First Concert in the Park of the year filled with good cheer!

Last night the Orff and Recorder ensembles were joined by Kids KOR Hip Hop and Tap & Movement classes, Music Mania and Saran Richard and the Tech TAs for full concert of the year. The mixing of new and old friends is something we try to do and it always makes for a very interesting evening. The ensembles, of course, were awesome! Here's a sample.

5th Grade Week 9 - Listening to Our Music

The last two weeks of fifth grade music where we listen to and play along with fifth grade compositions are always one of the high points of my year. The kids who have completed their composition project get to here their music played back on the big screen while they and their fellow composers are encouraged to "sweeten" the sound by playing along live. This is followed by an aesthetic evaluation of each piece by the other students.

One of the limitations of the Orff approach is that it doesn't always give students a chance to apply the musical skills they are developing through play. As they leave Third Street I want the fifth graders have some knowledge of how what they've learned fits with the traditional musical skills they will need in middle school and beyond.

3rd Grade Week 9 - "Come Let Us Gather"

This week third graders learned about canons, which are also called "rounds." This is where everybody performs the same melody line, but in staggered starts, to produce a richer, more textural sound, that also contains a bit a challenge. "Row Row Row Your Boat," and "Frere Jacques" are probably the best know examples. Canon's a great way to teach kids to focus on part singing, harmony, and, most importantly, sight reading. And as the kids discovered canons can include movement, instrumental music, singing or all three. The canon I like to use, "Come Let Us Gather," is a good one for musicians at this stage as it not only contains a run of all the notes we have learned so far, but has a Thanksgiving theme that hopefully put everyone in a holiday mood. The kids rocked on it!

5th Grade Week 7 & 8 - Adding Color and Drums

The last weeks in fifth grade music we have continued to work on our composition projects, adding two more parts -- a color part which provided a splash of musical contrast and and a drum part which holds the whole piece together. As always our existing melody is an excellent source of inspiration when it comes to rhythmic and melodic ideas. The French holiday tune, "Pat-a-pan" which the kids are using the frame drums to perform in the picture above, illustrated the use of drums and color to accompany melody -- and hopefully put everybody in a holiday mood.

Homework: Finish your compositions!

Recorder Ensemble - "Ode to Joy" - complete

Here's "Ode to Joy" in its entirety played at performance speed.

Recorder Ensemble - "Ode to Joy" - 3rd line

Here is the third line (measures 9-12) of "Ode to Joy." The fingering is tricky so take your time!

Recorder Ensemble - "Ode to Joy" - 2nd line (practice speed)

Here's the second line of "Ode to Joy." Notice that it is almost the same as the first -- and as you will see, it is exactly the same as the last.