Week 4 in Music

•  Here is a synopsis of what happened in music - during instructional Week #4.   With the specials schedule that we have at Gold Rush this year, four weeks equals 1 week of instruction in music for all of the students.  This covers the time from November 8  - December 10, 2021.

Our "Enter with Ears and Imagination" protocol (introduced in the last rotation) brought the following musical examples to our World Music feature playlist:  

• Loch Lomond by The Pipes and Drums of Leanisch on the  Spirit of Scotland - Essential Bagpipe Anthems album - Scotland

• El Pañuelo by Palomas del Sur  on the Folk Music From The Andes album - Ecuador

  
  

• Hlonolofatsa (Live) by the University of Pretoria Youth Choir & Lhente-Mari Pitout on the South African Traditional Music album - South Africa

  
  

• Binh ban va’n  Artist:  Truong Thi Quynh Hanh  (Dan Tranh) on Vietnam, Best of Traditional Vietnamese Music - Vietnam

 

• Kindergartners continued learning about the UnPitched Percussion instruments we have in the music room according to timbre or tone color groupings.  In this rotation they were introduced to the  Rattle instruments (maracas, chiquita maracas, egg shakers, West African nut rattle and shekere, multi-guiro, Japanese kokiriko / clatterpillar, handle castanets and the vibraslap) and the Ring instruments (suspended cymbal, sizzle cymbal, finger cymbals, crash cymbals, Chinese bell tree, tam-tam and zhing, the Indonesian gong, and the triangle). With each of these families students were introduced to the proper playing technique and the instrument name.   Each student took a turn playing every instrument as they were passed around the circle, or students moved fron one spot to another around the circle.  Students were asked to match the beat as they played, or, in the case of the Ring family - play a single long sound on a conductor's cue; students took turns as the conductor.  We also played a game called "Listen" which requires students to determine which instrument they are hearing without being able to see it and then name the instrument they heard.  Additionally, Kindergartners movements to the instrumental sounds of these timbres.  Kindergarten students also read a musical score with icons of the instruments to play - one from each of the 4 timbre families they have played so far - Click / Rhythm Sticks, Jingle / Jingle Bells, Ring / Triangle, and Rattle / Maracas.  Mrs. Petty created the score to align with the Winter classic, Sleigh Ride by LeRoy Anderson.  Students got to play each of the four parts as we rotated for turns.

• First Graders were introduced to compound time this rotation through a nursery rhyme chant, Go to Bed, Tom.  Students learned the words through imitation, then were introduced to the musical notation.  We performed the piece with instrumental layers - rhythm sticks on the main rhythm, triangles in the speech rests, and a rhythmic ostinato (repeated pattern) introduced students to playing the tubano drums.  We did this in a circle, rotating so that all students got to play every part at least one time.  Some students were also able to take on the challenge of playing the rhythms without saying the text out loud, instead using their thinking voice to maintain the rhythm.  Additionally, students wrote compound rhythms from dictation.  Additionally students learned another apple related singing/movement game, Wind Up the Apple Tree.    All classes also had a Talent Time (sharing performances) in class, followed by a time of students choices of favorite music and movement games.

• Second Graders experienced beat and rhythm this rotation with a Pie Theme.  Students learned a poem, I Like Pie, which became the A section of our final Rondo 'performance'.  We played some reaction games also with pie flavor responses, and students learned the first verse of the traditional singing game, Great Big House in New Orleans.  Students sorted pictures of pie flavors, e.g. apple, pumpkin, peach, blackberry, etc. into their corresponding 2-beat rhythm patterns.  Students worked in small groups to create a 4-rhythmic building brick Word chain.  Students said their pattern, clapped and said it simultaneously, and then thought the words while only clapping.  This was then transferred to an unpitched percussion instrument.  Each group performed their word chain as a part of the I Like Pie Rondo.  All classes also had a Talent Time (sharing performances) in class, followed by a time of students choices of favorite music and movement games.

