Thursday, February 20, 2025 | Yellow Arrows Lessons

Lesson #7

I am so happy with the progress of class! One thing I would love them to focus on this week is doing the Alphabet Pieces Game consistently. I know it doesn’t seem like a very important activity BUT, the 3rd year students who do not do it consistently, struggle to know their keys. Here is a link to some fun ideas to make it more enjoyable! We will be doing races in class to help them get faster at naming the notes and I want everyone to feel successful. (More fun ideas at the end of this email...keep reading!)

Is your child starting to fight you on practice time? Here is a post about motivation and a focus on your child's learning style to make practice time more cooperative and enjoyable. Don't forget, we're trying to get ONE tally mark for each activity EACH DAY for FIVE DAYS. This will help your child to really understand and master the concepts taught that week. 

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

Celebrate Connection

A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Alphabet Race:
  Have your child take one alphabet piece from the bag and quickly set it on the correct white key. Continue until the bag is empty! Time yourself and see if you can beat yesterday's time. For students who struggle, have the student look at the picture (key-group diagram) in the back of the Yellow Songbook and form his own visual conclusion.
  
  
• Take a Second:
  Have your child choose two alphabet pieces and place them on the keyboard. Identify what interval they make, and play the interval. If it's anything other than a 2nd, play again! The game ends when you take a second to make a 2nd.
  
  
• Go Fish:
  Each player starts with 3 alphabet tiles hidden in his hand. Try to make matches by asking the other player: "Do you have a..." then PLAY the note on the piano to make your request. If you end up with an empty hand, draw 3 more tiles. Keep playing until the tiles are all gone, and see who got more matches.

Melodic Patterns
When learning to play melodic patterns: 

1. Play all 5 in Middle C Position. 
2. Play at separate times. The clef tells which hand will play. Treble Clef is RH and these patterns go DOWN. Bass Clef is LH and these patterns go UP. 
3. What are the notes telling you to play? Steps, skips, or leaps? They ALL end on Middle C.     
   

I am Robin Hood
This theme song is significant because it is the first song we play hands together with each hand playing independently. In class we learned to play the melody with the right hand. Place your RH thumb (1) on Middle C, 2nd finger on Middle D, and the 3rd finger on the black note above Middle D. And then play in the rhythm of BUG-BUG-BEETLE-BUG, BEETLE-BEETLE-SLUG. Practice hands separately this week. We will put it all together soon!     

Lullaby and Goodnight
Did you know that we can make a song sound different by changing a block chord to a broken chord? It’s time to break all of the chords in Lullaby and Goodnight. Stylizing the block chords to broken will change the mood of this song into a calm, peaceful lullaby. Played piano (find the p under the music) with broken chords this lullaby will be sure to put you to sleep! 

Are you ready for spring to come? Let It (Winter) Go is a cool piece to play now that our students are warmed up with all of the chords in right and left hand.  

If your child is really into learning things digitally, I found a very simple app (FREE with NO ADS!) that quizzes them on the piano keys. I believe it's only available for Apple devices though. (I haven't tried finding it on Android yet.) It's called Bees Keys. Time your child to see how fast they can get all 7 letters, then see if they can beat that time! Have them look at the letter diagram in the back of their book if they don't know it. Remember, we're not teaching them to count up from C, but teaching them to know the letters by just looking at the keyboard. It will be way faster in the long run!

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 :)