2018, Term 1, Weeks 7 &8 The Woodwind Section - and Easter

                                             
Dances:
Wrap Me up - by Claudia Gunn  (Warm up and creative movement) 
Kids Bop Shuffle - practise your own moves - how can you move to the left / right / kick/ walk around in a circle? 
Chicken Dance 
Can't stop the Feeling 
Dynamite 
YMCA (Junior Version) 

Scroll to last week for more dances

The Bunny Hop - Here's a video of it from 1957 - when the song / music first came out. 
Here's the steps - it's very easy:
(1) Get in a line - any amount from 2 people.
(2) Hands on shoulders (or waist) of person in front).
(3) Keep weight on left foot - right foot out to the side and back. Repeat.
(4) Keep weight on right foot - left foot out to the side and back. Repeat.
(5) Small hop forwards on two feet- pause for one beat.
(6) Small hop backwards on two feet - pause for one beat.
(7) Three hops forward without pauses.
(8) Repeat from (3)
                         
Songs: 
La La song 
The Fox (Scroll down this blog post to find the lyrics) 

This week we are learning about the woodwind section of the orchestra.  There are quite a few different instruments in the woodwind family -  and some, surprisingly, are not made of wood. 

Here's more examples of woodwind instruments being played. 

In this video, you can hear the same tune played by the most common woodwind instruments in the orchestra, so you can hear the difference in pitch and timbre. 
pitch - how high or low a sound is
timbre - (pronounced 'tamber' and less commonly 'timber') the tone, character and quality of the sound. 

A wind instrument is one where  sound is produced by the vibration of reeds in the mouthpiece, as a bassoon, clarinet, oboe, or saxophone, or by the passing of air across the mouthpiece, as a flute. 

The woodwind section of a traditional orchestra has bassoons, clarinets, oboes, flutes, and piccolos. A A band or modern orchestra could include saxophones and other types of wind instruments.  A reorder is also a member of the woodwind family.

Watch this outdoor concert of music from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.  It's called the Dance of the Mirlitons or the Dance of the Reeds. It starts with instruments from the woodwind section, then shows you other sections playing. How many instruments can you name?   Watch the conductor - why do you think he makes different movements and gestures? what do you think he is communicating to the musicians? 

Flutes are played in many different types of music, and are some of the oldest tuned instruments ther are.

Here's a flute made from a fossilised mammoth tooth - over 30,000 years old.

Here's the flute used in a jazz blues  song.

And Ian Anderson in the group Jethro Tull, brought the flute into rock music. 

And some interesting versions of wind instruments from Sesame Street . . .  (James Galway on Flute and Maria on Pool Toy).







Hot Cross Buns: 

Clap these rhythms - Can you name the values of each note and rest? 
   


And here's  a joke for last week's lesson about the brass section.

Homework / Extra: 

Have a go at making your own woodwind instruments at home. (Ask your parents before you start cutting stuff up, though. )

Easter is coming up - here's a very old Walt Disney "Silly Symphony" called Funny Little Bunnies about the Easter bunnies and chickens preparing  for Easter. It was made in 1934 - so how old does that make it?  Listen to the music, and how it changes to fit the animation. How does the music help tell the story? 

2018, Term 1 Weeks 5&6: The Brass section

The National Anthem Part 1: 
We sing the National Anthem at assemblies - and sports matches - but how much do we know about it? 

A national anthem is the official national song or music of any country. It is played or sung at important national events  or ceremonies and has become associated with international sports matches and events also.  

In fact the first known time a national anthem was played at a sporting event was in Wales in 1905 when the Welsh rugby team the  played the New Zealand All Blacks. The Welsh national anthem (skip to 2:00) was sung in response to the All Blacks' haka. 

At the Olympic Games, the national anthem of the gold medal winner is played. 

Not all national anthems are sung  - the national anthem of Spain has no official lyrics. 

W will learn more about the history, background,  and meaning of the lyrics of the New Zealand national anthem in the next lessons, but in the meantime,  we can practise singing the words. 

Follow the lyrics on this video for the first verse in Maori and English. 

And here it is in New Zealand sign language - one of the official languages of New Zealand. 

                                                    
Songs and Dances: 
How many sleeps - Claudia Gunn 

Kidsbop Shuffle - make up your own versions to the movements
Chicken Dance 
Get Ready to Wiggle 
Can't stop the feeling 
We no Speak Americano 
Dynamite 
Don't stop me now 

La la song


Theory: 

Clap these rhythms

   

Instruments of the Orchestra Part 2: The Brass section 
Here  are the instruments of the brass section of the orchestra, played by the National Orchestra of Wales. 

The trumpet is probably the most well known member of the brass family. 

This is a Sesame Street video about how a trumpet works. 

Here's a famous trumpeter called Alison Balsom playing a famous trumpet concerto by Hayden.  A concerto is a piece of music where a single instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. 

A fanfare is a short ceremonial tune played on brass instruments  - usually to announce something important. This is called Fanfare for a Common Man by Aaron Copland. 

What happens when a donkey hears a trumpet? Do you think the donkey is enjoying the music?   And what happens when cows listen to a trombone player plays Lorde's Royals to them. (You may want to  skip though it.) 
                                                   

Nursery Rhymes:  This week's nursery rhyme is Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat in the Fiddle. 
Here's a jazz version of Hey DIddle Diddle for you to listen to. 

