No class next week because of Spring Break!

Parents come the following week and final payment is due! If you are unsure if you are caught up on your payments or not, please just ask.

All entries for the Spirit Month drawing are due this Saturday by 8:00pm. NO EXCEPTIONS. You MUST fill out this form if you wish to enter the drawing. You can text me a picture of your BINGO card if you didn’t bring it to class.

I will be printing each child’s composition in a book that I will present each child at the recital. I will need to finalize their compositions this week so they are exactly the way the students want them, and so they have time to practice them. I want them to feel confident playing them in front of an audience. If any changes need to be made, please let me know ASAP!

In class this week we got to experience harmonic dictation. We listened to more than one note played at a time and wrote it in our books. The students are getting really good at knowing the difference between how the red, blue and yellow chords sound!

Our compositions are coming along great! Please be sure your student is introducing their piece (as it is written in their homework book) each time they practice it so they can be well prepared for our recital! The introduction should be memorized, but their composition doesn’t need to be… although it will help them feel more confident if they do!

We are getting so good at playing our scales in F Major, G Major, and A minor. Check out this fun video to see what it would look like to play your scales with your feet!!!  

Notice that this week your child will be practicing most of the same things as Lesson #10. Here’s a video that covers some of the songs they will be practicing this week. PLEASE have your child watch it if they are struggling with the songs in the homework this week! 

Be sure your child practices any new changes we have made to the composition. We have almost all finished our compositions and they sound great! I’m so proud of all my Orange Roots! Please make sure that your child practices their composition EVERY DAY. Use theory assignment #11 to help your student introduce their recital piece. They should practice saying it out loud EACH TIME they practice their composition. I want them to be prepared and confident at our recital.

Let’s Play Music BRIDGE is the next step for LPM graduates who want to keep growing as full musicians with a strong piano focus. Students build on everything they learned in Let’s Play Music while diving deeper into theory, technique, creativity, and performance. Bridge students gain confidence, fluency, and readiness for private lessons or any musical path. The two‑year format gives them time to grow steadily and feel successful without overwhelm. Register for Bridge today!

The progress that we have made in developing our compositions has been exciting. Our homework is preparing us to perform our composition at our recital. Look how cute this spider is as he introduces his composition!

Your student will enjoy these clips of the winners from our National Composition Contest introducing and performing their compositions.

Next week for private lessons have your child come 1-3 minutes early. If you haven’t already, start writing in possible elements to your child’s existing composition–a bridge, a coda, an introduction. Or at LEAST talk to your child about adding some elements and I can work my magic on my end. Either way, send their old composition (with any new notes) in addition to the homework booklet so I can still check practicing and homework (if I have time). I have added a supplemental video (below) that you can watch together this week to help generate some additional ideas for your child’s composition!

I will send a text with the times your child is expected to be here for their private lesson. If you need to make a change, please let me know ASAP! 

Did you know that Echo Edison’s page in your orange songbook (pg. 9) is a GREAT warm up page for any song your child will be playing. See what key the song is in and play Edison’s questions and answers for that key. You can call it the “5 finger warmup!” Just for fun, your child can try improvising new QUESTIONS with the same answers!

I’m seeing fewer and fewer flashcard times as the semester progresses! Please don’t skip this part of the homework! If your child really doesn’t like flashcards (mine didn’t!), check out the online games I made.

Registration is now open for current students! Classes are just about full for next fall! Thanks to those that have already registered for Bridge. Remember, in Bridge parents don’t come to any classes!

I still have a few openings in my Sound Beginnings and 1st Year Let’s Play Music classes. I’ve also got an evening Sound Beginnings class for working parents! If you know of anyone who might be interested, I’m holding free preview classes for LPM and SB. PLEASE share this link to any friends you think might be interested in music classes: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/free-preview-classes-at-musik-me-studio-1756869 Also, I LOVE having current students at my preview classes. Please sign up if you are able to come to either or both of the classes. I can’t do “make up” classes, but you can think of this as being a bonus class if you ever missed one… or even if you didn’t!

