Music Monday April 28

 

• Movement Game – In class, part of our musicianship time is spent on learning and embodying different sets of musical opposites.  Children, show your families how we move our bodies to reflect the changes in the music.  Below you will find the musical exercises for 2 sets of opposites: High/Low (illustrating the directionality on the piano keyboard) and Staccato/Legato (short & choppy/smooth & connected). Each week build upon these skills at home with different recordings that support the musical opposites. Play these new audio recordings for your child to move around the house to the music.  For High/Low reach high into the sky when Peter plays the piano in the upper register, and down to the ground when Peter plays in his lower register.  For Staccato/Legato try jumping for the choppy parts and flying for the smooth and connected parts! Piece #1:Low/High– (Blues); Piece #2: Staccato/Legato – (Albeniz)

 

• Instrument Play–   Start Play and Play as a warm up for the children. You can use body percussion (clapping, tapping your knees, stomping etc.) or shakers if you have them in the house.  Last week you played along with our version of The Earth is Our Mother.  In that recording there were 3 different songs combined.  This week play along with another combined version of Ah Poor Bird.  You can take turns playing and listing to the beat and rhythms in these different songs combined together. Do they have the same beat or different?  How are the songs the same? How are they different? How are they different or the same sounding from The Earth is Our Mother? 

 

• Listening Exercises – One of the most important skills we hone as musicians is our ability to listen.  In class, one of the ways we do this is by listening to a piece of music and then having a discussion afterwards. Finding the words to articulate our thoughts about music is a cultivated skill. Some of the questions we ask our students are:  Did you like or dislike the piece?  What did you like  or dislike about it?  How did it make you feel?  Did it make you think of anything?  What kind of sounds did you hear – short, long, loud, soft, big, little, high, low?  Use this instrumental performance by EC Pianist Eri Yamamoto to spark a discussion at home. 

 

• Down & Up – Up & Down with Kirsten

 

• Movement Activity – move like birds as you listen to The Aviary from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens 

 

• Meet the Drum Kit with Jake!

 

• Puff the Magic Dragon Book with Stephanie & Walter