What Does that Sound Like?

It's hard to believe the first quarter is nearly done. What a lot we've accomplished! I thought I'd share some creative student work with you this week.

Kindergarteners and first graders have been learning un-pitched percussion techniques (the fancy name for being able to play the instruments correctly). First graders also classified the instruments by the type of sound they make. The categories are shakers, scrapers, metals, woods, and drums. They did a really great job!

This week in Kindergarten children used their instruments to play short and long sounds. A Balloon Chart told them tell when to play long sounds, short sounds or no sounds on rhythm sticks or triangles. Then we created our own balloon composition and played it. It's so exciting to watch children read their first piece of music!

Here's a composition from Mrs. Frank's class. You can listen to them play with the link below the picture.

Mrs. Frank's Kindergarten Balloon Composition

Good Ears!

On Wednesday morning the last third grade class finished their "Four in a Boat" project, showing the phrase form of the song (4 phrases: the first two are almost the same and the last two completely different). Their job was to work with a team of 3-4 people to create a series of 3 moves that fit the form. It was amazing how many could do it perfectly! They could hear exactly where to change the movement to fit the song.

Moving on to the next third grade class (and the day 2 plan for the week) meant listening for pitch. Mrs. Martin's class learned three songs in very short order using syllables and body ladder to show the melody. It was amazing how quickly they got it (of course we've been working up to this for three years!). After the first song one child said "I can see that"—she could understand how the movement and sound matched. Suddenly there were many children with "ah-ha" moments as we discovered that the solfege syllable ladder matched our movements, too. And once we added words we had a song! From there we looked at a printed song and talked about how the notes also match the high/low sound of our voices.

The ability to listen—and to know what to listen for—is the most important thing to develop for musicians. This is a quick demonstration of the syllable system that has been used for centuries. It's called solfege. Here you'll see it used with a body ladder that helps children connect to the shape of the melody physically.

Mrs. Hanks' class singing a scale with body ladder

Third grade solfege syllable to song demonstration

 Next week we play melodies on xylophones and glockenspiels, paying attention to how far apart the sounds are on the instrument. Eyes will help, but music class is all about sound—all about developing good ears!

Community Singing

We're just finishing our first unit of the year: community singing and choir. We had interesting discussions about when people get together to sing and why.

Students spent time improving their voices with activities like matching pitch (singing in tune), listening to the rest of the ensemble (blend), and warm-up exercises to stretch the range and strengthen breathing muscles. It's been an interesting journey—complete with  giggles—but the improvement in sound and singing ability has been phenomenal!

It's fun looking forward to possibilities for community singing during the school year. This week is a great example when we can sing the Titan Fight Song! Here are the words:

Titans, Titans, all cheer for thee.
To our colors loyal are we.
Strong, united, victorious to be.
Rah! rah! rah! for SCC!
Titan, Titan loyalty!
Onward to victory!

Here are some of our youngest Titan fans!

Mrs. Henely's first graders singing the Titan Fight Song

Mrs. Hucka's first graders singing the Titan Fight Song

Mrs. Grantham's kindergarteners singing the Titan Fight Song

It's National Anthem Week!

On September 12, 1814, Francis Scott Key was aboard a British ship in the middle of Baltimore's harbor in the middle of a battle against the British. He was trying to free an American doctor and was so happy to see the flag of his country flying in the morning that he wrote a poem to celebrate the occasion. He called it Defense of Fort McHenry and sang it to a very popular tune brought to America years earlier. He didn't even sign the paper, thinking it wouldn't be around long (he had done this sort of thing before, and those songs didn't last long either). Little did he know that two hundred years later we'd still be singing his song, now known as The Star-Spangled Banner.

Every year about this time the fourth grade studies the song and its history, learning the words from memory. Other students learn patriotic songs and do a movement sequence to John Philip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever.  You may share a musical moment with your child by downloading this exciting piece of music and listening to it together. To purchase and download the recording we used in class, go to music4you.lorenz.com and click on Parachutes and Ribbons and Scarves, Oh My!

In this video clip, Mrs. Gutshall's second grade class sings two verses of America. The class made quick work of learning how to read the second verse!

2G America

Here is Mrs. McAlexander's class singing their new patriotic song for the year!

2M You're a Grand Old Flag

Here are the songs learned in other grade levels:

Kindergarten - America (by the end of the year)
Grade 1 - America the Beautiful
Grade 3 - God Bless America
Grade 5 - God Bless the USA