Thursday, January 30, 2025 | Yellow Arrows Lessons

Lesson #4

Parents attend next week and tuition is due for those of you who did not pay the semester up front. You can use Zelle (using my phone number) or Venmo (@musikandme).

Please add your yellow stickers to your keyboard so they look like this. We have now learned the yellow chord, which is played with fingers 5, 3, and 1 on the left hand. We "glue" our thumb down and slide fingers 3 and 5 down by one baby step. Please be sure your child practices using the correct fingers! (In left hand we use the same fingers as the red chord!) Your child needs to be confident with left hand chords alone before attempting to play both hands together. We would like success, rather than frustration!

Within the next month we will start enrolling for next year. If you have friends or family that you want on my waiting list to start 1st Year, please share the link ASAP so I can get their information before I begin open enrollment up to the general public.

Please respond to my survey so I know what days/times work for you for next fall! I want to be sure you have a class! Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScoOpytQHGi9c2Ggj7sAH-XW7ipGDH-5b3p1R1UiSp-zhX2cg/viewform

Celebrate Connection

A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Have a contest between yourself and your child to see who can play the most transitions between the red and yellow chord with the left hand in 30 seconds! Have your child try to beat his/her own record!
• Practice chord transitions from red to yellow with your eyes shut! Use your ears to tell you if you are playing the right notes. Make sure you always use the correct fingers for each chord! (5, 3, and 1 for both chords.)
• Guess the chord. Have your child play a chord and you guess which color chord it is. Then switch roles and have your child guess what you are playing!

C Position & Middle C Position
We learned where the RH and LH rest on the keyboard for both of these positions. With C Position the RH Thumb (Finger 1) is on Middle C and LH Pinky (Finger 5) is on Bass C. With Middle C Position both Thumbs (Fingers 1) share Middle C. We liken this position to a butterfly. The two thumbs resting on middle c together are the butterfly body and their hands are the wings. Are their soft wings (fingers) resting gently on the keys? Don't forget your "BUBBLEFLIES!" (That's bubble hand butterflies...I made that up myself!)  

A fun review is to chant each position, simply moving the LEFT HAND back and forth. Practice in the air, at the kitchen table, in the car running errands, and of course on the piano! 

Caterpillar Song  
This week when we played Caterpillar Song in class, I was SO impressed with how well the kids "glued" their fingers to the keys! This song is only meant to be fast if fingers aren't flying off the keyboard. Remember, CATERPILLARS DON'T FLY! Please be sure the kids practice this way EVERY TIME they play this song. Having good "BUBBLEFLIES" (for this song especially) will help them develop the correct habits that will manifest themselves in all our other songs!

C Major Scale
We learned how to play UP the C Major Scale (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do) with our LEFT HAND. We don’t have enough fingers to play this scale, so we learned how to POP our bubble hands and then reset them to complete the scale. Practice this SLOWLY to ensure that your child plays this correctly. 1) Play Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol with 5-4-3-2-1 fingers with a rounded bubble hand. 2) To play La, POP finger number 3 over the thumb. 3) Reset the BUBBLE and proceed to play La, Ti, Do with finger numbers 3-2-1. Sing the scale with finger numbers: 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1. 

Don't have them try to play down yet, just UP.      

I am Robin Hood
Enjoy ‘drumming’ the slow slugs on the piano with the interval of a 5th using Left Hand Bass Clef fingers 5 and 1 when practicing this song. Sing the melody together while parents drum along on laps, the edge of the piano, clap along to keep a steady slug beat or drum with any can, canister, or container from around the home. Switch places so parents can play and kiddos can drum!      

Do You Want to Build a YELLOW Snowman?
This bottom heavy snowman built with a 3rd on the bottom and a 4th on the top is melting from the YELLOW sun! We play this chord with fingers 5-3-1. Place Left Hand in C Position. SLIDE Finger 5 (pinky) and Finger 3 (middle finger) down one baby step while Finger 1 (thumb) stays put. Now time your musician for 30 seconds and count how many bass clef Yellow Chords they can play!

C Major Scale Left Hand

Middle C vs C Position & Review Caterpillar Song

We call our new puppet show “The Pirate Ship” but the real title is Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms. The Hungarian Dances are a set of 21 lively dance tunes based mostly on Hungarian themes. They are among Brahms' most popular works, and were certainly the most profitable for him. Each dance has been arranged for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles. Brahms originally wrote the version for piano four-hands and later arranged the first 10 dances for solo piano. The most famous is Hungarian Dance No. 5.

