Wednesday, September 4, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #2

All Sound Beginnings classes provide an opportunity not only for you to have fun with your child, but to also bond with them. As you participate in the purposeful activities, make eye contact with, and dance along with with your child, you are nurturing a stronger relationship with them!

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Name, Name, What's Your Name?
• The Four Seasons
• Fall Is Here
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• The Teddy Bears' Picnic
• Mulberry Bush
• Going to the Zoo
• Grizzly Bear
• Weather Dance

This semester your student will be introduced to the major scale. The major scale is arguably the most important scale in western music as it influences melodic structure and provides the basis for naming the notes of the chords in a piece of music. Sound Beginnings students have the opportunity to internalize the sound and structure of a major scale before more formal music instruction begins.

The most important word to children is their own name. The meaning and value it has makes this a great place to start when teaching them to read.

Physical touch with a caregiver during finger plays and rhymes strengthens relationships through play.

Optional home fun activity: Color the bells on page 9 of your workbook      
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here is a video with some fun facts about brown bears! (The real ones, not teddy bears!)

Sound Beginnings is education through musical play! It prepares children for success in Kindergarten and Let’s Play Music. Sound beginnings provides research-based elements that stimulate growth in the areas particularly crucial to the development of the young child. These elements make up the foundation of the Sound Beginnings curriculum.  Here is just one:
	Sound Beginnings channels the young voice into beautiful, in-tune singing by providing proper vocal modeling in the correct range. Solfege hand signs teach pitch relationships; the minor 3rd (SOL-MI) pattern is used to develop in-tune singing and pitch matching.

Have a musical day!    
-Ms. Bethany :)

Tuesday, September 3, 2024 | Bridge Lessons

Tuesday, September 3, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #2

Quick reminder: be sure flashcards are done EVERY DAY. (Flashcards should take less than 30 seconds each day this week.) You should be practicing Middle C, B, & D and F-A-C-E cards.

Today we began "dictation" at the beginning of class. In many of our classes, we will practice listening and writing skills. Your children have been instructed to stay outside the keyboard room if they arrive late, as we would like absolute silence while we go through the activity. They will be invited in when we are finished with that part. Please have your children be on time so they don't miss these valuable exercises!

Remember that listening to the class music often is part of the weekly practice assignment and will enhance your child's learning process: Listen, listen, listen to the music. The lyrics will teach the kids the musical skills we're working on. If you need help getting the Let's Play Music app to work, start here. (Remember, you will use the same login information you used when you registered for class.)  
   
Celebrate Connection

• Number the Let's Play Music patterns. Roll one dice and play the pattern that you roll. (6 can be your choice!)
• Run across the room and give Mom or Dad a hug or high five (or hip bump) after you finish each song.

Caterpillar Cousins
Our old favorite caterpillar is BACK to help our finger strength, coordination, and dexterity! This time we are asking even MORE out of your little musician by requiring their hands to play in parallel motion. Please have your child try to "glue" their fingers to the keys for this exercise so they can develop good technique!
   
Bounce and Roll
Our first repertoire piece will have your child sight reading and playing hands together. It will also teach us how to accurately execute and recognize the articulation markings for staccato and legato that we experienced physically last week! 

A little Staccato and Legato humor for you!

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, September 3, 2024 | Red Balloons Lessons

Lesson #2

Parents come next week! Don't forget your tote bag, bells, and home fun activity book! Also, be sure to initial that you did the home fun activities with your child so they can get a sticker or stamp in their book! As a reminder, the home activity you do each week is the one for the lesson we just did in class. So this week you will be doing #2 in your book. 

What a fun 2nd week we had! Your students are amazing!! They were so brave to go to class without their mom or dad. We are looking forward to our  parents coming this next week. ( Reminder ...if you can’t come, please send your child anyway. It would be ideal if you found a replacement, i.e. grandmas, grandpas, aunts, etc.)

PLEASE be sure that you and your child are able to absorb all of this amazing curriculum by coming to class on time, which means we START at the time your class is scheduled to start. My sign is on the door 5 minutes before class starts, which means I’m ready for you to come in and come downstairs! 

Hear How the Bells
We are teaching your student to hear harmony by using the singing part and combining it with the bell part. Singing solo doesn't develop the ear like singing with counter parts. The opposition to the melody trains the ear in beautiful ways! This song is the powerful beginning to singing in four part harmony!   

Three Blind Mice
We are helping the kids to "audiate" a melody. Audiate means to hear music 'inside' when there is no sound actually present. We must be able to hear music first in our heads before we learn to sing in harmony, perform different rhythms, play the correct chords, compose a song, etc. It is a vital piece to our developing a complete musician!
   
