Next week is the last week for Winter classes! I hope to see everyone again in the Spring session.
Click here to register.
Great job singing parts on Bells of Westminster in class. Singing in parts for your children is a great for their developing musical ears! Playing the bells helps the children's tonal development by reinforcing the tonic and dominant pitches. It helps rhythmic development when we play on the microbeat, steady beat and macrobeat on the bells. Accurately hitting the bell with the mallet helps your child's hand eye coordination. And the mallets are great to teeth on!
We played with audiation (the ability to hear the music in your head) with the song "Rhythm's and Rhyme's." Now that the chant is more familiar it is easier to audiate.
Does your child echo you if you sing like we did in class with Lukey's Boat and Me, You, We? If you haven't tried it at home I encourage you to give it a try this week. I have a great time singing back and forth with my kids in the car that way!
This week in class our play along was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Click the link below to enjoy it at home. Mary Poppins is a fantastic Disney movie full of fabulous songs.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Making Drum With Montessori Students!!
We started making drums today in music class at the Montessori school! I am so excited about this joint effort with the teachers at Journey Montessori. Today the kids helped figure out how I measured the tube and cut each piece for the drum. Then they used wood glue and clamps to put embroidery rings inside the top of each piece of tube. The embroidery rings will help reinforce the tube when we attach the drum head fabric. The next step they will work on is decorating their drums with their teachers. The last step will be measuring and cutting the circles of fabric for the drum heads and attaching them! The students were very involved in the process today and did a fantastic job helping.
We learned that the french horns play the part of the wolf in Peter and the Wolf and read a lot more of the story today! Scroll down to watch the animated version of Peter and the Wolf.
We learned that the french horns play the part of the wolf in Peter and the Wolf and read a lot more of the story today! Scroll down to watch the animated version of Peter and the Wolf.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Music Together
Play with musical phrasing this week at home with your kids!
In class we sang Celebration Song and moved (bounced, jumped, twirled) with both the beat and the larger phrases in the song. Learning music by ear the way children do when they are very young is a fantastic way to learn. The Suzuki approach teaches specific instruments by ear and is a great way to learn! Learning this way encourages children to feel the music and develops memorization skills.
"When a student learns first how to read music, often the child gets very focused on reading and how play what is on the page at the expense of not listening to what he or she is playing. In short, it's not a musical way to learn, but it is efficient. When a child learns to play by ear they establish the excellent musical habit of imagining the music in their mind and trying to find those sounds at the piano. That's how professional musicians think, and beginners can think that way too. If they establish that habit at first, then when they learn to read music they will still focus on what it sounds like rather than mostly on what it looks like."
Singing, play instruments, and move to as much music as possible with your children from a very early age and you will give them a fantastic musical foundation to build on!
Scroll down to older posts to enjoy our dance and play along music from this week.
Waltz from Coppelia and Lukey's Boat!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Peter and The Wolf
At Journey Montessori we have been listening to a new character in Peter and the Wolf each week and discussing what family each instrument belongs to. So far we know that Peter is played by the string family, the bird is played by the flute, the duck by the oboe, and the cat by the clarinet which are all part of the woodwind family.
This week we added Grandpa who is played by the Bassoon (also a member of the woodwind family). We discussed the size of the bassoon and its low sound.
On May 5th The Charlotte Symphony will be playing Peter and the Wolf for their final Lollipops concert of the season! I encourage you to take your children to the performance this weekend and the one in May! My kids have gone since they were tiny and they LOVE the concerts!
The students really seem to be enjoying Peter and the Wolf at school.
Here is a link to the book were are reading the story from
This week we added Grandpa who is played by the Bassoon (also a member of the woodwind family). We discussed the size of the bassoon and its low sound.
On May 5th The Charlotte Symphony will be playing Peter and the Wolf for their final Lollipops concert of the season! I encourage you to take your children to the performance this weekend and the one in May! My kids have gone since they were tiny and they LOVE the concerts!
The students really seem to be enjoying Peter and the Wolf at school.
Here is a link to the book were are reading the story from
Click the YouTube links below to see a great animated version of Peter and the Wolf.
Music Together
Our dance this week was "Bounce Me Brother With A Solid Four." Check out this version by the Andrew's Sisters and dance along at home!
March and play along with Mickey Mouse!
Did you know that there are guitar chords in the back of your Music Together book? If you have a guitar at home try playing Me, You, We, Trot Old Joe, and French Folk Song. They are fun, easy songs to learn and your kids will love playing along with you!
The lullaby we sang this week was to the tune of "My Lady Wind." You can find the lyrics we sang in your songbook at the bottom of the page.
My Lady Wind seems to be a very calming song. It's slow tempo gives the singer plenty of time to take a big breath before each phrase. When you pause to breathe before singing it it also gives you time to audiate (or hear in your head) what you are about to sing. Taking this purposeful breath helps your child learn to audiate, which is an important step in their musical development, while helping clam them at the same time.
March and play along with Mickey Mouse!
Did you know that there are guitar chords in the back of your Music Together book? If you have a guitar at home try playing Me, You, We, Trot Old Joe, and French Folk Song. They are fun, easy songs to learn and your kids will love playing along with you!
The lullaby we sang this week was to the tune of "My Lady Wind." You can find the lyrics we sang in your songbook at the bottom of the page.
My Lady Wind seems to be a very calming song. It's slow tempo gives the singer plenty of time to take a big breath before each phrase. When you pause to breathe before singing it it also gives you time to audiate (or hear in your head) what you are about to sing. Taking this purposeful breath helps your child learn to audiate, which is an important step in their musical development, while helping clam them at the same time.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Charlotte Symphony Lollipops Concert This Weekend!
The Charlotte Symphony puts on some fantastic kids concerts each year. Make plans to go see them perform the Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra this weekend! If you go early at 10:00 your child can play the real orchestra instruments, participate in drum circles, and design their own instruments before the concert! These concerts are a fantastic way to teach your children about music.
Does a bassoon sound like a baboon? Can a trombone moan or a kettledrum hum? Introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra through Benjamin Britten’s classic, A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, then hear those instruments strut their stuff as they twist and shout to the tunes of The Beatles.
At Journey Montessori we have been listening to a new character in Peter and the Wolf each week and discussing what family each instrument belongs to. So far we know that Peter is played by the string family, the bird is played by the flute, the duck by the oboe, and the cat by the clarinet which are all part of the woodwind family.
On May 5th The Charlotte Symphony will be playing Peter and the Wolf for their final Lollipops concert of the season! I encourage you to take your children to the performance this weekend and the one in May! My kids have gone since they were tiny and they LOVE the concerts!
Does a bassoon sound like a baboon? Can a trombone moan or a kettledrum hum? Introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra through Benjamin Britten’s classic, A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, then hear those instruments strut their stuff as they twist and shout to the tunes of The Beatles.
At Journey Montessori we have been listening to a new character in Peter and the Wolf each week and discussing what family each instrument belongs to. So far we know that Peter is played by the string family, the bird is played by the flute, the duck by the oboe, and the cat by the clarinet which are all part of the woodwind family.
On May 5th The Charlotte Symphony will be playing Peter and the Wolf for their final Lollipops concert of the season! I encourage you to take your children to the performance this weekend and the one in May! My kids have gone since they were tiny and they LOVE the concerts!
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