Second Grade Week 2 -- Rhythm vs. Beat

Today the second graders extended their understanding of the relationship between beat -- the underlying pulse in music that keeps music organized -- and rhythm -- the sequence of long and short notes and spaces in between. Using the Ta/Ta-Te wall (pictured with yours truly) and boom whackers the students learned how to read and perform different musical lines at the same time -- great fun and very noisy!

Homework -- complete Ta/Ta-Te worksheet

Kindergarten Week 2 -- Shakers and Patterns

This week in Kindergarten music the students completed the shakers we made last week and compared them with other shaker instruments from around the world. We also talked about patterns as they apply to music -- not just the visual patterns on the instruments themselves, but the way patterns are used to organize music.

We also used the shakers to perform a cool train song from Zimbabwe, "Mbombera." And the shakers weren't our only accompaniment. Check out Mr. Adams sitting in on xylophone!

"Zuni Song"

Here's a recording of "Zuni Song" by R. Carlos Nakai. Give it a listen as we'll be working on it next week.

Zuni Song Exercise

Recorder Cats -- this week I also want you to practice making the high E you will need to play "Zuni Song." Listen to the exercise and follow this instructions. Remember -- the more times you repeat it, the better you will play it.

"Shepherd's Hey" - Soprano B part

And here's the B section. The last two measures are the same as Part A, while the first two measure go B-G-C, B-G-A. Try it.

"Shepherd's Hey" - Soprano A part

Recorder Cats -- here's the first part of our new song. It is a very simple pattern with two parts that are each repeated twice. The notes here in part A are B-D-C, B-D-A, B-D-C-B-C, D-A-G.

Week One Second Grade -- Introduction to Rhythm

Music began for second grade on Thursday this week. The emphasis in the second grade in on rhythm and beat. Today we began to learn about durational values of long short and notes and number of beats per measure -- the key to keeping music organized so that it can be played together.

Here the kids are experimenting with composing rhythm pieces using chopstick on paper.