Major and Minor

October is a great month to talk about minor music, with the dark evenings, cooler temperatures, and the falling leaves twirling about.   Major keys, just like the Major Leagues in baseball, are much more important in the musical world, but minor keys have their place! Songs in minor keys have a sound of sad, unsettled, or even a little spooky. A great example of a minor piece is Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata in D Minor" for organ.  Look it up as a family and set the mood for October! 

Third graders worked very hard on an Orff arrangement of a song called "Pass the Pumpkin."  This is a minor key song, so the "spooky" sound is from the musical tonalities.  They played a passing game and added players to the instruments.  Here are two videos of a third grade class playing and singing!  Again, they are accompanying themselves with the instruments as they sing.  Oh yes, and everyone in the class got to play every part!  With the Orff process, everyone learns every thing.  Enjoy!

Naughty Kitty

In Kindergarten, we have been exploring our singing voice and also various percussion instruments.  Last week, we learned a song about a "naughty kitty."  The words are: 

Naughty kitty cat, 

You are very fat. 

You have butter on your whiskers, 

Naughty kitty cat--SCAT!

The Grand Old Duke of York

Second graders have enjoyed learning about their singing voices.  The beginning of the month, we worked on a "silly song" called "The Grand Old Duke of York."  He was in charge of some military men and made them participate in various training endeavors.  We also experimented performing this song with various tempos--or speeds.  Below is a video of a 2nd grade class performing the song with the zany motions added in!  

Making Our Own Music

In 3rd grade we are diving into the Orff instruments.  Orff-Schulwerk is a music education method that emphasizes singing, movement, and instrumental playing.  We are blessed to have a huge assortment of these wonderful instruments at FPD!  We started the beginning of October with an American folk song called "Tideo."  First, we learned the song, then we added movements to key words.  Finally, we replaced the movements with instrumental parts.  At the end of the process (over two class periods), the students were able to sing and play all the parts themselves.  I pointed out that I was not helping--I was not playing piano for the accompaniment, there was no CD playing, it was all them.  The Orff process of singing and playing music definitely requires higher order thinking skills--for the students and for the teacher!  Below are two performances from the same class.  Notice that the students switch parts in each video.  In the Orff process, everyone learns every part! 

Rhythm and Dinosaurs

Can you believe that we are already in week 7 of the school year?  Or, that Thanksgiving is only 8 weeks away?  Wow!  Time is flying :) 

We are busy in the music room as well!  The 3rd grade spent two weeks learning a poem called "Dinosaur Zoo" with a rhythmic ostinato.  We learned that an ostinato is a rhythm pattern that repeats over and over and over.  We put both parts together, first with words, and then with instruments.   Below are two videos of the process.  Video one shows the words and body percussion.  Video two shows the words removed and played on rhythm sticks and frame drums.

Video #1--Voices and Body Percussion

Video #2--Words transferred to instruments

A Busy Week in the Music Room

We are in week 5 of the school year and are moving along.  The music classes are talking about rhythm, singing voice, and playing instruments this week.  Here are a few of the highlights! 

The Wee Vikings (3K)

The Wee Vikings were so excited to get to use their first instruments this week!  We played a few rhythm games with the Boomwhackers.  Boomwhackers are plastic, tuned tubes.  They can be played on a hand, a knee, the floor, and even a head.  Each color of tube is a different pitch, giving us lots of opportunities for playing them in class.  

Holding the Boomwhackers in the air!

Keeping the steady beat

Moving with the Music

In 2nd grade this week, we are working on a folk dance to the song "Seven Jumps."  This song is from Denmark.  The "jumps" are different chords that are held for different amounts of time.  Since the lengths of the notes are always different, it makes for some interesting dancing.  Here is a video of a 2nd grade class doing the "Seven Jumps" dance this week!

Downtown!

The FPD Downtown Crew!

I have the privilege of teaching the students at the FPD Downtown Campus twice a month on Thursdays.  Today was my first day, and oh my, what a great place to be!  If you have not had a chance to visit down there, I would highly suggest it.  The building is beautiful and Ms. Harris and Ms. Lucas are wonderful.  We even have our own music room to be in.  

Since this campus is still young, I see everyone in the school at the same time!  There are 13 kids, from 3K-Kindergarten downtown.  They really have a great time together, and I can tell they learn a lot from each other.  Today, we did the ever-popular "Finger Dance," danced with my friend "Jump Jim Joe," and even had a chance to rock out with Pete the Cat.  

I look forward to getting to know these children and bringing music class to FPD Downtown!

Mrs. Krejci