J. W. MacLeod Elementary School Fri. April 18 2.45-3.45pm

We had a very good class today.

LEVEL 1 (Erika and Miguel):

• C major scales
• Old Grey Goose (you can click HERE to print off a copy for practice).
• Review of note naming in the Treble Clef.
• Theory thinker lesson on the Bass Clef, with technical exercises.
• Review of time signatures and note values. Quarter, Half and Whole notes.
• Rhythm playbacks, and games in the Children's Music Journey software.
• Practice these songs by letter names to help you play with curved fingers and a steady beat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and more.
  

LEVEL 3 (Chloe, Rose, Hannah, Gabriel, Anthony and Jeremy):

• C chromatic scales.
• Review of whole-tones and semi-tones, sharps and flats.
• Ode to Joy - hands separately and then together. Watch out for the descending chromatic line at the end. Use the correct fingering and hold notes for their full values!
• Practiced reading ledger lines - notes outside the Grand Staff. Middle C is an example of a ledger line note. There can also be ledger space notes.
• Played a game of Face Off to help us with ledger line/space note recognition.
• Practiced the Baseball Game. A song with all ledger line/space notes. Everyone had a chance to play this along to the metronome.
• Melody playbacks in the Ear Training Coach software.

Great work everyone. Have a nice weekend.

BLT Elementary School Thurs. April 17 2.30-3.30pm

We had a good class today.

LEVEL 1 (Dylan, Rama and Taylor):

• Warmed up with C major scales. Right hand and Left hand separately.
• Practiced Old Grey Goose.
• Practiced Note Naming. You should try sightreading music at home, to improve the rate at which you recognize notes and play them on the keyboard.
  
• Practiced Pop Goes The Weasel. Make sure to count your rest values and keep three beats in a bar. Taylor, you were quite good with this.
  
• Rama learned how to play On Top of Old Smokey. Good work.
• Worked on three note playbacks, and 4-beat rhythm playbacks.

LEVEL 2 (Savannah, Jazlyn and Krista):

• Reviewed Note Naming, Note Values, Intervals, and Terms (Legato, Staccato, Piano, Forte)
  
• Completed the written part of your Level 2 test. You will do the performance part of you test next week.
• Make sure you know the songs: Old Grey Goose, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Pop Goes the Weasel, On Top of Old Smokey and Get up for next week! You will be asked to perform one of these songs for your grade.

LEVEL 3 (Grace, Veronica and Kara):

• Reviewed Scales (Major and Pentatonic), Note Values, Tones and Semi-tones, and Terms (Allegro, Roman Numerals, Legato, Staccato, Piano, Forte, etc.)
• Completed the written part of your Level 3 test. You will do the performance part of you test next week.
• Make sure you know the songs: Let it Be, Happy Birthday and Clementine for next week. You will be asked to perform one of these songs for your grade.

Finally we played a game of Faceoff with the whole class, to help us with naming notes.
The team on my Right side won, but everyone did an amazing job. I'm very happy with the progress everyone is making.

I let you play games in the Children's Music Journey software for the last five minutes of class. Some of you chose to record your own songs in the Improvisation Room.
Well done!

Kingswood School Thurs. April 17 11.40-12.40pm

Today, we started off by warming up with Chromatic Scales.
The right hand fingering is 1-3-1-3-1-2-3-1-3-1-3-1-2
Try it with your left hand: 1-3-1-3-2-1-3-1-3-1-3-2-1.

We talked about whole-tones and semi-tones, sharps and flats. A sharp makes a note one semi-tone higher. A flat makes a note one semi-tone lower. Here a couple of worksheets you can do to help you remember how sharps and flats work: L2_Flats and L2_Sharps

Then we practice Ode to Joy. Ode to Joy has both sharp notes and flat notes in it.
Near the end, remember to use the left hand thumb tuck, just like you do in your chromatic scales.

Next, we played a game of Face Off, to help us remember notes outside the staff. We call these notes Leger Line and Space notes. If you can remember where Middle C, Treble C and Bass C are in both the Treble and Bass Clefs, you can figure out any other note on or outside the Grand staff.

We learned a new song: The Baseball game, that uses only leger line notes.

Finally, we spent some time in the Ear Training Coach software. We are learning 3 and 4 note playbacks. You have to set your right hand in the proper key (for example: F major = thumb on F). Then listen to the melody twice. Press the spacebar to start your assessment, and then play back the notes after the metronome counts you in.

Excellent work today. We made a lot of progress together.
See you next week!

BLT Elementary School. Grades P-2. Wed. April 2 2.00-3.00pm

Excellent work today. Here is what we covered:

LEVEL 1A (Abbey)

• Lesson and practice number 3 with Mr. Beethoven.
• You were learning about rhythms today. There are short sounds and long sounds that happen in music. You can play any combination of both, but you should always keep a steady beat underneath. We did some examples of rhythms in language: "I like puppy dogs" and "My parrot talks a lot"
• You practiced high notes and low notes.
• Reviewed Middle C.
  
