Tuesday, September 17, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #4

Next week is PARENT WEEK and tuition is due for those of you paying monthly! You can scan the QR code to the right in your banking app to pay via Zelle (or just use my phone number).

This week we practiced drawing our treble clef by making a long skinny "J" that starts above the staff and goes below the staff. Then we pick up our pencil and start at the same place again and draw a "D" that meets the straight line from the "J" at the 4th staff line. We continue the line from the "D" with a "schwoop" that circles around the 2nd staff line. If your child wants to practice drawing these, please be sure they are doing them correctly!

We'll be adding new note flashcards next week, so now's the time to make sure your student really has a handle on the treble clef space notes. It will be much easier for them to learn the new notes if they're already really good at identifying the old ones.  
   
Celebrate Connection

• Have the parent do the flashcards as fast as possible, then switch!
• Sing "Our Bugs Are So Fun" facing your child and touching fingers together for how many beats each note and rest gets.

Alouette
This song is jam packed with opportunities for musical development. We will further develop our sight reading skills (playing something we have never seen before), stretch our experience with playing intervals, encounter rhythmic reading and learn more about the classical ABA (ternary) form with our fingers instead of JUST our ears. And you thought it was just a fun song you remember singing as a kid, huh? 

We also learned about the repeat sign this week and how it makes us 'repeat' something in the music. Here's a fun dance you could do with your child to help them remember to 'dot dot do it again.'
 

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 10, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #3

By the time the children are in 3rd year, they begin to pick up on different skills at different times. You can help your child the most by practicing the skills they are less sure on FIRST, then have them end with those things they are more confident in.

The parent note in the homework book will remind you to add the flat, sharp and natural signs to your flashcards. While you are at it, be sure to ask your child to show you a flat, sharp or natural with their bodies and voices! (Ask them to tell you the bicycle story too!)

For our theory homework this week, this activity will be much more beneficial by color coding (use any colors you wish), rather than drawing lines from the notes to the keys:   Celebrate Connection

• Stand on one foot while your parent plays a song, then switch!
• Play "air piano" style by playing on the piano cover or with the keyboard off.

Flat, Sharp and Natural Game
We won't just learn the names of these terms and how they work, we use our bodies and our voices to truly internalize and understand how each of these terms can affect any of our regular music alphabet white keys.
   
Our Bugs Are So Fun
Your student is now ready to recognize rhythm notation using 'real' note names and counting terms. This song will help keep that fun! Reading the lyrics while listening can help them learn the words faster! 

Get inspired from one of the very first Let's Play Music graduates! She graduated from her 3rd year of Let's Play Music back in 2001 , and look at her 12 years later!
 

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 | 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, August 27, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons

Lesson #1

Welcome back from summer! I'm so excited to begin our 3rd and final Year: Piano Skills! 

This is the practice process for this year: Here at the beginning, practice only needs to take as little as 5 to 10 minutes, 5 times a week! The goal is let your child get the idea that sitting at the keyboard is brief and pleasant. Be sure flashcards are done EVERY DAY. (Flashcards should take less than 30 seconds each day this first week.) The first time you go through them, use only the first section (Middle C, B, & D). Then add the F-A-C-E cards for the rest of the week.

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.

Check out page 14 of your homework booklet to see tips for practicing the fun 3rd Year repertoire!       
        
Your child has likely grown since last year! Please text or email me a picture of your child sitting at the piano with proper posture. This year it is more important than ever to be practicing proper technique, which starts with proper posture!

Scale Out and In

Tuition is due this week and is $280 for the Purple Magic 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 he knows -- 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.

Music Alphabet

This is the concept that will need the most review. The chords and scales will likely come back very quickly, but this concept needs a little daily attention. Have them sit with their child and do a quick (10 second) review each day this week. Ask the child to point to a D, then a B, etc. Daily short review will bring this all back.

Treble, Bass, Line and Space

Time to learn all the note names on the staff! This song also teaches countermelody ( a secondary melody played against a primary melody) and helps your student sing in 4 part harmony. Remember that flashcards should be practiced DAILY. Add the treble

space note cards to the flashcards you will practice this week. Keep all other notes banded with the rubber band. These are off limits!

Bounce and Roll

Complete musicianship is more than knowing WHICH notes to play. We are now ready to add another dimension of HOW to play the notes. This song allows us to 'physically' know and understand the articulations of staccato and legato. Articulation refers to the musical performance technique that affects the transition or continuity on a single note, or between multiple notes or sounds. 

As you start out this year, check out this practice tip from our Let's Play Music Blog. Here's a little 'practice humor' for you as well!

I've added the Royal Problem Coloring book for you to download. Log in at www.musikandme.com and you can download, print and let your child color the characters as you discuss their favorite part about the puppet show! (Can you hear the characters that you are 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 :)