J. W. MacLeod Elementary School Fri. May 16 2.45-3.45pm

Good work today.

The level 3 students all completed their composition assignments (homework for last week) and practiced their songs, The Baseball Game, Ten Little Indians, Ode to Joy and The Blue Danube Waltz. We also reviewed Relative Minor Scales this week. For every major scale there is a relative minor scale. For example, C major has no sharps or flats. To find the relative minor key, simply begin the scale on the VI degree, in this case, the note A. A minor will also have no sharps and flats, and will use the same fingering 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 as the C major scale.

Level 1 practiced their C major scales and their songs, Old Grey Goose, Twinkle Twinkle and Pop Goes the Weasel. We also tried a new song 'On Top of Old Smokey' and played some Grand Staff note placement game.

At the end of class we all listened to the final drafts of everyone's pentatonic melody compositions.
Sounding beautiful!

Have a good week everyone.

Westmount Elementary School. Grades 3-6. Friday May 16 12.15-1.15pm

We had a good class today.

LEVEL 1 (Ivan):

• Warmed up with C major scales.
• Reviewed naming notes on the grand staff, time signatures and note values.
• Practiced Old Grey Goose, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Pop Goes the Weasel.
• Played a game of Tone/Semitone 'Go Fish'.
• Grand Staff Match up Worksheet, to complete at home.

LEVEL 2 (Brett and William):

• Warmed up with C scale in contrary motion. Learned a new scale, G major, that has 1 sharp. A sharp is a symbol in music that makes a note one semitone higher. In G major, the seventh note of the scale is sharpend, meaning F is played one semitone higher (the black key above). We also discussed flats. The opposite of a sharp, a flat makes a note one semitone lower.
• Practiced Let it Be, Happy Birthday, and Clementine.
• Played a game of Tone/Semitone 'Go Fish'.
• Grand Staff Note Placement exercises, and a worksheet on flats to complete at home.

LEVEL 3 (Dylan, Stephen and Justin):

• Warmed up with C chromatic scales. Learned a new scale - A minor. For every major scale there is a relative minor scale. For example, C major has no sharps or flats. To find the relative minor key, simply begin the scale on the VI degree, in this case, the note A. A minor will also have no sharps and flats, and will use the same fingering 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 as the C major scale.
• Practiced The Baseball Game, Ode to Joy and Ten Little Indians, as well as a little bit of The blue danube waltz.
• Played a game of Tone/Semitone 'Go Fish'.
• Ear Training Exercises - rhythm and melody playbacks, as well as a COMPOSITION ASSIGNMENT, due next week.

Please do complete your homework for next week's class. Just try your best. Even if your work is not 100% perfect, it is much better than nothing, and I can help you to correct mistakes.
Thanks for all your hard work. The song are sounding better and better.
Have a good week!

BLT Elementary School Thurs. May 15 2.30-3.30pm

We welcomed Tyrique Bowden to our class today. Hope you will like the MusIQ Club lessons!

LEVEL 1 (Tyrique and Dylan): Worked on their songs Old Grey Goose, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Pop Goes the Weasel for Dylan. Remember where Middle C is in the treble clef. We're still working on note recognition and understanding the different parts of the grand staff. We reviewed half notes, quarter and whole notes as well as time signatures. Good work.

LEVEL 2 (Jazlyn, Savanna, Rama, and Krista): Learned a new scale that has one sharp, G major. The seventh note of the scale is sharpened, which means you have to play it one semitone higher. What is the seventh note in a G major scale? Remember to use the correct fingering when practicing this at home. We reviewed our songs, Let it Be, Happy Birthday and Clementine. We also played some games and improvised for the last few minutes of class.

LEVEL 3 (Grace, Kara and Rachelle): Learned a new scale - A minor. For every major scale there is a relative minor scale. For example, C major has no sharps or flats. To find the relative minor key, simply begin the scale on the VI degree, in this case, the note A. A minor will also have no sharps and flats, and will use the same fingering 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 as the C major scale. We then practiced our songs, The Baseball Game, Ten Little Indians and Ode to Joy. You're all sounding great!

Today we decided on a few students to learn and memorize their songs for the upcoming End-of-the-year Recital. Parents will be invited to come in and hear what we've been working on for the past few weeks on the last day of class. Remember what songs you were assigned and let's put on a great concert everyone.

See you next week :)

Kingswood School Thurs. May 15 11.40-12.40pm

Nice work today. We completed our composition assignments (homework for last week) and practiced our songs, The Baseball Game, Ten Little Indians, Ode to Joy and The Blue Danube Waltz. There was a bit too much noise from the three of you, Aidan, Ben and Josh. I hope that next week will be better for listening and working quietly... We also started learning about Relative Minor Scales this week. For every major scale there is a relative minor scale. For example, C major has no sharps or flats. To find the relative minor key, simply begin the scale on the VI degree, in this case, the note A. A minor will also have no sharps and flats, and will use the same fingering 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 as the C major scale.

We played some ear training games and improvised a bit at the end of class.
See you next week!

BLT Elementary School Wed. May 14 2.00-3.00pm

We had a fun class today.

Here's what we covered:

LEVEL 1A (Kyheem and Abbey):

• Completed Lesson 3 and a little bit of Lesson 4 with Mr. Beethoven.
• Learned about rhythms and where to find Middle C on the staff.
  
