This Week in Music Class – January 13

January 13, 2014 By

photo

It’s hard to believe that we are almost finished with semester 1!! Seems like just yesterday we were trading in our shorts and flip-flops for backpacks and packed lunches, but here we are in January with our snow shovels and hats/mittens!! This is our last week in music class for this group of students, so we’re finishing up on the guitars, and tying up loose ends for the end of the semester. I hope everyone has a wonderful end of year, and hope the second semester is as great as the first!!

This week’s Middle School Word of the Week is Hypothesis. HERE is a very brief article titled “An Evolutionary Hypotheses for Why Humans Are Musical”

 

 

Filed Under: Guitar, Music Class, This Week In Music Class Tagged With: , , , ,

This Week in Music Class – December 16

December 16, 2013 By

This week is a continuation of what we learned in guitar last week. Students are continuing to hone their skills on reading music and reading guitar TAB.  This week students have the choice to work on any of the 7 songs they currently have in their folders.

 

Music reading skills:

  • Skip to my Lou
  • Go Tell Aunt Rhody
  • Paw Paw Patch

Guitar Tab skills (these holiday songs are optional):

  • Let it Snow
  • Here Comes Santa Claus
  • Santa Claus is Coming to Town
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

It’s getting to be that time of year where sniffles and sneezes are rampant… We’re starting to run low on the tissues and hand sanitizer that came in at the beginning of the year. I’m happy to give an extra credit grade to anyone who can bring in a box of tissues or bottle of hand sanitizer to share!!

This week’s Middle School Word of the Week is Primary. The main definition is first or highest in rank or importance.  Since we’re playing the guitar, let’s talk about the primary chords. The “Primary” Chords in music are the three most commonly used chords. Those are the I, IV, and V (or V7) chords. Meaning the chords that are built off of the first, fourth, and fifth degree of a scale. Right now in guitar, the students know the I and the V chords in the G scale, namely the G major and D7 Chords.

The G Chord

G-Chord-01

The D7 Chord

D7-Chord-01

Chord images found here: http://blog.learntoplaymusic.com/category/instruments/guitar/

This will be the last “This Week in Music Class” until the new year!! I hope everyone has a wonderful winter vacation!!

Mrs. Kelley

 

Filed Under: Extra Credit, Guitar, Music Class, This Week In Music Class Tagged With: , , ,

This Week in Music Class – December 2

December 2, 2013 By

This week we’re continuing to build on our knowledge of the guitar. We’re putting the final touches on Skip to my Lou, the song and the chords. We’ve started working on Go Tell Aunt Rhody, the song and the chords.  Students who have a little more experience on the guitar will be continuing on to Paw Paw Patch. Pretty soon we’ll be adding more songs and chords!  The last 2 weeks of December we’ll be learning how to read TAB as well as the notes.

Tis the season to attend winter concerts!! If you get a chance to see live music of any kind during the holidays, please be sure to let me know!! Students who attend outside-of-school live music events can get extra credit for class simply by coming in and telling me about it!! I’m excited to be attending the Celtic Christmas Sojourn this year, plus several other events. It’s so nice to hear live music!!

Middle School Word of the Week: Hemisphere

Want to learn more about the hemispheres of the brain?? And how music fits in?? READ THIS ARTICLE called Music, Rhythm and The Brain.

Hmmm… Where does our ability to play and react to music come from?? Really interesting stuff!!

Happy December Everyone!

Mrs. Kelley

Filed Under: Music Class, This Week In Music Class Tagged With: , , ,

This Week in Music Class – November 25

November 25, 2013 By

Happy Thanksgiving Week!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful and restful long weekend this coming week.

Good luck Wildcats!!!! I’m sure the game will be a good one (even if the game’s away in Tewksbury this year), and you know you don’t want to miss the fabulous Wildcat Marching Band half-time show!!!

turkeyguitar

(Ha!! found this image at http://www.zazzle.com/susanszoocrew and it made me laugh!!)

We have a short week at school this week… We’ll be reviewing the 6 notes we know, along with the 2 chords, and applying them to a new song (Go Tell Aunt Rhody).

This week’s Middle School Word of the Week is Capital-A city regarded as being of special eminence in some field of activity.

Austin Texas is known as the “Live Music Capital of the World.” It was officially named that in 1991 when it was discovered that Austin hosts more live music venues per capita than anyplace else!!! Who knew??

austin

Mrs. Kelley

Filed Under: Music Class, This Week In Music Class Tagged With: , , ,

This Week in Music Class – November 18

November 18, 2013 By

What a fun week we had getting to know the guitars!!  We can now play any of the “BAG” songs… Like Mary Had a Little Lamb, Hot Cross Buns, etc… AND we can play the traditional American folk song “Skip to my Lou.” We even started learning the G and D7 chords! Whew!! We’re moving right along!! Here’s answers to a few Frequently Asked Questions I got this week…

  • If students have an acoustic guitar at home, they certainly can bring them in to play for class, but they would be responsible for them. They can leave them in the class through the day, but I can’t guarantee that they will be safe getting on and off the bus with them.
  • If you have an acoustic guitar at home that needs to be tuned or re-strung, I’m happy to do that. Just send in the guitar with a new set of strings and I’ll have it done the next day.
  • Electric guitars are not allowed in class (for obvious sanity and hearing-health reasons!!).
  • If a student is left handed, we will still be playing right handed. We do not currently own (as a school) any left handed guitars, and they are not the same.  The good news is that most of the really dextrous work on the guitar happens in the left hand, so it will actually be a little bit easier for you!! Mark Knopfler, BB King, and Joan Jett are just a few examples of well known lefties that play normal right handed guitars.

 

This week’s Word of the Week is Artifact…

Take a peek HERE at photos and an article about what is considered the oldest example of a full sized guitar. Attributed to Belchior Diaz, a Portugese builder who probably made the instrument around 1590. This is a cool, 10 string ornate guitar which has had some repair, but is in fabulous condition, especially when you consider its age!! Here’s a picture of the guitar’s owner playing the guitar!! The guitar has made the rounds touring to various museums, but it’s nice that it gets played occasionally as well!

oldestguitar

Mrs. Kelley

Filed Under: Music Class, Music History, This Week In Music Class Tagged With: , , , ,