J. W. MacLeod Elementary School Fri. Oct. 19 2.45-3.45pm

Hi everyone,

Today was a pretty good lesson. You're all becoming more familiar with the Piano Suite Software now. You now know that it's important to listen to your lessons all the way through to get all the red check marks... that way when I come around to see how you're doing I'll know what you've completed and how I can help you.

Everyone needs to bring the sheets that I give out in class so that we can all work on finger number and letter name songs together. It's useful to have a folder to keep these in - keep them all together, and try to remember to bring them for Musiq Club on Fridays.

We did some work in the Theory Thinker, reviewing the treble clef (played with the right hand) and bass clef (played with the left hand) notes. We also talked about quarter notes, half notes and whole notes again.

Then we spent some time in the Piano Player activity. You learned a song called "Old Grey Goose" (more commonly known as "Go tell Aunt Rhody"). This went well, and all of you were able to read the notes on the staff with your right hand position on Middle C. Some of you need a little more practice with the left hand, which takes more time; most of you being right handed.

Overall, I've been very happy with how much this group has learned already. You're doing some great work at home - everyone knew what the name of the mystery tune was for homework this week. "Ode to Joy"!

Now you have 2 new tunes to practice. If this is too much too soon, that's ok... hold on to the sheets until you're ready. If you feel like you can do more, please let me know, and I'll give you more music to practice next time if you can show me how you're doing with the things I've already given you.

Practice tips:

• Play your letter name songs a few times with each hand. Exercise the left hand especially.
• Round hand position. Don't let the fingers fall flat on the keys.
• A steady beat. Each note should last for 1 beat or 2 beats at this point. Use your ear.
• Practice naming the notes on the keys. Try to memorize them as well as you can, so that when you become more comfortable with notes on the staff you'll be able to find the keys more quickly.
  

See you next week!
Alice

Westmount Elementary School Tues. Oct 16 12.15-1.15pm

Hi Westmount School, Parents and Students,

We had a great first class yesterday. There are 5 girls in this Musiq Club so far, and they were all very well-behaved and attentive.

After lunch, we did our first lesson with Mr. Beethoven. We learned about high 'bird' notes and low 'whale' notes. High notes are on the right side of the piano and low notes are on the left. When you practice playing high and low notes at home make sure you use the right hand on the right side and left hand on the left side.

We learned that high and low are not the same as loud and soft. We also talked about how to keep a good beat (always steady, not getting faster or slower) and how to hold our hand with good finger posture (pretend to hold and orange between your hands, fingertips touching, then separate them, keeping the same shape, and place your fingertips on the keys).

After meeting Beethoven, we went and practiced what we learned with Miss Melody. You all seemed to understand the lesson, so we were able to introduce middle C and the musical alphabet.
Middle C is the white key directly below the middle group of two black keys.
Remember, to find C: "group of two, down to C".

After C, we have the note called D. Then E, F, G, A, B and back to C again.
There are only 7 letters in the musical alphabet.

Practice naming your keys with beautiful curved fingers and keeping a steady beat.
Try listening to some more of Beethoven's piano music.

When I see you next time, we'll try out more new games and create some new songs of our own in the improvisation room.
All of you did an excellent job yesterday with music lessons.
I'm looking forward to having lunchtime with you again next week.

Parents, please Email me if you have any questions or concerns about this class - or if you are looking for more information about the Musiq Club program.

Thank you,
Alice

Fleming Tower Elementary School Mon. Oct 15 2.15-3.15pm

Hello Fleming Tower Musiq Club Students, Moms and Dads!

We had a terrific second class today. I noticed some of you were really getting much more comfortable using the computers, and everyone seemed to be having fun with the lessons.

We reviewed music by Beethoven - the composer who went deaf remember? And talked about a piece he wrote called "Fur Elise". We also listened to a piece called "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by a composer named Grieg.

I went around and checked to make sure everyone remembered how to play their high bird notes and low whale notes on the piano. You were all pretty quick, and most of you could show me where Middle C was too. Great work - you can keep practicing how we did in class: Play a few notes and say out loud "high, low, middle C" or "low, high, middle C, low"... make up your own compositions and keep a steady beat! Make sure you use your right hand for high notes, and left hand for low notes.

We learned about how to name all the other notes on the keyboard too. Do you remember the musical alphabet? If you can find Middle C, than you can find some other notes called C too. Find some high C's and low C's on you piano. You can always figure out where C is by finding "a group of two black keys, then down to C".

Practice saying your musical alphabet; we start on C and walk step by step (note by note) up the keyboard. C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C! over and over again, all the way up. Only 7 letters are in the musical alphabet.

We're going to do more work on the piano next time.
For now, all of you are doing a great job.

Parents, feel free to Email me if you have any questions or if you'd like more information about the class.

Thanks everyone,
Alice