• Third Graders did further work learning to play the recorder.  In this rotation they reviewed B, A and G and were introduced to the fingering and notation of the note E.  We began with a new piece learned and experienced through body percussion transferred to recorder:  See A Pin.  After learning it using snap, clap and pat with B-A-G as the pitches , we shifted it down to clap, pat, step with A-G-E  as the pitches.  Students worked initially with partners - one doing the body percussion as the conductor and the other as the recorder player.  Later we worked from the notation of the music.  Eventually the two versions (Do centered and La Centered) were meshed into a 3rd version using one line of each.   Third graders also did a paper and pencil challenge of naming 30 treble clef notes (only the lines and space notes) given 3 minutes time.  This practice will help to increase note recognition and music reading fluency.  Students also experienced a 2nd piece with the new note E, Minka which is a Winter song from Russia.  We sang it and played the recorder part.  Students received the music for both of these new pieces to practice at home.  All classes also had a Talent Time (sharing performances) in class, followed by a time of students choices of favorite music and movement games.    

• Fourth Graders focused on melody and pitch through two pieces for tonebars and a 2nd take at the 50 in 5 challenge.  Students reviewed the lines and spaces of the treble clef staff in preparation for the 50 in 5 challenge.  We reviewed the music alphabet and the way in which that pattern helps in figuring out notes  outside of the staff.  Students are learning all of the treble clef notes from the B below the staff to the B above the staff (15 notes in total).  Students took the 50 in 5 challenge for the second time this year.  This is a timed note-naming challenge.  Students also experienced melody and ensemble music making learning two pieces by Shirley McRae through echo imitation and listening:  Third Time A-Round Double and Barreled Canon.  All classes also had a Talent Time (sharing performances) in class, followed by a time of students choices of favorite music and movement games.

• Fifth Graders focused on melody and pitch.  We reviewed the lines and spaces of the treble clef in preparation for the 50 in 5 challenge.  We reviewed the music alphabet and the way in which that pattern helps in figuring out notes  outside of the staff.  Students are becoming more comfortable with all of the treble clef notes from the B below the staff to the B above the staff (15 notes in total).  Students took the 50 in 5 challenge for the second time this year.  This is a timed note-naming challenge.  Students experienced learning a diatonic piece (all notes of the major scale) through body percussion transferred to tonebars - Syncopation Step-wise motion by Roger Sams.  We extended this by changing the toneset so that students were introduced to 6 modal scales:  C-c Ionian, D-d Dorian, E-e Phrygian, F-f Lydian, G-g Mixolydian and A-a Aeolian.  Students noted their favorite scales for future work.  After doing the 50 in 5 challenge students put their knowlege of treble clef notation to work.  They worked in teams to decode some written music and layer them together.  Each team had one or two measures to master and then they were layered together.  One piece was for metals - metallophones and glockenspiels, Carol On!, and one piece was for xylophones, Christmas Eve at Macy's.  Both pieces were written by Shirley McCrae.  All classes also had a Talent Time (sharing performances) in class, followed by a time of students choices of favorite music and movement games.

In the next rotation, 3rd - 5th grades will use ukuleles to experience harmony and chord progressions.  Kindergarten will finish meeting our unpitched percussion instruments - Scrape and Membranic timbre families.  First and Second Grades will focus on melody and harmony using the tonebar instruments.  We will do some movement exploration leading to better mallet technique, too.

 

Week 3 in Music

•  Here is a synopsis of what happened in music - instructional Week #3.   With the specials schedule that we have at Gold Rush this year, four weeks equals 1 instruction week in music for all of the students.  This covers the time from October 4 - November 5, 2021.

We started a new entrance to the music room / beginning of class  protocol this rotation.  All grades levels were asked to "Enter with Ears and Imagination".  Music was playing.  After a bit of focused listening, we discussed the piece -  What was noticed and what we wondered in hearing it.  Then we look briefly at a map of where in the world the piece came from, particular performers and instruments, a lyrics translation if the piece has vocals that are not in English, etc.  This new routine may help us to become more aware of World Musics and help us to be more musically literate with improved listening and appreciation of diversity.  Here is our "playlist" from this rotation:

• Batonga by singer/songwriter Angelique Kidjo. West African country of Benin  

•  Mountain Song by Assaraimasko Dabdabhelio - Native Music of Nepal

• No Luna E Ka Halekai No Ka Ma'alewa - The Rose Ensemble - Hawaiian Hula  

• Ergen Deda - The Bulgarian Voices - Angelite. Vocal Music of Bulgaria  

• Kabuki Gomen-Jyo! -  Wadaiko Matsuriza -  Japanese Taiko Music  

 

