The Bell Practice for "I've Been to Harlem" in Lesson 6 and 7 says to play the bells while you play each verse! In this video, Miss Kendra (another Let's Play Music teacher) and her son, Carson, play and sing the Major verse, then switch the bells and do the Minor verse.
If you don't have three mallets at home, you can use another object, like an unsharpened pencil or a wooden spoon handle to play all three bells at the same time. Fun, isn't it?
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Bells are ringing!
Each Let's Play Music student gets his or her own set of tone bells. They love playing, singing, and learning with them!
Isn't it cool how the bells can be moved around?
They also have the Solfeggio scale (Do, Re, Mi...) engraved on them.
"Children quite naturally listen, sing, dance, play, and express themselves musically, with little or no previous training. When learning experiecnes are tailored to develop their musical abilities, then the complete musicians inside them begin to emerge." (from Music in Childhood by Patricia Shehan Campbell and Carol Scott-Kassner)
During the first year of Let's Play Music, students practice their bells at least once a week at home (or more!). Then in the second year the skills they learned on the bells transfer easily to the keyboard.
During class this week the children each got a turn to play the "red" chord in pieces on the bells: DO-MI-SOL. The rest of the class sang, "Goodbye, Old Paint." It's kind of a sad song about a cowboy saying goodbye to his horse.
The students are learning to keep a steady beat.
They are also learning about chords and harmony.
It's so exciting to me to see how much the children learn when we're having fun!
"The most successful lessons spring from the selection of a concept, embedded in a song or musical piece, which is then reinforced and expanded on through a variety of instructional strategies." (from Music in Childhood by Patricia Shehan Campbell and Carol Scott-Kassner)
That's exactly what we do!
Keep playing those bells! You're doing great!
Isn't it cool how the bells can be moved around?
They also have the Solfeggio scale (Do, Re, Mi...) engraved on them.
"Children quite naturally listen, sing, dance, play, and express themselves musically, with little or no previous training. When learning experiecnes are tailored to develop their musical abilities, then the complete musicians inside them begin to emerge." (from Music in Childhood by Patricia Shehan Campbell and Carol Scott-Kassner)
During the first year of Let's Play Music, students practice their bells at least once a week at home (or more!). Then in the second year the skills they learned on the bells transfer easily to the keyboard.
During class this week the children each got a turn to play the "red" chord in pieces on the bells: DO-MI-SOL. The rest of the class sang, "Goodbye, Old Paint." It's kind of a sad song about a cowboy saying goodbye to his horse.
The students are learning to keep a steady beat.
They are also learning about chords and harmony.
It's so exciting to me to see how much the children learn when we're having fun!
"The most successful lessons spring from the selection of a concept, embedded in a song or musical piece, which is then reinforced and expanded on through a variety of instructional strategies." (from Music in Childhood by Patricia Shehan Campbell and Carol Scott-Kassner)
That's exactly what we do!
Keep playing those bells! You're doing great!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Quote: Music & Feelings
Music is what feelings sound like. - Author Unknown
Our Blue Bugs semester started this week. In class, I told the sad story of a cowboy named Winston having to say goodbye to his horse, "Old Paint." I love the ability of music to express emotion!
If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music. -Gustav Mahler
Our Blue Bugs semester started this week. In class, I told the sad story of a cowboy named Winston having to say goodbye to his horse, "Old Paint." I love the ability of music to express emotion!
If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music. -Gustav Mahler
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Our Angry Cloud Faces
It may not be in the ballet for "Waltz of the Flowers", but in our Let's Play Music puppet show we have an Angry Cloud! It comes out during the cello part of that song. It's so much fun making our Angry Cloud faces with fingers showing the rain that is ruining our nice spring day. Not to fear, the butterfly comes and chases the cloud away at the end.
Here are my students (in random order) being Angry Clouds on the last day of class for our Red Balloons semester.
It has been a wonderful experience teaching Let's Play Music! I love how we get to have fun learning so many musical concepts. My students have learned to sing and play a major scale, to identify steps and leaps, to identify chord sounds by ear, to do the Solfeggio hand signs, to read notes on the staff and play them on the bells, to recognize themes in music, and so much more!
I'm excited for our next semester: Blue Bugs!
Here are my students (in random order) being Angry Clouds on the last day of class for our Red Balloons semester.
It has been a wonderful experience teaching Let's Play Music! I love how we get to have fun learning so many musical concepts. My students have learned to sing and play a major scale, to identify steps and leaps, to identify chord sounds by ear, to do the Solfeggio hand signs, to read notes on the staff and play them on the bells, to recognize themes in music, and so much more!
I'm excited for our next semester: Blue Bugs!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Video: Do Re Mi song on giant staff
Now it's my Tuesday class' time to shine! We were missing two students last week, but those who came had such a fun time pretending to be giant notes on a giant staff! We took "baby steps" up and "baby steps" back down while doing our Solfeg hand signs and singing.
I love how they got to use their whole bodies to help cement the concept of the staff in their minds! It's not just an abstract idea but something concrete that they can feel and experience.
I love how they got to use their whole bodies to help cement the concept of the staff in their minds! It's not just an abstract idea but something concrete that they can feel and experience.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Did you know...?
Music stimulates the mind, encourages creativity and helps to lay a foundation for learning that leads to higher intelligence and aptitude.
