Lesson #15

Thank you so much for attending Station Day! I hope you realize just how much your child has learned this semester. I also hope you were able to see some things that can be worked on over Christmas break. I hope the kids enjoy and use the Christmas songbook they received!

As the name has implied, this semester has been a little slow (like a turtle) purposely to help the children be able to really build a good foundation that will be so important in the next semesters. Yellow Arrows will feel like we are flying through new material (pun intended!), but since we have built a strong foundation, it will be a lot of fun!

Let's Play Music requires all teachers to have their families complete surveys at the end of each semester. If you didn't fill it out on Station Day, please fill it out now! Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZDhU3zg9pM7Gy3EK43ZP5aJhPfI2ISJbCvoPvizqqEfA9Hw/viewform 

A little bit of relaxed daily practice over the break will keep the skills taught over the semester fresh and honed. By Yellow Arrows they should be able to recognize and play all chords in RH with fairly quick and smooth transitions. 

The Christmas Break Challenge is completely optional, but I hope you will help your child keep their skills up over the break! (I put it on the download portal, in case you happen to misplace it!)

Classes begin the first full week of January, same day/time. Lesson #1 of Yellow Arrows is also a Parent Day! Please look carefully at your class calendar in the student portal. (If you still can't access that, please let me know!) I might have a few random weeks I'm taking off, so please be aware of that when importing your calendar to your phones!

Please begin listening to the Yellow Arrows soundtrack! We have a lot of fun songs coming up!

Celebrate Connection     
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Pull out the bells from last year and notice how fun it is to play some of the Green Turtle songs on the bells.
• Any chance you get, have visitors listen to your child play his/her favorite song at the piano and applaud generously! As a family, sing along with the holiday songs.
• Can you collaborate with your child at the piano, a parent duet, someone on the Let's Play Music bells from last year and someone else playing jingle bells or simply singing along? THIS is joy for your child when it is done with emotional safety and celebration!

Holiday Ensemble

Fun ways to incorporate the entire family with a Holiday Sing & Play-a-Long!     

• Student/parent plays chords while everyone sings along. 
• Play chords an octave higher or lower to change the timbre of the song.
• Play as a duet, trio, or quartet. Someone plays melody, others play chords on piano. All Sing!
• Play "Silent Night" p. 18-19 with broken chords. Play each note of the chord separately: Do-Mi-Sol, Do-Fa-La, Ti-Re-Sol. Invite someone else to play the melody an octave higher.
• Invite younger siblings to play rhythm instruments to add variety while piano is playing: jingle bells, tambourines, drums, etc.
• If anyone in your family or friend circle plays any other instruments like guitar, ukulele, violin, cello, etc., have them play along with your child! It is completely exhilarating to have these fun jam sessions!
• Wear a costume while you play.

Be sure to go through the Christmas Break Worksheet! (It's in the Student Download Portal if you lose your printed copy!) Try to do 1-2 activities each day. I've added a fun version of Deck the Halls piano music to your student's download portal to add variety to daily practice and spread Holiday Cheer! 

If you haven't bought the Student Magnet Board and 2nd year Student Magnet Set, consider surprising your musician with these as a gift. They are a great tactile learning tool for reviewing skills and concepts learned in music class.

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)

Lesson #14

Next week is STATION DAY WITH PARENTS! 

This is a wonderful opportunity for your children to show you just how much they have learned during our Green Turtle Shells semester! This is the highlight of the semester, so PLEASE be sure to come enjoy it with them! 

Here's how it will work:

I will have 10 different stations that you and your child rotate through. You can plan to spend about 3-5 minutes at each station and can go in any order. You will be given a checklist to help you go to all the stations. One of the stations is a personal chat with me, and your child will have the opportunity to play their favorite song on my nice piano! I will give out prizes, presents, and a Christmas Break Challenge worksheet (totally optional) that will help your child not get rusty over the break!

Moms, bring your phones and kids wear your LPM shirts! (One of our stations is a "photo booth"!)

Celebrate Connection    
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Play at lightning speed!
• Video record (or voice record) a song and send to your LPM teacher! Can you see how much you have accomplished this semester?!
• Sing along with a Russian accent.

Chord Transitions
Mom, did you know I can play my chords with my eyes shut? The goal is to have their eyes on the music while they are playing as much as possible, with only quick glances at their fingers. With their favorite song, invite them to memorize it and "see" the chords in their minds while they play with their eyes closed.
     
