard for home practice they can be purchased at a very reasonable price from www.adventus.com/products/cmj.php . If you have questions about how to purchase, email Danielle, hrm@musiqclub.com.

Thanks for visiting and I'll see you all again next week.

Alice