Today we did a big review lesson of everything we learned this term!
Excellent work guys :)
First we started with Clap-backs. I clapped a four-beat rhythm for you, twice, along with the metronome, and each of you had to clap back the rhythm to me. Most of you did very well with this. We are using mostly quarter notes and eighth notes, so make sure you count 1+2+3+4+
Also, make sure you know what eighth notes/rests, quarter notes/rests, half notes/rests and whole notes/rests look like. Here is a useful chart that you may want to look at: http://www.premierpianocourse.com/images/note_value_chart.pdf
Next, I checked your C major scales, with the Right Hand and then the Left Hand. The Left Hand can always use a little more practice, since it doesn't come as naturally for most of you.
We spent about 10 minutes in the Grand Staff Note placement Game where you reviewed naming notes in the Staff. Here is a game for your to practice this at home: http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id82_en.html
We went over three of your songs: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Pop Goes the Weasel and Get Up.
Click on the links to practice these at home. For Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, you can use the Letter Name Sheet I gave you at the beginning of the year.
Anthony took some time to learn Jingle Bells, since he finished early today. Good work! Make sure you keep those fingers in the correct hand position though ;)
Finally, we reviewed intervals: 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths and Octaves (8ths)
Count up from the bottom note (the bottom note is the number 1) to find the interval.
We spent a little time recording our own songs in the Improvisation room of the Children's Music Journey software and then it was time to wrap up!
I had fun working with you today.
Next week we'll have a little party after your test to celebrate all the wonderful new things you learned this term in MusIQ Club! See you then.
Friday, December 7
Thursday, December 6
Kingswood School Thurs. Dec. 6 11.40-12.40pm
In our 7th lesson we reviewed the Christmas song I gave you last week: Silent Night.
Some of you did very very good practice: Aidan and Lauren - amazing work!
This was an exercise for you to do with pen and paper, naming the notes. I gave you the answers today. But here they are again:
Silent Night
3 4 3 1
G A G E (x2)
5 5 3 4 4 1
D D B C C G
3 3 5 4 3 2 3 2 1
A A C B A G A G E (x2)
3 3 5 3 1 2 4
D D F D B C E
2 5 3 5 4 2 1
C G E G F D C
You can copy and paste this into Notepad and print off the song, if you'd like to practice it over the holidays. This was, after all, our second last class!
Notice the Finger Numbers/Letters that are in Bold. This is your Hand Position! If you set your thumb on the right key, all your other fingers should fall naturally on the rest of the notes.
For this song, your hand position changes for each line.
After Silent Night, we played some Grand Staff Note Placement. Keep practicing this game at home: http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id82_en.html
We reviewed Pop Goes the Weasel, and talked about 3/4 time. This means you have 3 beats in each bar.
Make sure to count: 1+2+3+ while you play, and count your RESTS as well as your NOTES.
Then, we learned a new song On Top of Old Smokey, that also uses 3/4 time. Watch out for intervals of 2nds, 3rds and 4ths in this song!
Remember, an interval means the distance between 2 notes.
We played a little bit of Bongo Boy at the end of class, and then it was time to go.
I had fun working with you today! Thanks everyone, have a great week!
Some of you did very very good practice: Aidan and Lauren - amazing work!
This was an exercise for you to do with pen and paper, naming the notes. I gave you the answers today. But here they are again:
Silent Night
3 4 3 1
G A G E (x2)
5 5 3 4 4 1
D D B C C G
3 3 5 4 3 2 3 2 1
A A C B A G A G E (x2)
3 3 5 3 1 2 4
D D F D B C E
2 5 3 5 4 2 1
C G E G F D C
You can copy and paste this into Notepad and print off the song, if you'd like to practice it over the holidays. This was, after all, our second last class!
Notice the Finger Numbers/Letters that are in Bold. This is your Hand Position! If you set your thumb on the right key, all your other fingers should fall naturally on the rest of the notes.
For this song, your hand position changes for each line.
