We continued working on high and low sounds this week. The students performed rhythm patterns in either a silly high voice or a silly low voice. Listen for high and low sounds around your house or when you are out and about and create your own silly high and low sounds this week! This is great vocal practice.
After playing around with high and low we listened to all of the pieces from "The Carnival of The Animals" that we had been listening to over the past couple of months. This students job was to identify the animal the music was about and any instruments they heard. They were very quick at identifying what animal the music was about. We had fun moving around like lions, hens and roosters, fish in the aquarium, fossil bones, kangaroos, turtles, birds, and elephants. Below are some of the pieces from "The Carnival of the Animals" that we did not get to in class. Enjoy listening to them and identifying the animal and what instruments are playing at home.
Donkeys
Cuckoo
Swan
Pianists
Finale
Tomorrow from 10:00 - 12:00 is the Charlotte Symphony Lollipops concert where they will be performing the Carnival of The Animals! This is a great opportunity to see the symphony with your young children. I hope you can attend! If you miss out on this performance look back for next years Lollipops season that starts in the Fall.
Check out the Music Together Post below. There is a great video of the Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly playing a rhythm game. It's a fun game to try at home. Also listen to the Boston Pops patriotic sing along. How many of the patriotic songs that they play do you know and sing with your children at home?
Friday, April 29, 2011
Music Together April 27 and 28
We discussed audiation this week along with the songs "All Around The Kitchen," and "Listen to Me Play The Drum." "Audiation is the process of mentally hearing and comprehending music, even when no physical sound is present. It is a cognitive process by which the brain gives meaning to musical sounds." An example of using audiation is when you sing the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and stop saying one more body part each time you sing it. Even though you are not singing that part, your brain is still hearing the music for it and keeping the rhythm of the song so you come in correctly when you begin singing again.
Music Together LLC posted a wonderful video on their Facebook page. Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly play a rhythm game in the video where they tap the rhythm of a song and you have to guess what song it is. Enjoy the video below and then try that game with your favorite songs at home this week.
Our dance this week was the Chicken Dance! Below is the video for the version we used so you can dance along at home.
Our play along was Yankee Doodle performed by the Cincinnati Pops. If you want the actual song used as a play along in class you can get the mp3 with this link.
If you do not normally sing patriotic songs a home think about adding them to the list of music you sing and play with your children. Some of the standard American patriotic songs are included in the video below done by the Boston Pops. Enjoy singing along to My Country Tis of Thee, America, Yankee Doodle, This Land is Your Land, You're A Grand Old Flag, and God Bless America. After the sing along listen to Stars and Stripes Forever. It's also a great way to get ready for the 4th of July!
Music Together LLC posted a wonderful video on their Facebook page. Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly play a rhythm game in the video where they tap the rhythm of a song and you have to guess what song it is. Enjoy the video below and then try that game with your favorite songs at home this week.
Our dance this week was the Chicken Dance! Below is the video for the version we used so you can dance along at home.
Our play along was Yankee Doodle performed by the Cincinnati Pops. If you want the actual song used as a play along in class you can get the mp3 with this link.
If you do not normally sing patriotic songs a home think about adding them to the list of music you sing and play with your children. Some of the standard American patriotic songs are included in the video below done by the Boston Pops. Enjoy singing along to My Country Tis of Thee, America, Yankee Doodle, This Land is Your Land, You're A Grand Old Flag, and God Bless America. After the sing along listen to Stars and Stripes Forever. It's also a great way to get ready for the 4th of July!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Journey Montessori April 14
The Montessori students have been working on 4 and 8 beat rhythm patterns. The students are all continuing to do a great job creating their own 4 beat rhythm patterns vocally (with animal, and other sounds). Some of the students are now creating their own 4 beat pattern with body percussion as well.
In our last few classes we added high and low sounds to our rhythm patterns, as a class. I sang them a pattern and they had to tell me which sound they heard, high or low, and how many times they heard it. We then added this repeated pattern as a ostinato (A continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm) along with a train song we have been singing. The students helped me graph the ostinato on paper using simple long or short lines as symbols. Reading the long and short lines for the ostinato is a beginning step to reading music. The short lines can become quarter notes and the longer ones half notes.
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Music Together Dance and Play Along
We worked on a simple start to doing some musical improvisation in our last class.
Musical Improvisation is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition.
We improvised with several songs by simply having you or your child come up with a movement or animal to change the verse. In "Jumpin' Josie" you changed the song by changing the movement. For "Hop Ol' Squirrel" the song was changed by selecting something different from the picture. Improvising for "Train to the City" was a little more involved because you had to tell me how you were traveling and where you were going.