• Kindergartners began learning about the UnPitched Percussion instruments we have in the music room.  They are learning about them in timbre or tone color groupings.  In this rotation they were introduced to the  Click instruments (wood block, temple blocks, tap-a-taps, slap stick, rhythm sticks, claves, tone block, castanets, African claves and tongue drum, aka slit log drum) and the Jingle instruments (tambourine, cystrum, jingle bells, Indian dance bells, caxixi and sleigh bells). With each of these families students were introduced to the proper playing technique and the instrument name.   Each student took a turn playing every instrument as they were passed around the circle.  Students were asked to match the beat as they played.  We also played a game called "Listen" which requires students to determine which instrument they are hearing without being able to see it and then name the instrument they heard.  Additionally, Kindergartners matched steps and movement using instruments from these families.

• First Graders used an Apple theme to focus on rhythm and review melody this week.  We reviewed familiar melodic patterns of Sol-Mi and discovered the note la through a new singing game, Apple Tree.  This song also introduced students to a lower pitch - Do.  We played the singing game three different ways - trading places with part of the 'tree' when trapped,  adding new trees into the orchard as an elimination game, and seated in a circle as a beat passing game.  We read and created new sound/silence patterns within an 8 beat frame - using paper plates to mark out the beats.  Those plates that had an apple on them, we said 'yum' on the beat and those that didn't have an apple had a silent beat (rest).  Students changed the pattern by adding or subtracting apples.  After we had played our Apple Tree game multiple days, we added a beat bordun reading some of those sound/silence patterns.  First Graders rediscovered the rhythm tee-tee (2 eighth notes sharing a beat) as we decoded the rhythm of Apple Tree.  Following a time that we read Dr. Seuss's Ten Apples Up on Top, we 'upset the apple cart' and used our apple/rhythm cards to create new tah and tee-tee patterns.  Then we flipped the cards around to read a scrambled/mixed up version of the lyrics.  Those classes that had 5 days in this rotation enjoyed a Movement and Folk Dance focused day, too.

• Second Graders experienced beat, rhythm and hand drum technique as we moved to various note values and learned three pieces for hand drums.  We began by creating a 24-beat rhythm using randomly selected cards with quarter notes, quarter rests and pairs of eighth notes (tah, rest and tee-tees).  Once students were able to clap and say the rhythm accurately, we transferred the clapping to playing the hand drum.  Next we reviewed two pieces from last year,  Hear the Drum Beat and Big and Small, highlighting two sizes of hand drums.  This was an opportunity to introduce the half note in notation (ta-ah).  In a 3rd piece, Three Plus, students read and performed 3 different rhythms.  This included an introduction to the use of bar lines and measures.  In addition to the rhythms of the other piece, this one introduced a half rest (2-beat rest). Three Plus is played on 3 different sized drums and all parts are layered simultaneously.  It is a big challenge to stick to your rhythm while others are going on.  This was our first experience in multiple layers and the level of musical independence that requires.  We also practiced rhythmic dictation (writing patterns that are heard) using these newly discovered symbols.  Those classes that had 5 days in this rotation enjoyed a Movement and Folk Dance focused day on their last day.

• Third Graders did further work learning to play the recorder.  In this rotation they reviewed some very important basics:  
• How to hold the recorder - with left hand on top
• The airspeed needed for a good sound -  using gentle, warm air like teasing a candle
• How to tongue - starting and stopping the sound with a gentle 'd' 
• Fingering and notation for the note B
• Students were also introduced to two more pitches (notation and fingering) - the notes A & G

            As I had told students they needed to know 3 songs with 3 notes in order for me to send their                     personal recorders home with them, they were excited for that.  They learned these songs in ways             that included reading/decoding traditional notation, by ear and quick notation (letter names and                 rhythm sticks above).  Merrily We Row Along (which sounds a lot like Mary Had a Little                             Lamb), It's in the Bag, Old Tom White, and a French Folk Song Au Claire de la Lune - A section.              At the end of the week the recorders parents purchased fees were sent home along with these                     BAG pieces in a packet with a fingering chart, some activities and additional BAG pieces,                         including Hot Cross Buns and Gonna Make Music.  Students were also shown how to log their                 practice time.  Students are encouraged to practice 10-20 minutes at a time a few times a week. 

