Lesson 5

Next week is our first “Showtime” week! I will be having the students show off however they have been practicing “Bounce and Roll” and assessing that they understand the skills being taught within that repertoire piece. They’ll get a little solo time with me to show me their stuff, I’ll make a little note about how they played on their semester progress report, and we’ll never play that song in class again. I don’t give “grades”, this is just to help me get an idea of each child’s individual progress on a song, their playing ability, and will also help me identify any “problem” spots that might need a little attention. I'd like to do this at the beginning of class, as soon as the kids enter class, so if you’re able to drop them off 5 minutes earlier, that would be helpful as well. Or you can "Marco Polo" me a video in the group I set up.

Also, here are a couple tips for 3rd year:

• Be sure your child is playing the Let's Play Music opening song on p. 3 in their Songbook using a different ending pattern each day.
• Use 'V-Fingers' to help your child track with the music while playing. Remember, when you are doing ‘V’ fingers for your child, you will need to be sitting to the left of your child. Then they can see what notes are coming next and you won’t be in their way. If you are confused about this, let me know and I can show you.
• We are learning about ABA form and will be referencing this as an option for our compositions in the Orange Roots semester. How exciting to learn these new concepts so early!

Homework: p. 26–27 Students name the notes on the staff. Be sure your child is marking tallies for each time they practice a piece. The goal is 5 times a week on each song. Also, be sure to look at the specific instructions for each piece, since most pieces will NOT be played hands together for the entire piece every week!

And don't miss the video listed at the bottom of this blog post! Your child will never forget the treble clef notes again!

Magic Keys
This song is a multi-tasker! It helps us understand key signatures and chord theory, plus gives us the opportunity to practice our scales and cadences while self accompanying. Wow! Now that's complete musicianship! Check out this blog post!

Scratch My Back
When a cadence pattern doesn't make it back 'home' to a red chord and gets stuck halfway on a yellow chord it is 'unresolved'. This fun activity helps us not only hear, but feel an unresolved half cadence with our whole body!

Everyone did a great job pointing out flat, sharps, and naturals on their quiet keyboards in class this week. Here's an online version that you and your student can play at home (or on the go) any time, and here's a little 'accidental' humor for you this week.

Now that we have 'unbanded' all of the Treble Clef notes in our flashcards, you will enjoy this Treble Clef parody of Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble!

For my convenience, I have preloaded content for the whole semester. I will update each future post with specific time-sensitive info before I send the link each week. If you choose to read ahead you might see details that don’t apply to your child’s class. For this reason I do not recommend reading ahead. Thank you!