J. W. MacLeod Elementary School Fri. Jan. 11 2.45-3.45pm

Welcome back to MusIQ Club J. W.
It was lovely to see all of you again, and to meet Peter and Alix.
Here's what we did today, and what you can practice at home:

Level 2:

• Review naming notes on the Grand Staff
  
• Review whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes.
• Keep a good beat and a round hand position when you practice your scales and your songs.
• New song has the hand position 1 on B in the left hand, and 1 on C in the right hand. Watch out though! The hand position changes during the 'chorus' part of the song.
  

Let it be:
G G G A A E G G C D D E E D D C C E E F E E D E D C A G C (X2)

E D C (move R.H.P to 1 on D) E G A A G E D (move L.H.P. to 1 on C) C A
G E E E F E E D E D C A G C

• Review 'Get Up', and the song we learned last year, if you have the software at home.
  

Level 1

• Find middle C on your piano at home.
• Name the keys using the musical alphabet.
• Fingering: thumbs are 1, index fingers are 2, middle fingers 3, and so on... little fingers are 5.
  
• Rhythm, beat and time signatures.
  
• See if you can learn this song on your own: Old Grey Goose. We'll look at this together in your next lesson.

**Alix and Peter, I'd like to have the two of you sitting together next week so that I can help you learn some easy finger number and letter name tunes. For the first day you got to jump in with a lot of the review of last term that the level 2 students were doing.

Have fun playing piano this week guys! You did a super job today.

Kingswood School Thurs. Jan. 10 11.40-12.40pm

Nice to see you again Kingswood.
We have 7 students in the class so far this term. Ben, Lauren, Laura and Josh got invitations to bring a friend for next time. I hope that you can think of someone to join in the fun.

We had a great class today. Most of you had your own computer, so you were able to get a lot of work done. We reviewed the songs Pop goes the Weasel and On top of Old Smokey.
I was impressed with how much you remembered! All of you were able to get high scores on the songs, and were eager to perform them for the class.

We practiced our newest song called Get Up.
Then, we practiced rhythm clapbacks, and talked about note values. We did a short refresher on beat, time and rhythm in Theory Thinker, and played some Grand Staff Note Placement game.

Finally, we spent some time with Bongo boy and in the CMJ improvisation room. Remember to practice your C major scales at home with the correct fingering. This will help to orient you on the keyboard. Think of the letter names as you play.

Keep up the good work!

BLT Elementary School Wed. Jan. 9 2.00-3.00pm

It was great seeing all of you again.
We had 4 students to kick off the first class of the winter term - each of you got your own computer and an invitation to bring a friend for next time.

Today we reviewed notes getting higher and higher and lower and lower.
Remember, to get higher, you have to start low. And to get lower you have to start high. We read the story "Up, up, down" by Robert Munsch together. Thanks for your help in making all the sound effects!

In the lesson room, we learned more about Scott Joplin, and met briefly with Mr. Bach.
You're getting better at reading notes and finding middle C. When you practice, try to keep a steady beat. Use your right hand for high notes, and left hand for low notes.

In the games room you did some ear training exercises, playing back rhythms and listening to tones getting higher or lower.

In the improvisation room, you applied everything that you've learned so far: double notes, holding notes, high and low, fast and slow, legato and staccato. Each of you recorded a song to show me - all of you did an excellent job.

Practice the concepts above on your keyboards at home. If you have the CMJ software, check out the library for more songs to learn. As always, I like to hear what students have been working on at the beginning of class. For example, Haylea showed me a tune her father taught her how to play on the piano, and Jacob played a bit of Mary had a little lamb.

See you next time - have a good week.

Hammonds Plains Elementary School Wed. Jan. 9 8.00-9.00am

Dear Parents and Students,
Please accept my apology for being 1o minutes late for this class. I hit a deep pothole on Hammonds Plains rd. and dented the rim of my tire. The car was shaking, so I had to pull over and ask for help putting on the spare. The fog was quite bad, and I realized after this unfortunate experience that I should have a cell phone, driving in such conditions. There were a couple of occasions last term where the weather got in the way of my travels too... I'm very sorry about this and I'll look into getting a cell phone as soon as I can.

Today, we reviewed some key concepts from last term:

• good hand posture: curved fingers - wrists up.
• beat and rhythm: quarter notes/rests, half notes/rests, whole notes/rests and eighth notes and rests.
• note naming in the grand staff.
  
• C major scales: 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 (right hand) 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1 (left hand)
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

We learned a new song "Pop goes the Weasel" and Gracen and Ford tried out "On Top of Old Smokey". With only four of you in the class today, we were able to do a lot of good work. Thanks for your focus and enthusiasm.

For those of you who have the Piano Suite Software: Practice naming notes on the grandstaff, doing the 'Rest Values' exercise in the Theory Thinker and practicing Twinkle, Pop goes the Weasel and On Top of Old Smokey.

Before the bell, we spent some time in Children's Music Journey, improvising with the C major scale and playing some rhythm games (Princess and Bongo Boy).

Have a good week everyone. I'll do everything I can to see you next week at 8am sharp.
Drive safely.