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #4

Even young infants benefit from the interactive nature of Sound Beginnings classes. A baby’s hearing is fully developed and the brain is highly sensitized and wired for learning. Studies indicate multiple benefits of interactive musical play in very young children:

• better developed early communication skills
• earlier and more sophisticated brain responses to music.
• earlier ability to imitate and match pitch
• accelerated language acquisition

To name just a few!

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Ten Little Pennies
• Picaflor
• DO Pentatonic Scale
• Little Turtle
• How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?
• March of the Toreadors
• Uno, Dos, Tres
• A Rum Sum Sum
• Hush Little Baby
• This Little Piggy

In order to develop muscle strength, balance, and hand-eye coordination, children need opportunities to practice these motor skills, and to have interested adults and other children participate with them. Smart Moves dances provide an optimal whole-body movement experience with the added bonus of exposure to classical music. While increasing their physical capabilities, children are also training their ear to hear musical elements such as theme, dynamics, and phrasing.

Optional home fun activity: Color the ‘March of the Toreadors’ on page 15          
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Want to see the instruments that play our Bullfighter's Dance song? Check our this video!

Sound Beginnings is education through musical play! It prepares children for success in Kindergarten and Let’s Play Music. Sound beginnings provides research-based elements that stimulate growth in the areas particularly crucial to the development of the young child. These elements make up the foundation of the Sound Beginnings curriculum.  Here is just one:
	Little hands need to be strong in order to perform life and learning skills such as dressing oneself and writing. In class, students gain finger dexterity and hand strength as they participate in finger plays to favorite nursery rhymes and manipulate tactile props and instruments.

Have a musical day!        
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, January 28, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #4

Parents come next week and tuition is due for those of you that didn't pay for the semester up front. You can pay through Zelle (using my phone number) or Venmo me (@musikandme). 

We started working on chord inversions this week. Use the red stickers on the cover of your child's homework booklet to help them easily jump from inversion to inversion. Starting on Middle C, put 6 red stickers on your keyboard at home as shown on Lesson 4. of your student manual. The stickers should be placed on middle C, middle E, middle G and treble C (the C above middle C), treble E and treble G.

Please, please make sure your child is using the correct fingers listed in the book. I made a chart for quick reference:

We learned how to play the F Major scale! We play the left hand the same as in a C Major scale (don't forget the B-flat)! The right hand is DIFFERENT! We learned a fun chant to help us remember what fingers to use:

For going up: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. Different than I played before!
And for going down: 4-3-2-1, 4-3-2-1. Wow, my F scale's lots of fun!

Do NOT have your child play hands together until they can do both LH and RH independently! We want them to feel successful, not frustrated!

We reviewed that eighth notes have one beam (the horizontal line) holding them together. They get half a count when bugs (quarter notes) get one. They are counted out loud: one and two and three and four and. 

Sixteenth notes have two beams and they get 1/4 of a count. They are counted out loud: one ee and a two ee and a three ee and a four ee and a. We write this a little more simply (as shown in the homework). 

Be sure to look at reference pages 50 and 51 in your homework book if you need a little clarification. If you still can't make heads or tails of it, please ask me! I know this is just as new to some of the parents as it is to the students.

Cockles and Mussels

Here's a video of how the LH chords step up and stay in root position. It also shows how to play broken chords if your student would like something additional to work on!

Inversions / Mixed Paint

We actually HAVE played our yellow and blue chords in inversions--we just didn't realize it. We are now ready to take a root position chord and 'invert' it. This just means re-arranging the pieces. The chord is still CEG, but C moves to the top, then the E moves to the top, then the G and you are in root position again. We will play Old Paint in a new 'Mixed' up way to help us hear that it's still a red chord no matter matter if it is in root position, 1st inversion or 2nd inversion. No matter what the shape or order is, it just has to retain the same 'pieces' (in this case C-E-G) for it to be a red (C) chord. Be sure to add your stickers to your keyboard! (See diagram above!)
  
New World Symphony

Our Let's Play Music students have created harmony in many different ways in 1st and 2nd year. Now in 3rd year we have the unique opportunity to play as an ensemble in class to produce harmony and a much fuller sound than they can accomplish playing by themselves. By listening to the CD, the children are provided the opportunity to model and to audiate the music in their heads as they practice.
  
