2015 Term 1 Week 1: The Treaty of Waitangi

 It's the first week back at school, and we get another day's holiday on Friday for Waitangi Day on February 6th.  This celebrates the day the Treaty of Waitangi was signed 175 years ago.

Here's a few basic facts about the Treaty:

What is a treaty?  

 An agreement between two or more groups of people. 

Who was it between?

The Maori chiefs and the Crown (the Queen of England) represented in New Zealand by William Hobson.

 Where was it signed?

At Waitangi at the Bay of Islands. 

When was it signed? 

On the 6th of February 1840.

Why was there a need for a treaty?

There were about 2000 British citizens already living in New Zealand, and more were arriving. There was no way of maintaining law and order without an agreed system that all could follow. One  law was needed to protect both Maori and Pakeha, and their their property, and Hobson was asking the chiefs to accept Queen Victoria as their Queen and the British system of law to protect them.

What's the treaty about?

Article 1: asks the chiefs to give the governance of New Zealand to the Queen 

Article 2: promises to protect the chief's property and possessions; and organises the sale of any land the chifs want to sell

Article 3: gives Maori the sames rights as British citizens 

 

 Here's a song about Hone Heke who was the first to sign the Treaty of Waitangi.  Heke lost faith in the benefits of the Treaty after Hobson moved the capital to Auckland. One way of showing his anger at the British was to cut down the flagpole flying the Union Jack at Kororakeka in the Bay of Islands.

Here's the New Zealand National Anthem in Sign Language, Maori and English.

¡Buenos Días! Here's a song help you learn  to say Hello in Spanish.
Here's another version of ¡Buenos Días!

Dances this week:
The Chicken Dance 

I'm a Gummy Bear 

Listening: This is called Chopin's Sonata Number 2. (3rd Movement). This was composed in 1839  (about the same time as the Treaty of Waitangi draft was getting prepared to send to New Zealand) by Frederic Chopin who was a Polish composer.  Listen for where the music changes from loud (forte) to soft (piano).

This is a fun video to experience sudden changes in dynamics. Listen for the changes between piano and forte. The performer is Bjork, a singer-songwriter and musician from Iceland.

 

Vocabulary from this week's topics:
treaty - agreement
Crown - king or queen
alert - careful, cautious
lofty - high
Union Jack - the name of the flag of the United Kingdom
dynamics -  the volume or sound of a note in music - how loud or soft it is played
forte - loud
piano - soft
Poland
Iceland 
Waitangi 

Here's a listening game. Are the two tunes the same or different?  

This is another listening game where you can compose a tune, play it back and identify your tune from a selection of three tunes. One will be yours, the other two will be different. You will obviously need the sound on. 

2014 Term 4, Week 8: Now is the Hour

Something to make you chuckle 

 

“Now is the Hour” is also known as “Po atarau”  and it has been a popular song to sing at the end of important events or farewells in New Zealand for over 100 years. 

A version was also sung to farewell Maori soldiers departing for World War 1,  and then later for soldiers leaving for World War 2.   It was a popular song to farewell anybody going overseas, especially as, in those days, the only way to travel was by sea, and people did not travel overseas as often as they do now.

The song is based on a song called “Swiss Cradle Song” by Clement Scott in 1913, and the words and tune were adapted by Maewa Kaihau in 1920 to be closer to what we now sing. By 1935 it was known as the “Haere Ra waltz song” and it was a popular song to play at the end of dances. 

In 1945, the British singer Gracie Fields visited New Zealand and learnt the song. She sang it on a British radio programme and it became a huge hit.  In America, it became popular when Bing Crosby recorded it. 


Now is the Hour
 
Po atarau
E moea iho nei
E haere ana
Koe ki pamamao
Haere ra
Ka hoki mai ano
Ki i te tau
E tangi atu nei

Now is the hour,
when we must say goodbye
Soon you'll be sailing,
far across the sea.
While you're away,
Oh please remember me.
When you return,
you'll find me waiting here.

This is the first recorded version  of Now is the Hour, in 1927 and in Maori and English. 

Here's a barbershop version by the the Musical Island Boys who won a gold medal for the best performance of 2014 at a competition in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

This is Bing Crosby singing Now is the Hour in 1947. 

This is the Gracie Fields' 1947 version. 

This is a singalong version with the words in Maori and their English translation. It's a bit faster and easier to sing along with.  

This is a beautiful version by Saint Joseph's Maori Girls' College choir. 

This is Hayley Westenra singing Now is the Hour at the end of the 2011 Rugby World Cup final.

From folksong.org.nz. Follow this link for more information about Po Atarau.

2014 Term 4, Week 7: Thanksgiving - and more Christmas songs - and dances

Thanksgiving is a holiday in Usa and Canada  It is celebrated in Usa on the fourth Thursday of November, and in Canada, on the second Monday of October.

This first Thanksgiving took place in 1619 when early settlers travelled from England to North America.  The following year, a ship called the Mayflower brought English pilgrims to Massachettes. Many of them died during the first winter because they were cold and didn’t have enough food.  The  next year, local Native Americans  (the Wampanoags)  helped them grow crops. The pilgrims thanked God and the Native Americans for helping them survive and held a feast, inviting  three of the tribe who had helped them. These three brought their families  and there was over 90 people - and not enough food, so the Wampanoags brought more food along: turkey, duck, fish, deer, berries, squash (pumpkin)  and cornbread and vegetables they had grown.

