Tuesday White Horses

Our Sound Beginnings students had a great time on Instrument Day! 

Wednesday White Horses

Our Sound Beginnings students had a great time on Instrument Day!

Jingle Bells 

Conducting with spaghetti noodles.  

White horse cookies for our White Horses Semester.

Fun Party for the last lesson!

3rd year - Skaters Show

Our 3rd year students act out Banditen-Galopp by Johann Strauss II.  It was so fun!  I love their smiles!

Reading Music for the 1st time

Our first semester we learn:  "when the balloon goes up, our voices go up." 

"When the balloon or note goes down, our voices go down."  

 What happens when the balloons move around?

We are learning how to play the notes on our bells!  We have learned "baby steps" and "skips."  Since you don't have a Bell Ladder at home, here are some ideas for you to try as your students is learning how to read the notes off of the staff.

Use the staff in your book (in the back) with pennies or dimes starting on DO and using baby steps.  Put the book & bells like above...where the high notes are literally higher and lower notes are beneath the others.  Then have your child play what the notes say.  

If you have stairs in your home...put your bells on them and play a short melody off of the staff.

Once your child is comfortable with reading music, then the book can be placed in the lid of the bell case.  Use Cheerios or raisins to practice reading notes from the staff.  (Then your child may eat the notes after he plays.)  Parents will often need to point to each note so your child doesn't lose their spot during this musical reading time together.  

Orchestra: Waltz of the Flowers

Have your 1st year student watch this video of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra of Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker Suite.  In class, we learned which instrument goes with which puppet...now you can see them in action!

Hoedown / Rodeo

http://learni.st/learnings/38254-hoedown-from-rodeo

Watch this FUN video and see how the musical score comes alive!  

The 2nd year LPM students know all of the characters of our Hoedown Puppet Show from Rodeo, composed by Aaron Copland.  Click Here.

Magic Lamp with Props

Here are videos of the students performing the Magical Lamp puppet show. 

(Aragonaise from Carmen by Georges Bizet)

1pm Class:  

6pm Class:

We have a lot of fun with classical music!

Spirit Week T-shirts

Sound Beginnings 

1st Year 

2nd Year 

 3rd Year

Melodic Patterns

We learn different melodic patterns in Let's Play Music.  The Red Balloon students are learning about Mi-Re-Do and Sol-Sol-Do and how to pick these Solfeggio syllables out of songs!

Sing these songs together and play a game:  "What pattern is at the end?"

1.  Three Blind Mice
2.  Row, Row, Row Your Boat
3.  Scotland's Burning
4.  Frog in the Middle
5.  Five Fat Turkeys
6.  Mary Had a Little Lamb
7.  I'm a Little Teapot
8.  A-Hunting We Will Go

Answers:  Numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 end in Mi-Re-Do.  Numbers 3 & 5 end in Sol-Sol-Do.  Number 8 has both...the first verse ends in Mi-Re-Do and the second verse ends in Sol-Sol-Do.  

As we learn more and more patterns, your child will start to recognize the common melodies used in music.  Listening to kids' music in the car will never be boring again! 

Parent Note & Background Music Theory: 
Solfeggio syllables assign pitch relationship, instead of an actual pitch (or letter name).  Songs sound best when they end on "Do."  Notice how I typed "Do"...it is ONLY in bell practice that we have to worry about capital "DO" (Key of C) and lowercase "do" (Key of F) because having the Solfege syllables helps us play the tone bells.  When listening to music, it doesn't matter if the song is played in the Key of F, Key of G, or Key of E...we want the kids to hear the melodic pattern and the pitch relationship. 

Want to learn more about Solfeggio and Ear Training?  Shelle Soelberg, the creator of Let's Play Music, was interviewed on the topic.  Check it out here:  
http://www.easyeartraining.com/learn/guest-post-solfeggio-and-ear-training-shelle-soelberg/

Puppet Show with Vivaldi

Antonio Vivladi was born in Venice, Italy in 1678.  

Vivaldi's father taught him to play violin and they performed together. (Do you look forward to playing piano duets with your student?)  He was ordained a priest and nicknamed "The Red Priest" for his red hair, but left the ministry and spent most of his life composing and teaching music.  His "Four Seasons" is a very popular piece, and you're sure to enjoy this artistic rendition with some cool sand animation.

(watch the first 4 minutes.)

Orchestra-Magical Lamp

Have your kids watch and listen to Aragonaise from Carmen (Magical Lamp):



Did your child pick out all of the different characters in the music?

Intervals are Worth Knowing

If you're in the second year of Let's Play Music, you're about to get to know intervals very well.

in·ter·val /ˈintərvəl/  - the difference in pitch between two notes

Soon your student will reliably identify the sight and sound of harmonic intervals: two notes played at the same time, thanks to our turtle shells.  Astute students will also realize that melodies are made of up melodic intervals: notes played one after the other.  That's right...a baby step is a melodic second and a skip is a melodic third.

So, why the big emphasis on intervals?  Here are a few good reasons you'll be glad to hear, "My intervals: I know them very well!"

Music Reading

You may have heard that it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae.  That's not exactly true, but the take-home message is that humans read words in chunks, not letter-by-letter, and the parallel is true for music.

