Five members of the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, based in St. Paul, visited our school and presented and performed for kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students. Each year, Classical Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) provides schools around the state with the opportunity to schedule a visit from one of their Class Notes Artists. These small ensembles of top level Minnesota performers represent a wide variety of musical genres. The ensembles provide educational and engaging presentations made especially for elementary students.
Lyra Baroque Orchestra performs music of the baroque period (approximately 1600-1750), performing on instruments used during that period. This ensemble includes Marc Levine on baroque violin, Tulio Rondón on baroque cello and viola da gamba, Cléa Galhano on recorders, Joe Jones on baroque bassoon and dulcian, and Donald Livingston on harpsichord and percussion. The musicians presented and taught about music of this period from different parts of the world and different cultural traditions, and told students about their instruments and how they communicate while performing. The students enjoyed participating by clapping and patting rhythm patterns, dancing in their seats, and asking questions. I was so proud of the polite attention and interest they showed our visitors and the excellent questions that they asked! You can learn more about these musicians and their presentation by visiting MPR's Class Notes Concert Preview page.
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5th and 4th Grade: Ukuleles Fifth and fourth graders have shown great improvement in their use of the frets on their ukuleles in this rotation! They're developing great habits in their hand positions and I see so many of them being able to notice when the sound isn't quite right and making the right adjustments to improve. I listened to each student playing a pattern that involved two frets and I was very impressed with what I heard! 3rd Grade: Melody Third graders had fun playing our Orff instruments for a couple of activities in this rotation. First, they did an improvisation activity. Improvisation in music is making up music on the spot. In this case, students used xylophones with an extended pentatonic scale for their improvisations. Pentatonic scales are commonly used in improvisation and in folk music around the world because the five notes of this scale just sound good together in nearly any combination. We used a bass xylophone and bass metalophone to create an ostinato (repeating) accompaniment that provided a solid beat. Then each student improvised their own pentatonic melody on an alto xylophone one at a time. We rotated roles so everyone was able to improvise and play the accompaniment. After the improvisation activity, we started working on an instrumental accompaniment to the song "Tideo." They're really getting involved in singing, playing, and dancing with this folk song! 2nd Grade: Visitor Preparation and Melody Second graders prepared for their upcoming visit from the Lyra Baroque Orchestra by watching a video of the group performing and learning a rather complex rhythm ostinato pattern that they clapped along with. They then learned about the instruments that each of the five performers play, which include recorders, harpsichord, baroque violin, baroque cello, viola da gamba, baroque bassoon, and dulcian. We also had an introduction to our next unit on melody with the song "Joyfuy, Joyful," which uses Beethoven's famous "Ode to Joy" melody. The students learned to sing the song, moved with the melodic line, and noticed how the notes move up and down to create the tune of the song. 1st Grade: Visitor Preparation and Rhythm Like second graders, first graders prepared for the upcoming Lyra Baroque Orchestra visit by viewing videos of the group performing, learning to play the ostinato pattern of one of the group's pieces on rhythm sticks, and learning about their baroque instruments. They also practiced reading and playing rhythms using graphic (picture) notation and each student had a chance to improvise (make up on the spot) their own 8-beat rhythm pattern! Kindergarten: Visitor Preparation, Instruments, and Dynamics
Kindergartners finished their unit on instruments. We sang "Air Orchestra," the students took a quiz using Plickers, and they played a couple rounds of Instrument Crane (a game in which they have to determine which family an instrument belongs to). Then, they used what they've learned about instruments and instrument families to identify the instruments of the Lyra Baroque Orchestra in preparation for the group's visit to our school. We watched videos of the orchestra musicians demonstrating their instruments and playing together as a group. 5th and 4th Grade: Ukuleles The fourth and fifth graders made a big step in their ukulele playing in their last music class as they learned how to use the left hand to play on the frets! This can be a tricky skill to get the hang of at first, but they're working hard and building good habits. Using this frets will allow them to play all the notes on the ukulele. I've been going around the room to check in with each student as we learn each new skill and I'm so pleased to see their focus and improvement every time! 3rd Grade: Melody Third graders did one more round of all of our Staff Champion games to see if they could beat their top scores. It's amazing to see the progress they've made in reading music over the last few weeks. This is such an important music skill and they're doing so well with it! Then they took a quiz on what they've learned about note reading and intervals in this unit. Next, we reviewed the pentatonic scale. This scale has only five notes, but is used in folk music (and other genres) around the world. It's so common because those five notes nearly always sound good together! The students sang a fun American folk song in a pentatonic scale called "Tideo," which they really seemed to enjoy making up their own dance moves for! Then the classes just had time to start an activity in which each of them will have an opportunity to improvise (make up on the spot) a melody using a pentatonic scale on a xylophone while other students play a xylophone and metalophone accompaniment. We'll finish that next time, and revisit "Tideo."