Here's a Horrible History rap about the story of the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. 

This is a short animated story about the first Thanksgiving. 

Not quite turkeys, but here's  the Chicken Dance - which is near enough. 

We've been learning this song - I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.  

Here's a very lively Must be Santa by Bob Dylan. 

This is one version of All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth. 

Here's a fun dance Mah na mah nah. 

This is Sesame Street version of the Mah Nah Mah Nah song - with Sandra Bullock. 

And here's a Crazy Christmas Dance - Can you keep up with it?   

The Juniors are learning Do Re Mi. Here's a karaoke version. 

Here's a version that shows the notes as well as the words. Each note is a different colour to help you recognise the differences.   

This is the version from the film The Sound of Music.

This is a Wellington High School flashmob doing a dance to Do Re Me.

Term 4 Week 6: Chopsticks

 The tune known as Chopsticks  was originally called the Chop Waltz. It was written in 1877  by a 16-year-old British composer called Euphemia Allen - although she used the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli.  When she wrote the music, she said that it should be played with the palms of the hands facing each other vertically and the keys struck with the little fingers  - in a chopping motion.   It is one of the world's most common tunes and is often the first piano music young players pick up from other players, without needing to read music.

Here's a Muppets  episode with Liberace doing Chopsticks

You can see the sheet music and the piano playing it at the same time here. 

Here are two classical pianists having a bit of fun with Chopsticks variations based on other well-known classical pieces.

Here's a bar graph of the music and the piano playing it at the same time.

This is a version from a 1958 television (black and white) programme. It's played in several different styles, including jazz,  and includes a song as well.

This is an Australian  fun song version  by Peter Combe - with lots of children involved.

 And a Sesame Street Two-Headed Monster version.

And another Sesame Street song - about how to use chopsticks to eat food.

This is a Christmas version of Chopsticks.

and a boogie version from  1960s television programme.

And, just for the fun of it, a dancing 27-year-old cockatoo. 

Term 4 Week 5: Armistice Day and Berlin Wall 25th anniversary

This week we will catch up on lessons missed when the Seniors were at camp and when the power went off for most of Thursday last week. 

The 11th of November is known as Armistice Day. In the UK and other Commonwealth countries it's also known as Remembrance Day.  In the US it's known as Veterans Day.

At 11:00 a.m. on the 11th of November 1918 the fighting stopped to end World War 1 - known then as the Great War.  It was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

In many parts of the world, there are ceremonies to remember those who served and died in all wars since - and including - World War 1.  In New Zealand, our main memorial day is Anzac Day on April 25th, but Armistice Day is still observed in New Zealand officially and by all RSA clubs and many other institutions.

Here's a link to part of New Zealand's  official Armistice commemoration in Wellington on Tuesday. The background music  is a group singing the  poem 'Flanders Fields'. 

Here's a video of this year's Remembrance Ceremony in London. You will hear Big Ben chime 11 times then there is 2 minutes of silence. Look at how still everyone is. You have to wait for a while to see someone move so you know that it's not a still photo.  You will also hear the Last Post played and you will see the Queen and others lay wreaths.

 This is a band playing Nimrod Enigma Variations  by Edward Elgar. This music is always played at UK Remembrance ceremonies. We learnt about this music when we were learning about Anzac Day music earlier in the year.

Poppies at the Tower of London

Here's a video of the poppies at the Tower of London.

In London, a special display of ceramic poppies has been at the Tower of London to commemorate World War 1.  Each poppy represents  a British soldier  or   Empire soldier who died in the war. There are 888,246 poppies, each one hand made.

This week also marks the 25th anniversary of the pulling down of the Berlin Wall. The wall was built in 1961 by East Germany to try to stop its people leaving the Communist part of the country to join the democratic western part of the country.  The wall was patrolled by guards who were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to escape.  Finally, in 1989, the wall was pulled down and the two parts of Berlin - and Germany - were reunited into one country. There were many celebrations, including a Beethoven concert conducted by Daniel Barenboim which he did for free for the people who had been on the Eastern side of the Berlin wall.  This is a small part of that concert.   

This is Daniel Barenboim conducting the Allegretto from Beethoven's Symphony Number 7 in A major.  This was also played at the concert, although this is a later recording.

Here's a simple version of the notes and note values (below). This is just one line of music; listen to how the  rest of the music adds more to the tune.

Click on this link to hear  the complete version of the Allegretto, with a bar graph of the different tunes played which combine to form the overall sound.  Try following one particular line each time you watch it.  Can you hear the repeated pattern of the notes in the music written  above?  Can you hear the theme repeated in different ways, especially towards the end?Listen for the change in dynamics, too.  Note where it gets louder and softer.

Here's your air guitar version. Listen to it get louder as it progresses. 

Here's another electric guitar/ heavy metal version. Listen for changes in tempo (speed) and dynamics (loud / soft).