Our Bugs are So Fun! (new verse)
A few of our songs from our purple CD have upgraded to our orange CD--with some new lyrics! The new verse in 'Our Bugs are So Fun!' will help us to learn to count those tricky 'beamed' rhythms that include eighth notes and sixteenths notes! If counting in this new way seems tricky, I have attached a parent help that dissects the lyrics to Our Bugs are So Fun! with visual examples and simple explanations to help.

F Major Scale

Check out this young group of musicians experiencing the value of playing as an ensemble. Your student will recognize this piece as our very own Largo from New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak.

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Thursday, January 23, 2025 | Yellow Arrows Lessons

Lesson #3

Use this week to get your left hand red-blue chord transition solidified before we add the yellow chord next week. We should be getting to the point where we can play this transition with our eyes closed and even hands together! (that's tricky because the fingering is different for the RH than the LH. Only try it hands together when the muscle memory is solid in each hand separately).
   
Here are some practice tips to change things up. The winter blues might be setting in! Try putting red and blue stickers or candies on the keys that should be played for each chord. After practicing them a few times, they get to keep the stickers or eat the candies. Have a parent play through the practice and kiddo watches to be sure mom or dad is getting it right!

Celebrate Connection

A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Play "Freeze ad Thaw" - Parent or child will say "start". Child will play until parent randomly says "freeze". Child will freeze until parent says "thaw". Then trade places.
• Play your chords with a small washcloth or towel over your hands. Can you do it without peeking? Use your ears to tell you if you are playing the right notes. Make sure you always use the right fingers for each chord!
• Name that tune! In how few of notes can you name a song?

Caterpillar Song
WOW! Our caterpillars are getting smoother and steadier with this 5 finger pattern! As your child progresses playing this song, watch for these 4 things:  

1. Bubble Hand- at beginning and end of playing, but eventually throughout. Visualize fingers stuck in bubble hand position with honey, caramel, glue, Velcro, etc. to keep them from flying away!
2. Strong Independent Fingers- strike the key and make sure that finger comes up when you strike another note. Sing finger numbers with hands together.  
   
3. Smooth Sound- indicates finger strength and coordination. Remember SLOW is the way to GO!  
   
4. Steady Rhythm- fingers 1, 2, 3 are stronger and they like to go a little faster. Singing and emphasizing finger numbers 5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5, Ca-Ter-Pill-Ar, and the lyrics out loud will help keep a steady caterpillar.

Turtle Shells 
This week we focused playing the “Turtle Shell” intervals with the left hand. Everyone agrees that it’s harder than the right hand! Using fingers 4 & 5 is tougher than using 1 & 2. Before playing, warm up with “Where is 4? Where is 5?” then have your child play the interval (a 2nd) with fingers 4 & 5. Repeat for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. If he masters the intervals with the left hand, play hands together. Enjoy a little twist on the classic game Twister to reinforce and strengthen those finger numbers.  

Love Somebody  
We LOVE when our parents play along with us! Share more love with your child by playing and singing the melody an octave higher or accompanying together with the chords using the CD. Ask your child to teach your family the ‘LOVELY’ game that accompanies this song!  

I am Robin Hood 
"I am Robin Hood" is used to introduce quarter rests and the dotted quarter - eighth note pattern. The philosophy that feeling a "pulling" feeling will promote correct performance of that particular rhythm pattern, is brought to life in a playful way through the "pulling" of arrows. The open 5th in the left hand is a particularly satisfying sound to young children, resembles the sound of drums and is easy to play! 

Teaching our students to read music using steps and skips leads to more fluent playing and better sight-readers. Echo Edna helps our students in class be able to recognize steps and skips on the staff, sing them, AND play them. Simon Says to Step or Skip is a fun game to practice this concept at home. You can print and cut out the cards in the student download portal, or make your own and shuffle them in two different piles (one with step/skip and the other with up/down). ‘Simon’ chooses any note to start on, then chooses one card from each pile and invites the other person to follow those directions. After a few rounds, switch roles. Did you do as Simon Said? A fun way to add tactile and visual reinforcement is to use small pencil top erasers or any small toy as a starting note and then step or skip with another one. It’s so fun!

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, January 22, 2025 | Bridge Lessons

Wednesday, January 22, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #3

All "Home Fun Activities" are optional, but if you choose to do them, please keep the materials in your tote bag and bring them to class each week. We may not use them at every lesson, but when we do, your child will be thrilled to participate with their own creations!