Westmount Elementary School Tues. Dec. 8 12.15-1.15pm

What an exciting class we had today! We were back up on the stage - this time with 9 students in the class, and about 10 minutes before the end "High school musical" arrived to put on their play!
We still got lots of work done, and I was quite happy with how much all of you seemed interested and ready to learn.

Cegera, Aiffe, Maddie, Morgan, Lydia:

You reviewed notes getting higher and higher and notes getting lower and lower.
We practiced five-finger ant tunnels. Remember to play in beat and keep a round hand position.

Sean, Ryan, Sophia and Evan:

You did great with your first lesson. Try naming all the notes on your piano using the musical alphabet. See if you can find middle C on your piano at home. Try playing high bird notes and low whale notes, and always keep a steady beat.

I had a lot of fun meeting you today! See you next week.

Fleming Tower Elementary School Mon. Jan. 7 2.15-3.15pm

Great to see all of you again. We have one new student joining us this year Bria. Welcome Bria - it's lovely to have you.

Today we reviewed a little bit of what we covered in our last class before Christmas, as well as some basic concepts that are important for us to remember whenever we practice piano.

• finger numbers: 1-2-3-4-5 on each hand.
  
• notes getting higher and higher and lower and lower.
• middle C and the musical alphabet.
• keeping a round hand position and playing short sounds and long in beat.

Then we went ahead and tried a new lesson. Bria, you learned about high bird notes and low whale notes. Remember to play high notes with your right hand and low notes with your left hand.

Can everyone try to think of one thing to tell me about their computer teacher for next week?
Most of you have Mr. Scott Joplin.
Bria, you have Mr. Beethoven!

We practiced rhythm exercises and played some games. We also improvised some new songs and saved them so that we can listen back in future lessons.

Thanks for your good work everyone.

J. W. MacLeod Fri. Dec. 14 2.45-3.00PM

Great work with the test today everyone.

You all did well, and will receive your certificates in the mail over the holidays.

If you wish to receive your graded tests back, I will have them in envelopes for you the first Friday of the new year. You can pick them up. Better yet, we can go over the test together in class - I hope everyone will return for another term of MusIQ Club in January!

To register, please visit www.musiqclub.com

Have a wonderful holiday everyone. You deserve it!

Thanks for a very productive and fun term.

Kingswood Thurs. Dec. 13 11.40-12.40PM

In our last class of the year we reviewed On Top of Old Smokey and learned  new song Get Up.

We practiced rhythm playbacks, and also tried out playing some melody ear training exercises with my violin.

Finally, we experimented with recording our own improvisations along to the song bank in the Children's Music Journey Software.

We had a great time, and everyone was focussed and listening well today.

I look forward to coming back in the New Year to teach this class.

To register, visit www.musiqclub.com

I hope to see all of you back for another term :)

Have a wonderful holiday.

BLT Elementary School Wed. Dec. 12 2.00-3.00pm

We had a fun class today.
It seems like all of you are enjoying your music lessons more and more. The best part is that we are learning so much at the same time :)

We completed all of lesson 8 and many of you finished lesson 9 as well. The concepts we covered were:

• Legato and Staccato. (Smooth and bouncy notes.)
• Double notes. (Playing 2 notes at the same time.)
• Notes getting higher and higher and lower and lower.

Try practicing all of the concepts above at home, if you can, over the break.
Also, try listening to notes and tell whether they are getting higher or lower, and see if you can make up some 4-beat rhythms! (Clap them for a friend or try playing them on your keyboard.)

It's been a pleasure to meet all of you. (Check out your picture... posted as promised!)

Parents, if you'd like to register your child for the winter term please visit www.musiqclub.com or call 453-4464.
I'd certainly like to see all of these students again in future music lessons.

Thanks and all the best for your holidays!

Hammonds Plains Elementary School Wed. Dec. 12 8.00-9.00am

With the dreadful weather out there this morning, we had a small class today. Just 7 of us altogether. In fact, considering how bad the road conditions were, that was quite a few. Thanks to everyone who made the trek out to meet me this morning for the final class of the term!

Today we kicked off with some C-major scales and rhythm exercises. These are really good practice for you so please try them out at home if you have a keyboard and some extra time over the break! Try both the Right Hand and Left Hand with the scales. Keep a steady beat and good hand posture. Make sure to use the correct fingering.
Overall, your scales and rhythms have gotten so much better over these six short weeks. I'm very impressed with all of your hard work.

After a little bit of the Bongo Boy game, we went and played a few different songs on the piano. Old Grey Goose, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Away in a Manger. Everyone has pretty much mastered Old Grey Goose level 1, but Old Grey Goose level 2 is still challenging for most of you. This is perfectly alright. Your sightreading has improved so much over the term - everyone was able to score a 75% or better (many were in the 90-100% range) on all three of the level 1 songs we tried today.

Finally, we did some Grand Staff Note Placement, and Spelling games in the Theory portion of the Piano Suite software.
We're getting better with recognizing the letter names on the staff, but this can always use practice. Try doing some note naming at home with this online game: http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id82_en.html

It's been a very successful term with this class, and I look forward to coming back in the new year to continue teaching at the same time - same place!
If you'd like to register your child for winter term classes, please visit www.musiqclub.com or call 453-4464.
Spots fill up quickly so please sign up soon. All of these students are top notch. I'd like to see them back :)

Thank you and best wishes for your holiday.