Musik & Me – Featuring Lets Play Music and Sound Beginnings

Thank you parents for coming this week! We can’t have parent days without you! 

Looking ahead to next year, as of right now, I’m planning to teach 3rd Year at almost the same times I’m currently teaching this class. So in August when we start Purple Magic, it will be Tuesdays at 4:00 or 5:30. (I need the extra time between classes because class is 55-60 minutes long.) Please let me know if that will or will not work for you.

Please cut out the letters as they are needed and play the alphabet keyboard game with your child. (If they’re already cut apart, just pull out all of one letter at a time.) Play this game on the largest keyboard you have. (If you have a piano with 88 keys, this is preferable to playing it on a 66-key keyboard.) You can do this separately from regular practicing. Just keep each letter session very short to begin with. You can even have several sessions in a day. We want the kids to enjoy playing this game. Maybe time them and have them beat their best time!  The instructions I wrote in the Ziploc bag are different than those in the book. I have learned from experience that learning one new letter at a time makes it easier for the kids to remember. You should be able to play the game as described in the book very soon, but isolating the letters to begin with helps alleviate confusion. The repetition will help them remember faster. They will visualize the white keys for what they are, rather than what they are in relation to each other. If you have any questions or concerns about any of this, please let me know. I have many suggestions, but don’t want to overwhelm you with all of them at once!

Celebrate Connection
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Blink with each note/chord you play in the bass clef (LH).
• Close your eyes, and run your finger over your music then stop and open your eyes. Start from wherever your finger landed and play through to the end.
• Knock on the wood/plastic of your keyboard when you come to Mr. Rests.

Bass C and Treble C
The 3 C’s are in a family; they have different first names and the same last name! We’ve known Middle C since last semester. This week we introduced Bass C: 2nd Space in Bass Clef is Bass C! (♫ “Second space is C in the bass”) AND Treble C: 3rd Space in Treble Clef is Treble C (♫ “Space 1-2-3 is treble C”). These anchor notes on the staff will help orient us as we expand our keyboard skills. Treble C is just one octave up from Middle C and Bass C is just one octave below Middle C. You can look at pg. 56 in the homework book for reference, if needed.

C Major Scale
Now that we know where Treble C is on the keyboard we can play the C Major Scale going DOWN. The technique is exactly like the Left Hand, though playing it with the Right! Practice this SLOWLY to ensure correct fingerings and bubble hand position. 1) Begin with RH finger number 5 on Treble C. (This is the C right above middle C.) 2) Play Do, Ti, La, Sol, Fa using fingers 5-4-3-2-1 with a rounded bubble hand. 3) To play Mi, POP finger number 3 over thumb. 4) Reset the BUBBLE and proceed to play Mi-Re-Do with finger numbers 3-2-1.

I am Robin Hood
Shoo-oot the Ar-row, Waa-atch it fly—, teaches us how to feel and play the dotted quarter eighth note pattern (our bulls-eye and arrow feather) right on target. To feel this rhythm more accurately dance with the CD, stomp out the rhythm with hands and feet, or even sit them on your lap and bounce your knees up and down to the rhythm while chanting the song together. Mix up practice with this song by playing the bass clef 5th an octave lower to really sound like a deep drum!

Mr. Rest
Could you believe all the musical symbols Old MacDonald had on his musical farm? A rest, though played with silence, is a very important aspect of music. Mozart said "The music is not in the notes but in the silence between." Rests are powerful!

C Major Scale Right Hand Descending

Playing the Alphabet Pieces game every day will help us solidify keyboard geography by learning the names of ALL of the white keys. Once  your child knows all the letters individually, you can enjoy playing this game with its theme and variations!