Did you see that I’m offering Ukulele classes and Recorder classes this spring and summer? Some of the kids in this class are old enough to enroll in those classes! Great for any siblings age 6-12 too!

Are you still working on your Spirit Month BINGO worksheets? I will have drawings for a MINI YOTO PLAYER, an mp3 player, egg shakers, cage bell set, tambourines, singable storybooks, CASH ($20, $10 & $5), and MORE! Here is the BINGO worksheet again, if you need another copy. They will be due on lesson #12, and you and your child can decide which prizes you want to put your tickets toward! I’ll do the drawing the following Friday.

The Circus
The official name of this puppet show is Symphony No. 1, 2nd movement by Gustav Mahler. Mahler named his entire first symphony ‘The Titan’. It was originally written as a symphonic poem, meaning that the music followed a “plot,” in five movements instead of the traditional four. The second movement, the finale of which we use as our circus puppet show, is labeled “Set With Full Sails.” Interestingly, this melody is in an Austrian folk dance form called a ländler (in 3/4 time). For those of you who like trivia, this is the dance from The Sound of Music during which Maria and Captain Von Trapp fall in love.

Composition Help (watch before next week’s private lesson)

Check out this youth orchestra performing the music to our Circus puppet show live. These performers aren’t a whole lot older than your child! When you click on the link, listen carefully for some new music not on our soundtrack. Ask your child if it makes them think of a possible new character/theme for our show!

Thank you, parents for attending this week!

SPIRIT WEEK IS UNDERWAY! Let me know if you need any substitutions for any of the squares. The BINGO card is in the Spirit Week email, if you lose yours and need to make a copy (or if you didn’t get one)! As a reminder, some of the drawing prizes are some instruments and an MP3 player that you can put your class music on! 

One of the items on the BINGO card is to leave a Google review. I’m striving for a 5 star rating. If you don’t plan to give me 5 stars, please talk to me BEFORE you post a review so I can address any issues you may have. Unfortunately, negative feedback has much more impact than positive feedback does, so please give me the chance to earn 5 stars if I’m not already there. If you already left one previously, now is a good time to update it with additional comments! Thanks! Here is the link to post a review on Google: https://g.page/musikandmebethany/review

Bridge is a fun class for Let’s Play Music graduates that is a great “bridge” between Let’s Play Music classes and private lessons. I will be starting a new Bridge 1class next year, and will be teaching it as a 2-year program. Here is where you REGISTER for Bridge 1 and get more information. I’d love to see ALL the 3rd Year kids do Bridge! Even if you feel like they were a little behind in Let’s Play Music, there is lots of review and it is easier to personalize the songs to meet each student at their level. And if they were totally on top of Let’s Play Music, there’s still room for even more growth! And it is so much fun!

I just want to remind you of our new puppet show elements that can be incorporated into your student’s composition. We have the introduction, which is at the beginning of a piece, the coda, which is at the tail (end) of the piece, and the bridge that leads from one section to another, often when changing keys. If your child has changes they’d like to make before our private lesson in 2 weeks, feel free to take a picture and send it to me!

We’ve been working on our G Major scale this week. Don’t forget that the key of G has the F# as the magic key!

Bagatelle Bridges
This repertoire piece has all the elements that we’ve learned about in our puppet shows! It has an introduction, a CODA (special ending) and it has 2 BRIDGES. We will actually learn the theme in C Major and then we will get to show off our transposing skills to play it in F Major and G Major. 

G Major Scale
This is the last of the major scales we will learn during our time in Let’s Play Music. All of our scales have taught us finger technique and strength, but also allowed us to understand key signatures and scale compositions. Just as our Magic Keys Song will tell us, "the F# is a ti which leads to DO on C" so don’t forget to play that F# on ti!!!

G Major Scale

a minor Cadence

Even Disney’s Aristocats know how important it is to practice their scales (and arpeggios)!

Also, it’s in the book, but you can download additional coloring pages for our new Circus Puppet Show! Have your child color and cut them out, add sticks, and perform their very own circus puppet show for your family!