Jazz

For our play along in class this week we jammed to Ella Fitzgerald's Old MacDonald.  After playing however we wanted with the music we played together on different beats (microbeat, macrobeat, supermicro).  I encourage you to play at home patting the beat on the whole note, half note, quarter note, and eighth note.  You do not need to force your child to play this.  Just model it for them and they will learn to feel, and play the beat just like you.

So far this session we have hopped like bunnies and danced like chickens!  Enjoy doing this at home.



 I love this video of a family doing the bunny hop together to celebrate their little girls birthday!

Spring Week 2

This week in class we continued to enjoy songs without words.  These songs are easy for children, and adults, to process and sing quickly because your brain does not have to be concerned with learning the melody and new words at the same time.  This collection of songs has some wonderful songs without words.  (Songs without words are songs sung on various syllables or sounds that have no meaning.)

We continued to explore mixed meter with singing and playing instruments in 5/4.  Singing while counting your fingers is a great way to feel the 5/4 meter and practice fine motor skills and counting!

Our extra dance and play along this week were the Ray Anthony's Bunny Hop and Dan Zanes version of All Around the Kitchen.  Enjoy them at home with the links below!

Spring 2014

I get an update on my blog about once every nine weeks now.
We keep a busy schedule in our house.  We homeschool our children and that has taken priority over many other activities during the day, updating my blog is one such thing.
I am thrilled to have so many wonderful families completing a full year of Music Together with their children.  This session will be a lot of fun.  Now that the routine and expectations of the class are familiar to you and your children we can do more improvising, ostinato parts, and rounds!
We started simple this week by improvising with what we saw in the picture in the book, and ways to move.  In the weeks to come we will pass around rhythm patterns and add more parts to our songs.
I encourage you to try singing harmonies and rounds with your CD.  If you have a harmony part you like sing it in class!  It's great for the children's ears to hear multiple parts.

I will do my best to get any play along and dance songs we use from outside the collection posted here.  Have fun waltzing and naming instruments with your child while you watch and listen to the music.

Musical Contrasts

Welcome to the Winter session of classes.  Hopefully you have had a chance to begin enjoying the songs for this collection by now.  There are some fabulous mixed meter songs (the ones you can't march or waltz to).  I have become such a better musician as an adult by playing with mixed meter with little kids!  I think everyone should learn mixed meter through play!

Our dance this week is the Russian Sailors Dance by Reinhold Gliere.  
It is a wonderful piece of music to move to.  The melody takes on many different personalities and give us a chance to move in many different ways.  See how creative you can be coming up with ways to dance along to the song at home this week.

We have used the Love Song of Kangding as both a large movement song dancing with scarves and a lullaby. The version in our collection of songs is a song with out words. Here is a live performance of the song, sung in Chinese, with subtitles. Listen to the difference in the timbre of the performers voices.

Christmas Books I Love

I have a bunch of Christmas sing along books that I love to use in class and with my children at home.  Here are a few of my favorites.

http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Claus-Comin-Town-Coots/dp/0688149383/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-12&qid=1386884468

http://www.amazon.com/Feliz-Navidad-Stories-Celebrating-Christmas/dp/0439517176/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386884628&sr=1-1&keywords=feliz+navidad

My kids love these light up board books!

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Town-Bethlehem-Pageant-Lights/dp/0824918134/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386884669&sr=1-1&keywords=oh+little+town+of+bethlehem

http://www.amazon.com/Frosty-Snowman-Musical-Steve-Nelson/dp/0824966716/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386884793&sr=1-6&keywords=frosty+the+snowman

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Drummer-Ezra-Jack-Keats/dp/0140567437/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1386884890&sr=1-1

Holiday 2013

We have a great variety of songs on our Holiday CD.  Adding songs from many different Winter Holiday's around the world gives us a good variety of tonalities to listen to.  It is very important for kids ears to be exposed to lots of tonalities and meters.  We all have different songs we like and dislike, but it's nice to be able to understand and appreciate all of them so we have the privilege of choosing what we like.  I am really enjoying the Holiday mix of music.  My least favorite song to begin with was the version of My Favorite Things that is on the CD.  I guess I was expecting the Sound of Music version of the song.  But after listening to it several times it has started to grow on me.  Your little ones will probably gravitate to certain songs as well.

For those of you who may be interested in what holidays the different songs on the CD are from here is a list of Wikipedia answers.

"RAMADAN (Arabic):  In some Muslim countries today lights are strung up in public squares, and across city streets, to add to the festivities of the month. Lanterns have become symbolic decorations welcoming the month of Ramadan. In a growing number of countries, they are hung on city streets.^[29][30][31] The tradition of lanterns as a decoration becoming associated with Ramadan is believed to have originated during the Fatimid Caliphate primarily centered in Egypt, where Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah was greeted by people holding lanterns to celebrate his ruling. From that time lanterns were used to light mosques and houses throughout the capital city of Cairo. Shopping malls, places of business, and people's homes can be seen with stars and crescents, as well as, various lighting effects, as well.

It is believed that the first revelation to Muhammad was sent down during the month of Ramadan

DIWALI (India):The name "Diwali" or "Divali" is a contraction of deepavali which translates into "row of lamps".^[10] Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil.^[11] These lamps are kept on during the night and one's house is cleaned, both done in order to make the goddess Lakshmi feel welcome.^[12] Firecrackers are burst because it is believed that it drives away evil spirits.^[13][14][15] During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.

HANUKKAH: The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical Menorah consists of eight branches with an additional raised branch. The extra light is called a shamash (Hebrew: שמש‎, "attendant")^[1] and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest. The purpose of the shamash is to have a light available for practical use, as using the Hanukkah lights themselves for purposes other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah is forbidden.^[2]

CHRISTMAS:   (from me)  belief that Jesus is the light of the world, and He cam here at Christmas.

OUR Message:   All the major religions have, at their core, the idea of light- light in the darkness, that lights our path, that shows the way.  And all of us have a light within, as well.  It is our hope to celebrate this light with our voices and dancing and laughter and sharing.  We have included some sacred music, but not with the lyrics sugn. The sacred songs are instrumental, and were chosen for their musical complexity, diversity and melodies.  It is our hope we are all able to shine our light a little brighter, when we are together and when we are in the world."

Diwali



Hanukkah





Christmas







There is also an African and a Chinese song on the CD.  My kids love to figure out where the songs are from.  I encourage you to turn it into a geography lesson as well!  

African Noel
 

Here are some fun Chinese dragon dance videos to enjoy at home.

Happy Halloween!

I have loved seeing the cute costumes this week in class!
Here are some of the fun songs we have played along with and danced to this week!



I feel like most kids may not know what an organ is! My mother and her mother, and so on, have all played the organ so I grew up with it. If you don't get to enjoy organ music any other time of the year at least listen to Toccata and Fugue by Bach for Halloween (not really a Halloween song!)