Thursday, April 23, 2020

More Instruments of the Orchestra and Band: Woodwinds and Percussion

Two important words from last time:

        Family - group of instruments that look and sound similar but come in different sizes 
                       (larger ones are lower and smaller ones are higher)

        Ensemble - team of musicians who play or sing together

Two important ensembles:

        Concert Band - team of players of instruments that include woodwinds, brass,
                                    and percussion instruments

        Orchestra - team of players of instruments that include the string family (violin, viola,
                             cello, string bass) and any combination of woodwinds, brass and
                             percussion instruments the composer needs

Look at your packet to find out which instruments are in the woodwind section. 
Watch these videos to see how the woodwinds are played and how they make sound.

Green Bean's Music: Woodwind Instruments for Kids

House of Sound: How do Woodwind Instruments Make Sound?


Look at your packet to find out which instruments are in the percussion section. 
Watch these videos to see how the percussion instruments are played and 
how they make sound.

Green Bean's Music: Percussion Instruments for Kids

Green Bean's Music: Percussion 2 Instruments for Kids

House of Sound: How Do Percussion Instruments Make Sound?


Review and Check Your Learning

Second Grade - match the instruments to their names on the Woodwind and 
                        Percussion pages in your packet.
                      - List the instruments under the correct headings on the 
                        Sorting Instruments page in your packet.

Third Grade - Do the word find on the Find the Instruments page in your packet.

                    - List the instruments under the correct headings on the 
                        Sorting Instruments page in your packet.

Try some sounds of your own!

1. If a sibling has a band instrument, ask for a demonstration and try it out. It's fun to try to make sounds with big kids' instruments. Just be careful!!

2.  Check with a parent (or whoever is in charge in your house) about using old things from the kitchen or garage that make sound. I bet you can find shakers, scrapers, metals, woods, and drums! Here's a video with some suggestions. Just be sure to ask first!!

Household Percussion Jam


Sunday, April 5, 2020

Instruments of the Orchestra: Strings and Brass

Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten

Tubby the Tuba

Music tells stories in many ways. In this story Tubby learns a lesson about his ability, and all the instruments of the orchestra get to play a new melody. The composer wrote the music as part of the way to tell the story.

Watch the video of book and music.



Watch a live version where you can see people playing the instruments.


Extend your Learning
Use this link to find out more about the instruments. 
Ask an adult or older brother or sister to help you set it up.

First Grade

Peter and the Wolf

Composers love to use music to tell stories. In this story, each character is represented by a special melody played by a specific instrument. You know something is happening to that character when you hear it's melody.

Watch the animated video of the story.


Review and Check Your Learning
Do the first sheet in your packet: match each instrument to the character it represents.

Watch a live version where you can see people playing the instruments.


Review and Check Your Learning
Listen again and draw your version of the story on the second sheet in your packet.

Extend your Learning
Use this link to find out more about the instruments. 
Ask an adult or older brother or sister to help you set it up.

Second and Third Grade

Feel free to watch the Peter and the Wolf videos (just because it's a wonderful story—not just for little kids!).

Composers love to combine different instrument sounds to make music more interesting. 
Instruments are divided into families and ensembles. The four major families are strings, 
woodwinds, brass, percussion. They are sorted by how the sound is made rather than how 
they look or what they're made of. 

Two important words:

        Family - group of instruments that look and sound similar but come in different sizes 
                       (larger ones are lower and smaller ones are higher)

        Ensemble - team of musicians who play or sing together

Look at your packet to find out which instruments are in the string section. 

Watch these videos to see how the strings are played and how they make sound.

Green Bean's Music: String Instruments for Kids

House of Sound: How Do String Instruments Make a Sound



This video is a famous piece of music played by an ensemble called a string quartet. It's made of 4 players. Some of them are bowing and some are plucking (or playing pizzicato).

Boccarini's Menuet (a concert version of a dance)

Look at your packet to find out which instruments are in the brass section.
Watch these videos about brass instruments.

Green Bean's Music: Brass Instruments for Kids

House of Sound: How do Brass Instruments Make a Sound




The Canadian Brass is a quintet, an ensemble with 5 players. Listen to these two examples.

Here's a song with brass instruments playing accompaniment for singers.

Here they are playing Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov.


