5th Grade Fifth graders have been continuing their study of meter by learning a brand new meter sign (aka time signature): 6/8. Up to this point, all of the meter signs they've learned about have had a 4 on the bottom, indicating that a quarter note equals one beat. In 6/8, the 8 at the bottom of the meter sign indicates that an eighth note equals one beat (when a quarter note equals one beat, the eighth note equals half a beat). Students have counted, played, and listened to music in 6/8 meter, noticing that this meter can be felt as 6 individual beats or two "macro-beats" divided into 3 subdivisions.
3rd Grade Third graders have continued reviewing the basics of rhythm and meter. This week, they learned a new vocabulary word: ostinato. An ostinato is a short, repeated pattern. It can be a a rhythm pattern, and repeating melodic fragment, or even a movement with music. Ostinatos can be especially useful as accompaniment for an improvisation (making up music on the spot). Students wrote and played a four beat rhythm ostinato as a class, and then we used that ostinato to accompany each student playing an four beat improvisation on rhythm sticks. 2nd Grade and 1st Grade Second graders and first graders have been studying the concept of strong beat and weak beat as a way to identify meter. Meter is the organization into groups called measures. Understanding how to identify strong and weak beats will help students in learning to read, write, and play more advanced meters and rhythms in the years to come. Kindergarten Kindergartners wrapped up their introduction to steady beat with a little quiz this week. They did a great job showing what they've learned! We started a new unit all about the four voice types: whisper, talk, shout, and sing. They've had fun playing a game in which they have to identify which voice they hear and we've discussed when and where each voice type would be used. Understanding the different ways that our voices can be used will help students to understand how to use their singing voices when we sing songs in music class.
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Check out this new addition to the music room! Last year, many students became very interested in writing their own songs and performing them in class. I've been very impressed by the work they've put into writing music outside of class, their ability to talk about their musical inspirations, their confidence in performing in front of their peers, and the support that they've shown each other. To encourage and reward these songwriters, we now have a Songwriters' Chair in our classroom. Students who write and practice their own original music outside of music class may sit in this special chair to perform their song for their class. Once they have performed, they get to autograph the chair and their name goes into a drawing. At the spring concert, we will do the drawing and the winner will get to take this autographed chair home! My only concern is that we'll run out of room on the chair for all the autographs, but that's a pretty wonderful problem to have.
Of course, performing one's own songs is not the only way to perform music! We will have a separate drawing for students who choose to perform a song that they've learned (e.g. in music lessons, from the radio, from a family member, etc.) or music that they improvise (make up on the spot). The prize for that drawing will be a surprise! 5th Grade: Meter
Fifth graders have continued their study of meters of 2, 3, and 4. They've been working to aurally identify the meter of songs by listening for strong and weak beats, and have played classroom percussion instruments along with these different meters. While learning about meters, students are also studying patriotic music. Patriotic music is music that tells about pride in a nation. It could describe the country's history, landscape, symbols, and more. Fifth graders sang and learned about the history of two patriotic songs from our country, "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "You're a Grand Old Flag." The first was published in it's current form in 1831 after the current lyrics were put to a much older tune in a meter 3 by Samuel Francis Smith. "Your a Grand Old Flag" was originally written in 1906 by George M. Cohan for a play. It's march feel shows that it is in a meter of 2. 4th Grade: Rhythm Fourth graders have continued reviewing basic rhythms and how they relate to each other, including whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes. This week, they added a new rhythm to their repertoire: triplets. Triplet eighth notes indicate three sounds in one beat. The students have been practicing these rhythms using three syllable names and nonsense words in chants and songs. They have also written, spoken, counted and clapped their own group rhythm compositions that include triplet rhythms. 3rd Grade: Rhythm Third graders' review of basic rhythms included reviewing meters this week, especially meters of 2 and 3. We talked about how meters can be identified by the way music makes you feel like moving. For example, if you feel like marching, the music is probably in a meter of 2. If you feel like swaying, it's likely in 3. Students have also been working on reading rhythmic notation, both to play what is written and to identify notation that matches what is heard. 