After Silent Night, we played some Grand Staff Note Placement. Keep practicing this game at home: http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id82_en.html
We reviewed Pop Goes the Weasel, and talked about 3/4 time. This means you have 3 beats in each bar.
Make sure to count: 1+2+3+ while you play, and count your RESTS as well as your NOTES.
Then, we learned a new song On Top of Old Smokey, that also uses 3/4 time. Watch out for intervals of 2nds, 3rds and 4ths in this song!
Remember, an interval means the distance between 2 notes.
We played a little bit of Bongo Boy at the end of class, and then it was time to go.
I had fun working with you today! Thanks everyone, have a great week!
Wednesday, December 5
BLT Elementary School Wed. Dec. 5 2.00-3.00pm
Very nice work today!
In our 5th session we learned more about Holding Notes, with Mr. Bach.
Bach wrote music for the Organ and the Harpsichord, two relatives of the Piano.
The organ is a larger keyboard instrument that uses wind to create sound, and the harpsichord is a smaller keyboard instrument that plucks strings to create sound.
We also talked about Vivaldi's Four Season! A very famous piece of music.
You're doing great with your practices, playing High notes and Low notes. By now, you're reading real 'circle' notes, not just Bird and Whale notes. Practice High and Low notes, and finding middle C on your keyboard at home.
We practiced more rhythms today - make sure you count 1+2+3+4+. Especially for the holding notes. See if you can do some clapping exercises the way we do with the metronome, at home with your Mom or Dad or with a friend. Make up a four-beat rhythms or word phrases to clap back for each other.
Finally, we reviewed the entire musical alphabet, going all the way up the keyboard.
How many letters are there in the musical alphabet? 7! That's right.
See you next week everyone, for our last class! Have fun :)
In our 5th session we learned more about Holding Notes, with Mr. Bach.
Bach wrote music for the Organ and the Harpsichord, two relatives of the Piano.
The organ is a larger keyboard instrument that uses wind to create sound, and the harpsichord is a smaller keyboard instrument that plucks strings to create sound.
We also talked about Vivaldi's Four Season! A very famous piece of music.
You're doing great with your practices, playing High notes and Low notes. By now, you're reading real 'circle' notes, not just Bird and Whale notes. Practice High and Low notes, and finding middle C on your keyboard at home.
We practiced more rhythms today - make sure you count 1+2+3+4+. Especially for the holding notes. See if you can do some clapping exercises the way we do with the metronome, at home with your Mom or Dad or with a friend. Make up a four-beat rhythms or word phrases to clap back for each other.
Finally, we reviewed the entire musical alphabet, going all the way up the keyboard.
How many letters are there in the musical alphabet? 7! That's right.
See you next week everyone, for our last class! Have fun :)
Hammonds Plains Elementary School Wed. Dec. 5 8.00-9.00am
Today, we warmed up playing C major scales with our Right Hands. Remember the fingering: 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1.
Then we played the game "Face off" to practice naming notes on the grand staff.
It was a fast-paced game and the score was close! 7 to 6!
At the end I gave prizes to all of you because you worked very hard today! I was impressed.
We went over the song "Old Grey Goose" together, and talked about keeping a steady beat and a curved finger hand position.
Gracen and Jessy finished early and tried out "Jingle Bells" - you're doing very well!
Then we did some exercises for the Left Hand in the Bass Clef.
Remember the rhymes for the space notes: Treble Clef - FACE and Bass Clef - All Cows Eat Grass.
Also, try to remember where the notes Bass C, Middle C and High C are on the staff. This will help you to figure out the letter names of all the other notes.
Finally, we did a Theory lesson about Middle C position, where both thumbs are on C.
Remember to read the music to see what notes to play, watching out for steps and skips.
Here is a PDF file of "Old Grey Goose" for you to practice on your pianos at home this weekend.
Thanks everyone!
Then we played the game "Face off" to practice naming notes on the grand staff.
It was a fast-paced game and the score was close! 7 to 6!
At the end I gave prizes to all of you because you worked very hard today! I was impressed.
We went over the song "Old Grey Goose" together, and talked about keeping a steady beat and a curved finger hand position.
