2018, Term 4, Week 7: Christmas Music

2018: A New Beginning

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 Santa's solar sleigh  

Crazy Christmas  Dance -  Reindeer and Santa  (Jingle Bells)

Line Rider - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky

Simon's Cat discovers the Christmas tree. 
                      

Not exactly Christmas  - but it certainly fits our Blue Suede Shoes song. 

A joke for Christmas by Ayesha:

What does the gorilla sing for Christmas?

Jungle Bells!

2018, Term 4, Week 6: More Classical Cartoons and Christmas Songs

Corny Concerto 1943 

Part 1 is to the Johann Strauss waltz music called Tales of Vienna Woods.  Look and listen for how the animators made the characters move in time to the music and how they made the story fit the "feel" of the music.  Note that the music is in 3/4 time - Can you  hear the beat go 1,2,3; 1,2,3.   The characters are Elmer Fudd (And as we hear the whythmic stwains of the haunting wefwain, wisten to the wippwing whythm of the woodwinds, as it wolls awound and awound, and it comes out here..." Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny. 

In Part 2, the music is the Blue Danube - Probably Strauss's most famous waltz - and possibly the most famous waltz music of all time.  A mother swan is gliding across the water with her cygnets - and a duck . . .  See if you can follow the story. 

Ukulele / recorder / glock play along Christmas songs: 

 Look for the Christmas tab above for more of our favourite Christmas songs.

All I want for Christmas is You   Some tricky chord progressions, but once you've got the pattern it should be easier.  Don't worry if you can't change all the chords in time. 

Feliz Navidad 

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree   More tricky chord changes - just do what you can. 

Last Christmas  

Jingle Bells - simplified (C,F,G) but quite fast backing track - you do the singing. 

Santa Claus Rock  - Follow the 12 bar blues format in D, G, A7 to play along with this 

Junior songs

Scroll down to Term 4, Week 1, for more junior songs. 

Here's some new ones: 

Pop, Bang, Crack go the Christmas Crackers 

Ring, Ring Ring the bells  (Christmas Round) 

Dum Dee Diddle 

2018, Term 4, Week 3: While we are in Hungary . . .

This week we are learning about Brahms Hungarian Dance Number 2. 

Following on from listening to and viewing List over the past two weeks,  we will continue our Hungarian music theme with Brahms Hungarian Dance Number 5. 

Johannes Brahms was born in Germany in 1833 and died in Vienna in 1897.

His father was a musician and played the double bass. Johannes learned the piano when he was young, and he was a talented musician and composer. When he was growing up in  Germany there were many Hungarian musicians in his home town of Hamburg. Brahms liked their folk music and it influenced a lot of his own compositions.

Brahms was close friends with many other famous musicians of the time: Franz Liszt , Robert Schumann and his wife Clara, and Johann Strauss II. (Brahms said that he wished that he had written The Blue Danube which was composed by Strauss.) He eventually moved to Vienna and lived there until he died from cancer in 1897. Wagner, another famous German musician, also met Brahms in Vienna and did not like him, saying he was a bad conductor. Wagner was afraid that Brahms might compose better operas than his, but Brahms didn't write operas, anyway. It was true that Brahms was not a very good conductor, so he got someone else to conduct the music he composed.

Here's some easy-to-read information about Brahms and a listening map for Hungarian Dance #2. 

Here's Charlie Chaplin    -  one of the first movie stars  in a scene in a barber's  shop. Watch how he makes all his movements fit the music. 

Here's a Looney Tunes cartoon of the Three Little Pigs, using Brahms Hungarian Dances #5, #7, #6  and #17 in that order.  What changes do you think were made to make the music fit the story and soundtrack?

And how about having a go at dancing to it?  (Skip to 38 seconds into the video). 

If you enjoy playing the drums  - ore electric guitar - listen and look at this version .

Here's a listening map to help you follow the structure and form of the music. How would you imagine a listening map to look? 

Here's an orchestra performing Hungarian Dance #5. How does the conductor show fast and slow, soft and loud? Look at the different ways she communicates with the musicians. 

Probably the most well known of Brahms music is his lullaby. 

2018, Term 4, Week 1 - Classical Cartoons and Countdown to Christmas

It might be a bit early to start thinking about Christmas, but some classes  only have a half-term block of music, so we will need to cover our Christmas music in the first half term for them. This term we will cover music from several festivals including Christmas, Diwali, Halloween and All Souls' Day  and Day of the Dead, and Pacific Islands music. 