Holiday Songs
The holiday songs in the back of the songbook are great practice to reinforce chord transitions while being entertaining for your student and family. These songs will add cheer to the holidays and festivities and they will help solidify the transition between ALL of the chords in the right hand before we begin Yellow Arrows. Jingle away!

With the holidays approaching here is a Gift Buying Guide  for your budding musician! Consider a gift for your child that will help them in their musical learning. Work on sight reading on the tone bells with the 8 note songbook and 8 note songbook - Christmas edition. Make up your own music using the 8 note PlayPipes. Or reward your musician with a cute sticker from the 2nd Year Sticker Pack.

Lesson #13

Thank you, parents, for coming to class this week! You are an integral part of your child's music education!
       
If you are paying monthly, final tuition is due this week.

Just so you know, Station Day is coming up on Lesson 15. That is also a parent day! A circuit of musical stations will be set up for the kids to rotate through. Each station will review the skills and concepts taught in class. One of the stations will be an 'interview' with me to show you how much your student has accomplished this fall!
       
Just a sneak peak at some of the musical skills and concepts that have been taught during Green Turtle Shells:
       
Skills:

1. Keyboard posture, hand & finger placement
2. Clapping & counting 4 count rhythms using rhythm cards
3. Playing steps and skips from notation
4. Playing primary chords with RH without looking at hand
5. Playing intervals of a 2nd, 3rd, & 4th
6. Playing individual fingers (SFMRD)

Concepts:  

1. Identifying middle C
2. Identifying C & F by playing on keyboard
3. Demonstrates knowledge of finger numbers
4. Identifying bug rhythms
5. Distinguishing steps & skips on staff
6. Identifying primary chords by notation
7. Identifying intervals by notation
8. Identifying melodic patterns by notation

Celebrate Connection       
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Make up a song for 5 minutes at the beginning or end of practice time
• Have a digital piano or keyboard at home? Change the "voice" for every song you play.
• After you've finished all your songs, roll a die and have chocolate chips, raisins, tiny marshmallows, etc. according to the number rolled.

Blue Sky  
Every time the word BLUE is said in this song we play a Blue Chord. Can you make up your own song with the Red, Blue, and Yellow Chord? Every time you or your child sings the color, play the corresponding chord! Check for correct fingerings!   
       
Primary Chord Transitions  
Transitioning between the primary chords should now be somewhat mastered by the RH. Enjoy playing “The Fabulous 5”: a fun game to help your student reinforce chord transitions! Invite your student to play the red and blue chord 5 times back and forth, back and forth (or the red to yellow whatever they need the most to work on.) The only catch is it has to be perfect! No mistakes whatsoever. If they mess up they get to start over. Once they can do this 5 times in a row perfectly, they get a HIGH 5 from you with oodles of fabulous praise!

REMINDER: It is crucial that your child is using correct finger numbers on the chords. The numbers next to the chords in the book are the ones to use WITHOUT EXCEPTION!

Bubble Hands  
This is an invaluable exercise. It reviews finger numbers, and strengthens fingers as well as promotes independent finger movement. Remember that 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.

Bonus Songs  
The appendix of the student songbook contains Frosty the Snowman and Silent Night. We won't play these in class at all, but once the chord transitions are mastered, these songs are so fun and easy to play. They are a great review over the holidays.

Brown Jug  
The Brown Jug game is another fun activity to play at home with a parent or whole family. You just need a playground ball and a little bit of room to roll and catch. It is easier at first to chant "roll, catch" and then begin the song. This is a great way to emphasize how the hands and body must keep the beat while making music! The kids have to be able to predict how hard to roll the ball so that it reaches the person on the beat. This same skill is required when playing a chord on the beat because they have to predict when to lift their hand so that it comes back down right on time.  

Can't Bug Me: Rhythm Ensemble  
The games we play with our percussion instruments help us practice sight reading rhythms, but just as importantly, they help us practice ensemble skills. It takes practice to come in all together, to keep a steady beat internally to stay together, to keep up with the group even when we make mistakes, and to listen to each other to sound like one. WOW!

Harmony Happenings
Our journey to learn harmony started last year singing a repeating pattern alongside a melody (Ding dong in Hear How the Bells). Then we sang in a round (3 Blind Mice). This year we’ve worked on a counter melody or two melodies sung on top of each other (Horsey Horsey). Then we introduced a 4-part counter melody (Solfege Seafriends). This week we sang Solfege Seafriends in a true canon, which is like singing 4 different melodies in a round. It's pretty tricky, but such a good exercise! Enjoy these arrangements of the famous Pachelbel’s Canon on piano and with a string ensemble.


