Lessons 6 & 7

First some news: There is a giveaway going on at the Let's Play Music blog. It is the first giveaway ever! Go check it out!

Here are a few notes from our last couple of classes:

In lesson 6, we had fun singing about El Gallo (the old rooster…he’s dead and won’t be saying cock-a-doodle anymore). It’s interesting to hear how children speaking other languages interpret the sounds that animals make! To learn the words to this song, I recommend you look up the lyrics in your parent manual. Each song is back there. When you come to class, it may be helpful to follow along if you don't know the songs as well as your students do.

We also learned to match the term MAJOR to songs that sound happy and MINOR to those that are sad, tired, or mysterious. Help them remember these terms, and see if they can identify which songs are major and minor as you listen to music.

While singing the Jungle Rhythms, encourage your child to use his voice along with his hand actions. This adds another dimension and will help him to stay on his rhythm. We tried keeping the elephant rhythm while I did the lion. See if you can help your child stay on elephant while listening to all the other animals on the CD. This may take some practice.

LESSON 7

When we put each bell on a line (or space) on the giant staff, it helps introduce the idea that each bell (note) has a representative line or space that corresponds with it. Next year each key on the keyboard will have a line or space that corresponds with it...it’s an easy mental transition to make.

Take this idea a few levels forward and you have...the song How to Skip! The music is printed in the parent’s manual for you. Not all students will master this song, but if your child enjoys playing the short melodies, she’ll probably like to work through this one, and she’ll feel so accomplished when she learns to play a REAL song! Most of the melody can be figured out note-by-note (is it a step up or down? A skip up or down?). On those occasions where there is a leap, the solfeg is written below the music to help your child find the right bell.

The Dinosaur Song is one that everyone probably WILL master – and a great example of skips and babysteps. We’ll see it many times in the next few weeks.

If your child finds writing small notes to be challenging in this week’s homework, feel free to help as needed. You can also copy the page or draw 5 quick lines of your own so you can repeat activities like this as many times as you like for practice!

I suggested you use your bug flashcards for a memory/matching game. This is a fun way to reinforce what we are doing in class. btw, I found a set of flashcards at the LDS church around the corner, on Sunday. If you are missing yours, let me know.