This is Kermit the Frog interviewing the cow who jumped over the moon. 

                            
Homework: 

Check out  these links for more information and examples of the things we have been learning about in music: 

Can you name the brass instruments in this scrambled version of Beethoven's Ode to Joy? 

Can you identify each of the stringed instruments in these videos: 
 - Here's a strings orchestra version of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars

 - This is a youth strings orchestra playing The Pink Panther by Henry Mancini 
                                              

2018 Term 1, Week 3 &4: Instruments of the Orchestra - Strings

Come along (especially by 2.30) to hear Claudia Gunn sing her children's songs which we listen  and dance to in Juior music classes. 

Notation Practice:
Scroll down to last week's blog for Part 1 of this graphic notation series. 

Add bar lines to make 5 bars in 4/4 timing.

More practice: 

Add bar lines then clap the rhythms.  Scroll down to the end of the post to find the completed versions with bar lines included. 

Even more extension 

Clap each rhythm, then work with a partner or a group to clap two or more rhythms together.

Juniors - Moving to Music 
- Lullaby by Claudia Robyn Gunn 
- How many Sleeps by Claudia Robyn Gunn 

Dances - Juniors: 

Freeze Game 

Get Ready to Wiggle 

Skip to My Lou 

Kids Bop Shuffle - Sound track 

Lyrics  to help you do the dance: 

to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right,to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left now kick, now kick, now kick, now kick now walk it by yourself,  now walk it by yourself

Chicken Dance -  Use the video to learn the dance, then dance to the music without the video. 

Seniors: 

YMCA

Shout

Land of 1000 Dances

We No Speak Americano

Singing: 

La La Song  

Instruments of the orchestra  - This week, we are looking at the string section.  (BBC orchestra) 
Here's another video showing each of the members of the string section of an orchestra.
And here is the Melbourne Orchestra explaining and demonstrating the string section.  You might be able to answer some of the questions yourself. 

Vocabulary: 

violin, viola, cello, double bass (string bass / bass), harp

orchestra, conductor, audience  

Parts of a violin. Follow this link to find out more. 

Watch this 6-year-old girl play "Let it Go" (from Frozen) on the violin. 

Here is some modern orchestral music played on an amplified violin.  David Garrett plays Palladio by Carl Jenkins. 

And - the most important thing to remember when you go to  concert or a performance is to . . . turn your phone off!  See what happens when  someone's phone rings in a classical violin concert. 

Introducing the crotchet rest. Follow this chart and do the actions. 

Homework: Here's a video of  The Pink Panther who tries to play the violin  in an orchestra performing Beethoven's 5th symphony.


Notation - with bar lines included: 

2018 Term 1 Weeks 1 & 2: A New Year and a New School

Welcome back to  a new year.  

Moving to music (Juniors)- Lullaby by Claudia Robin Gunn 

NEWSFLASH: Claudia (who visited our school and worked with some of our classes last year) will be performing songs from Little Wild Music at 11.30am on March 3 on the Auckland Kiddie Limits stage at the Auckland City Limits one-day festival at Western Springs.  Read more about it here.

Dances: (Juniors →)
The Freeze Game 
Get Ready to Wiggle 
Skip to My Lou 

(Middles←→)
YMCA
Shout
Land of 1000 Dances 
We No Speak Americano 

Viewing and Listening -  Sections of the Orchestra: (Juniors → )
This week we are going to meet an orchestra.  In this video, a young boy called George visits the Sydney Youth Orchestra and learns about the job of the conductor and the different groups within an orchestra. 

Vocabulary: orchestra, conductor, strings, woodwind, brass, percussion, 

Now watch this video of a live outdoor orchestra performance where Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. 

- Identify each section of the orchestra as you see the instruments played.
- Can you identify any specific instruments?  
- Which section you can hear clearly, but you don't get to see very often? 
- How does the conductor communicate with the musicians? 
- How can you tell that this performance is a bit more relaxed and light-hearted than an concert in an indoor theatre? 

Here's some hints of how to behave at a classical music concert.

Singing (Juniors→) : 
La La song.  This is a fun echo song where you have to listen and copy the sounds and actions of the singer.  In this version, you can see the singer and follow his actions - along with an audience of children.  In this version - you have to listen  and just follow what you hear and read. 


                                    

Making Music (Juniors →)
Body Percussion

(Middles →)

Nursery Rhymes (Juniors) 
                                                 

Jack Be Nimble
The earliest known time that it appeared in writing was in 1815. Jumping candlesticks was a type of fortune telling and also a sport. If you jumped over the burning candle without the flame going out, it was believed you would have good luck. (It was obviously good luck because you didn't get burned!) 

Here's a version with an extra verse to show you what happened to Jack when he didn't jump high enough . . .

Here's a Sesame Street Newsflash version of Jack Be Nimble 
Here's another sesame Street video to help you understand the word nimble. 

Homework / Extra/ Extension:

Musical Conductor Comedy Sketch This conductor is having a lot of trouble working with his choir and orchestra. How much music vocabulary do you understand in this video? 

Tom and Jerry - The Cat Concerto (1947) 

- What is a concerto? 

- What happens before the piano player comes on stage? 

- What is expected of the audience? What is the  correct way for the audience to behave?