Let's get started with some of the dances for the term: 

Halloween: 
Banana Boat Song by Harry Belafonte 
Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" was usually classified as an example of calypso music from Jamaica.   It's a work song   about the dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. Daylight has come, the shift is over, and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home  The song has nothing to do with Halloween and the dance routine is probably a reference to the movie Beetlejuice, but the skeletons just gave it a bit of a Halloween context. 

Calling All Monsters - Just Dance Disney 

Ghost in the Keys  (Choose your character) 

I will Survive 

The Monster Mash 

The Monster Shuffle - especially for the juniors 

This is Halloween from the Nightmare Before Christmas 

Christmas: 

Oh Christmas Tree (Bollywood Version) 

Crazy Christmas Dance (medley) 

Jingle Bells  (Juniors) Technically not a Christmas song (notice the absence of the word "Christmas"  anywhere in the song) but rather a song written for the American Thanksgiving Celebrations. 
Jingle Bells (Seniors) A mash up of several other dance videos (you'll recognise "Limbo").
All I want for Christmas is You   A Zumba workout. 
It's Christmas Time   Follow along with these girls as they sing and dance a new Christmas song with easy-to-follow dance moves. 
Jingle Bell Rock (Juniors) A NZ video with semi-animated dancers. You may want to adapt the part where they run around the tree and then fall on the ground . . . 

Christmas Songs for Juniors: 
I'm a little Star   from Love to Sing (Note the New Zealand accents!) 
He has a Red Red Coat from Love to Sing 
When Santa got Stuck up the Chimney  from Love to Sing 
Five Mince pies  from Love to Sing 


fleaBITE has a new song out. It's called Probably Papakura.  Listen for the local place names in the song.  

This term we are also learning about some of the most famous classical music which has been used in cartoons. 

Cat Concerto - Tom and Jerry 
This cartoon is considered one of the best Tom and Jerry cartoons ever. It won the 1946 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. In 1994 it was voted #42 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.

In this cartoon, Tom, the cat, is a famous concert pianist playing Hungarian Rhapsody Number 2 in C# Minor by Franz Liszt.  Watch what happens when Jerry, the mouse, gets involved. 

Vocabulary: 
rhapsody - a one-movement piece of instrumental piece of music with several contrasts of tempo and mood
movement - one section of a longer piece of classical music. Longer pieces of classical music are often broken up into different sections - called movements. Often there is a different tempo and mood to each movement. Audiences are not supposed to applaud between movements, but wait until the very end when the conductor puts down his baton and bows.
tempo - the speed a piece of music is played. There can be many changes of tempo in a single piece of music.
applaud - to clap. Applause means clapping.
concerto - from the Italian language meaning 'agreeing' or 'playing together'. A concerto is a piece of music played by a solo instrument with an orchestra. (A piano is the solo instrument in the Tom and Jerry cartoon. We don't get to see the orchestra but we hear them.)

Look 

- at what a grand piano looks like on the inside and outside 

- at where the high notes and low notes are played.

- at how the pianist arrives on stage and prepares for the performance

- at how a performer finishes a performance 

Listen: 

- for the orchestra warming up and practising before the concert starts

- for the conductor to tap his baton to let the orchestra know it's time to begin

- to changes in tempo (speed)

- for high notes and low notes 

- for soft /quiet sounds (piano / pianissimo) and loud /strong sounds (forte / fortissimo) 

                                           

Here's what Franz Liszt wrote and what the piano player had to read and follow. 
 Although it looks (and is!) very difficult, there will be some things that you can recognise about the music.   What notes and symbols can you recognise and name?
 
Watch this sixteen-year-old girl play Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody Number two along with the cartoon  and exactly as it is played in the cartoon.   

Have a look at this version of the original with a visual guide to show you the patterns  of the music as it is played.  You ill notice that it's a bit different from the Tom and Jerry version which was adapted to help tell the story.

2018, Term 3, Week 9: Mozart Magic - opera The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute by Mozart is one of the most well known operas. 

SYNOPSIS OF THE MAGIC FLUTE
PRINCE TAMINO 👦 was being chased by a POISONOUS SNAKE 🐍. He faints😵 just as the SNAKE 🐍is about to unleash its deadly bite, but the creature is killed🗡 by THREE LADIES 👵👵👵 who  appear. They are the servants of the QUEEN OF THE NIGHT🌘 and they leave at once to tell her.

