Tuesday, March 4, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #9

Thank you, parents for attending this week!

SPIRIT WEEK IS UNDERWAY! Let me know if you need any substitutions for any of the squares. The BINGO card is in the Student Portal, if you lose yours and need to make a copy! As a reminder, some of the drawing prizes are some instruments and an MP3 player that you can put your class music on! 

One of the items on the BINGO card is to leave a Google review. I'm striving for a 5 star rating. If you don't plan to give me 5 stars, please talk to me BEFORE you post a review so I can address any issues you may have. Unfortunately, negative feedback has much more impact than positive feedback does, so please give me the chance to earn 5 stars if I'm not already there. Thanks! Here is the link to post a review on Google: https://g.page/musikandmebethany/review?gm

Bridge is a fun class for Let's Play Music graduates that is a great "bridge" between Let's Play Music classes and private lessons. I will be starting a new Bridge class next year, and will be teaching it as a 2-year program. If you are interested, let me know and I can get you more details.

I just want to remind you of our new puppet show elements that can be incorporated into your student's composition. We have the introduction, which is at the beginning of a piece, the coda, which is at the tail (end) of the piece, and the bridge that leads from one section to another, often when changing keys.

We've been working on our G Major scale this week. Don't forget that the key of G has the F# as the magic key!

Bagatelle Bridges
This repertoire piece has all the elements that we've learned about in our puppet shows! It has an introduction, a CODA (special ending) and it has 2 BRIDGES. We will actually learn the theme in C Major and then we will get to show off our transposingskills to play it in F and G. 

G Major Scale
This is the last of the major scales we will learn during our time in Let's Play Music. All of our scales have taught us finger technique and strength, but also allowed us to understand key signatures and scale compositions. Just as our Magic Keys Song will tell us, Do is G because the F# is a ti-- so don't forget to play that F# on ti!!! 

G Major Scale

A Minor Cadence

Even Disney's Aristocats know how important it is to practice their scales (and arpeggios)!

Also, it's in the book, but you can also download the coloring pages for our new Circus Puppet Show in "Online Resources" when you go to the student portal of my website!

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #8

Parents come next week, tuition is due, and it's SPIRIT MONTH! (See separate email with details.) 

1st Year Registration & Enrollment:

If you have a child you want to go through 1st year and aren't on my waiting list, or you know someone who wants to do Let's Play Music, email back and let me know their name and email address so they can get registered ASAP. After next week I'll open registration up to the general public.

Thank you for sending the Marco Polo videos this week. It really helps us get through more fun things in class when we don't need to take the time for each student to play their song during class. 

We started working on the A minor scale and cadences this week! The best part about A minor is that the scale feels just like playing a C Major scale, with no sharps or flats! We did have to change our solfege words though. A minor scale is DO, RE, ME (pronounced "may"), FA, SOL, LE (pronounced "lay"), TE (pronounced "tay"), DO. Our cadences are almost the same, but when we play the yellow chord, we do have to remember to play the G#!

Our dictation exercise was different today. We had all the same notes, but we had to listen to the rhythm and write the rhythm we heard. We also practiced drawing a bass clef, which is also called the "F clef" because the big dot is on the F line and the two dots are on both sides of the F line.

Next week we will do Showtime as a class with New World Symphony. Have your child practice the part they want to play in class and we'll all play our parts at the same time to make a beautiful ensemble!

Students should now have all orange rhythm flashcards unbanded so they can practice all 16 cards! They can also use Quizlet from my website to practice the same things!

Optional: if you'd like to have your student practice more rhythms in a super fun way, you can print off the orange counting cards. They are in the student portal (www.musikandme.com) in the online resources section. There are 3 sets with 2 pages each. You can print them front-to-back and you'll have the same rhythms with bugs to help on one side and no bugs on the other side!

Russian Sailor Dance
This song is ALWAYS a student favorite. Another great repertoire piece that reinforces ABA form, improvisations, and provides a study in legato and staccato themes. But it's the the accelerando at the end that will have your student BEGGING to practice it all the time! 

a-minor Scale

Russian Sailor Dance

Bridge is a really fun class for Let's Play Music graduates that is a great "bridge" between Let's Play Music classes and private lessons. I will be starting a new Bridge class next year, teaching it as a 2-year program. The kids will learn lots of new songs, scales, musical concepts, and so much more! It is more self-paced than LPM, so it's perfect for if you feel like your child has missed out on some musical concepts or skills in Orange Roots. If you are interested, let me know and I'll get you more information.

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #7

We learned the real names of our chords today! While it seems like most of the kids understood this concept, I'm posting this video to show you parents how we discovered the names during class. Feel free to watch this video on your own or with your child. Since I'm no longer allowed to record my classes, this is another teacher demonstrating what we did in class.

We started playing the blue chord in its inversions today. We used smarties on the keyboards - putting them on middle C, F and A, (which is actually 2nd inversion) and then jumped the first blue counter up to the next octave C - for the root position version of this triad. Remember, the letter names stay the same, the order is just mixed up! Here's a quick demo video to help visualize how this works. Go ahead and try it with your child. Build a blue chord with 3 little erasers or small toys. Then jump the bottom note up to the next same note and keep going!

Showtime is back! While we haven't been playing this in class, your child has been practicing "Cockled and Mussels" at home. Please send me a Marco Polo video or a video text message of your child playing it so I can be sure they understand the concepts we're working on for this song.

