J. W. MacLeod Elementary School Fri. Nov. 23 2.45-3.45pm

Nice work today everyone.
We got a lot done!

First, I checked your C-major scales, and your song Old Grey Goose.
You're all getting much better at reading notes in the staff! We played the Grand Staff Note Placement game again today, and reviewed different ways of figuring out which notes to play.
Here is a link for you to practice naming notes at home: http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id82_en.html

Then, we did a rhythm exercise with the metronome. I played you some 4-beat rhythms and you played them back for me. We played the game Bongo Boy too. Everyone had a chance to beat the game today, which was great. Make sure you count 1+2+3+4+ when you practice your scales and songs.

We learned 2 new songs today: Pop Goes the Weasel and On Top of Old Smokey.
These songs are in 3/4 time, which means each measure has 3 beats.
Remember to count your note values and rest values: quarter rests, half rests and whole rests.

After going over the songs, we talked about Intervals - the distance between 2 notes.
When you practice your songs, try to recognize what intervals you are playing. Watch out for 4ths and 3rds especially, with the new songs.

Here are the links to the 3 piano suite songs you've learned so far:
http://www.musiqclub.com/blog/resources/Lesson3_Old_Grey_Goose.pdf
http://www.musiqclub.com/blog/resources/Lesson6_Pop_Goes_the_Weasel.pdf
http://www.musiqclub.com/blog/resources/Lesson7_On_Top_of_Old_Smokey.pdf

You can print these off to put in your folder with the Finger Number and Letter Name tunes that I gave you at the beginning of the term. Thanks everyone for the fun class!
See you next week :)

Kingswood School Thurs. Nov. 22 11.40-12.40pm

In our 5th lesson, we reviewed how to play C-major scales.
Thank you Renée and Micheal for showing us how to play C-major scales with a curved hand-position and a steady beat.
Now you can try practicing scales legato - smoothly. We learned about the difference between smooth connected notes (legato) and bouncy detached notes (staccato) today.

We also had 2 performances of the song we were working on last week, Old Grey Goose, from Ben and Aidan. Thank you! Then, we learned a new song, Pop Goes the Weasel, that uses 2 hands - the treble clef and the bass clef.
Great work!

We then, played a game naming Intervals - the distance between 2 notes, and also the Grand Staff Note Placement Game.

For more practice, click here for a Note Naming Game you can play on the Internet.

We ran out of time before we could play Bongo Boy, but we will next week for sure.
Practice Old Grey Goose and Pop Goes the Weasel.
To print off copies of the music use the following links: http://www.musiqclub.com/blog/resources/Lesson3_Old_Grey_Goose.pdf
http://www.musiqclub.com/blog/resources/Lesson6_Pop_Goes_the_Weasel.pdf

Don't worry if Pop Goes the Weasel is still a little tricky for you. I'm just giving you a head start with this because everyone did so well with Old Grey Goose today. We're going to be working more on the new song together next class.

Thanks everyone!
I'm happy with how much we've learned so far.
See you next week :)

BLT Elementary School Wed. Nov. 21 2.00-3.00pm

BLT - Nice work today!

I'm so happy we've learned so much already. We made some pretty important discoveries today, about rhythm, high and low, and reading circle notes.

First of all, we did some clapping exercises. We learned there are long sounds and short sounds in the English language - and that music is a kind of like a language. We found out that music always has a steady beat (like a heart beat) and that we can play different rhythms over this constant beat.
We got to clap along with an interesting contraption that I brought in called a Metronome.

We reviewed how to name the letters of the keys. Middle C is in front of the 2 black keys. F is in front of the 3 black keys.

We talked about Fur Elise, 5th Symphony and Minuet and G by Beethoven. What a great composer he was - everyone in the class enjoyed listening to the music he wrote.

Remember when you're reading circle notes, that your Right hand plays the high notes above the line, and your Left hand plays the low notes below the line. Any notes that are on the line will be Middle C.

Practice naming your notes at home using the musical alphabet and keeping a steady beat.
Practice low notes and high notes!
See if you can compose some of your own 4-beat rhythms on Middle C, or using word-phrases like "My Feet Smell Like Roses". (Especially Cameron! See if you can come up with some new ones for me!)