2nd Grade: Beat Second graders have been reviewing the concept of beat–how it exists both in music and outside of music and how it relates to rhythm. This is one of the foundational elements of music, so it's good to review right at the start of the school year. 1st Grade: Beat First graders are also reviewing steady beat and meter. Students are learning about the two kinds of beat–strong beat and weak beat. Understanding the patterns of strong and weak beats reveals the meter, or how beats are organized into measures. First graders also saw my instrument, the bassoon, this week. They learned about how sound is produced, how pitches are changed, and how air moves through the instrument. Kindergarten: Beat Kindergartners are just beginning to learn about the very important and foundational concept of steady beat. They've learned about things outside of music that have a steady beat or no beat, and they're learning to differentiate between music that has a steady beat or no beat. Students have been playing instruments with the beat of music and they've been singing with a steady beat. They especially enjoyed dancing to beat and no beat music! I also introduced the kindergartners to the bassoon, my primary instrument, this week. They had so much fun, and so did I. They learned about how sound is produced on the instrument, but also what silly sounds it can make! Performer House Update
All students are now sorted into their houses (teams) for the school year! It was great to see how excited they were about every one of the performers. We have now started learning more about each individual house leader. Students learned about opera singer Eryn Tvete's experience singing with the Minnesota Opera and bringing opera to new audiences, how bluegrass musician Mandy Fassett travels to play shows with bands in different parts of Minnesota and other states, and what it's like to be backstage and onstage with trombonist Ben Bussey's performance groups. Next week we'll learn more about Franco Holder. 5th Grade: Meter Students have been reviewing meters of 2, 3, and 4 this week by listening to recordings of music to determine what the meter is by identifying strong and weak beats. Meter is how beats are grouped together into measures in music. Next week, students will be learning about a new meter! 4th Grade: Rhythm Fourth graders have been focusing primarily on learning about the new house leaders, but have also been reviewing quarter note, quarter rest, and eighth note rhythms. This week, we started playing a rhythm tic tac toe game in which teams of students must match a rhythm that they hear to written music notation. 3rd Grade: Rhythm Third graders are also reviewing basic rhythms. We started their rhythm unit with a song called "Hey, Mr. Beat Boy," that features a very strong beat. The genre of this song is hip hop and includes some sections that are sung and others that are rapped. We had great discussions in class about whether or not rap is music! 2nd Grade: Beat Second graders have been learning a lot about the new house system by learning about the musicians who lead the houses and learning how to keep track of their points using rhythm notation. They reviewed the definitions of beat (the heartbeat of music) and rhythm (patterns of sound connected to the main beat), and will be learning more about strong and weak beats next week. 1st Grade and Kindergarten: Beat Both first grade and kindergarten are learning about steady beat. Both grades start each music class with the September Rap. All students chant the words and four students are chosen each day to choose an instrument on which to accompany the chant with a steady beat. We've been comparing music and non-musical sounds that have a steady beat to those that have no beat. Most music in our culture does have a steady beat, but some music has no beat! Happy first week of the 2018-2019 school year! We're off to a great start in the music room, reviewing old procedures and learning new ones. This year, like last year, we will be using a house system in grades 2 though 5 as part of our behavior management system. Students will work together with their "house" teammates in all four grades to earn points for their positive behaviors. The house with the most points at the end of each quarter will earn a reward. Last year, we had Composer Houses, each led by a living composer who mentored students on writing and improvising music throughout the school year. This year, we have Performer Houses, each led by a professional performing musician who will be available to mentor our students, answer questions, and maybe even visit our school! Read more about this year's house leaders on the Performer House page. This week, all grades learned or reviewed the five rules of the music room:
Of course, we've also made some music in music class this week! Fifth grade learned a very catchy pop song called "Let's Get Started" that reviewed verse-chorus form. Fourth graders learned "Attendance Song" which includes a call-and-response section in which each student introduced himself or herself with a describing word. First, second, and third grade all sang and played rhythm sticks with another call-and-response song called "Welcome to Music," but in each grade the song was in a different genre. Kindergarten and first grade sang "Circle Fun," which really is a lot of fun when we use it to see how quickly we can get the class into one big circle. I'm looking forward to making more music and learning more about our Performer House leaders next week! |
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