1st Grade: Rhythm First graders kicked off their new unit on rhythm by watching a fun episode in our Quaver music curriculum that demonstrated what rhythms are, how they work, and rhythms in music around around the world. We practiced reading some rhythms using pictures of words to help students understand the rhythms, such as dog for a quarter note (one sound in one beat) and puppy for eighth notes (two sounds in one beat). Then the students used picture notation to write their own collaborative rhythm. After practicing saying and clapping the rhythm, students played it on rhythm sticks. I've been impressed with how well they're able to play rhythms accurately and with a steady beat already! Kindergarten: Instruments Kindergartners focused on the percussion and string families of instruments. They reviewed the three ways that percussion instruments are played (hit, shaken, or scraped) and learned about the main parts of the orchestral string instruments (violin, viola, cello, and double bass). The parts are very similar on each instrument! Then we watched one of the world's greatest violin players, Izhak Perlmann, perform a solo with an orchestra. We all agreed that he's very good! Finally, we reviewed all that they've learned about the instrument families by singing "Air Orchestra" while acting out instruments from each family, playing a review game (a little like Jeopardy), and playing a game called Instrument Crane in which students had to name the family of different instruments. 5th and 4th Grade: Ukulele Fifth and fourth graders are enjoying their ukulele unit, continuing to improve on the open strings and reading music. The classes continue to improve their high scores on our warm-up note reading game, Staff Champion. Ms. Murnane's and Ms. Smith's classes hold the record of being able to name 10 notes in 30 seconds! The students are getting more and more comfortable handling, holding, and playing the ukuleles. They've learned four short pieces that use only one open string and are beginning to learn one that uses all four open strings. This means they are able to read the notes while they play! Students have also continue to hear about well-known ukulele players. This time, we watched a video of Tiny Tim playing his most famous song, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." Tiny Tim was most widely known for this kind of performance, but he was also a very influential experimental musician who inspired many other famous musicians, including The Beatles! 3rd Grade: Melody Third graders continue to work on improving their skills reading notes on the treble clef staff and learning about intervals. We worked more on "The Star-Spangled Banner" in this rotation. In the last class, we focused on understanding the lyrics. This time, we looked at the music and identified steps, skips, and repeating notes to understand how the melody moves. This song is challenging to sing because it includes many large intervals! After analyzing the music, we learned more about the background of the song. The lyrics were written by Francis Scott Key, who was a lawyer. During the War of 1812, he was sent to negotiate with the British Navy for the release of an American prisoner. He was able to convince the British to release the prisoner, but then they were told that they wouldn't be allowed to leave the British ship where the negotiations took place because the British were just about to attack Fort McHenry! Francis Scott Key had to wait on the British ship while Fort McHenry was bombed for 25 hours. During that time, he wrote a poem that would become "The Star-Spangled Banner" about his experience watching the battle and trying to see if the American flag was still flying at the fort. After the battle, Key and the prisoner were allowed to leave. Although the words were written in 1814, the song didn't become our national anthem until 1931.