• Fourth Graders experienced ensemble music making with many layers with a piece by Jim Solomon called Toasted.  Students learned the soprano recorder part (with the pitches, B-A-G-E), the drumming part and the xylophone part.  After learning each part separately we put the whole piece together.  Some groups even used some improvisation (making something up, or "jamming" on the spot) for transitions as we rotated from one position in the ensemble to another.  Please check out videos of the piecer on the In the Spotlight page of this blog.  Those classes that had 5 days in this rotation enjoyed a Movement and Folk Dance focused day on their last day.

• Fifth Graders reviewed the piece we worked on in the last rotation, Quickie Quodlibet, which has 4 different melodies layered together for soprano recorder.  Using that as a model, students composed their own 4-measure melody for soprano recorder.  "Play what you write, and write what you play." Composition is a big focus for our 5th grade learning.  Each student created and notated a melody, and also considered which other student's melody would pair well with their own for layering.  This project helped to reinforce music notation and performance skills.  Along the way we did the challenge of Stand Up if You're the Composer - drawing a composition out at random - Mrs. Petty played one of the pieces.  Students were asked to recognize what they wrote.  Those classes that had 5 days in this rotation enjoyed a Movement and Folk Dance focused day on their last day.

Week 2 in Music

Here is a synopsis of what happened in music - instructional Week #2.   With the specials schedule that we have at Gold Rush this year, four weeks equals 1 instruction week in music for all of the students.  This covers the time from September 6 - October 1, 2021.

In our second musical week together, our focus was melody and pitch.

• Kindergartners experienced pitch by responding through movement to high and low sounds, and music going up and going down.  We began  to focus on two contrasting pitches (soon to be named Sol and Mi) which we currently are referring to as high and low.  Students demonstrated their understanding of those pitches with body solfeggio (high - shoulders / low - waist).  We sang our names with those pitches.  We played singing games with those two pitches:  "See - Saw", "Hey, Hey, Look at Me" which involves making statue shapes to copy in movement -  leaders each creating a shape for others to copy.  We noticed and discussed whether the created shape was a high shape or a low shape or a middle level shape.  We also played the singing/movement games "Pass the Ball to Jericho", and "Snail, Snail" which use Sol-Mi melodies. Students also experienced pitch through a story of Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle - two friends who live in a very hilly town (traveling up and down to visit each other).  We also used vocal exploration echoing a slide whistle and showing the melodic direction with our hands and bodies, and matching our voices to some sound arrows showing melodic direction.  We continued working with steady beat, too.

• First Graders experienced pitch through singing and the use of visual/kinesthetic cues of Solfeggio hand signs for Sol and Mi.  We worked primarily with Sol - Mi patterns and then expanded to Sol-Mi-La patterns when we 'discovered' the La in the song we were working on.  Students echoed short patterns and also followed "instant songs" shown with Solfeggio hand signs.  Several students created patterns for their class to sing as student conductors.  Students discovered Sol-Mi patterns in a song, written by Mrs. Petty, called Autumn Leaves.  We sang the song, and each day highlighted a different part of the melody using a particular family of melodic percussion (tonebars).  Each student got a turn to play as we sang, taking turns.  On the first day we added a steady beat accompaniment on the xylophones on each of the 4 phrases of "Autumn Leaves, Autumn Leaves".  On the second day we used metallophones to add a 'splash of tone color' to the words "Red, Gold, Orange, Brown".  On the 3rd day students worked with glockenspiels and movement with colored scarves to an extra phrase after "swirling all around" and "falling to the ground".  Students worked with a partner to link sound and movement on these phrases.  On our 4th day students selected one of the 4 parts to bring back in a final "performance" - xylophone, metallophone, glockenspiel or scarf movement.  Please check out class videos of Autumn Leaves shared on the In the Spotlight page of this blog.  In addition to this work, students also reviewed Sol-Mi melodic patterns through singing/ movement games, Hey, Hey, Look at Me and Doggie Doggie Where's Your Bone.  Classes also worked on tonal memory and singing during our Simon Solfege challenge.  Students that had a full 5 days in this rotation, also got to enjoy an extra dose of movement to music with Folk Dance Friday.