In the 3rd year of Let's Play Music, your child will learn how to read and play every note from the staff, but playing note-by-note through every song would be slow and laborious.  Musicians can learn to read music with ease and fluidity (remember how many hours of practice it took to read storybooks with ease and fluidity?), but they don't do it by thinking of each note as an 'A' or a 'G'.  They use intervals and chord shapes to quickly interpret music!

You've seen this on the bells in the first year classes: once the first note is identified, the melody can be quickly read by considering steps and skips up and down the staff.  Likewise, with  practice, your student can use intervals, scales and chord shapes to read chunks of notes with two part or thicker textures moving independently throughout a piece of piano music.

 Singing

Sight-singing is slightly different from reading at the piano.  Singers interpret the written music and audiate the melodic intervals.  This powerful skill can be improved with practice in Let's Play Music classes.  Hearing harmonic intervals also enables singers to harmonize a part in a choir, unlocking the joys of singing with friends and choir ensembles.

 Composing

Have you ever had a little tune playing in your mind?  Would you love to jot it down and flesh it out into a complete composition?  A first step is to follow that melody interval-by-interval to discover the notes.  Next, add some red, yellow, and blue chords for harmonization, and you'll be well on your way to creating an excellent composition like the3rd year Let's Play Music students do.

So keep up the ear-training to identify those intervals, because, "that's the nicest sound I've ever heard!"

-Gina Weibel, M.S.
Let's Play Music Teacher

Musical Journey

1st Years:  

Students with their Red Balloons 

2nd Years:  

Learning about Green Turtle Shells 

3rd Year:  

Purple Magic students with wands

Upcoming Dates

Park Day
Let's Play Music & Sound Beginnings is going to have a Park Day on Tuesday, August 5th from 11am - 1pm at the Miramont Park.  Wear your LPM t-shirt (if you have one), pack a picnic (if you want), or just drop in for a few minutes!  Ms. Emily, Ms. Aimee, and Ms. Ruth will provide popsicles and hugs!  All LPM & SB students, graduates, families, and friends are welcome!  If you are NEW to music class, this is a perfect time to meet others in the program!

Parent Meeting
Each year, parents come to a mandatory Parent Orientation Meeting for each level they have a child enrolled.  These meetings explain the Let's Play Music philosophy and vision.  Parents receive tips on how to get the most out of the musical experience and ask questions.  Student materials are handed out at the meeting...so you can start listening to the CDs with your kids!

Let's Play Music Parent Meetings will be on Thursday, August 21 at my home.
1st Year at 6:00 pm
2nd Year at 7:00 pm
3rd Year at 8:00 pm

Sound Beginnings' Orientation information will be emailed and discussed in the first class.

LPM Parents:  thank you for attending the Meeting and for your commitment to your child & this program.  If you have a conflict with Thursday evening, let me know ASAP and you may attend one of the other LPM studios' meeting.  (1st year at Ms. Ruth's on Tuesday the 20th OR all 3 years at Ms. Aimee's Wednesday the 21st.)

Start Date
Classes start on Tuesday, August 26th or on Wednesday, August 27th.  ALL parents for ALL classes attend that first lesson.  I will give you a detailed calendar at the Parent Meeting.

I look forward to starting another exciting musical year!  Please contact me if you have questions.

Still space in Sound Beginnings classes

Sound Beginnings is a course to develop intelligence and confidence in children ages 2-4 years old in a setting of music, play and parental nurturing!  Sound Beginnings introduce academic and musical concepts.  

Click on the demonstration video below:

Welcome to Sound Beginnings!  Where parent and child learn to play and interact in a nurturing, loving way.  Folk songs, finger plays, story books, and circle games delight children as they have for centuries.  Leave the digital world behind and come to a place where human touch is the best teacher.  Nestled safely in a beautiful music, is the curriculum that is a sound beginning.

This fun curriculum is specifically designed for ages 2-4 and their parents.  By providing a solid music and preschool foundation, Sound Beginnings prepares students for success in Kindergarten and Let's Play Music!  The curriculum is organized into four non-sequential semesters.  Each semester is four months long and provides experience with important music concepts and skills through different songs and games.  Classes include singing, movement, games stories, and activities, focusing on different concepts each semester including ABC's, letter sounds, sign language, solfeg, singing in tune, counting, shape recognition, colors, and so much more!

Registration has begun for the next school year's morning classes.

Tuition is $160 /semester ($40 /month)
    Discounts for siblings:
    2nd student tuition, ages 2-4 is $20 /month and $10/month for ages 0-2 years.

Tell your friends and share the joy of music!

Puppet Shows 2013-2014

Here are the students from both Ms. Aimee's & Ms. Emily's studios, acting out the puppet shows.  It has been a wonderful musical year!  Enjoy your summer break!

Orchestra - Fox Hunt

Gioachino Antonio Rossini is the composer of one of the Blue Bug's puppet shows.  Enjoy the William Tell (Guillaume Tell) Overture Finale with all of the instruments playing the different characters of our Fox Hunt story.

