Friday, November 1, 2024 | Green Turtle Shells Lessons

Lesson #9

Thank  you, parents for coming to class this week! It is so fun to watch you bonding with your children through music! 

Remember to place the yellow stickers on your keyboard. (See image for placement!) Now that your child can play the yellow chord, there are more songs they are able to learn! Practice time will increase up to 5-10 mins. Adding this chord can be tricky for most students. If you find your child struggling, continue doing the Bubble Hand Exercise to strengthen those little muscles. Our goal is to eventually be able to switch between red and yellow with our eyes closed! If you would like to write finger numbers on the stickers, feel free! Just be sure you have 1, 3, and 5 for the red chord and 1, 2, and 5 for the yellow chord! Also, be sure your child is only moving their thumb and leaving the rest of their fingers on the same keys. This will help them to switch between chords more quickly and easily.

Important: If you have ANY questions about ANY of the things we're working on, PLEASE ask! I know a few of you are experiencing learning these concepts for the first time, right along with your child! So if you don't understand something, PLEASE let me know! You can't help your child with something you are confused about yourself! I'm happy to help! (For real!)
   
Celebrate Connection  
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Sing along in a baby voice.
• Start at the bottom of your assigned song list and work your way back to the top.
• Put a small mirror on your piano music holder and sing to the person in the mirror.

Kit Kat Keyboard
Breaking the keyboard into 2 separate groups will aid the students in creating a mental image in their brains and prevent "counting up." Do not let your student get in the habit of counting up...it's a hard one to break! For now, we are experiencing these groups of 2 and 3 and we will solidify them in Yellow Arrows. Knowing by sight is the goal!

Echo Edna
Edna helps us with our sight reading! We're starting out slowly. Next week, we will introduce the 2nd line. We want the kids to "first LOOK, then THINK, then SING, then PLAY." Going in that order will ensure maximum success the first time they play something. 

Chords in Pieces
Chords in Pieces are simply each block red, yellow or blue chord BROKEN into 3 separate pieces or notes. The 3 notes of each chord can be in any order and they remain the same color chord, just rearranged in different patterns. For example the red chord can be rearranged in pieces of Do-Mi-Sol, Mi-Sol-Do, OR Sol-Do-Mi! All of these arrangements are still the red chord. This is the same for the blue and yellow. 

Though the 3 notes of a chord can be in any order, for simplicity’s sake, the position we are learning throughout 2nd Year is this very common position. Later, we’ll learn the other position of these chords. The great thing is that ALL the chords, whatever position they are in will be in either the snowman, top-heavy, or bottom-heavy position that the children are learning to play now. The shapes are important for knowing which fingers to use! 

Row, Row, Row  
As you’re ROWING along this week, keep a slow and steady beat to really SINK in the Yellow Chord! To prepare to play the Yellow Chord, remind your child aurally and visually that only the thumb (#1) slides over to the next key. All other fingers (2, 3, 4, 5) stay put, lightly resting on the keys. As long as those fingers stay put, the hand has an anchor and the child knows where he is on the keyboard, even without looking. Our goal is to keep all of the fingers in contact with the keys, so they will be ready for quick transitions.  

Bubble Hands  
Going through all the verses of this song make a great warm-up each time your student sits down at the keyboard. This one is best to do WITHOUT the soundtrack so you can double check all the posture elements with the first verse, without rushing through it. Be sure to land the right hand with the thumb on Middle C. Then go through all the finger numbers in order once, singing the note that's being played: "Here I Am. Here I Am." Then randomly call out finger numbers to help them memorize them. This is an invaluable exercise. It reviews finger numbers, and strengthens fingers as well as promotes independent finger movement. As the children play chords and single notes, they most likely will not be able to keep a bubble hand. This is the ideal – the goal to work toward. As long as the child can form bubble hand in C position, we are on the path toward the goal. Good Bubble Hands will help chords to be easier to play!

Hoedown  
Download and print out the fun coloring pages that you can find in your student download portal and turn on "Hoedown" while they color. You can do the mini puppets or the coloring book, or both! (Let me know if you have any trouble downloading these!) 

Practicing rhythms can be fun! I have made my "Rhythm Foods" game available on the student download portal! If you haven't downloaded and played it yet, it's lots of fun! I'd love to hear your experience with this game!

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 :)