Be sure to listen to the class music! Next week we'll sing these songs in class:

• Ten Little Pennies
• Picaflor
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Little Turtle
• Fiddle-I-Fee
• March of the Toreadors
• Palo Palo
• Polly Wolly Doodle
• A Rum Sum Sum

This semester a few of our songs will help us explore the Spanish language. A recent study found that exposure to other languages had the surprising effect of making children better communicators in their own language! Exposure to other languages means exposure to different social perspectives, giving them “intensive training in perspective taking, which could make them better communicators in any language.”

Optional home fun activity: Color and cut out the Spanish counting cards on pages 31 and 33          
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

How are you liking our "Fiddle-I-Fee" book? Here is a video with our class story! Feel free to sign while you sing! Here's the link to the ASL signs for the animals, if you missed it last week!

Sound Beginnings is education through musical play! It prepares children for success in Kindergarten and Let’s Play Music. Sound beginnings provides research-based elements that stimulate growth in the areas particularly crucial to the development of the young child. These elements make up the foundation of the Sound Beginnings curriculum.  Here is just one:
	In class we experience steady beat and imitate rhythmic patterns with our voices, bodies, and through hands-on use of instruments. We incorporate Eurythmics, which is movement-based rhythm training that is perfect for toddlers!

Have a musical day!        
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, January 21, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #3

I can build a triad! From any note on the staff, I just add a 3rd and a 5th. Then guess what! I can move the notes around (as long as they stay on the same letter) and the root is still the same. If the chord isn't in root position, then "the note above the gap's the root" (just listen to the song... it explains it all!). We will continue to explore this concept in the coming weeks.

In "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith" we found that it was missing a note in the first measure in the bass clef. We decided what note we should put there by finding out what the root of the chord was in the treble clef. We wrote some of the letter names in the space between the treble and bass clefs during class, but the kids were told to finish writing them at home.

While we are only practicing the first two lines of part I in "From the New World," it would be easy to just simply 'play' it, but remember to not only sing the note names, (“e-g-g-e-d-c” etc.) but try singing the rhythm as well (“shoot-the half note” etc.) while playing it this week. Or you could even sing the counts! (1+ 2+ 3+ 4+...)

John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith

This fun song from your childhood will get us learning a new style of bass root accompanying. Once we understand this we can improvise on a two handed marching style. It also is another opportunity to feel a half cadence. This song is also another opportunity to feel a half cadence (ends on a yellow chord instead of red).

 I Can Build a Triad 

Like the song says, "Pick any note to be the root... then add a third, and add a fifth!" Now that we are learning chord structure, our skipping snakes will help us to chant and spell each of our triads. Like any language, you speak (sing) it first, and then you can learn to write it. Want to practice making your own Skipping Snakes at home? Print out the attached file and have fun with your own alphabet magnets at home!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triad_(music)

John Jacob

There are lots of different variations on our 'John Jacob' song. I remembered singing it as 'Schmidt' instead of 'Smith' as a kid, and instead of 'look there he goes again' we would just sing 'la la la la la la la.' It can be lots of fun to take a familiar tune and improvise in fun and crazy ways. Which way does your family like best? The  Rock'n'Roll, the Sesame Street, or the Sing a Ma Jig version??  

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Thursday, January 16, 2025 | Yellow Arrows Lessons

Lesson #2

This week we learned the fingering for the BLUE chord in the left hand! Now you can put your blue stickers on your piano for the left hand. They go on notes C-F-A. Stress correct fingering of 5-2-1. Feel free to write the finger numbers in permanent marker on the stickers. See "Making Musicians" below! Here's a picture of what your stickers should now look like on your keyboard: 

Notice that there are no stickers for the right hand. We don't need those musical training wheels anymore, so if you still have them, please remove them!

Celebrate Connection

A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Sing and act out Robin Hood with your child, even better, as a family!
• Find intervals on the keyboard with mini marshmallows, toy cars, Legos, etc.
• Have your parent sing while you play, the trade places. Now both sing together!

Music Alphabet   
“The first 3 notes just happen to be Do Re Mi!” Maria got it right teaching the von Trap children the solfege before note names. Now that our students can sing, play, and sight read notes through solfege, and keyboard geography is solid, we are getting ready to label all of the white keys on the piano. This begins with the music alphabet! The music alphabet includes the 1st seven notes of the English Alphabet except that it starts on the Letter C and after G comes letter A. The first 7 notes just happen to be C D E F G A B!  
  
