New on the Parkside Music Blog

This has been a busy week in the music room with the first choir rehearsal for the Elementary choir, and several days of auditions for the Christmas CD project and the show bands. Next week, we'll be starting most of the regular rehearsals for our performing groups, as well as beginning rehearsals for the CD.

I wanted to update you on a couple of changes to the blog. There is a list of links on the right-hand side of the page. Please take note of the "Show Band" and "Choir" links - these pages will be updated frequently with information for students involved in these groups. There will also be links to sheet music, charts, tutorials, and videos so that students can practice at home. The "Song of the Month" page has also been updated with October's songs for grades 3-6.

Have a great weekend!
Miss Gallant

What we've been up to

Hello everyone! The following is a short update on what's been happening in the music room over the last few weeks! Wherever possible, I've included links to youTube videos that feature content used in class.

Kindergarten:

Kindergarten students have been learning lots in the music room! We've learned the hello and goodbye songs. We've met "Melody," a cone puppet that helps us to sing echo songs. We've met 3 little monkeys with low, medium, and high voices (and we've been experimenting with our own voices!). We've also enjoyed reading and singing along to Pete the Cat books.

Grade One

Grade one students have been reviewing songs that allow them to use their four voices (speaking voice, singing voice, whispering voice, shouting voice). We've also completed various activities that allow us to practice distinguishing between loud and soft music. We've learned that the louds and softs of music are called the dynamics. We've played a great game using the Grizzly Bear song that lets us use our four voices AND we get to sing soft and loud! The following is a song that we've been listening to a lot this week - we use movement to show how the music is getting louder and softer.

Grade Two

Grade two students have been working on melodic contour - how the notes move in songs. Do they move higher? Lower? Or do they stay the same? We've used the SMART board to manipulate mixed-up musical phrases so that the song becomes in the correct order - all by looking at the contour! We've also worked as a team and used our own bodies to create representations of melodic contour to familiar songs.Here is a video of one of the songs that we've been using for melodic contour work. It's a song from Ghana called "Kye Kye Kule."

Grade Three 

 

 

Grade three students have been working on creating a rhythmic ostinato using body percussion. An ostinato is a repeated musical pattern. We've been listening to Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin," and the students have created 8-beat patterns (patting, clapping, creative movement, etc) and have notated them in their music notebooks. 

Grade Four

Grade four students have been listening to two different recordings of Stevie Wonder's song, "Sir Duke" so that we can analyze the differences between the original version and the cover version. We also worked on the "Cup Game" - those rhythms and moves are tricky, but with a little practice, we can do it! 

Grade Five

Grade 5 students have been listening to "We Go Together" (featured in the movie, "Grease") and have learned a hand jive to accompany it. They have also composed their own 8-beat rhythm pattern to accompany the song. They've been working with various non-pitched percussion instruments as well. We also worked on the cup game (see video in grade 4 section).  

Grade Six

Grade 6 students have been listening to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (made famous by "The Tokens"). We took the four-note bass line from this song, and have been creating new accompaniments from it. Students were broken into groups and given a xylophone/metallophone, a drum, and 2 other instruments of their choosing. It's amazing what they've come up with so far! I hope to post recordings of their final products in the near future. They've also learned the cup game (see video in grade 4 section). 

***PLEASE NOTE: These are links to content uploaded by others - I cannot guarantee that the comments and sidebar content is appropriate on the actual youTube page. The videos themselves are clean, so the best option is to view them as they are embedded in this page. If you click through to the actual youTube site, please use your own discretion.

September 2012 - Welcome Back!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the 2012-2013 school year! I am looking forward to making music at Parkside again this year. There will be lots of exciting things happening in the music room - here is just a taste of what you could be involved in this year:

• Primary Choir (Grades K-2)
• Elementary Choir (Grades 3-6)
• Show Band (Grades 5-6)
• CD Recording project
• Christmas Concert
• Spring Concert
• East Prince Kiwanis Music Festival
• And much more!!!  

Don't forget to check out the Song of the Month page - all students in grades 3-6 will have a new song every month to start music class with. On that page are links to videos of each of our songs of the month so you can enjoy them at home any time you like!