1st Grade: Lines and Spaces This was an exciting and challenging day of music in first grade! Students have been working hard on their songs that use the three pitches they've learned–mi, sol, and la. After a short warm-up and assessment singing those three pitches, they sang "Shiloh," the song they learned in the last class that uses only those three pitches. Then we added three different Orff instruments (like xylophones) to create an accompaniment with the song! Students learned phrases to help them remember each instrument's unique rhythm, clapped the rhythms, and played them on the instruments. It's not easy to have several students playing three different rhythms AND listening to a song with another rhythm all at the same time, but I was very impressed by what they accomplished in their first try with layered rhythms! Kindergarten: Instruments Kindergartners continued their unit on the instrument families, focusing on the brass family. They learned about the parts and the sounds of the trumpet, trombone, tuba, and French horn. They showed what they've learned about both brass and woodwinds with an activity in which each student had a prop and a movement for either the trumpet or the flute. When they heard their instrument in a recording, they stood up and did their thing! Students representing the trumpet used a rhythm stick to pretend to play as a trumpet and marched with the music. Students representing the flute used ribbons to float through the air like the sound of the flute. Here's a video of The Canadian Brass that students watched in class. 5th and 4th Grade: Ukulele We began this class by learning about one of the most well-known ukulele players, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, known as "IZ." He was known as "the voice of Hawaii" for his great contributions to Hawaiian music and how he helped to bring Hawaiian music to the rest of the world. His recording of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is still recognized by most people nearly 30 years after it was recorded. We then worked on the open strings on the ukuleles again. We started off with a game of "Cool Hand Uke," a friendly competition between students to be the first to correctly play the open string named. Then they practiced our four open string exercises. They're getting more and more control in plucking individual strings! 3rd Grade: Melody After practicing note reading with a round of the game Staff Champion, students began learning about intervals, which are the measurements between pitches. In this class, we focused on steps (from one pitch to the very next in a scale), skips (skipping over one pitch), and repeating notes. After some practice with intervals and learning how they work on a piano keyboard, we began seeing all three in action in the song "The Star-Spangled Banner." All of the students recognized our national anthem and many were able to sing along right away. We discussed how the intervals and range make this song unique and challenging among national anthems. The lyrics were written in 1814, so they include many words that we don't use much in normal speech today. We went through the first verse, made sure everyone knew the meaning of every word, and the meaning of the verse as a whole. 2nd Grade: Baroque Period Today's journey to the baroque period focused on the ornaments (fancy musical decorations) used in baroque music and the German composer Handel. Students learned about three of the most common musical ornaments–trill, turn, and appoggiatura. Then, they added their choice of ornaments to a song they all new, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," to create their own baroque-ish version of the song. Most classes agreed that after adding 5-7 ornaments, it got to be too much. A few sound great, but too many makes it hard to even understand what the song is. Students began learning about the early part of the life of Handel, composer of "The Messiah." Handel is a great example of someone who chose to follow his dreams, even though he encountered some obstacles along the way. 1st Grade: Lines and Spaces First graders reviewed all that they have learned about the music staff, how to read notes on it, and the three pitches they've learned so far. We did a short vocal warm-up and assessment using sol and mi, sang "Shiloh," and did some sight-singing (singing music from notation without hearing it first). Then the first graders wrote a collaborative composition using mi, sol, and la. After singing through it, students had lots of opinions about edits we should make! We sang through many edits, just like any other songwriters would, to try to make the best music. Students took a short quiz, then began learning and practicing rhythms that they will use to create an instrumental accompaniment with the song "Shiloh" next time. Kindergarten: Instruments The focus in this rotation's classes was the woodwind family of instruments. We started out singing and playing air instruments (pretending to play) on the song "Air Orchestra." Then students learned about and listened to several individual woodwind instruments, including flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. Bassoon is my main instrument, so I brought in a real bassoon to show them. They were especially impressed by how tall it is (taller than a kindergartner!). Then, we worked on a song called "Woodwind Animals." The song has some blanks in the lyrics that we had to fill in, telling what animal each woodwind instrument in the song sounds like. Students were very creative and thoughtful in choosing the animals that they thought best represented these instruments. Then we sang the new words in the song and acted out the animals! 