Registration for next fall begins IN JUST A COUPLE WEEKS! You’ll want to get your registration complete quickly because classes fill up fast! I want to make sure you have the class time that works best for you. If you have not filled out the survey for when you can do classes next year, PLEASE do that as soon as you can:
https://forms.gle/sTUmc4MuPGf9NBAo7

Have your children continue to practice their recital pieces. Don't forget, it is THEIR composition and if they want to add to it or change anything, they are allowed to do that until lesson #11, when we have our next and final private lesson. You can send me revisions by text or email or send it with your child to class next week. They can use the lined pages in their composition section of their songbook to add extra music, such as a B part, if they so desire.

DO is Home
While finding a pitch (out of thin air) through audiation isn't a new thing for our Let's Play Music student, we are now switching it up. We started to find 'fa' and make F home instead of C and now we will make G home, instead of C and F. We are always doing this relative to Middle C to continually reinforce the sound of Middle C and to teach relative pitch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_pitch
   
Scale Degrees
Actually numbering the steps of the scale as 'scale degrees' is the first step in transitioning out of calling our primary chords by colors. The Red, Blue, and Yellow chords are respectively the I, IV and V chord (we call 'em 1, 4, and 5) and they get their chord names because their root is that numbered scale degree within the scale. 

C Major and F Major Scales

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, February 11, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #6

Wow! What a fun lesson #6. I was blown away with your children's compositions this week! Everyone came to their private lesson with an idea of what they wanted to do. Some even had it notated on their staff pages for me. (Thank you moms!) It was fun dreaming up ideas of what was to come next. Every student felt successful and happy with what they had accomplished.

Please have your child play their piece for you and prepare to be amazed. Our compositions are not finished yet so encourage your child to keep working. Now that we have something on paper, encourage your student to continue practicing their composition and complete whatever notes from me that you see. (i.e. finish filling in the chords or finish notating a melody line etc.) Many of the children have finished their "A section" and now need to focus on writing a contrasting "B section". We will have another private lesson on Lesson 11. Let me know if your child needs a little extra help between now and then. Persuade them to start working on the next part of their song.

Students should continue to add to their compositions. I'd love to see any changes or additions they make. They can write directly on the music I printed for them, or they can make additions in the line section of their songbooks. They can bring it to class or you can send me a picture and I'll get it updated on my computer. You’re on a roll, so don’t stop now!

I am holding free preview classes in a couple weeks. I'd love for you to invite your friends to come check out Let's Play Music! I'm also doing free preview classes for Sound Beginnings for those too young for Let's Play Music. (I know a lot of you have younger children!) I LOVE having experienced families attend my preview classes, so please sign up and invite a friend or two! I offer referral bonuses! 
   
Click here to sign up for a free preview class!

On From the New World, don't forget about the 'blue chord position' and special 'bass C' position that the LH will need to move to on pg. 15 of Part III. Here is a quick video to help with that.

Composition

The composition is the culminating event for your Let's Play Music student! We have been experiencing, internalizing, and now labeling many things over our three year development as a young musician. We will rely on our knowledge of: major and minor, time signatures, chord uses and sounds, ABA song form, staccato and legato, theme and variations, block, broken, and marching chords, and MANY other skills that will help your child as they compose and create their own original composition. We've got a starting point, now I'll encourage implementing more of these musical attributes to really make their composition musical!

Practicing Help (Homework)

Composition Help

Start with melody

Start with rhythm

Start with chords

Watch this video of a young prodigy composer who pulls four musical notes out of hat, improvising and composing a piano sonata in under a minute.     

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, February 4, 2025 | Orange Roots Lessons

Lesson #5

Thank you parents for coming this week! Your participation plays such a big role in your child's success! Don't forget tuition is due for those of you that didn't pay for the semester up front. You can pay through Zelle (using my phone number) or Venmo me (@musikandme). 

Here's a little help with this week's theory assignment. In a major scale, we start numbering each note at 1 and because it begins to repeat after number 7, we go back to 1. This is the same way we go back to DO or C. 

 Even though the students cannot play all three parts of New World at the same time, you (the parent) should be able to play a part or two with them at home. Have fun playing as a family ensemble!
     
This next week I will be meeting with your child in their 1st private lesson to begin creating their composition. We have been working during class to brainstorm ideas we might like to use, and have been encouraging 'tinkering' at the keyboard at home. Please encourage your child to be thinking about a musical question (and maybe an answer) that we could work on together next week. This could be a simple melody or some chords that they have written down, can play, or even just hum. Or if they have specific characters they want in their song, they can write a short melody for each character. This is only the beginning of this process, so I'm not looking for you to send a 'finished' product. Feel free to watch the supplemental videos with your child (links down below). Please send your child with their Orange Roots Songbook so we can look over their Composer's Corner activities together. Thanks!

I'll text the schedule for next week's private lesson.

PLEASE be on time for drop off and pick up! This private lesson is only for the students, but if you need to come stay warm inside, you are welcome to!

Composition

The composition is the culminating event for your Let's Play Music student! We have been experiencing, internalizing, and now labeling many things over our three year development as a young musician. We will rely on our knowledge of : major and minor, time signatures, chord uses and sounds, ABA song form, staccato and legato, theme and variations, block, broken, and marching chords, and MANY other skills that will help your child as they compose and create their own original composition.

Magic Keys

This is our 2nd song to graduate up with us from our purple semester. As we continue to sing (and play this song) we will further expand our understanding of key signatures and note relationships--This is the KEY in transposing music. Our new verse allows us to understand and play in the key of G Major, with our new magic key, F#. 

G Major Cadence

Composition Help

Start with melody

Start with rhythm

Start with chords

Inspiration for composition can come in many ways. Here is a great story about a man who saw birds sitting on telephone wires and it inspired him to create his own composition. Can't wait to see where all of our students get their inspiration from! Excited to meet them all individually next week.
https://vimeo.com/6428069

Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)

Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)