Tuesday, October 8, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #7

Thank you for having your children listen to the soundtrack at home! It is so wonderful to have the kids able to sing along in class when we are learning new concepts. Knowing the songs before they know what we're doing with them really helps them to be able to make that connection solid when I explain and demonstrate the songs in class (especially our "Magic Keys" song)!

Please have you child practice and send me a Marco Polo (or text or email video) for the Showtime song "Alouette" this week. I will mainly be checking to see if they know their intervals in the left hand, if they know what to do when they see the repeat sign and where to end the song. It is so much less intimidating for the kids to do it at home, rather than to be put on the spot in class. Also, if there's something your child has been able to play well that they are extremely proud of, I'd love for you to send me a video of it, either Marco Polo or just text (if it is short enough to go through). 

We learned the direction of note stems this week: if it's below the 3rd line, the stem points up, but once it gets on the 3rd line or above, the stem points down. It works the same way in both treble and bass clefs.

We learned about 3/4 time and that it sounds like "lol-ly-pop" (pat, clap, snap) instead of "wa-ter-mel-on" (pat, clap, snap, clap) which is what 4/4 time sounds like.    
     
Celebrate Connection

• Have parent play LH and student play RH in a song, then switch places!
• The parent does 3 jumping jacks each time the student plays a song! Then the student can do 3 jumping jacks when the parent plays a song!

F Major Cadence
How exciting to play our primary chords in a new key! We will learn to strengthen and stretch our fingers in a new way. The fingerings will feel familiar, but we will also need to use our newly acquired knowledge about 'magic keys' as well as our ear training to play our chords correctly.
     
A Royal Problem
Like all of our puppet shows, 'A Royal Problem' (Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor, 3rd movement) aids in the intelligent listening of classical music. We learned to recognize major and minor tonalities, staccato and legato themes, and continued our study of classical ABA (ternary) form. 

F Major Cadence

Note naming on the Treble Clef

Our Royal Problem puppet show is really the 3rd Movement of Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This work has elicited varying interpretations from critics, but the most common perception today is that the symphony is tragic in tone and intensely emotional. Watch a full orchestra performance below. As you watch with your student, ask them to label the A (problem) and B (not a problem) section for you. This will prepare them for their homework next week. 

  

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 :)