5th and 4th Grade: Ukulele In this rotation, we began with a round of Staff Champion, the note-reading game, to keep those skills fresh in mind. Then students learned more about ukuleles, including a review of the parts and basics of how to care for the instruments. Then, it was time to play ukuleles! We began with the basics of how to hold ukuleles–holding the neck in the left hand, keeping the body of the instrument against your own body, where to place the hands, etc. Then they learned the open strings' pitches–GCEA. After doing some practice, we played a game called "Cool Hand Uke." Three students came to the front of the room (one from each of our house teams), and the first to play the open string that I named earned a point for their house. This was especially thrilling because it's the last week of the quarter and two of the houses are neck and neck to win! After a short Plicker quiz to make sure everyone is mastering the basics that they've learned so far, most classes had time to start working on one or two open string songs. 3rd Grade: Melody In this rotation, third graders focused on practicing their note reading skills. We reviewed the Quaver episode that they watched last time, then practiced note reading with Staff Champion. They also practiced naming notes in an actual song to get practice not just reading individual notes, but reading them in context and noticing how one note relates to those around it. 2nd Grade: Baroque Period Second graders reviewed the Quaver episode about the baroque period that they watched last time, then learned about the baroque composer Vivaldi. Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer who is probably most known for his "Four Seasons." He had an interesting life in Venice, teaching at an all-girls orphanage and writing many of his compositions for the girls in the orchestra there. 1st Grade: Lines and Spaces First graders learned about a third pitch today! La is a pitch that is just a step higher than sol. The new pitch was introduced in the song "Shiloh," which first graders listened to and sang along with while showing the high, low, and medium pitches on their bodies by tapping their shoulders, knees, or waist. They learned the hand sign for la and practiced sight-singing some exercises that included the pitches mi, sol, and la. They also wrote a collaborative composition using their three pitches! Kindergarten: Instruments
Kindergartners began learning about the four instrument families–strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. We talked about our own families and how there are certain things that tie our families together and compared that to the things that tie instrument families together. The students learned a little bit about one instrument in each family, including the violin (strings), flute (woodwinds), trumpet (brass), and drum (percussion). We worked on a song called "Air Orchestra" in which they got to pretend to play each of those instruments! 3rd-5th grade classes this week started with a Kindness Mission drawing. The last Kindness Mission was to compliment someone's singing and several students nominated others who they had witnessed doing that. Four nominees were drawn in each class and those students were awarded house points for their kind deeds! 5th and 4th Grade: Ukulele We began class with more note reading review, as this is something that the students will need to be able to do when they are playing ukuleles. We played the note-reading game Staff Champion and the classes tried to beat their previous high scores. They get better every time we practice! Although students didn't play the ukuleles yet, they learned all that they need to know to prepare for playing next time. They learned about ukulele vocabulary, parts, and history. I think we're all excited to get our hands on ukuleles next time! 3rd Grade: Melody Third graders watched the Quaver episode on lines and spaces in this rotation. It covers the reasons to read music, how to do it, and tricks to remember how to read the pitches. Then we practiced! Students worked on the line notes (the phrase "Every Good Boy Does Fine" helps them to remember which note is on which line) and then space notes (which spell FACE from bottom to top). Then we increased the challenge by playing Staff Champion with both line and space notes! Students had to identify whether the note was on a line or in a space, remember the trick, and then figure out what the note was. It was impressive to see how much they improved in just one class period! 2nd Grade: Baroque Period After reviewing the "Musical Periods" song, second graders enjoyed watching a Quaver episode all about the baroque period. They learned about what was happening in the world during this period of history (1600-1750), what the music sounded like, and three baroque composers (Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi). After discussing the episode, students began learning about Vivadi, the Italian composer famous for writing "The Four Seasons." 1st Grade: Lines and Spaces This class started with a new song, "Disco Sensation." This disco-inspired song is a lot of fun to sing and, of course, to dance to! Students learned several new disco moves in this one. Last time, students learned how to read their first two notes on the lines of a staff. Today, our focus was the symbol that comes at the beginning of the staff, the treble clef. This symbol tells us how to read the notes that follow it and that they will be in a higher range. Students learned how to draw treble clefs and practiced on staff paper. They did a great job! After reviewing their two pitches, mi and sol, they learned about mallets, which are "musical hammers" with a round head that are used to play many percussion instruments. All of the students got a set of mallets to use as they created sound effects to accompany a story while practicing holding the mallets correctly and bouncing them while playing. Kindergarten: Meter