• Second Graders experienced pitch through singing and work at the melodic percussion ensemble (tonebars) this week.  Through singing, students experienced pitch using the visual/kinesthetic cues of Solfeggio hand signs for Sol, Mi and La.  Students echoed short patterns and also followed "instant songs" sung and shown with Solfeggio hand signs.  Several students created short melodies for their class to sing as student conductors.  At the instruments, we used a pentatonic tone set (Do, Re, Mi, Sol, La).  Students had some "mess around" time to explore the instruments and get used to the mallet hold and playing with alternating hands before we zeroed into particular pitch patterns - both for accompaniment and for playing a melody.  Our song feature of the week was "Autumn is Here" (words added to a melodic canon in Orff-Schulwerk Music for Children, Vol. 1 by Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman).  Students learned the melody through echo singing, phrase to whole, first with solfeggio and then with the word text.  Once we could sing the whole song, we began adding accompaniment patterns at the tonebars - first with steady beat chord bordun, then changing to 4-beat sound/silence patterns (tah and rest), then to an alternating broken bordun and then to a cross-over bordun.   On the 3rd day we worked on being able to play the melody on the instruments, and zeroed in on mallet technique once the melody was secure.  On our 4th day we worked on melodic notation using a 2-line staff with Sol-Mi-La patterns.  Then we moved over to a 5-line staff for the first time and wrote melodic patterns using melodic dictation (hearing and identifying).  Throughout this rotation we also played some singing games:  The Sol-La-Mi game and the Simon Solfege challenge.  Students that had a full 5 days in this rotation, also got to enjoy an extra dose of movement to music with Folk Dance Friday.

• Third Graders had an introduction to full treble clef staff notation and to playing the recorder this week.  Students learned a song with actions about the treble clef staff, "The Staff has 5".  To get more familiar with the treble clef staff, students created their own E-G-B-D-F sayings which were then shared so that we could benefit from each others thinking and creativity.  Classes chose their favorites to display in the hallway outside the music room. In recorder, students have learned how to hold the recorder (with the left hand on top), the warm, gentle air flow needed to produce a good sound, the way the start and stop the sound and basic articulation (tonguing with a "doo").  Students learned their first note - B.  Students have experienced 2 different pieces:  B Ready, and B Funky (rhythmic echoes and/or reading patterns on B) by rote and also read some pieces from notation on B:  "B One",  "B Hold", and "B Brave".  All of these pieces had accompaniment tracks.  Students that had a full 5 days in this rotation, also got to enjoy an extra dose of movement to music with Folk Dance Friday.

• Fourth Graders reviewed the lines and spaces of the treble clef that they learned about in 3rd grade, and using the pattern of the music alphabet students learned about notes outside of the staff.  We extended our range of known notes from the B below the staff to the B above the staff (15 notes in total).  Our 4th day in the rotation, students took the 50 in 5 challenge for the first time.  This is a timed note-naming challenge.  Fourth graders got back to playing recorder this week.  After last year's restrictions with the pandemic, we very much needed to review the basics and rediscover how to produce a good sound on recorder.  We recovered our notes of B, A and G and added the note low E.  We began working on a piece by Jim Solomon called, "Toasted".  We will continue to work on this piece in future weeks as it has a drumming part, too.  Students that had a full 5 days in this rotation, also got to enjoy an extra dose of movement to music with Folk Dance Friday.

• Fifth Graders reviewed the lines and spaces of the treble clef in preparation for the 50 in 5 challenge.  We reviewed the music alphabet and the way in which that pattern helps in figuring out notes  outside of the staff.  Students are becoming more comfortable with all of the treble clef notes from the B below the staff to the B above the staff (15 notes in total).  Our 3rd  day, students took the 50 in 5 challenge for the first time this year.  This is a timed note-naming challenge.  Fifth graders also got back to playing recorder this rotation.  Given the restriction and strangeness of last school year during the Pandemic, we discovered that our recorder skills are very 'rusty'.  We relearned the basics of holding the instrument and proper airspeed for producing a good sound.  Plugging the holes and coordinating that are a challenge.  We reviewed the fingering for the pitches B, A, G, low E and D, and the high D.  Students were introduced to playing high E and an alternate fingering for B which helps with playing certain melodic patterns (B-D' or B-E' or C').  We worked on sight reading skills and decoding melodies from notation.  We worked through one melody as a whole class of a piece called "Quickie Quodlibet" that Mrs. Petty wrote.  Students then chose which melody of four to work on in small groups.  These melodies stack when the piece comes together.  We will continue working on this piece in the future - to pull it together in the musical form and add accompaniment - and as a model for student composition.   Classes that had a full 5 days in this rotation, also got to enjoy an extra dose of movement to music with Folk Dance Friday.

