LPM Convention 2012!

Last month I was privileged to attend the annual Let's Play Music Convention and Symposium in Mesa, Arizona.  Teachers gathered from all over the Unites States and even Canada for an enriching, fun weekend.  The theme this year was "TIME to TEACH", and it was packed with great classes, motivating speakers, social events, and more.  I got to complete my training to teach 2nd year students and go to classes about time management, chords, vocal training, automating tasks, and being an EPIC teacher.  Wow!

You will see from the pictures below that we LPM teachers like to have fun while we learn!

Singing karaoke with another teacher during a social event
Doing a silly dance during one of the classes Busy learning The Main Event Attendees- What a good looking bunch! A poster of this collage was presented to the founder of Let's Play Music, Shelle Soelberg, as special gift to remind her of all the lives she has touched through this amazing program. I'm so excited to apply all the wonderful things I learned to make my studio the BEST it can be!

Recital Video

Want to relive how great your child did at the recital?
Missed it altogether?
Want to share it with other family members?
Just want to see what Let's Play Music is all about?

I'm excited to present the following video of our April 28, 2012 end of year program!

First, here's a synopsis of what we learned from the songs in our Let's Play Music program:

Scotland's Burning
Many people think that “Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do” was made up f or “The Sound of Music”, but solfeggio is actually a method for teaching music that is over 100 years old. By putting syllables with hand signs, young minds can absorb how notes move around on the staff --before note reading is possible. Solfeggio also helps us audiate. You will see how they hear the song in their heads as they “leave out” a part!

Primary Chords Song /Chords in Pieces 
The primary chords make up about 90% of all the music we listen to. Even though we might not yet be able to read music notation, we can still familiarize, internalize and even feel what the red (I), blue (IV), and yellow (V) chords sound like. Do you know all the pieces of your primary chords? I am Learning

How to Skip
This year the students have learned the basics about the musical staff. We learned to visually recognize the difference between baby steps, skips and leaps. This song reminds us that notes “from a line to the next line” or “from a space to the next space” are skips!

Old Paint
Once we understand how our primary chords work, then we can use them to make music! Old Paint has only one chord – the red chord! By simply playing the red chord in its pieces, it transforms into the accompaniment to one of our favorite songs.

Are You Sleeping?
We’ve learned that when you sing (or play) different things at the same time and they sound good together, it’s called harmony! Listen for the harmony between our voices AND our tone bells.

Dinosaur Song
Of course once we learned to read them on the staff, we were ready to take that knowledge and play baby steps, skips and even leaps on our bells---which is prepatory to be able to play on keyboards next year.

Do, Re, Mi
This song has it all! Watch as the children sing a major scale up and down, play it on the bells, use their solfeggio hand signs, and sing harmony all at the same time!!! 

Can't Bug Me
One of the most exciting skills we learned this year is how to read and feel rhythm. We used jungle animals to help us learn how to subdivide a beat, and we can read rhythms because of our very musical bugs. Who knew that learning rhythmic notation could be so fun?!

The Magical Lamp--Georges Bizet “Aragonnaise” from Carmen
Puppet shows are our favorite! While we play, we’re listening intelligently to classical music, learning about form, recognizing themes and the moods of themes, and distinguishing various instruments. Can you tell which character is minor in this piece?

First Half

Second Half

I love these kids!

Our Fantastic Recital

Last week was our Let's Play Music recital.

 The students did fabulous! They sang the songs beautifully, played the bells accurately, and had fun doing the actions.

Here's a short slide show I made of the recital. It's hard to believe I'm already done teaching my first year of Let's Play Music! I came to know and love my students, and I truly enjoyed guiding them through this musical journey. They are ready to transition to playing keyboards next year. I'm so proud of them!

Why Solfege?

Why do we teach the Solfege syllables in Let's Play Music?

• Encourages the use of the most important instrument that we will ever have—our VOICE.
• Gives PHYSICAL PLACEMENT to each note in the major scale.
• AUDIATION or inner hearing is developed.
  
• Increases the ability to IMPROVISE.
• Improves SIGHT READING skills.
• We auraly learn MUSICAL RELATIONSHIPS independent of the key we are in.

A Story

I will illustrate with a story by KL Wong, a musician who learned to play the piano by taking traditional piano lessons:

I always admired people who could just improvise and play any tune on the keyboard. This was especially so because I sometimes played in a band and composed music, and not being able to do that was a severe handicap. It dawned on me, when looking down at the keyboard, that despite all those years of learning the piano, I basically didn’t really KNOW it at all! I could operate it mechanically, sure, but without any deep understanding of it.