These are great activities to try at home. Change your favorite song to help out with your child's bedtime routine, or getting out the door in the morning. If you (the adult) improvise with songs then your child will learn to too. It is just fine for the adults in class to come up with ideas for songs too!
Here is a link to Dan Zanes "All Around The Kitchen" so you can enjoy it at home!
(Click the title above for the full version or the video below for a shorter version.)
Our Play Along song was "Old McDonald" sung by Ella Fitzgerald. It came from the CD Jazz For Kids. The whole CD is great and highly recommended.
Musical Improvisation is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition.
We improvised with several songs by simply having you or your child come up with a movement or animal to change the verse. In "Jumpin' Josie" you changed the song by changing the movement. For "Hop Ol' Squirrel" the song was changed by selecting something different from the picture. Improvising for "Train to the City" was a little more involved because you had to tell me how you were traveling and where you were going.
These are great activities to try at home. Change your favorite song to help out with your child's bedtime routine, or getting out the door in the morning. If you (the adult) improvise with songs then your child will learn to too. It is just fine for the adults in class to come up with ideas for songs too!
Here is a link to Dan Zanes "All Around The Kitchen" so you can enjoy it at home!
(Click the title above for the full version or the video below for a shorter version.)
Our Play Along song was "Old McDonald" sung by Ella Fitzgerald. It came from the CD Jazz For Kids. The whole CD is great and highly recommended.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Journey Montessori April 7
Today we talked about high and low sounds in a variety of songs. We started using icons to identify when the music was high or low. Using icons such as simple lines is a first step to reading real notation. As you listen to music with your children ask them if they can identify high sounds, low sounds, and what instruments they hear playing. The children are getting very good at identifying key instruments and musical components.
Our Carnival of the Animals piece for today was the Fossils! We heard instruments from the string family, the clarinet from the woodwind family, and the piano and xylophone from the percussion family. Watch the video below with your child so they can see all of these instruments playing. We also heard the familiar tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" hidden in the middle of the piece (listen for the piano to play it around 1:19)!
Our Carnival of the Animals piece for today was the Fossils! We heard instruments from the string family, the clarinet from the woodwind family, and the piano and xylophone from the percussion family. Watch the video below with your child so they can see all of these instruments playing. We also heard the familiar tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" hidden in the middle of the piece (listen for the piano to play it around 1:19)!
This Weeks Music Together Dance and Play Along
This week we danced the Bunny Hop and played instruments to the Tiki Tiki room! Click the links below to enjoy the songs at home. Watch and see you can find your child's own internal tempo (how fast or slow they play instruments and dance) it's probably faster than yours!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Children Lean Best Through Play!
Music Together posts some wonderful articles on their Facebook site. Check out this great article about research done that proves children learn best through playing and exploring! If you haven't looked at the Music Together Facebook page check out Music Together LLC.
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/03/28/researchers_study_how_babies_think/?camp=misc%3Aon%3Ashare%3Aarticle
A squeeze, a squeak, a glimpse of learning
Studies find clues to babies’ minds
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/03/28/researchers_study_how_babies_think/?camp=misc%3Aon%3Ashare%3Aarticle
Carnival of The Animals
It has been awhile since I put an update on here about what we are doing in class. Over the past month we have continued to work on finding the beat, identifying contrasts in music, creating rhythm patterns, and identifying musical instruments and they family they belong in by listening. Here are some of the pieces from Carnival of the Animals that we have listened to recently in class.
On Saturday, April 30 the Charlotte Symphony will be performing The Carnival of the Animals with the North Carolina Dance Theater School of Dance for their Lollipops (kids) concert. The Lollipops concerts are a fantastic way to introduce your child(ren) to the symphony. They let the kids play the instruments of the orchestra and make their own instruments before the concert!
Click this link to find out more about the concert: http://www.charlottesymphony.org/Lollipops.asp
On Saturday, April 30 the Charlotte Symphony will be performing The Carnival of the Animals with the North Carolina Dance Theater School of Dance for their Lollipops (kids) concert. The Lollipops concerts are a fantastic way to introduce your child(ren) to the symphony. They let the kids play the instruments of the orchestra and make their own instruments before the concert!
Click this link to find out more about the concert: http://www.charlottesymphony.org/Lollipops.asp
 |  CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALSSaturday, April 30, 2011 North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance Jacomo Rafael Bairos, conductor Dancers from the North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance strut, prance, pounce, and glide in Saint-Saëns’s musical menagerie, Carnival of the Animals. Hens and roosters, tortoises and kangaroos, and the elegant swan all come to graceful and boisterous life in the Lollipops season finale. |
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