Tuesday, December 10, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #14

Lesson #15 (next week) is STATION DAY! We will have different stations set up to play games and show off what the kids know. You will get to see just how much your child has learned this semester! It is a PARENT DAY and you won't want to miss it! One of the stations is a photo booth, so have your child wear their LPM t-shirt!

This week in class we took a Theory Quiz so the kids can show you just some of the awesome things we have learned this semester. You'll get to see it next week at STATION DAY! 

 Celebrate Connection

• Play the RH part with your LH. Then try the LH part with your RH!
• Play a song with a metronome set at 60, then 80!

Skaters
Like our previous puppet show, Skaters (Banditen Galopp by Johann Strauss) has 2 distinct sections and follows the classic ABA form. Listen for the Main Theme (A section-skaters/fallers) and the Lyric Theme (B section- specifically the girl who never falls). There is also a repeat at the end of the B section. (“Dot-dot-do-it-again.”) 

Here is a full orchestra performing our Skaters puppet show live!

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, December 3, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #13

Thank you parents for coming to class this week! Your ongoing support is very appreciated. Class is so much fun with you here! (Just a reminder, parents will also attend in 2 weeks on lesson #15 for Celebration Day!)

If you are paying monthly, tuition is due THIS WEEK. 

The students are coming along fabulously with their playing! If you feel that your child is struggling with something in particular, feel free to focus on that more than the things they are already good at. Just be sure to end with something they do really shine at!

Next week I'd like your child to play their favorite variation of "Twinkle Twinkle" for Showtime. OR if the would like to create their own variation, I'd love to hear it! Here is a video of a Let's Play Music graduate playing their own 'snazzy' variation of Twinkle Twinkle!

 Celebrate Connection

• Have your parent sing while you play, then trade places. Now both sing together!
• Perform a song for a neighbor or a friend!

Let's Play Music
As we do dictation and the children are writing what they hear, it is not the time to correct your children—look for the good they are doing. It will take time and lots of practice to build dictation mastery. They are not being graded by having it perfect, but the goal is that they understand just a little more than they did the time before!

Away in a Manger
This repertoire piece is a fun one - using both hands in the treble clef. It's kind of a bonus song along with Jingle Bells. We will show off that we understand the skills in class, but don't forget these fun songs and keep working on them over the semester break.

Transposing Jingle Bells (Homework)

With the holidays approaching here is a Gift-Buying Guide for Musical Kids

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, November 19, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #12

Next week parents attend and tuition is due for those making monthly payments! (Last one this semester!) 

When playing in the key of F, we can't forget the B-flat! There is an exercise at the top of page 21 in your songbook that will help the kids to remember to play the B-flat when they are in the key of F. Playing this quick exercise before any song in the key of F will help them remember that B-flat any time it comes up in a song. Have them try it both legato and staccato!

This week in class we took melodic dictation in the key of F Major! I played a Mi-Re-Do and the kids drew the notes in that matched what I played.

Please send a text, email, or Marco Polo video of your child playing "Turkey in the Straw" this week! Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect... I'm just looking to be sure they understand the concepts we have been learning.

Celebrate Connection

• Tap the rhythm of your RH while tapping the rhythm of your LH on the keyboard cover (Or just tap one hand if the song is hands alone).
• Pick a measure to play, then close your book and try it from memory.

Jingle Bells
Our fun Holiday song gave us a chance to add chords to a melody. Just like learning any new language, after you speak it, you learn to write it. Once our fingers get comfortable with playing it we will have another opportunity to transpose from C Major to F Major!

By being consistent and modeling positive reinforcement you can have great success with your at-home practice! Your child will naturally follow what their environment gives them. The incredible paradox is that as you help your child, you can grow too! Here are some video practice tips from a fellow Let's Play Music parent to help remind you of some at home practice Do's and Don'ts!

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, November 12, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #11

When playing in the key of F, we can't forget the B-flat! There is an exercise at the top of page 21 in your songbook that will help the kids to remember to play the B-flat when they are in the key of F. Playing this quick exercise before any song in the key of F will help them remember that B-flat any time it comes up in a song. Have them try it both legato and staccato!

In class we started taking melodic dictation. I played a few musical notes, and the students had to listen and figure out what they were hearing, then decode how it should be written. We will continue developing this aural perception skill throughout the rest of the school year. 

Please send a Marco Polo video of your child playing "Song of Joy" this week! Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect... I'm just looking to be sure they understand the concepts we have been learning.

Celebrate Connection

• Play "Freeze ad Thaw" - Parent or child will say "start". Child will play until parent randomly says "freeze". Child will freeze until parent says "thaw". Then trade places.
• Play your chords with a small washcloth or towel over your hands. Can you do it without peeking? Use your ears to tell you if you are playing the right notes. Make sure you always use the right fingers for each chord!

Turkey in the Straw
This repertoire piece will have us playing the melody in the right hand and NOW the left hand as well. It will also give us another opportunity to practice our transposing. Your student is doing some pretty impressive stuff!!!

F Major Cadence  Broken

Jingle Bells Chords (Homework)

There's more than one way to write a classic! Check out this funny video of making a variation of "Twinkle Twinkle" by Don Music!

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, November 5, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #10

Thank you to those of you who sent Marco Polo, text or email videos of your Showtime songs. It helps class get started much faster if I don't have to hear each student play during class time. It's not too late to send a video of any/all of the Showtime songs we have done so far, if you haven't already. Even if I heard them during class, it's still fun to see them play and to be able to compliment their progress.

We discovered that the reason playing a scale with both hands together is so tricky is because the "pop" comes at different times on each hand. It is perfectly fine to practice one hand at a time a few times to get a feel for it before putting them together. 

Finding F from C is as easy as singing "DO, RE, MI, FA" and then we know where F is! If C is DO, then F is FA! (I've demonstrated this frequently with no extensive explanation as we prepare to sing "Let's Play Music" at the beginning of class!)

Celebrate Connection

• Close your eyes and run your finger over your music then stop and open your eyes. Start from wherever your finger landed and play through to the end.
• Blink each time you play a chord. Then the parent can blink whenever they hear a chord!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
This familiar childhood song is a great way to learn about theme and variation. You can still hear the main theme in each of the variations, it is just sort of disguised in different ways each time. As we continue to study this song throughout the semester we will discover that it is ALSO written in our classical ABA form, and will help our fingers play in an extended C position. 

C Major Scale hands together

Thanksgiving will be here before you know it. Our Let's Play Music Blog has some fun ideas for a few Turkey extras your whole family can enjoy! Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is one of the most popular English nursery rhymes. It combines the tune of the 1761 French melody "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" with an English poem, "The Star", by Jane Taylor.
    
It is often thought that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the original writer of this melody. Reinforced by its appearance as a "correct answer" in the original edition of Trivial Pursuit and "Snapple Facts" (among others), many believe that the song was written by Mozart when he was four or five years old. Mozart was this age at the time the original French melody was written. Much later in his life, he did write a lot of variations on the original theme-- which we hear on our CD! I told the kids I'd give them a special treat if they can tell me exactly how many variations there are! They will need to listen to their music to find out! 

Check out this parrot singing his OWN variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!

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 :)