Block and Broken   
Playing music is like reading a book. We start at the left side of the page and move our eyes to the right. When the note changes, so do our fingers. Help guide this song while sitting on the left of your child and pointing to the notes in each measure. Once your child is comfortable playing the song, practice making sure each measure gets 3 steady beats. Feel free to sing, “RED-2-3; DO (count 1) MI (count 2) SOL (count 3). BLUE-2-3; DO FA LA,” etc…This will help your student understand how to read the music and work towards playing this song with a steady beat.   
   
Snowflakes are Falling   
Brrr it’s cold outside! Warm up inside your home by playing this ostinato on the tone bells. Sing starting on Re, “Snowflakes are falling, falling very gently”. Then play La, Sol, Fa, Mi for “down, down, down, down”. Keep singing the lyrics then repeating this DOWN pattern until you’re feeling toasty inside and finish the song by playing a final DOWN on the Re bell. Try it in a round as a family around the fire with the music!

Who Am I? I’m the SPIDEY BLUE CHORD!

Spin a chord of fun playing the Left Hand Blue Chord with fingers 5-2-1. It also looks like ASL for "I LOVE YOU"! Just remember how much you love playing the blue chord with your left hand! Just don't forget to play the chord with bubble hands...this is ONLY to help you remember which fingers to use, not the shape you make while playing the blue chord!

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #2

Some more reserved children are hesitant to participate fully in class. Parents can encourage participation (though never force/bribe) by simply engaging in and enjoying class activities themselves, and listening to the music at home. In doing so you are demonstrating how fun music can be and inviting your child to participate in a safe, non-threatening way.

Next week we'll sing these songs in class, so please listen to them at home:

• Name, Name, What's Your Name?
• Let's Count Our Money
• Picaflor
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Fiddle-I-Fee
• Palo Palo
• Uno, Dos, Tres
• Polly Wolly Doodle
• This Little Piggy

The voice is a child’s first instrument and, like any other instrument, it’s skills can be developed and mastered through practice. Sound Beginnings utilizes ‘Echo Edie’ to train the voice through meaningful vocal play. Echo Edie experiences are designed to help children extend their vocal range, match pitch, learn to sing in tune, feel the beat, and repeat rhythms.

Optional home fun activity: Color the bells on page 9 of your workbook         
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here is a video that you can play your maracas along with! (The link starts at the beginning of the play-along song, but you can start the video at the beginning if you want to see the brief introduction to maracas!)

I made a sign language video for the animals in the "Fiddle-I-Fee" book! Check it out!

Sound Beginnings is education through musical play! It prepares children for success in Kindergarten and Let’s Play Music. Sound beginnings provides research-based elements that stimulate growth in the areas particularly crucial to the development of the young child. These elements make up the foundation of the Sound Beginnings curriculum.  Here is just one:
	Sound Beginnings channels the young voice into beautiful, in-tune singing by providing proper vocal modeling in the correct range. Solfege hand signs teach pitch relationships; the minor 3rd (SOL-MI) pattern is used to develop in-tune singing and pitch matching.

Have a musical day!       
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, January 14, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #2

We're beginning a fun new way to celebrate how fast the kids know their note flashcards. It's called the "In a Flash Club" and the kids get to compete against their own best time for how fast they can go over all their PURPLE NOTE FLASHCARDS. There's a place in the homework each week where the kids are supposed to time themselves for how long it takes. This only needs to be done 3 times each week, not every practice. We will record their best time on a card in class so they can see how much better they get each week! The kids will also get "fish food" stickers to put in their fishbowl (in the back of their homework book) for each time they do "In a Flash" and "Say It, Then Play It" as part of their homework. They can earn up to 5 stickers each week. Let's get those bowls so full of fish food that we can't even see the fish!

We also began counting rhythms (very simple ones) today. If you would like to print out some practice counting pages for home, you can download them from your student portal. (If you don't know how to access that, please just let me know.) You can either cut each card apart, or you can randomly pick one for your child to clap and count. Just know this is completely optional and have fun with it! 

Echo Edison
The newest member of our Echo family has arrived. He is Echo Ed and Echo Edna’s grandfather! He doesn't like when he gets echoed though. He likes to ask musical questions and have the kids give him musical answers. He will not only help us learn technique and play finger exercises in 5 keys, but is the vehicle for helping us create our compositions this semester!  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_composition  
   
Cadence Blues 
Cadence Blues is actually ONLY printed in the key of C in your songbooks, but on your CD you have the 'Blues' in other keys. While playing in the key of F or G, you still have to read the song written in the key of C. That's right! Your little musician will be transposing! Woot woot! Be sure to keep the CD player near the keyboard to make practicing fun!  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposition_(music)  
   
Monsters 
The new puppet show is entitled Monsters. However, the real name of the puppet show is Montagues and Capulets, also known as Dance of the Knights and is from the ballet 'Romeo and Juliet' composed by Sergei Prokofiev. This puppet show is similar to many of our past puppet shows--it follows the ABA formula that composers love! But the themes are layered on top of each other, and we will further develop our ear training to distinguish the individual layers of sound.

