Music Mondays May 4th - Ready Set Learn

Instrument Play – We hope you’ve been enjoying trying out all different kinds of improvisations each week with your instruments at home. Continue to build off of last week’s improvisation exercise. Start again with Play and Play as a warm up. Use body percussion (clapping, tapping your knees, stomping etc.) or shakers if you have them in the house. Now add our upbeat percussive version of Row Row Row Your Boat! Can you keep the beat? Does it make you want to shake presto or shake lento? Shake forte or piano? We hope you enjoy trying this at home and seeing what new skills develop in the process!

Movement Game – In class, part of our musicianship time is spent on learning and embodying different sets of musical opposites. 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). Play these new audio recordings for your child to move around the house to the music. For Forte/Piano stomp when it is forte (loud) and tip toe when the music is piano (soft). For Staccato/Legato try jumping for the choppy parts and flying for the smooth and connected parts! Piece #1: Forte/Piano – Gershwin; Piece #2: Staccato/Legato – The Beatles

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 of Take the A Train by EC Pianist Eri Yamamoto to spark a discussion at home.

Sing Along Song – Let’s practice with a teacher first; listen and sing along to Sansa Kroma with Marissa. Now, try it on your own, with just the piano accompaniment: Sansa Kroma accompaniment.

Listening & Playing Exercise – Learn about Samba beats! Sherrine builds off of our knowledge of Bossa Nova, and introduces the Samba this week! Grab your shakers and play along with her as she sings One Note Samba. Is it presto or lento? Forte or piano?

Lullaby – Toora Loora is a cherished Irish lullaby. We hope you enjoy Luisa’s beautiful version this week, she not only sings but also plays her recorder!

Movement Exercise – This week we hope you enjoy Oren’s Guitar version of Liza Jane. We also recorded a version of this folk classic. Try moving with your child to both versions. How are they the same? How are they different? Does your child like one more than the other?