Kindergartners continued their unit on meter by learning about music that has beats in patters of three and four. To learn about the meter of three, they learned a song called "Waltzing Wallabies" after hearing the story about its main character, Wally the Waltzing Wallaby. A waltz is a dance in a meter of 3. Then they learned about a meter of four with the song "Five Green and Speckled Frogs," which turned out to be one that many had already learned in preschool! We did a movement activity while singing this song. Students walked around their mats until "jumping into the pool" by jumping onto their mats at the point in the song when one frog jumps off of the log. We then reviewed the three meters that they have learned about and how music in each meter makes us feel like moving. A meter of two is a marching meter, a meter of three makes us feel like swaying or waltzing, and a meter of four is a great walking meter. They took a short quiz on meter and did a great job! 5th-4th Grade: Note Reading Review and Reward Day For a while, fifth and fourth grade will be working on the same unit, so you will see their posts combined here. Both will be starting to learn ukulele's for the first time in music class! To prepare for that, students spent the first half of this class reviewing note reading. This will be a skill they will need as they read music while playing ukulele. During the second half of the class, we had the long awaited reward for Lamb House's quarter one victory! Our house leader, Kyle Lamb, chose karaoke as the reward. The members of the winning house ran the activity. In some classes, they chose the songs that everyone say. In other classes, they chose to make it a karaoke competition that they judged! 3rd Grade: Melody and Reward Day Third graders were introduced to their new unit all about reading music notation on the treble clef staff. Then, they got their reward for Lamb House's quarter one victory, karaoke run by the members of Lamb House! 2nd Grade: Baroque Period Second graders were introduced to their new unit on the baroque period of music history. They listened to an example of baroque music and discussed what it made them think of and feel. Then they started learning the song "Musical Periods." After that, we had the Lamb House reward, karaoke run by the members of Lamb House! 1st Grade: Lines and Spaces First graders began a new unit about reading notes on the lines and spaces of a music staff. This is a really big step in learning music! We began with a vocal warm-up reminding students about how high and low sound and feel when singing. They learned about what a music staff is and how it was created by Guido d'Arezzo in the 11th century. Then they were introduced to their first two pitches, mi and sol, on a two line staff. The students sang along with the song "Go and Stop," which features those two pitches in the chorus. During the chorus, they showed the two pitches in a variety of ways, like standing tall for sol and crouching low for mi and putting their hands on their chairs for sol and on the floor for mi. During the verses, they moved like the vehicles that were described in the lyrics. We practiced reading and singing mi and sol with some short exercises and two full songs that feature those two pitches, "Jumpin' Jacks" and "Goofy Pets." The students especially enjoyed doing the activity with "Goofy Pets" where they got to act out any goofy pet they wanted! Students learned to hear, sing, read, and even do hand signs for these two pitches...all in one class period! I'm very impressed by how quickly they're learning this big new concept! Kindergarten: Meter
Kindergartners began a new unit about meter. Meter is how beats are organized into groups. In this class period, we focused on the meter of 2. First we started with a listening and moving activity. Students marched to a fife and drum march and we tried out some movements in patterns of 2 with a techno song in a meter of 2. Then the students learned "Stinky Pirates," a silly and fun song all about stinky pirates sailing on the seas! They learned the words and were able to sing it quickly, while feeling the meter of two. We added some movements to reinforce the patterns of two and to show the hoisting of the sails on the pirate ship. This week, all of the grades have started to really dig into learning their concert songs. This will be our focus until the concerts on December 6th (kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade) and December 13th (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade). For more information about the concerts and to see the lyrics and recordings, visit the concerts tab on this site.