Musicians definitely have a sense of humor! Check out this fun video of a trick played on an orchestra conductor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oipg71dSem0

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Thursday, January 9, 2025 | Bridge Lessons

Thursday, January 9, 2025 | Yellow Arrows Lessons

Lesson #1

What a great class this week! We learned so many new things and reviewed many others. Remember, tuition is due if you didn't pay for the whole year up front. Please be sure to look at the calendar in your student portal so you can be aware when scheduling for parent days. Remember, to access your student portal, go to www.musikandme.com and find the login section (either on the right if using a computer, or the bottom if you're on a phone). Once you're logged in with your username and password, click the calendar icon on the left (3rd icon down). You can sync it to your own digital personal calendar too!

If your child wants to still work on the Christmas Break Challenge this week, I'll still give out rewards next week, if they bring it back signed!

Don't forget that the keyboard stickers are like training wheels. Once the children know where your fingers should go, they don't need them anymore! Left Hand Red Sticker PlacementIf your child needs to use the right hand stickers a few more practices, that is fine, but please remove them before next class! (Although the electrical tape stickers I gave you should come off clean, Goo Gone can get any leftover residue if there is any.) Now that we're learning to use our left hand, you may add your RED chord stickers for the LEFT HAND! We will hold off on the blue and yellow chords for now.

Tuition is due this week and is $280 for the Yellow Arrows semester. You can pay via Zelle using my phone number (preferred, so I don't have to pay Venmo transaction fees). Zelle is a way to transfer money from your bank account to my bank account without needing to wait or pay extra fees. It's easy to set up through your bank and even easier to use once it has been set up. You could pay via Venmo @musikandme if you really can't set up Zelle. If you need to make monthly payments, rather than paying for the semester, it will be $75/month. (You will save $20 by paying for the semester up front!) 

Celebrate Connection

A new semester and a fresh start! Focus on making practice time as fun and loving as possible – give your child warm, friendly eye contact, smile with your voice, be a little silly, show you are relaxed and happy to sit with your child, and look for the good in your child's effort. Notice the joy in your child's eyes. Verbalize the good you see and hug your child often. This is the beginning of the practice relationship that will be essential to your child's success in Let's Play Music. The more you invest your energy into positive interaction, the more solid and successful this habit will become.     
      
After doing your assignment for class, allow your child to fool around and experiment if he wants to, and play a song he knows -- no matter how simple. This can be done anytime or multiple times throughout the week. Model joy as YOU play the piano. If you make a mistake, smile and show that you are relaxed and enjoy trying again to fix the mistake. Celebrate your effort to give him the idea his efforts are something to enjoy and celebrate.

A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Pull out the bells from last year and notice how fun it is to play some of the Yellow Arrows songs on the bells.
• Any chance you get, have visitors listen to your child play his/her favorite song at the piano and applaud generously! As a family, sing along with the songs.
• Can you collaborate with your child at the piano, a parent duet, someone on the Let's Play Music bells from last year and someone else playing a shaker or simply singing along? THIS is joy for your child when it is done with emotional safety and celebration!

Left Hand Finger Power through Bubble Hands & Turtle Shells
This semester we will focus on strengthening our LEFT HAND finger muscles! Playing Bubble Hands in numerical order on the keyboard is a great way to strengthen and reinforce finger numbers. "Pinky's 5, Ring is 4, Middle's 3, Pointer's 2, and Thumb is 1." LH pinky is on C, the bottom red dot. After your child is confident with the finger numbers in order, mix it up to cement this concept with the Left Hand! Also, you can log in to your student portal and download the "Finger Numbers Matching Game" that I created for my daughter when she didn't want to do "Let's Play Music" homework. (The best part about it was that she didn't even realize she was learning...we were just playing a game!)     
      
Playing Turtle Shells with the CD will ALSO help strengthen those fingers. Look closely at the music on the page and it will help you know what finger numbers to play. Hold each interval down the entire time you are singing until the next interval. It will be tricky at first, but with a little practice, it will become easy!     
      