• You played a new game today, Bongo Boy, which is a drumming competition to see who can remember and playback 4-beat rhythms the best.
• Recorded some new songs in the improvisation room. When you use notes from the C major scale (no black keys) your songs sound fantastic Abbey!
  

LEVEL 1B (Billy)

• Lesson and practice number 17 with Miss Mendelssohn and Miss Melody.
• We learned about Middle C position. Both thumbs are on middle C with the wrists up and fingers tips resting gently on the keys.
  
• Reviewed moving by step and moving by skip with our fiver-finger ant tunnels.
• Practiced playing legato (smooth) and staccato (bouncy).
• Played a new game - treasure hunt. You have to use your ears to hear what note to play. High notes are played with the right hand in middle C position, and low notes are played with the left hand in middle C position. You only get three tries to find the note, otherwise there is no treasure and only a hole.

You were amazing at this game Billy. You were able to find all the treasure 10 out of 10 times. Very impressive.

LEVEL 2 (Connor, Cameron, Jacob and Haylea)

• Completed lesson 29 with Mr. Dvorak, as well as lesson 30!
• We practiced drawing the four types of notes we've learned so far: quarter, half, whole and dotted half notes.
• Practiced clapping these note values along to a drum beat.
• Learned new songs, played the Soup game and spent time in the improvisation room.
  
• Your songs are sounding better and better. You're getting very comfortable with playing melodies, hands together in middle C position.

Finally, we played hot potato with Monkey. We all sit in a circle and pass around the Monkey saying one letter each, keeping a steady beat. We tried doing this forwards and backwards. This game is harder than it sounds. You have to pay attention!

I handed out invitations, postcards and a little treat for everyone at the end of class.
Have a good week.

Westmount Elementary School Tues April 15 12.15-1.15pm

Excellent work today. Here is what we covered:

LEVEL 1 (Iris, Sean and Ryan)

• Lesson and practice number 19 with Miss Mendelssohn and Miss Melody.
• We learned about Middle C position. Both thumbs are on middle C with the wrists up and fingers tips resting gently on the keys.
  
• Reviewed moving by step and moving by skip with our fiver-finger ant tunnels.
• Practiced playing legato (smooth) and staccato (bouncy).
• Played a new game - treasure hunt. You have to use your ears to hear what note to play. High notes are played with the right hand in middle C position, and low notes are played with the left hand in middle C position. You only get three tries to find the note, otherwise there is no treasure and only a hole.

All of you were very good at this game and were able to find the treasures on your first or second try! Very impressive.

LEVEL 2 (Aoiffe, Sophia, Morgan, Lidya and Josie)

• Completed lesson 30 with Mr. Mozart, as well as lesson 31!
• We practiced drawing the four types of notes we've learned so far: quarter, half, whole and dotted half notes.
• Practiced clapping these note values along to a drum beat.
• Learned new songs, played the Soup game and spent time in the improvisation room.
  
• Your songs are sounding better and better. You're getting very comfortable with playing melodies, hands together in middle C position.

Finally, we played a game that would help us remember our musical alphabet really well.
It is like hot potato. We all sit in a circle and pass around the monkey beanie saying one letter each, keeping a steady beat. We tried doing this forwards and backwards. Not bad - this game is harder than it sounds. You have to pay attention!

I handed out report cards, invitations, postcards and a little treat for everyone at the end of class.
See you next time.

Fleming Tower Elementary School Mon. April 14 2.15-3.15pm

Today was our official last class of the Winter Term!

Level 2:

• Completed CMJ Volume 1 in Lesson 25 - Recital with Mr. Villa Lobos.
• Reviewed quarter notes, half notes and whole notes.
• Talked about line notes and space notes.
• Practiced playing songs that move by step and songs that move by skip.
• 4 beat rhythm playbacks.
• Melody playbacks.

Level 1:

• Completed Lesson 15 with Mr. Scott Joplin.
• We learned about Middle C position and reading music by finger numbers.
• Practiced songs with holding notes and double notes.
• Played a new game that teaches us the Musical Alphabet. A-B-C-D-E-F-G
  
• 4 beat rhythm playbacks.

We played another game of Hot Potato. This time with my friend Monkey (or as Sergio calls him - Punkey). We helped each other remember the letters of the musical alphabet forwards and backwards. That was really fun.

Finally, I handed out certificates and report cards for everyone, as well as a small treat to say:
Great job with your MusIQ Club lessons this term!

Hope to see you back next week. From what I hear, the Monday class is now full, but there is still room in the Wednesday after-school class. Register at www.musiqclub.com.
If you have any questions, please call the office at 453-4464 or Email me.