 Remember to place the yellow stickers on your keyboard. Now that your child can play the yellow chord, there are more songs they are able to learn! Practice time will increase up to 5-10 mins. Adding this chord can be tricky for most students. If you find your child struggling, continue doing the Bubble Hand Exercise to strengthen those little muscles. Celebrate Connection A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!
Homework: p. 34–35 Students trace each chord and its pieces. Have your child tell you if it a Red, Blue, or Yellow chord.  Chords in Pieces Chords in Pieces are simply each block red, yellow or blue chord BROKEN into 3 separate pieces or notes. The 3 notes of each chord can be in any order and they remain the same color chord, just rearranged in different patterns. For example the red chord can be rearranged in pieces of Do-Mi-Sol, Mi-Sol-Do, OR Sol-Do-Mi! All of these arrangements are still the red chord. This is the same for the blue and yellow. Row, Row, Row As you’re ROWING along this week, keep a slow and steady beat to really SINK in the Yellow Chord! To prepare to play the Yellow Chord, remind your child aurally and visually that only the thumb (#1) slides over to the next key. All other fingers (2, 3, 4, 5) stay put, lightly resting on the keys. As long as those fingers stay put, the hand has an anchor and the child knows where he is on the keyboard, even without looking. Our goal is to keep all of the fingers in contact with the keys, so they will be ready for quick transitions. Hoedown Print out the fun coloring pages that are attached below and turn on "Hoedown" while they color.  Now that we're working on Row, Row, Row Your Boat in class, have fun watching this video of a children's choir leading or round, or this video of a guy singing with two more of himself in a round! 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!
I love seeing the coloring in students' piano books! It’s completely acceptable and we will color more in class! Celebrate Connection A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!
Homework: p. 32–33 Students identify solfege patterns. Primary Chords Song Do you want to build more snowmen? Combinations of intervals build chords. We will use ‘snowmen’ to teach the 3 common shapes of chords throughout the 2nd year of Let’s Play Music. A ROUND snowman shape represents the Red Chord built with two stacks of 3rds. A TOP-HEAVY snowman shape represents the Blue Chord built with a 4th on the bottom and a 3rd on the top. A BOTTOM-HEAVY snowman shape represents the YELLOW Chord built with a 3rd on the bottom and a 4th on the top. We can find melodic patterns in many songs! Feel free to print out and use the attached melodic pattern flashcards to become pros at hearing, singing, signing, AND playing them! Here are the patterns in some of the songs we are learning this semester. Sol-Fa-Mi-Re-Do: Dings in Firetruck, end of Row the Boat, end of Bunny’s Birdhouse Mi-Re-Do: Solfege Seafriends: end of octopus line, end of Farmer in the Dell, end of Sally Go Round Sol-Sol-Do: Solfege Seafriends: end of whale line Sol-La-Ti-Do: Say, Say Oh Playmate: ending 
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!
Great playing this week! I loved seeing C position, Firetruck dings, and red chords! We even listened to the minor chord! Isn't it scary??? And guess what? Our students can now recognize all of the Red, Yellow and Blue chords in notation, and it won't be long before they play them, too. Don't forget to listen to the album and let your children play along to the accompaniment tracks! (Numbers given below). Thank you so much for your diligence at home! Your children are progressing nicely! Thanks for the sacrifices you make at home and getting them to class! It is worth it! Celebrate Connection A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!
Homework: p. 30–31 Students will color chord triangles and identify chord shapes. Three Blind Mice #26 We can play a Mi Re Do! How fun to be able to play along with the accompaniment tracks! This repetition is great for strengthening fingers and training ears to hear a melodic ostinato! Make sure they are singing along and playing with the accompaniment tracks to make this even more valuable. If you or anyone plays the guitar, or ukulele, have a jam session and sing along! Turtle Shells #20 It’s important to understand that a 2nd does not have to always be a C and a D. Any two adjacent white notes are a 2nd. The same thinking goes for 3rds (skip one white key) and 4ths (skip two white keys). Knowing how intervals look on the staff, how they are spaced on the keyboard, and how they sound when played is invaluable ear training and staff reading knowledge! Here's a great, quick video from our Making Musicians Blog on using "laser beam eyes" while following the notes on the page as you play! The goal is to keep our eyes on the book rather than our fingers which helps draw the correlation between what is written and what is being played. 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!
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Clara McDonaldAs a music educator of 25 years, my passion is infusing others with music! Archives
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