Week 1 in Music

The first four weeks of school have come and gone!  With the specials schedule that we have at Gold Rush this year, that equals 1 instruction week in music for all of the students.  That's why this post is called - Week 1 in Music.

In our first musical week together, our focus was building community - classroom culture and climate and establishing ways of working together in learning and making music - including establishing classroom routines.  Our musical focus was on steady beat and rhythm.

• Kindergartners experienced beat by walking and running as they took turns in "Let's Go Walking".  The sound of the tambourine matched their footsteps and each student's names were added to a chart, designating how many claps (or syllables) are in their name.  In addition, students explored the movement space with different steps, accompanied by tambourine or piano.  Students also learned a finger play / speech piece, "Here is the Beehive".

• First and Second Graders experienced matching their footsteps to the sound of the temple blocks in a listening/movement/reaction game called move and stop.  They learned a new song called "It's So Good to See You".  We added movement - traveling when singing (the A section) and stationary movement including body percussion on the 8 count B section.  We changed up the body percussion to playing various untuned small percussion instruments.  In addition, Second Grade students worked on reading and writing rhythms with quarter notes (tah), quarter rests and pairs of eighth notes (tee-tees); First Grade students focused on reading and writing patterns with quarter notes (tah) and quarter rests.  Each class also enjoyed an in-class Talent Show opportunity (Talent Time), followed by singing for enjoyment.

• Third and Fourth Graders all began with the movement/listening/reaction game Move and Stop - exploring the space, with various steps and tempos, directed by the sound of the temple blocks.  Then students developed a speech piece "Good, Better, Best", beginning first with partners creating a movement sequence in two parts that aligned with the poem, the first with a 4-beat partner hand jive of tahs and tee-tees, and an 8-beat traveling or turning sequence for the second half.  Using 2-beat building bricks students worked in collaborative groups to create a word chain in a simple elemental structure.  This was transferred to untuned percussion instruments.  We also transferred the poem rhythm to a drum circle and played as an ensemble.  Fourth Graders were able to add two additional speech to drum ostinati for the final section.  Some classes were able to bring back the movement for the final performance.  You can listen and see the performance on the In the Spotlight page of this blog.  In addition, each class also enjoyed an in-class Talent Show opportunity (Talent Time), followed by singing for enjoyment.

• Fifth Graders focused on sound and silence in a first collaborative composition project.  We did a whole class example, looking at a 4x4 array of cups on the floor so that the musical score was in a large scale for the whole group.  We added different colored cups to indicate where the sounds would be, while the other beats were silent.  We read the pattern from each of the four sides, then dispersed to the four different sides and played from all perspectives simultaneously.  Following this class example, students divided into groups of 4 and created their own sound/silence composition using a 4x4 grid.  Collaborative groups chose differing timbres and structured a form for their performance.  Each group performed for the rest of the class.  With each side or perspective being different, this required a great sense of beat and maintaining a steady tempo.  Students gave each other feedback using a protocol called "Three Stars and a Wish".   Each class also enjoyed an in-class Talent Show opportunity (Talent Time), followed by singing for enjoyment.

In the coming rotation 'week 2' (September 7 - October 1) the Musical Headline will be Melody and Pitch which will include work with Soprano Recorder for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.  

Ready, Set, Go!!!

Return to Learn!

It's so exciting to be at the start of a new school year here at Gold Rush!

I trust it's going to be an amazing year - full of learning and making great music together. 

Singing - Dancing - Playing - Creating   

I am delighted to continue as a part of such a great school community!

I  plan to post a new blog at the end of each four week cycle
with the highlights of those weeks in music - including details for each grade level.

Along the way I'll add pages with links to the work we're doing in class 

(video, audio and photos)

and suggestions for continuing your learning at home

Cheers to a terrific school year.  Whoo-hoo!

It will be so good to see you all and be together again.  ☺