  

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)

Lesson #12

Next week parents attend and tuition is due for those making monthly payments! (Last one this semester!) 

We have been working hard on the transition between the red and blue chords. Please help your child practice if they are struggling with that at all! Our goal is to be able to play these chords without needing to think about it at all (eventually doing it with eyes closed). Don't forget, we use the same fingers for red and blue chords (1-3-5), and our thumb is the anchor so it doesn't move at all!

Celebrate Connection    
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Set a stopwatch on a parent's phone and time how long it takes to get through a song with perfect, even rhythm, and chords.
• Put on a concert for stuffed animals.
• Sing along with a Spanish accent.

Mystery Bug
We played a new rhythm game called Mystery Bug. 3 separate rhythm cards are laid out on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th beat. The 3rd beat is empty (turned over) and is the Mystery Bug. The entire 4 count measure is played and the students identified which rhythm (bug) was missing on the 3rd beat. Then we all counted and played the entire 4 count measure. You can play a variation of this at home by clapping different bugs and inviting your child to clap AND say what bug they heard. Ear training, rhythm training and internalizing the steady beat is happening all at once!

Brown Jug
The Brown Jug game is another fun activity to play at home with a parent or whole family. You just need a playground ball and a little bit of room to roll and catch. It is easier at first to chant "roll, catch" and then begin the song. This is a great way to emphasize how the hands and body must keep the beat while making music.
     
Echo Edna
This week Echo Edna placed various patterns of steps and skips on the board to sight read. She invited us to look at the board and think of two questions before we played the pattern. 1) Is it a step or skip? AND 2) Does it go up or down? Walking through both of these steps will help in all sight reading as well as the theory assignment this week.

 And if you have the Student Magnet Board and 2nd year Student Magnet Set, you can build the baby steps and skips from the homework on the board to make the homework more tactile.

With Thanksgiving just behind us, we can find and play the Red, Blue and Yellow chords in 5 Fat Turkeys from last year!

Lesson #11

Placement of all 9 stickers!

We learned the Blue Chord this week. Please place the Blue Chord Stickers on your keyboard or piano on the notes C-F-A.

It is VERY important that your child is using fingers 1-3-5 to play the Blue Chord! The thumb is an anchor (glued) on Middle C and the rest of the hand shifts up a baby step.

In class we colored the chords in Primary Chord Song and Blue Sky to help distinguish the notation of each chord. (Please help them finish coloring them at home if they didn't finish in class. The notes don't need to be filled in perfectly, just the right colors so they can be identified quickly.) Please be sure to have your child practice playing these songs to get confident in the chord changes. We want them to be able to do it with their eyes closed in a few weeks!

Celebrate Connection   
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Play a duet with your parent. Place your hands an octave higher or lower.
• Play your song as *piano* (quiet) as you can.
• Balance an object on your head while you play.

Turtle Shells  
We will continue to reinforce to your Green Turtle Shell that intervals can show up anywhere on the staff and be played anywhere on the keyboard! Have fun playing an interval game with any two objects by creating an interval and asking your child what it is and then inviting them to play it on the keyboard. Ideas of objects to use: coins, counters, erasers, cereal, candies, Legos, rocks, etc.

 You can reinforce building "turtle shell" intervals all over the staff by making intervals with black notes on the Student Magnet Board.
    
Echo Edna
Echo Edna gave each child their own 'secret code' (using steps and skips) to ‘decipher’ (sight read) on the magnet board. We used our laser beam eyes to solve the code while playing it on the keyboards at the same time!

Now that we are more comfortable with keyboard geography, hand position, how to build chords notated and on the piano, we are ready to keep our eyes on the book and not look down at our fingers while we play each of the songs in the songbook! We’ve already introduced Laser Beam Eyes. Here are some other fun ways to keep our eyes on the book while we practice! Don’t forget, parents, to follow the notes with your finger and sing along with your child!
    
Fill in any of the ideas below with the musical focus of choice, whatever needs a little more practice. Ideas include: red, blue or yellow chord, specific intervals, different melodic patterns, specific notes, Middle C’s, rat-tat-tats, steps or skips, different bugs (slug, beetle), etc.
    
1. Keep your eye on the (rat-tat-tats).
2. (Insert Child’s Name), time to turn on your Laser Beam Eyes while we play Blue Sky!
3. Freeze Ray the Middle C’s with your freeze vision!
4. I’ve got my eye on (the steps in Echo Edna)!
5. I’m watching you (Yellow Chords). Always watching!