Preschoolers who studied piano performed 34% better in spatial and temporal reasoning ability than preschoolers who spent the same amount of time learning to use computers (Rauscher & Shaw. As reported in Neurological Research, February 1997).
Preschoolers who took singing and keyboard lessons scored 80% higher on object-assembly tests than students at the same preschool who did not have the music lessons (Rauscher & Shaw. As reported in Symphony, Sept.-Oct. 1996).
Listening to Mozart’s Piano Sonata K448 was found to significantly increase spatial scores of college students on IQ tests (Rauscher & Shaw. University of California as reported in Nature).
In a study of medical school applicants, 66% of the music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. Only 44% of the biochemistry majors were admitted (Lewis Thomas, as reported in the Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994).
The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians (Grant Venerable, The Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York, 1989).
For the unborn child, classical music, played at a rhythm of 60 beats per minute, equivalent to that of a resting human heart, provides an environment conducive to creative and intellectual development (Dr. Thomas Veert, The Secret Life of the Unborn Child).
In 1994, it was reported by the college entrance examination board that students with coursework in music performance taking the university entrance exam (SAT) scored 49 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 36 points higher on the math portion than students with no course work or experience in the arts.
It has been shown that high school music students have higher grade point averages than non-music students do in the same school (from Time Magazine June 11, 1999).
"It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My discovery was the rest of musical perception." - Albert Einstein on his Theory of Relativity.
Plato once said "...music is a more potent instrument than any other for education..." Now scientists know why. Music, they believe, trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. After eight months of musical training, 3 year olds were expert puzzle masters, scoring 80% higher than their playmates did in spatial intelligence – the ability to visualize the world accurately. This skill later translates into mathematical/conceptual and engineering skills.
Yes kids, music lessons make you SMARTER! 
"Right now, your child's brain is constantly being wired and rewired, and the experiences you provide will go a long way toward determining the structure of her brain." (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., The Whole-Brain Child"
Isn't it wonderful that parents can nurture their children's developing minds through the amazing, innovative program of Let's Play Music? I'm so thrilled to be able to teach it!
Preschoolers who studied piano performed 34% better in spatial and temporal reasoning ability than preschoolers who spent the same amount of time learning to use computers (Rauscher & Shaw. As reported in Neurological Research, February 1997).
Preschoolers who took singing and keyboard lessons scored 80% higher on object-assembly tests than students at the same preschool who did not have the music lessons (Rauscher & Shaw. As reported in Symphony, Sept.-Oct. 1996).
Listening to Mozart’s Piano Sonata K448 was found to significantly increase spatial scores of college students on IQ tests (Rauscher & Shaw. University of California as reported in Nature).
In a study of medical school applicants, 66% of the music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. Only 44% of the biochemistry majors were admitted (Lewis Thomas, as reported in the Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994).
The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians (Grant Venerable, The Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York, 1989).
For the unborn child, classical music, played at a rhythm of 60 beats per minute, equivalent to that of a resting human heart, provides an environment conducive to creative and intellectual development (Dr. Thomas Veert, The Secret Life of the Unborn Child).
In 1994, it was reported by the college entrance examination board that students with coursework in music performance taking the university entrance exam (SAT) scored 49 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 36 points higher on the math portion than students with no course work or experience in the arts.
It has been shown that high school music students have higher grade point averages than non-music students do in the same school (from Time Magazine June 11, 1999).
"It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My discovery was the rest of musical perception." - Albert Einstein on his Theory of Relativity.
Plato once said "...music is a more potent instrument than any other for education..." Now scientists know why. Music, they believe, trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. After eight months of musical training, 3 year olds were expert puzzle masters, scoring 80% higher than their playmates did in spatial intelligence – the ability to visualize the world accurately. This skill later translates into mathematical/conceptual and engineering skills.
Yes kids, music lessons make you SMARTER! "Right now, your child's brain is constantly being wired and rewired, and the experiences you provide will go a long way toward determining the structure of her brain." (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., The Whole-Brain Child"
Isn't it wonderful that parents can nurture their children's developing minds through the amazing, innovative program of Let's Play Music? I'm so thrilled to be able to teach it!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Videos: Magical Lamp Puppet Show
For many students, the puppet shows are their favorite part of class ... even when there's a scary genie in it!
For their last time doing the puppet show for "Aragonnaise" from Carmen by Georges Bizet, the children got to use props and dress-ups to perform it. It was pure fun!
Unwittingly, the students are learning to appreciate classical music as well as recognizing and distinguishing motives, themes and instruments.
Wednesday, 4 PM class:
Wednesday, 5 PM class:
My Tuesday, 6:15 PM class will get their chance to be spotlighted soon. (Due to my user error with the video camera, their puppet show didn't get recorded.)
For their last time doing the puppet show for "Aragonnaise" from Carmen by Georges Bizet, the children got to use props and dress-ups to perform it. It was pure fun!
Unwittingly, the students are learning to appreciate classical music as well as recognizing and distinguishing motives, themes and instruments.
Wednesday, 4 PM class:
Wednesday, 5 PM class:
My Tuesday, 6:15 PM class will get their chance to be spotlighted soon. (Due to my user error with the video camera, their puppet show didn't get recorded.)
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