TAMINO 👦wakes up and sees a bird catcher, the feathered PAPAGENO🐦, who says that he killed the SNAKE 🐍. The THREE LADIES 👵👵👵 return in time to catch PAPAGENO 🐦 telling the lie, and they padlock 🔒his mouth 🤐to teach him a lesson. 

The THREE LADIES 👵👵👵show TAMINO 👦a portrait of PAMINA 👸, the daughter of the QUEEN OF THE NIGHT🌘. He  falls in love with her immediately💖💖💖.  PAMINA 👸is being held captive 🔑by the priest SARASTRO 👴in his palace. 🏰

THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘arrives and grants TAMINO 👦 permission to marry 💍💒 PAMINA 👸if he rescues her from SARASTRO👴.  TAMINO 👦agrees and sets off on the rescue mission, and PAPAGENO🐦 leaves ahead of him.

PAPAGENO 🐦arrives at SARASTRO's👴 palace 🏰.  A slave called MONOSTATOS👤 brings PAMINA 👸into the room. PAPAGENO🐦  tells PAMINA👸 that a prince 👦is coming to rescue her.

TAMINO 👦 arrives at the palace 🏰.  He believes the QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘is evil and not SARASTRO👴, but he is determined to rescue PAMINA👸. He plays his MAGIC FLUTE🎵🎵 and PAPAGENO🐦, plays his pipes  and bells🎶🔔 so that they can find each other. 

But just as PAPAGENO 🐦and PAMINA 👸 are about to escape they find themselves face-to-face with SARASTRO 👴,who says he cannot grant her freedom, but that she will soon be freed by somebody else.  MONOSTATOS 👤and TAMINO 👦 both arrive, and it is the first time  TAMINO 👦and PAMINA👸 see each other💖💖💖. 

SARASTRO 👴sets challenges for TAMINO👦 and PAPAGENO🐦. If they succeed, he will give his crown 👑 to TAMINO👦 , and he will  find a wife for PAPAGENO 🐦For one trial, they must remain silent 🤐🤐.

Meanwhile, QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘 gives PAMINA👸 a dagger🗡 and tells her she must kill SARASTRO👴 or she will no longer be her daughter. MONOSTATOS 👤 overhears this and tries to bribe PAMINA👸, threatening to reveal the plot, but SARASTRO 👴arrives, banishes MONOSTATOS👤 and forgives  PAMINA👸. 

 An OLD WOMAN👵 visits PAPAGENO 🐦and says he must commit his life to her, or be alone for the rest of his life.  He reluctantly agrees, and the OLD WOMAN 👵then transforms into the beautiful PAPAPGENA😍. PRIESTS arrive and chase her away with thunder and lightning⛈. 

PAMINA👸, not knowing about the trial of silence🤐, is broken hearted  💔when TAMINO 👦will not speak to her. She tries to kill herself with the dagger🗡, but is stopped by THREE SPIRITS.  For the final challenges, TAMINO 👦 must walk through fire🔥 and water🌊. PAMINA 👸stops him and insists they do this together👫. They complete the tasks safely, protected by his MAGIC FLUTE🎵🎵. 

PAPAGENO🐦 is so sad 😢💔because he has lost PAPAPGENA😍,  and he tries to take his own life🗡, but the THREE SPIRITS arrive and remind him of his magic bells🎶🔔. He rings them🎶🔔 and summons PAPAPGENA 😍and she returns 😢.

MONOSTATOS👤, QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 🌘, and THREE LADIES 👵👵👵, plot to destroy SARASTRO's👴 palace, but are stopped my magic forces and are banished into the night🌌.

SARASTRO👴 marries  TAMINO 👦 and PAMINA 👸and everyone cheers👏👏 🎉because they have overcome challenges to find true love💖💖💖.


Now that you have understood the synopsis of the story, here are  a few short videos of it. 
The Magic Flute (46.30 minutes - start about 2 minutes in) 
The Magic Flute  (3.04 minutes - animated plot summary)  

The following images are from books and  productions of The Magic Flute - Can you tell what part of the story each one represents: 

                                   

The opera was written in German, and is usually sung in the German language; however, sometimes versions are sung in English.  

The Queen of the Night Aria  is the most well known from the whole of the Magic Flute.  Mozart wrote it specifically for his sister-in-law as he knew she could sing the difficult notes. It's  considered to be one of the hardest for any soprano to sing.  It's also known as Der Holle Nacht  (the German title) or the Revenge Aria.