Many years ago, I had a Filipino singing teacher who could also play the keyboard. He never took any piano exams, and could never play some of the pieces that I could. But he was someone who really understood the keyboard. He understood it as well as he understood his own voice. The keyboard was like an extension of his body. Just name him any song, and he’d be able to play it even if he had never played it before. A song was too high to sing to? No problem! He’d just transpose it down instantly.

So I asked him how he did it. And that, sadly, was the first time I heard about solfege (or “solfeggio”, as he called it).

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You know, like: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So…” he replied.

“Oh, from ‘The Sound of Music’?” I asked. “Yes! I know that song!” I commented enthusiastically, though I still had no idea how a song from a popular musical could help.

My ignorance on the subject was plain to see. Since the day he enlightened me how solfege works (and that solfege did not ‘come from’ that song!), I have always kept in mind the importance of learning solfege.

Learning Solfege develops the ability to really KNOW music, not just to be able to produce pleasing sounds on the piano.

Like Reading

From BrillKids:

Imagine looking through a musical score and being able to ‘read’ it (by singing it out, or having the melodies reproduced in your head) as easily as you’re able to read a book (aloud or in your head). Knowing solfege is like being able to read words.

Conversely, not knowing solfege is like not knowing how to read out words. It’s like all you’re able to do when encountering words is to type them back out on a computer, and let the computer read the words out for you. In both cases, you have become dependent on that machine / instrument to be able to hear the words or music. By having focused on training our fingers to operate an external instrument instead of training our own musical instruments (our ear and voice), we’ve effectively outsourced the most crucial part of musicality, with dire consequences.

And similarly with writing. Knowing solfege is like being able to write out the words that you speak or hear. When listening to music, you know what notes are being played (at least relatively), so you’re able to write them out. Without solfege, the chances are, you’d be quite lost. It’s a bit like listening to someone talk but not being able to take dictation because you have not mastered the alphabet.

I am, therefore, thoroughly convinced as to the benefits of solfege towards developing musicality and a good ear. That’s why I consider any musical training (for any instrument) that does not include the teaching of solfege to be severely lacking.

Easy and Natural

Compare singing “C, D, E, F, G” (See, Dee, Ee, Eff, Gee) with singing “Do Re Mi Fa So” and it should be obvious which system is more practical for singing.

Teaching children to sing solfege is so easy and natural – which little child has reservations about singing out loud, even if it may not be in tune? If using the voice is encouraged and fostered from a young age, children grow up to being less self-conscious about singing.

I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy listening to music, but not everyone is able to experience the joy of participating in the creation of music. Singing and playing music has been a profound source of happiness in my life. I love that I am able help children develop their musical abilities and foster true musicianship.

Sneak Peak into 2nd year classroom

Let's Play Music on TV!



Take a sneak peak into a second year classroom while the creator of the program explains the philosophy and magic of Let's Play Music.

Fox Hunt Puppet Show

I love listening to our "Fox Hunt" song and doing the puppet show, but there's nothing quite like seeing the actual orchestra performing the piece. Imagine the thrill of seeing it live! Totally awesome!



I love the intensity of this piece. It's the finale of the William Tell Overture.

Here's a few fun tidbits about the composer, Gioachino Antonio Rossini:

• He was born on Leap Day, 1792!
• Born in Italy to a family of musicians.
• At six years old he joined his father's band and played the triangle.
• At ten years old he started composing music and was often asked to play the piano and sing at church.

Registration for 2012!

Registration for the 2012 fall semester is NOW OPEN!

Why register now?

Guarantee your child's spot in a class!
Get first pick at your choice of class time!
AND get $5 off the deposit if you register by March 31!

Let's Play Music, 1st year classes
Thursdays, 1:00 PM
Thursdays, 4:00 PM
Thursdays, 5:00 PM
Classes start August 16, 2012.

Let's Play Music, 2nd year classes (must complete 1st year first)
Tuesdays, 6:15 PM
Wednesdays, 4:00 PM
Wednesdays, 4:00 PM

Classes start August 14, 2012.

How do I register?

I'm excited to announce that online registration is now available!
Or e-mail Kristi at kristiison@aim.com for a form.
Come to a class for free! See the Registration Info tab for details.