Do You Want To Build a Red Snowman?
The Left Hand Red Chord looks the very same on the staff: stacked up nice and neat with a 3rd on the bottom and a 3rd on the top in a snowman shape. We PLAY the red chord with our left hand finger numbers 5-3-1 (finger #5 on bass C, the bottom red dot). Invite your little musician to play Old Paint with the left hand this week! They’ll be thrilled to play a song they already know, PLUS they will be strengthening their fingers! Double bonus!     

The Caterpillar Song
The proper hand position for this technique song is Middle C Position where both thumbs SHARE Middle C like a BUTTERFLY! This week work on coordinating both hands at once by singing finger numbers SLOWLY until they get the hang of this 5 finger pattern. Then add the lyrics.

Since both red chords are shaped like a snowman, how do we know which hand to play it with? By looking at which CLEF is on the staff.

The TREBLE CLEF has a lot of curls, like "Girls Curly Hair," (say it in a high pitched voice because those are the high notes that we play with our right hand). Don't pull her hair or you'll get in "TREBLE!" 

The BASS CLEF looks like "Father's Strong Arm and some father's like to play bass-ball!" (say it in a deep voice because those are the low notes that we play with our left hand).

Also, I've added the Pirate Ship puppets for you to download. Log in at www.musikandme.com and you can download and print and let your child color the characters as you discuss their favorite part about the puppet show! (Don't forget to listen to the music while coloring!)

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, January 8, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #1

Our first Pink Piggies class was a great start to a semester of fun and learning! These simple reminders will help make class a successful and enjoyable experience for all:
 

• Please keep all materials (workbook, finger cymbals, and class manipulatives) in your tote bag to bring to class each week.
• Please leave food, drinks and toys at home, in your car, or upstairs. They are a distraction to your own child as well as others in the class.
• Please turn off your cell phone during class. Remember, parent bonding is one of the best features of this class!
• Please utilize the “break area” (the hallway by the bathroom) if your child becomes fussy or disruptive.
• Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have throughout the semester.
• Please be sure to download and listen to your class music on the LPM app! The more familiar you and your child are with the music, the more you can both participate in class!
• Tuition is due this week. I prefer payment via Zelle (just use my phone number) because I don't have to pay fees for that, or you may pay with Venmo (@musikandme), which does charge me a small fee, but either one is fine. Tuition is $180 for one student and $220 for a family with more than one child. If you have to make monthly payments, it is $45 for one student and $55 for a family with more than one child.

What songs should you listen to at home each week? I'll let you know here in case you want to be ready with the ones we'll use next class. The more familiar you and your child are with the songs, the more fun you will have in class! Each week we will sing these songs:

• Everybody Say Hello
• ABC Song
• The Letter of the Day
• Everybody Say Goodbye

Next week we'll sing these:

• Name, Name, What's Your Name?
• Let's Count Our Money
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Picaflor
• This Little Piggy
• Fiddle-I-Fee
• Uno, Dos, Tres
• March of the Toreadors
• A Rum Sum Sum
• Hush Little Baby

Throughout the semester, Sound Beginnings will introduce several kindergarten concepts. We begin with name recognition because children’s names have more meaning and importance to them than other words. Name recognition is foundational to further literacy skills, and your student will have an opportunity to practice this important concept each week.

Optional home fun activity: Do the Name Recognition activity on page 20 of your workbook       
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here is a video that will help you to know what Sound Beginnings is all about and how it will benefit your child. This was created by another teacher and she was generous enough to share it!

https://youtu.be/IxZrTdk0pVk

Here's a fun video for ideas of how to interact with your baby during class (if applicable):

https://youtu.be/8nyS_nQlpE0

Sound Beginnings is education through musical play! It prepares children for success in Kindergarten and Let’s Play Music. Sound beginnings provides research-based elements that stimulate growth in the areas particularly crucial to the development of the young child. These elements make up the foundation of the Sound Beginnings curriculum.  Here is just one:
	A child learns when he or she feels loved. In class, purposeful touching, eye contact, partner activities, and generational nostalgia help develop the all-important parent/child relationship.

Have a musical day!     
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, January 7, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #1

What a great first lesson! There is always so much info to pack in while I have you in class once a month! Thank you for coming! In class we signed up for the times when we will do our private lessons on weeks 6 and 11. If you weren't there, I'll text you with the remaining times available and you can let me know what works for you.

Please check the calendar in your student portal so you can be sure you are scheduling parent days in the right places! You can sync the calendar to your google calendar or whichever digital calendar you use. If I need to make any changes, I'll text you to let you know.

