Spring Concert- May 16th!
Ukulele Chords
Practice the following songs for our Spring Concert!
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
- Mary Had a Little Lamb – page10
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star- page 16
- Superhero Blues
- Latin Lullaby
Ukulele 3:30
- Hokey Pokey- page 9
- Three Little Birds- page 13
- Superhero Blues
- Latin Lullaby
Beginning Violins 4:00
- Lightly Row -page 16
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star- page 18
- Superhero Blues
- Latin Lullaby
Beginning Winds 4:30
- Mary Had a Little Lamb- page 9
- Twinkle Twinkle- page 20
- Superhero Blues
- Latin Lullaby
Yellow Submarine:
Hokey Pokey:
Eleanor Rigby:
Watchin the Waves:
Three Little Birds:
Ain’t too proud to beg:
Helpful Videos:
Previous Weeks:
What we practiced this week- January 11th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Worked on #24 (The Lettuce Song).
- Practiced by clapping the rhythm and then clapping while saying note names.
- We made it through the first line, so for next time keep working on the entire song!
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Reviewed all our known chords with a dice roulette game.
- Practiced the different chords by doing call and response between people in the class.
- Keep practicing smoothly switching between different chords.
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- Learned how to play the new note ‘G’.
- Practiced by playing slow quarter notes walking our fingers up from open ‘D’ all the way to ‘G’.
- Keep practicing the exercises on pg. 15 of the book.
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- Started off with some breathing exercises using balloons.
- Remember to try to blow a constant air stream so the balloon fills up at a steady rate.
- Started work on our 5-note scale pattern. From C-G for clarinet, and Bb-F for flute.
What we practiced this week- December 7th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Reviewed our ready/playing position.
- Worked through exercise 3 and 4 on page 12 in our books.
- Keep focusing on keeping hands in the same position so that every finger has one note to play.
- Look forward to pg. 13 for next time!
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Worked on chord transitions.
- Playing one chord for 4 beats, then 4/2/0 beats of silence, then 4 beats of the new chord.
- Keep working to get comfortable with the G chord so we can continue to work on the song Three Little Birds
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- Reviewed our string names with the ‘Ants’ song.
- Worked on #36 on pg. 14 in our books.
- Started by clapping the rhythm, then clapping and saying note names at the same time.
- Finally playing all the way through the song!
- Next week look forward to #37 on pg. 14.
- Will work on changing strings while playing!
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- Started with a simple breathing exercise (in for 4 beats and out for 4 beats).
- Worked on making a good sound with just the mouthpiece of the instrument.
- Try to sustain a steady sound for as long as you can!
- Worked on #18 (High Dive). Keep practicing the song, working on it both slurred and articulated for next time.
What we practiced this week- November 30th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Introduced ready position and playing position.
- Worked through the first two exercises on page 12 of our book.
- Started by identifying the notes and then playing through each tune.
- Make sure to keep your hand in the same position for the whole song!
- Look ahead to the rest of page 12 for next time.
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Introduced ready position and playing position.
- Reviewed all of the chords we know so far (C, C7, F, Am, G).
- Worked on changing between C and G chords.
- Practice getting comfortable with the chords without looking at your fingers.
- Played through all of Three Little Birds in the book. Keep practicing the song for next time.
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- Introduced ready position and playing position.
- Practiced getting the right bow hand by having a quiet coyote take a bite out of the bow.
- Worked on smooth bow arm motion slicing a fresh loaf of bread.
- Worked on #36 (The Ballerinas). Keep practicing that song and look forward to #37 for next time.
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- Started with a simple breathing exercise (in for 4 beats and out for 4 beats).
- Worked on making a good sound with just the mouthpiece of the instrument.
- Try to sustain a steady sound for as long as you can!
- Worked on #18 (High Dive). Keep practicing the song, working on it both slurred and articulated for next time
What we practiced this week- November 16th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Revisited Mary Had a Little Lamb (#16) and played all the way through the song.
- Played through #17 and learned about finding the note F by looking to the left of the group of 3 black keys.
- Continue practicing good hand position and playing using all five of our fingers!
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Continued working on forming the right shape for the G chord.
- Remember not to squeeze the neck of the ukulele and to keep your arms relaxed.
- Spent time switching between pairs of chords (F -> Am, C -> G).
- Call and response with switching between chords.
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- Worked on Mary Had a Little Lamb (#31).
- Took our bow arm on an elevator trip to work on full arm motion when playing.
- Quiet coyote taking a bite out of the bow helps us to find the right hand position.
- Look forward to working on page 12 in the book.
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- Worked on good breathing with alligator arms.
- Practiced starting and sustaining a note with just the mouthpiece and barrel.
- Played #20 and #21 out of the book.
- Remember not to puff out your cheeks when playing!
What we practiced this week- November 9th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Practiced our best T-Rex arms to remind our bodies how to keep a relaxed wrist while playing.
- Reviewed the first two lines of Mary Had a Little Lamb (#16).
- Talked briefly about counting our quarter notes using TA.
- Learned the last two lines of the song and played through the whole tune.
- For next time keep working on Mary Had a Little Lamb and look ahead to the exercises on pg 11.
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Reviewed the Am chord and practiced switching between Am and F by playing through the song Eleanor Rigby.
- Learned a new chord, G.
- Practiced switching between C, F, and G.
- For next time keep working on proper left hand position (don’t squeeze the Ukulele neck!).
- Also look ahead to pg. 13.
