Recorder Lesson 4: Improvisation

Hey Third Graders and Ensemble Players -- lesson 4 focuses on improvisation, that is, creating music on the spot. Most people think that improvisation requires an extensive knowledge of scales and harmony, but in fact cool improvs can be done with as few as 4 notes. Give it a try!

Third Grade Week 3 -- Little Johnny Brown

Today 3rd Grade students learned a 4th note -- E --and began experiment a bit with blues improvisation. Our improvs today centered on dancing (pictured) but next week we will begin to explore original ideas on our recorders. Adding E to G, A and B gives us 4 of the 5 notes of the minor "la" pentatonic, which is at the heart of many blues and rock grooves. In other words, parents, get ready for some recorder shredding!

Homework: Learn "Little Johnny Brown" groove on the worksheet and review video lesson #4

Fifth Grade Week 2 - School Rules

For week 2 in fifth grade music the kids were introduced to the concept of "ostinati." The word is derived from the Italian word for "willful child" -- and refers to the short, repeating rhythmic and melodic ideas that often make up the accompanying parts in polyphonic or polyrhythmic music. As the kids discovered almost any small phrase from the piece "Do Unto Others" pictured here can be broken out and turned into an additional rhythmic part, and those parts can, in turn, be transferred to melodic instruments.

I learned this lesson from my friend and teacher James Harding, and I've taught this lesson the last couple of years with fun results. Next week the kids will develop their own 2 part "school rules" piece and we will construct a little performance out of them. Should be interesting.

Homework: Complete the 5 rest equivalent problems and the puzzle box.

Recorder Lesson 3: Adding the E

Third Graders and Recorder Players -- if you have had a chance to review video lessons 1 and 2 and feel comfortable making B, A and G, you might want to get started on the next note we will be learning -- "E".

Third Grade Week 2 - B-A-G

For our second week of third grade music the students focused B, A, G -- 3 notes that are often taught together because of their proximity to one another and because they can be used to play several well know children's songs including "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Hot Cross Buns." We also worked on articulation. New wind players have a tendency to overblow and to puff rather than use their tongue to interrupt the flow air into the mouth piece. Fortunately spending a little time using the "language of dew" helps fix this.

Homework -- finish your compositions and review lessons 1, 2 and 3 on video.

Fifth Grade Week 1 -- "Hey, You, What?"

Today Fifth Grade music began with the students learning a body percussion piece by Keith Terry entitled "Hey, You, What." The goal for music this year is for all the kids in fifth grade to compose their own original piece, and to do that we need to spend a bit of time on conventional notation. However, as today's exercise demonstrated there are many other valid approaches to creating music. There is nothing better than getting into a good groove and seeing where it takes you.

Homework -- Worksheet #1. Remember to come up with a "school rule" as well as solving the simple notation/fraction problems.

Ensembles Begin!

Today we had our first day of Orff ensemble. I was delighted to see all the new faces! By the end of class the new kids were making some very pretty music. Should be a great year.

If you wish to sign up for the Orff ensemble or recorder ensemble, which meets on Fridays, there is still time. Just fill out the permission form that went home on Friday or down load the one that appears here.