Gracen and Jessy finished early and tried out "Jingle Bells" - you're doing very well!
Then we did some exercises for the Left Hand in the Bass Clef.
Remember the rhymes for the space notes: Treble Clef - FACE and Bass Clef - All Cows Eat Grass.
Also, try to remember where the notes Bass C, Middle C and High C are on the staff. This will help you to figure out the letter names of all the other notes.
Finally, we did a Theory lesson about Middle C position, where both thumbs are on C.
Remember to read the music to see what notes to play, watching out for steps and skips.
Here is a PDF file of "Old Grey Goose" for you to practice on your pianos at home this weekend.
Thanks everyone!
Tuesday, December 4
Westmount Elementary School Tues. Dec. 4 12.15-1.15pm
We learned how to make 5-finger ant tunnels with our new computer teacher Scott Joplin today.
Scott Joplin was an African-American composer who wrote amazing piano music. He lived about a hundred years ago, and is famous for his songs The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag.
5-finger Ant tunnels are where you have to keep your fingers curved and your wrists up on the piano keys. If you let your hand collapse then all the ants will get squished!
Remember that each of your fingers has a number: Thumbs are 1, and little fingers are 5.
Practice playing finger numbers at home. Parents, you can call out a finger number for your child to play on their knee 3 times. Then try calling out different 3-note patterns (for example: 3-2-1) and have your child play the notes on the piano with their Right hand thumb on Middle C.
Practice rhythms at home over the Christmas break. Remember to count 1+2+3+4+.
Today was our last class. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season. You deserve it!
We learned a lot and had so much fun together.
I really loved getting to know this class!
Parents, just a reminder that you can now register for classes in the New Year at www.musiqclub.com
Monday, December 3
Fleming Tower Elementary School Mon. Dec. 3 2.15-3.15pm
With the snow storm, we had a small class today. 7 out of 12.
For those of you who missed lesson 7, we'll try to help you catch up next week. We'll be meeting our new computer teacher, Scott Joplin, next week. I hope everyone can be there for our final lesson before Christmas :)
Today, we learned about notes getting higher and higher. Above middle C we can have medium high notes and very high notes. We also learned about notes getting lower and lower.
There are medium low notes and very low notes below middle C.
Remember to practice your songs using your left hand for the low notes and right hand for the high notes.
Keep your fingers curved.
I brought in my violin and played you different combinations of three notes.
Everyone would sing back the notes I played and and tell me if I was getting higher and higher or lower and lower. Great work!
Then we read the story "Up. Up. Down" by Robert Munsch. All of you helped me read it, saying the words "up... up... up... up... doooooooowwwn" with a voice that climbs higher and higher and then gradually falls down low. That was fun!
We learned the Jungle Girl game.
To jump from vine to vine you have to listen to the birds sing 2 notes, and then play 2 notes back that move in the right direction - getting higher or lower.
Thanks for all your hard work!
Have a great week everyone.
For those of you who missed lesson 7, we'll try to help you catch up next week. We'll be meeting our new computer teacher, Scott Joplin, next week. I hope everyone can be there for our final lesson before Christmas :)
Today, we learned about notes getting higher and higher. Above middle C we can have medium high notes and very high notes. We also learned about notes getting lower and lower.
There are medium low notes and very low notes below middle C.
Remember to practice your songs using your left hand for the low notes and right hand for the high notes.
Keep your fingers curved.
I brought in my violin and played you different combinations of three notes.
Everyone would sing back the notes I played and and tell me if I was getting higher and higher or lower and lower. Great work!
Then we read the story "Up. Up. Down" by Robert Munsch. All of you helped me read it, saying the words "up... up... up... up... doooooooowwwn" with a voice that climbs higher and higher and then gradually falls down low. That was fun!
We learned the Jungle Girl game.
To jump from vine to vine you have to listen to the birds sing 2 notes, and then play 2 notes back that move in the right direction - getting higher or lower.
Thanks for all your hard work!
Have a great week everyone.
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