Major Scales
Today we introduced the term "major scale." We learned this term as we sang our DO RE MI song! The kids heard a major scale go up and down, it's just the beginning of understanding that every piece has a correlating key signature and scale, music theory 101 started today and it was accomplished through PLAY!

Click HERE to read part 1 of the Master Ear-Training Tool!

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 :)

Thursday, August 29, 2024 | Green Turtle Shells Lessons

Lesson #1

Welcome back from summer! I'm so excited to begin 2nd Year: Keyboard Time!    

This is the practice process for this year: Here at the beginning, practice only needs to take as little as 2 to 5 minutes, 5 times a week! The goal is let your child get the idea that sitting at the keyboard is brief and pleasant.

Remember that listening to the class music often is part of the weekly practice assignment and will enhance your child's learning process: Listen, Listen, Listen to the music. If you need help getting the Let's Play Music app to work, start here. Remember, you will use the same login information you used when you registered for class.    
     
Remember to text or email me a picture of your child sitting at the piano with proper posture.

Tuition is due today and is $280 for the Green Turtle Shells semester. You can pay via Zelle using my phone number (preferred, so I don't have to pay Venmo transaction fees). Zelle is a way to transfer money from your bank account to my bank account without needing to wait or pay extra fees. It's easy to set up through your bank and even easier to use once it has been set up. You could pay via Venmo @musikandme if you really can't set up Zelle. If you need to make monthly payments, rather than paying for the semester, it will be $75/month. (You will save $20 by paying for the semester up front!) 

Celebrate Connection
Think of ways you can focus on making practice time as fun as possible – give your child warm, friendly eye contact, smile with your voice, be a little silly, show you are relaxed and happy to sit with your child, and look for the good in your child's effort. Notice the joy in your child's eyes. Verbalize the good you see and hug your child often. This is the beginning of the practice relationship that will be essential to your child's success in Let's Play Music. The more you invest your energy into positive interaction, the more solid and successful this habit will become.    
     
After doing your assignment for class, allow your child to fool around and experiment if he wants to, and play a song you know -- no matter how simple. This can be done anytime or multiple times throughout the week. Model joy as you play the piano. If you make a mistake, smile and show that you are relaxed and enjoy trying again to fix the mistake. Celebrate your effort to give him the idea his efforts are something to enjoy and celebrate.

DO is Home
Just a reminder to put one RED STICKER on Middle C (Do is Home) this week on your piano or keyboard. See the graphic below for clarification. If you are still unsure which note is Middle C, please let me know! It should sound just like the large red bell in your bell kit. Each practice time should begin with THINKING OF middle C, then SINGING it, then PLAYING it! This will continue to strengthen the goal for each student to acquire relative pitch.

Kit Kat Keyboard

The first thing we will focus on is the black keys. The first verse of this song emphasizes the black keys in groups of 2 and 3. The white keys for now, are just the background to the ‘picture’ of the black keys. Dividing the keyboard this way helps build 'keyboard geography' in our minds: a mental image formed from visual conclusions. As we look, study, and play at the keyboard, a mental map is formed. Use the entire hand to see, feel, and hear the black keys! It’s important to remind students to say out loud “2” and “3” as they practice. The more senses we use at once, the easier it is to retain and recall information. 

Bubble Hands

The 1st verse of this song is all about proper posture for piano playing. Be sure to begin each session of practice with this song. It will get easier the more your child does it.

The second verse is all about proper finger shape. Practice with the bubble to build finger strength and good form. Finger numbers will be emphasized more next week, so don't worry about the 3rd verse yet. For now make sure their elbows are close together and their fingers are aligned with each other, spread apart and not overlapping. The technique that happens in class is important, but reinforcing it at home is even more influential! Please send me a picture of your child sitting at the piano with proper posture this week.  

Spring Bees

We have a new fun puppet show! You and your child can also perform it at home when you download the coloring pages! Log in to your student portal, go to the downloads section, print them out, and turn on "Spring Bees" and have your child listen while they color. If you'd like to laminate the puppets and put them on sticks, I have a laminator and I only charge barely more than the cost of the laminating sheets.

We're so excited to have our parents participate in class with us! Check out some terrific ideas to make the best of your Let's Play Music experience in the classroom and at home with your child!

Also, I've added the Spring Bees Coloring book for you to download. Log in at www.musikandme.com and you can download and print these two pages out and let your child color the characters as you discuss their favorite part about the puppet show! (Don't forget to listen to the music while coloring!)

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 :)