Lesson #14
On Thursday, April 28, at 6:30pm, we'll have our end of year recital. What can you expect?
Children should arrive between 5-10 minutes early. We do not have a practice before hand - they should know from class what they need to do. If they come really early, they'll be so nervous and jittery that they bounce off the wall. Just come and be ready to enjoy your child's accomplishments. Your child should wear their Let's Play Music t-shirt (if you haven't enrolled for next fall, or let me know you won't be continuing, you haven't received that shirt. Please enroll/let me know asap, so you can have it ready to go). They can wear anything on the bottom - shorts, a skirt, pants, as long as there are no holes and it is clean. Please send your child in shoes or sandals that have no heels and are securely attached to their feet. This is not the time for a trip and fall down the stage moment because they wanted to wear flip flops or high heels.
Let's Play Music is NOT a performance class. Very little time is spent perfecting their performance techniques. They can practice at home and in class to do their very best, but remember this is a music theory and piano class, NOT a performance class.
Recital Practice list
1st year 10:30 class
BELLS: Do, Re, Mi (Major Scale up and down on bells! We WILL also play the DO MI MI, MI SOL SOL part of the song w/ CD.)
SINGING: Hear How the Bells, Old Paint, Can’t Bug Me
1st year 1:30 class BELLS: Old Paint: (DO, MI, SOL, DO, MI, SOL etc. over and over again) SINGING: Hear How The Bells, Can’t Bug Me and Do, Re, Mi, (practice with solfeg hand signs. On the DMM part, they will sing the lyrics, “When you know the notes to sing..etc.)
Primary Chord Song
The new activity today was singing a broken primary chord on command. The children sang the correct chord a cappella for me when I held up a color. They did fantastic! This shows us that their aural brain is internalizing pitches and their ability to sing in tune is developing. These concepts may seem unimportant, but they are crucial to developing a complete musician. Laying this solid aural foundation now will help your student take dictation in 3rd year and write their own composition.
Let's Play steps and skips on our bells! If you open your Homework Booklet you'll find some bell music at the back. Encourage your child to play it. Even better, encourage them to start writing their own bell music and notate it if they'd like.
Singing in tune is one of the main objectives in Let's Play Music. A great way to reinforce this skill at home is to play a 3-4 note melody for your child and have them sing it back to you. As they get better and better, add more notes. You will be amazed at the quick progress your child will make. Their little brains are like sponges which allows them to be fast learners.