Do, Re, Mi -Flash Mob

We love the song "Do,Re,Mi" from the Sound of Music! Here is a fun video of a flash mob dancing to our favorite songs!

Skaters

Third year students act out part of the Skaters Puppet Show.  Fun piece of music written by Richard Strauss "Banditen-Gallopp" (Gallop of the Bandits).

Pirate Ship with Props

The students had a blast with this Puppet Show! "Hungarian Dance No.5" by Johannes Brahms.  Here they are using props to tell the story.  

While enjoying, sing with the pirates:  
"We are pirates and we love to dance.  This is Brahms' Hungarian Dance."  

Shades for Cadence Blues

Inversions-Orange Semester

In 3rd year, we are learning to play Inversions!  

Use your red dot stickers to help your child the C Chord.

For Blue & Yellow Chords, use the Alphabet game pieces to spell the chord.  Keep the letters ON the keys while the student plays the chord and moves up the keyboard.  Remember, the fingering MUST be correct for the SHAPE of the chord.  (snowman shape, top heavy snowman, bottom heavy snowman.)   

Triumphant March Costumes

The 1st year students are performing the Triumphant March (from Aida by Verdi). We had a lot of fun with all of the props.

Wednesday Class:  full version


Thursday Class:  only the beginning (due to technical difficulties)

Self Esteem & Praise

What builds durable self-esteem in kids? I read an article from the Boy Scout magazine awhile back.

There are two types of praise: Person praise ("You must be smart at this.") and Process praise ("You must have worked really hard."). Through an experiment, the kids got one type of praise. The person-praise kids chose easier tests (being worried that failure would make them look less smart) and then in the end actually did worse on the same test they got at the beginning. While the process-praise kids chose harder tests throughout and scored better at the end. "Person praise gives you no recipe for facing challenges or recovering from setbacks," psychologist Carol Dweck said. "Process praise is about what you do to be successful, so it's informative." We all love to tell our kids that they are smart, beautiful, and talented, but Dweck says that type of praise is like junk food--tasty but ultimately unsatisfying.

I need to work on my words. We can't hand children self-esteem on a silver platter. We need to give them the tools to manage their own self-esteem, to take on challenges and see them through, to build and maintain their own self-esteem.

Children need constant encouragement. Make sure the compliments help your child realize the value of their EFFORT! Students need to understand that talent is not fixed. The more high-quality effort they put into any activity, the more they will achieve.

"Monsters" on Dancing with the Stars & the Ballet

In the 3rd Year of Let's Play Music, we do a fun and scary puppet show to Prokofiev's "Montagues and Capulets" from Romeo and Juliet.  We call it Monsters!  

Here is the ballet of Romeo and Juliet with Prokofiev's music : (The first part is the section the students will recognize.  Then you could skip to the end, where they get out the swords.  Or enjoy the Fine Arts by watching the entire segment.)

On April 30, 2012, a couple on "Dancing with the Stars" danced to the same music.  I want to give a Modesty Disclaimer - the costumes are not modest.  (So you don't need to show it to your child.)  Here is the link. The music is from 2:37-4:20 minutes...if you want to skip to just see that part.

After your child watches the video...encourage your child to DANCE to the music!  Get out some props...long skirt, big scarves, or swords and let the creativity flow!  (Parents, make it more fun by join in with some dramatic moves of your own.)

2nd Year - Indian Chiefs

2nd year students:  Yellow Arrows

In 2nd year of Let's Play Music, Students play keyboard with both hands, play in contrary motion, learn the major scale, sing in harmony, learn more complex rhythmic notations, learn more note names on the staff, learn the names of the white keys on the keyboard, and much more!

Three year old conducting Beethoven's 5th Symphony

This is so much fun to watch!
It is amazing the internalization of the music that is so obviously present in this little boy's soul!  Awesome!

Sound Beginnings Announcement

Sound Beginnings will be added to my Studio next school year!
Sound Beginnings is a course to develop intelligence and confidence in children ages 2-4 years old in a setting of music, play and parental nurturing!  Sound Beginnings introduce academic and musical concepts.  

Click on the demonstration video below:

Welcome to Sound Beginnings!  Where parent and child learn to play and interact in a nurturing, loving way.  Folk songs, finger plays, story books, and circle games delight children as they have for centuries.  Leave the digital world behind and come to a place where human touch is the best teacher.  Nestled safely in a beautiful music, is the curriculum that is a sound beginning.

This fun curriculum is specifically designed for ages 2-4 and their parents.  By providing a solid music and preschool foundation, Sound Beginnings prepares students for success in Kindergarten and Let's Play Music!  The curriculum is organized into four non-sequential semesters.  Each semester is four months long and provides experience with important music concepts and skills through different songs and games.  Classes include singing, movement, games stories, and activities, focusing on different concepts each semester including ABC's, letter sounds, sign language, solfeg, singing in tune, counting, shape recognition, colors, and so much more!

Registration will begin in the Spring for the next school year's morning classes.

Tuition is $160 /semester ($40 /month)
    Discounts for siblings:
    2nd student tuition, ages 2-4 is $20 /month and $10/month for ages 0-2 years.

Tell your friends and share the joy of music!