5th Grade Fifth graders warmed up by practicing moving between their chest voice (lower voice) and head voice (higher voice), both of which are needed to sing all of our concert songs. They worked on the lyrics of "A Caroling We Go" and decided which class would sing which verse. Then, we listened to the traditional New Year's song "Auld Lang Syne." The fifth graders learned about how they will be singing this song as a 2-part partner song, practiced singing each part, then decided which part they would like to sing for the performance. We just had a little time to sing through "Sleigh Ride," which many of the students are already familiar with and really enjoy! 4th Grade Fourth graders also warmed up by learning about and practicing moving between their chest (lower) and head (higher) singing voices. Then we did an overview of all three of the concert songs. We began working on "Deck the Halls and Decorate," which is a 2-part partner song. We sang through each of the two song, one of which is the traditional "Deck the Halls," and students chose which part they would like to work on for the concert. We listened to a recording of Bing Crosby singing "That Christmas Feeling" and the students discussed what they liked and didn't like about it. As a result of those discussions, we decided that our version of the song will go faster, and they did a great job singing through it at that faster tempo! We talked about how this song will begin with an intro sung by a small group of students, which will be determined in their next class. Finally, we sang through "A Merry, Merry Christmas to You," which includes singing "Merry Christmas" in several different languages! 3rd Grade In third grade, we began by learning a little bit about the vocal cords and how they work as we sing higher and lower. Then we did a little work on each of the three concert songs. "Celebration Song" is about winter holidays celebrated around the world, including Christmas, Hanukah, and thanks to one of the third grade classes, we've added a verse about New Year's. This song includes some call-and-response spoken parts that will involve small groups of student volunteers. I was happy to see that so many students were interested in doing a small group part! Then we worked on "Santa Claus is Riding' the Trail," which is a nice Christmas song written in a cowboy song style. The students did really well learning the lyrics! We had just enough time to sing through their last song, "Holly Jolly Christmas." I can already tell that we'll have a very energetic third grade performance! 2nd Grade Second graders also began class this week by learning about body parts that are involved in singing. We reviewed the diaphragm and its role in breathing and learned about the vocal cords and how they change length and tension to change the pitch of our singing voices. We started working on "A Wonderful Christmas," which is a very catchy and lilting song. Then we worked on "Thirty-two Feet and Eight Little Tails." This one has a lot of lyrics to learn, but the students have already started making great progress. Finally, we listened to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Me" and discussed the meaning and perspective of the lyrics. This one is sung from the interesting perspective of the star on top of a Christmas tree. 1st Grade First graders began class by learning about their vocal cords and practicing singing in their high and low voices. After warming up, we watched a clip of the movie "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" to hear the song "Jingle, Jingle, Jingle." We worked on the lyrics of this song and practiced singing through some sections of it. Then we moved on to "A Marshmallow World." We listened to a recording of Dean Martin singing the song, then discussed what the metaphors in the lyrics and how they describe a snowy scene. We worked on the lyrics of the first two verses. Finally, we worked on a song that many of the students already knew parts of, "Here Comes Santa Claus." Kindergarten The kindergartners focused on learning the lyrics of their three songs. We began with "Jingle Bells," which they have a lot of fun singing! We especially worked on the "Dashing through the snow" part of the song which they were less familiar with. Then we worked on "We Are Santa's Elves." To help with memorizing the words, we visualized what was happening in this first-person song, imagining that we were Santa's elves. Finally, we worked on "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." They've nearly learned the words to this song already! |
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