• Taped over your keyboard letters, so that now you have to remember Middle C is in front of the group of 2 black keys.
• Practiced songs with high, low and middle C notes. Keep a steady beat and curved finger hand position.
• Learned a new game, Bongo Boy, and improvised/recorded some tunes.

LEVEL 1B (Billy):

• Completed Lesson 19 and a little bit of lesson 20 with Miss Mendelssohn.
• Practiced stepping and skipping in Middle C position with both hands together.
• Played songs, including Love Somebody and Sound Familiar.
• Taped over your keyboard letters, so that now you have to remember where Middle C is and count up or down to find all the other letters of the musical alphabet.s.
• Played games and improvised/recorded some tunes.

LEVEL 2 (Haylea, Connor, Cameron and Jacob):

• Completed Lesson 33 and a little bit of Lesson 34 with Mr. Mozart.
• Practiced reading music in the Grand Staff. We discussed where middle C is found on the staff, and how to read by step and skip based on middle C position, using line notes and space notes.
• Practiced some easy songs with the right hand, playing the Treble Clef (upper staff), such as 'Alouette' and 'Hot Crossed Buns'.
  
• Reviewed half notes, quarter notes and whole notes and played the game Metronome Soup.
  
• Improvised in the improvisation room.

We played a drum game, Musical Alphabet Hot Potato and played some songs for each other at the end of class.

We will have a recital in about one month's time where parents can come and check out what we've been learning and how far we've come over the past few terms. If you have the CMJ software at home, review your lesson and choose a song you would like to perform. If not, that is ok and we will choose a song in class next week to memorize and play at the recital. See you then!

Westmount Elementary School Tues May 13 12.15-1.15pm

Great work today. It was nice to have Hannah back with us in MusIQ Club.

LEVEL 1 (Sean, Ryan, Iris and Hannah):

• Completed lesson 22 with Mr. Villa-Lobos.
• Discussed Mr. Villa-Lobos' life. Can you remember where he is from? (Brazil.) What instruments did he play? (the piano, and guitar.) Anything else? (composed music for South America, speaks Portuguese, etc.)
• Practiced songs with both hands in middle C position. Make sure to count the correct number of beats for your long notes and keep a good hand position!
• Practiced 4-beat rhythms and learned the game Falling Leaves.
• Improvised in the improvisation room.

LEVEL 2 (Aoiffe, Josie, Morgan, Lidya and Sophie):

• Completed lesson 34 with Mr. Mozart.
• You are learning how to read music on the Grand Staff. We discussed where middle C is found on the staff, and how to read by step and skip based on the middle C position, using line notes and space notes.
• Practiced some easy songs with the right hand, playing the Treble Clef (upper staff).
  
• Practiced drawing half notes, quarter notes and whole notes.
• Improvised in the improvisation room.

Finally, we played a drum game where everyone made up 4-beat rhythms for their friends in the class. Please choose a song to memorize and practice at home. We will have a recital in about one month's time where parents can come and check out what we've been learning and how far we've come over the past few terms. If you have the CMJ software at home, review your lesson and choose a song you would like to perform. If not, that is ok and we will choose a song in class next week to memorize and play at the recital.

Fleming Tower Elementary School Mon. May 12 2.15-3.15pm

Well done everyone. It was nice to have Brianna back with us today, although Aly was sick - get well soon!

LEVEL 1 (Benjamine and Ryan):

• Completed lesson 6 and part of lesson 7 with Mr. Bach.
• Discussed Mr. Bach's life. Can you remember what country he is from? (Germany.) What instruments did he play? (the piano, violin and organ.) Anything else? (22 children, wears a funny wig, composed music for the church.)
• Practiced songs with holding notes. Make sure to count the correct number of beats for the holding notes, and keep a good hand position!
• Practiced 4-beat rhythms and learned a new game - Hold the Train.
• Improvised in the improvisation room.

LEVEL 2 (Lauren, Jessica, Jacqueline and Emma):

• Completed lesson 18 with Miss Mendelssohn.
• Discussed stepping and skipping in Middle C position. That means both thumbs share middle C with all the other fingers aligned on the neighbor keys.
• Practiced our stepping and skipping songs. Make sure to keep a steay beat and your fingers curved and wrists up!
• Practiced 4-beat rhythms and played some ear training games.
• Improvised and recorded some tunes.

LEVEL 3 (Noah, Jared, Reece, Brianna and Jansyn):

• Completed lesson 31 with Mr. Mozart.
• You are now learning how to read music on the Staff. You learned where middle C is found on the staff, and how to read by step and skip based on the middle C position, using line notes and space notes.
• Practiced some easy songs with the right hand. Try to remember where the notes on your keyboard fall on the Treble Clef staff.
  
• Practiced drawing half notes, quarter notes and whole notes.
• Improvised in the improvisation room.

Finally, we played a drum game where everyone made up 4-beat rhythms for their friends in the class. Please choose a song to memorize and practice at home. We will have a recital in about one month's time where parents can come and check out what we've been learning and how far we've come over the past few terms. If you have the CMJ software at home, review your lesson and choose a song you would like to perform. If not, that is ok and we will choose a song in class next week to memorize and play at the recital.

Have a good week!