Here's a compilation of several sopranos singing the same aria - so you can see it done several different ways in different settings. 
 
And here is actress Meryl Streep portray Florence Foster Jenkins  singing Queen of the Night - very badly.  Florence was a wealthy woman in America who enjoyed singing and performing - in spite of bot being very good at it.

This is what the words are in English.

The vengeance of Hell boils in my heart,
Death and despair flame about me!
If Sarastro does not through you feel
The pain of death,
Then you will be my daughter nevermore.
Disowned may you be forever,
Abandoned may you be forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature,
If not through you
Sarastro becomes pale!
Hear, Gods of Revenge,
Hear a mother's oath!

Junior Songs: 
Chumbara
Sarasponda 
Ten in a bed ( all from this blog post)  

And a new song for roll call. 

2018, Term 3, Week 6: More Mozart - Rondo a la Turca

Maori Language week bonus songs: 
Juniors:
bilingual version of 10 Little Kiwi birds. 
Haere Mai song
Alphabet song
Days of the Week - in Maori 

Seniors: 
A song by Stan Walker for Maori Language Week 2104, called Aotearoa 

       

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27th 1756 and died on December 5th 1791, at age 35. He was born in Salzburg in Austria, where his father, Leopold, was also a musician and composer.

Wolfgang's family called him Wolferl. He was called a child prodigy which means he could do something extremely clever at a very young age. He composed his first piece of music when he was just 5 years old. He was 7 when his first music was published, and when he was 12 he had written his first opera. He was an accomplished violinist and pianist by the age of 6, and he and his sister Maria Anna (called Nanner by her family) travelled around Europe giving concerts and even performing for royalty. Nanner was a very clever musician and composer herself, but she stopped travelling and giving concerts once she reached marrying age.

When he was older, Mozart moved to Vienna to earn a living as a composer and pianist. He was used to being a famous child musician and having a great fuss of him, so it was difficult for him to settle to being an adult performer and not the centre of attention anymore - even though he was still a musical genius.

Mozart married Constanze Weber in 1782. They had six children, but only two survived past infancy. He earnt a lot of money in his life time but wasted it and ended up dying of kidney disease at 35 years old. He was buried in a common grave with no special ceremony.

Mozart composed an enormous amount of music in his short life. It would take over 8 days to play all his music without stopping. He also composed in a wide range of musical forms, such as operas, symphonies, concertos, masses, and chamber music.

This week's music is called: Turkish Rondo - or Rondo alla Turca  from Piano Sonata in A, K. 331. It's also known as Mozart's Turkish March of Rondo alla Turk.  Here is a version played on the piano.  You can find many other versions of it - from glass harps (glasses filled with water) to drum solos, heavy-metal guitars  to  full orchestras.  Chinese pianist Lang Lang is well known for a very fast performance of Rondo alla Turca.   And sometimes, because it's so well known, some musicians like to have a bit of fun and change the way they play it.  In these versions, listen carefully when themes are repeated, you will notice that the second time is usually a little different: often quieter, and sometimes with a rallentando (slowing down) in some places.

This is one person's idea of a listening map for Rondo alla Turca. Can you follow it and see why the images change when they do? Each picture represents a different theme in the music.  

See if you can follow this rhythm pattern for Rondo alla Turca.  This will introduce semiquavers to you.  

This is a five-year-old boy playing Rondo alla Turca. How long would it take you to learn how to play this? 

And this version is a really fast rap full of advice to children - set to Rondo alla Turca. Can you keep up?  

And here's a good reason to keep practising playing the recorder - see what can be done?

Here's something to watch for homework: It's a German animated cartoon series (dubbed in English) based on the life of Mozart as a child (called Amadeus here.) 

This is Part 1: Solo for Amadeus 


Songs: 
Juniors: Scroll down for songs from the past few weeks/ 

Baby Shark Dance has had over one billon views, so let's add another few views to that. 

Notation: 

Here's a song to help you learn the notes E, G, B, D, F on the treble clef. 

Scroll down to the last few blogs for some revision, and then try theses: 

1. Here's a notation game where you click on the note names to spell words. 

2. Now, use the guide  - or your own knowledge - to name the notes and spell the words. 

3.  And here's an interactive game where you can test yourself against the clock. Be careful, it;s easy to make mistakes at speed on this one. 

4. And the test: can you draw (need  data projector on white board)   or indicate where these notes go on the stave.