Next time we're going to meet our new computer teacher. It's going to be fun!

See you next week :)

Hammonds Plains Elementary School Wed. Nov. 22 8.00-9.00am

Great work today everyone.
You're sounding better and better each week. I love how you listen to instructions so well.

First, some of you volunteered to demonstrate the Finger Number tunes that I gave you to practice last week - thank you Brennon, Jess and Megan. Remember to keep your hand position in a round shape.

We learned that the position we've been playing in so far is called C-position; with your Right hand thumb on middle C, and your Left hand thumb on bass C.
We reviewed the musical alphabet, and then we learned a new song together - Old Grey Goose.

Nice sightreading! We talked about quarter notes, half notes and whole notes. Most of you were able to score 100% holding all the notes for the correct values!
If you have the Piano Suite software at home, try practicing Old Grey Goose without missing any beats - there shouldn't be any rests in the music yet! (We'll learn how to play songs with rests next time).

After this, we did quite a few exercises in the Theory Thinker, practicing reading notes in the Treble and Bass clef. Then, we played the Bongo Boy game to practice our rhythms again.

I gave you 3 new Letter Name songs to work on this week at home. Please practice them always keeping a steady beat (remember, music is often grouped into 4-beat measures).

Can't wait until our next class! We're going to revisit the improvisation room that some of your were asking about. Thanks everyone!

Westmount Elementary School Tues. Nov. 20 12.15-1.15pm

We had a fun lesson today. We're going to be having MusIQ Club on the stage every week from now on.

After I checked everyone's C-major scale, we reviewed how we play high notes with the right hand and low notes with the left hand.
The reason we did this is because today, we learned how to play with two hands at the same time.
Mr. Bach taught us about "Double Notes". Everyone was very nice about taking turns and letting their partners have a chance to play the double notes on their own.

We practiced rhythms with Miss Melody and played all the games that we've learned so far: High/Low, Princess Story, Holding the Train and Bongo Boy.

Then we talked about a neat-looking machine that I brought in called a Metronome. We did some rhythm playback challenges: first, I challenged you. Then you challenged each other. Then you challenged me! All of you came up with interesting rhythms to show me.

We had a lot of fun with the games. Then we talk about Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the words Legato and Staccato.

I showed you how legato means to connect the notes when you walk your fingers on the keys, and staccato means to play notes bouncy and disconnected. We practiced this using our C-major scale.

Everyone practiced their legato and staccato notes in the Improv room, and then it was time to go.

Here's what you can do at home:

• Practice 4 beat rhythms on middle C.
• Practice your C-major scale legato and staccato with the write fingers: 12312345
  
• Create a 10 note song that uses double-notes, holding notes, middle C, legato and staccato, to show me for next class.

Excellent work. See you next week!

Fleming Tower Elementary School Mon. Nov. 19 2.15-3.15pm

Today we learned about how to play "Double-Notes" with Mr. Bach.
Everyone was very nice about taking turns so that both partners would have a chance to use 2 hands at the same time on the piano. Good work!

We practiced rhythms with Miss Melody and played all the games that we've learned so far: High/Low, Princess Story, Holding the Train and Bongo Boy.

Then we talked about a neat-looking machine that I brought in called a Metronome. We did some rhythm playback challenges: first, I challenged you. Then you challenged each other. Then you challenged me! Some of you came up with some very complicated an interesting rhythms. (Noah and Sergio especially!)

We had a lot of fun with the games. Then we talk about Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the words Legato and Staccato.
I showed you how legato means to connect the notes when you walk your fingers on the keys, and staccato means to play notes bouncy and disconnected.

You got a chance to practice legato and staccato in the Improv room, and then it was time to go.

Here's what you can do at home:

• Practice 4 beat rhythms on middle C.
• Name the keys: C, D, E, F, G, A, B and back to C.
  
• Create a 10 note song that uses double-notes, holding notes, middle C, legato and staccato, to show me for next class.

I'll see everyone in 2 weeks, since next week is an inservice - have a nice break!