Our last semester of Let’s Play Music is packed with amazing musical concepts that some kids will get in middle and high school music classes, if they are lucky! This is going to be an amazing ride as we make skipping snakes, play with the roots of chords, build triads, compose a song, add to our musical repertoire, and much, much more.

Because we are moving right along now, my hope is that you will continue to put highest priority on your practice time. Each week we will be building on concepts and skills practiced the previous week. Of course, we have been doing this all along in the other LPM semesters. However, if the students get behind this semester, they will most likely feel lost rather quickly. As a result, they won’t feel happy going to class because they won’t know the material and won’t have practiced the songs. This will quickly lead to frustration and unhappy students. We’d like to avoid this from the start, by putting highest priority on practice from the beginning. This will eliminate much of the distress that could develop because of neglected practice.

More than any other semester, the music has lyrics that will really help teach musical concepts. There are way fewer songs, but that is because they are very important! Be sure to listen to the class music with your child so you can know how to help!

Tuition is due this week and is $280 for the Orange Roots semester. You can pay via Zelle using my phone number (preferred, so I don't have to pay Venmo transaction fees). Zelle is a way to transfer money from your bank account to my bank account without needing to wait or pay extra fees. It's easy to set up through your bank and even easier to use once it has been set up. You could pay via Venmo @musikandme if you really can't set up Zelle. If you need to make monthly payments, rather than paying for the semester, it will be $75/month. (You will save $20 by paying for the semester up front!) 

Celebrate Connection
Think of ways you can focus on making practice time as fun as possible – give your child warm, friendly eye contact, smile with your voice, be a little silly, show you are relaxed and happy to sit with your child, and look for the good in your child's effort. Notice the joy in your child's eyes. Verbalize the good you see and hug your child often. This practice relationship will be essential to your child's success in Let's Play Music. The more you invest your energy into positive interaction, the more solid and successful this habit will become.     
      
After doing your assignment for class, allow your child to fool around and experiment if he wants to, and play a song he knows -- no matter how simple. This can be done anytime or multiple times throughout the week. Model joy as you play the piano. If you make a mistake, smile and show that you are relaxed and enjoy trying again to fix the mistake. Celebrate your effort to give him the idea his efforts are something to enjoy and celebrate.

Primary Root Chords Song
Wow! We had to do some hard thinking during class with this song. Playing our old familiar song in a new way is helping us understand that root and how to play chords when they are in root position. We are jumping all over the keyboard to play this song, but don't forget, to play these root position chords you simply put your thumb on the root and then play what 'feels' like a red chord.

Cockles and Mussels
Our first repertoire song this semester is an old Irish folk song from the 1800s. This week, we are focusing on learning the melody. The fun part of this song comes soon, when we look at the ROOT position chords in the left hand. This piece allows us to strengthen our fingers as hands play together, tests our sight reading skills, and gives us the opportunity to improvise with a broken chord variation. Ha ha! Is there anything it doesn't do??? Our Let's Play Music blog has a great post with fun facts and practice videos dedicated to our new 'Cockles and Mussels' repertoire piece. Gather the family together and enjoy!

Let's Find the Root
Ever wonder why we learn so much about chords in Let's Play Music? Chords are the building blocks of songs and harmonies. In our 6th and final Orange Roots semester, we will finally analyze and label the chord theory and structure that our fingers have been playing and singing since we were Red Balloons! The idea of 'it's not about the shape, it's about the pieces' will take on new meaning as we label those pieces and discover the most important of those pieces-- the ROOT! Don your sunglasses, and keep it cool while you sing 'Let's Find the Root' to understand what the root is, and how to find it in our chords! In case this feels a little foreign to you, I have added a couple pages to the online resources in the Student Portal: There is a parent help that dissects the lyrics to Let's Find the Root  with visual examples and simple explanations to better help you understand the theory concepts I am teaching in class. There is also a Parent Theory Note that has a little more info and explains things a little differently. Please ask me if you need ANY clarification on these. This video is good at explaining how our chords can be rearranged to be in root position, but still be red, blue and yellow chords.

Primary Root Chords Song

As you start out this year, check out this practice tip from our Let's Play Music Blog. Here's a little 'practice humor' for you, just for fun!

Also, the Monsters puppet show puppets are in your book now, but if you'd like you can also download them and print them from your student portal! Log in at www.musikandme.com and you can download, print and let your child color the characters as you discuss their favorite part about the puppet show! (Can you hear the characters that you are coloring?)

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)