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- Played through Hot Cross Buns (#30) and learned about the difference between quarter notes and half notes.
- Learned Mary Had a Little Lamb (#31) first by saying the notes in rhythm and then playing through the whole song.
- For next time keep working on Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- Practiced some breathing exercises with Alligator arms, making sure to not tense up our shoulders.
- Continued work on the headjoint, practicing getting used to where the flute makes the best sound. For next time, continue work on headjoint sound and try to make different notes.
What we practiced this week- November 2nd
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Reviewed finding C and identifying different notes from there.
- Sang and played through the first two lines of #16 (Mary Had a Little Lamb).
- Reminded students to have a relaxed hand posture and to keep one finger on each key from C – G.
- For next time work on the entire song!
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Played through Yellow Submarine, Hokey Pokey, and Run Through the Jungle in class.
- Worked on changing smoothly between different chords (F -> C, F ->Am).
- Practice playing along with a steady beat. (songs below help a bunch!)
- Learned the Am chord!
- For next time continue practicing moving between chords smoothly and look ahead to Eleanor Rigby.
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- Worked on selections from pg. 8-10 in the book.
- Reminded students to have their best posture when playing to make the best sound.
- Worked on #30 (Hot Cross Buns), both singing and playing.
- For next time, keep practicing Hot Cross Buns and look ahead to Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- Worked on making our best sounds with just the headjoint (headjoint and barrel for clarinet).
- Continuing to practice good breathing to help us make our best possible sound!
- Worked on #17 (Hot Cross Buns).
- For next time keep working on Hot Cross Buns.
What we practiced this week- October 26th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Played a few games to help us practice our right hand position
- Right Thumb on C
- Pinky on G
- 1-2-3-4-5 = C-D-E-F-G
- Lila was the winner of Simon Says, great job!
- Practice pages 8-10 in our books!
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Reviewed our chords- C, F, G, C7, Am
- C7- only used sometimes
- A minor- very easy but very important
- G chord- our most difficult chord. Build this one starting with your 1st finger, then 2nd, then 3rd.
- Eleanor Rigby- this is a classic song! Practice along with the recordings below!
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- learned the “ants song” to help us remember our Open Strings (video below)
- learned two notes on the D String!
- 1st finger E (1st tape on the D string)
- 2nd finger F# (2nd tape on the D string)
- We played some tricky songs on pages 8 and 9
- Practice switching smoothly between all of our notes!
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- Reviewed how to make a great sound on our instruments!
- The more you play at home the easier it will be to make a good sound!
- Practice Pages 1-6 in our books
- First 4 notes
- Flute- D-Eb-F-C
- Clarinet- E-F-G-D
- Long notes- try to breath deeply on the 4th beat, then blow slow air and sustain for as long as you can!
- Flute- 6 beats in one breath
- Clarinet- 7 beats in one breath
What we practiced this week- October 19th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Reviewed mountains and hills-how to find C
- Reviewed our finger numbers for Piano- 1-2-3-4-5 (Thumb =1 and Pinky = 5)
- Tried to play the 4 C’s song in Unison
- Many of us had a hard time listening to each other and stopping our song at the exact same time
- We learned how to play G Whiz from our book on Pg 6.
- G Whiz only uses 2 notes (C and G) 1st and 5th finger
- Take a look at the next song for next week!
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Reviewed our chords- C and F
- Learned three new chords!
- C7- only used sometimes
- A minor- very easy but very important
- G chord- our most difficult chord. Build this one starting with your 1st finger, then 2nd, then 3rd.
- We sang and played Yellow Submarine.
- Try to play some of the other songs on pages 8-10 (click the link below)
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- Discussed “bow elevators”
- Our bow wrist bends with the elbow.
- the bow should go straight up and down in front of your body, like an elevator
- We applied bow elevators to the violin and EVERYONE had an amazing bow hand! Great Job!
- We learned our 1st finger E (1st tape on the D string)
- I will bring tapes next class, but for now, it is the width of two fingers
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- only had the clarinet
- Double Checked our hand position and learned how to play each of our 5 notes using the Left Hand on top
- We also discussed how to breathe effectively for playing clarinet
- Breathe in on beat 4, and out on beat 1
- Breathe out slowly
- Smile when playing!
- Quarter Notes, Half Notes, Whole Notes, what’s the difference?
What we practiced this week- October 12th
Piano/Keyboard 3:00
Today we:
- Learned mountains and hills-how to find C
- Learned our finger numbers for Piano- 1-2-3-4-5 (Thumb =1 and Pinky = 5)
- Learned rest and how to reserve battery during class
- We learned how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb by ear, and talked about rests and curved fingers.
Ukulele 3:30
Today we:
- Talked about the different parts of the instrument and how to hold it.
- learned how to strum the C chord
- learned the Caterpillar Crawl
- played and sang along to “Are you Strumming” From our books
Beginning Violins 4:00
Today we:
- talked about the violin hand and bow hand, as well as parts of the instrument and names of the strings.
- We learned how to pluck the strings (thumb on corner of fingerboard for violins, thumb on side of fingerboard for cellos!)
- We also learned the D A D song (with rests).
Beginning Winds 4:30
Today we:
- learned how to assemble/disassemble the instrument
- learned the first 5 notes of the clarinet- G-F-E-D-C
- First two flute notes are D and Eb from our books!
- Work on playing with a good sound, and especially playing the first 4 pages of our book using:
- Clarinet E and F notes!
- Flute D and Eb