Review and Check Your Learning

Second Grade - match the instruments to their names on the String and Brass pages.

Third Grade - Fill in the instrument words on page 6. Notice that the boxes fit the shape of the words: if the box goes up high, there should be a tall letter. If the box goes down low, there should be a letter that goes below the line.


Extend your Learning
If you're really wanting to explore, use this link to find out more about the instruments. 
Ask an adult or older brother or sister to help you set it up.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Making Music at Home Week 2

I hope everyone is staying healthy and finding useful ways to pass the time! I miss making music with all of you, so I'm including some songs that we like to sing together so you can make some music with your family!

Fourth Grade

Fifty Nifty United States by Ray Charles (click on the link to sing along)

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies;
Fifty nifty stars in the flag that billows so beautif'ly in the breeze.
Each individual state contributes a quality that is great.
Each individual state deserves a bow, we salute them now.
Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,
Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,
One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the U.S.A.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut;
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana;
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan;
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada;
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, 
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio;
Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas;
Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,
         Repeat the states
North, south, east, west, in our calm, objective opinion,
Iowa is the best of the
Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,
Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,
One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the good old U. S. A.


Third Grade

Mrs. Jenny Wren   poem by Rodney Bennett, music by Arthur Baynon
 (click on the link to sing along)

Mrs. Jenny Wren! I have never, never heard Such a very big voice For a very tiny bird.
You sit on a post And you sing and you sing,You're a very bold bird For such a tiny little thing,
Jenny Wren.

If I had a voice For my size as big as yours, I should never dare sing Without shutting all the doors.
I'd sing very softly For fear they should hear, Or they'd hurry away And put a finger in each ear,
Jenny Wren.


Second Grade

Make a Difference audio link  by Denise Gagne

Make a Difference video link
(click on one of the links to sing along)

We can make a difference in our world today.
Together we can make our world a better place.
When we work together, so much can be done.
If all the children in the world would sing in unison.
We know what's right,
and we know what to do.
The future can be brighter.
It's up to me and you.
Take my hand and join me. Sing along with me.
When all the children join us there will be a change you'll see.
Do you have the courage? Do you have the pride?
Do you have a vision of a world where all is right?
We know what's right, 
and we know what to do.
The future can be brighter. 
It's up to me and you.
We can make a difference in our world today.
Together we can make our world a better place.
When we work together, so much can be done.
If all the children in the world would sing in unison.
We know what's right, 
and we know what to do.
The future can be brighter. 
It's up to me and you.
First Grade

One Light, One Sun  by Raffi
(click on the link to sing along)

Lyrics are included on the link above.

I'm Growing Up by Amidons


Kindergarten (and everyone else)

Standing Like a Tree

Standing like a tree with my roots down deep.
My branches wide open.
Down comes the rain (ch ch)
Down comes the sun (ha ha)
Down comes a love to a heart that is open to be
Standing like a tree.








Monday, March 16, 2020

Making Music at Home Week 1

Here are some resources for learning music at home!

San Francisco Symphony: Instruments of the Orchestra
We're studying instruments of the orchestra after concerts this year (second grade and kindergarten have started already). This needs no log-in. There are wonderful resources for listening and identifying instruments of the orchestra. Kids have loved this in past years! It's appropriate for all grades, but younger ones might want some help from an older sibling.

San Francisco Symphony: The Music Lab
This is appropriate for fourth graders (we've covered many of these concepts) and third graders who would like a challenge (we've covered some of this).

Here are some movement resources for songs we use in music class. 

The Goonie Bird Song
Mrs. Ahlrich's TK kids know this one, but it's fun for everyone!

These are MoveIt pieces. The goal is to make beautiful movements to beautiful music so children become artful about making their own music. These are part of our curriculum in TK and Kindergarten.

Waltz in Ab by Brahms
TK has done this many times. It should be familiar to kindergarten and first grade, too.

Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens

Fur Elise by Beethoven
This one is a bit tricky!

Here are a few favorite songs! 

Preschool and TK kids have sung these.

Jenny Jenkins

No More Pie

We haven't done these yet in kindergarten this year, but older kids probably know them! They're often requested when I ask for favorites.

The Tailor and the Mouse

Crabfish Song

Happy Music Making!