Lesson 5

Thank you for coming to class and having fun with your child. They love having you there to cheer them on!

The students are quickly learning the keyboard basics and moving right along quite nicely. You may be yearning to hear your little one playing beautiful pieces, but remember, this is not just a piano course. We are learning harmony, ear training, singing, and listening to classical music. In time, it will all come together in a more complete and satisfying way than just playing a piece. Enjoy this journey with your child!

Celebrate Connection
A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• Play one song an octave lower
• Play a song at T U R T L E speed
• Play for your favorite pet or toy

Homework: p. 24–25 Students will cut out and glue on the "Spring Bees" characters on the listening map.

Kit Kat Keyboard:
Playing all the C's and then all the F's as fast as we can builds our spatial awareness of the keyboard (octave spacing). Mix it up this week by racing the song up the keyboard, or racing down the keyboard. Suggest they look at their fingers, then look away or even close their eyes!

Sol Fa Mi Re Do
“Who sits on your SOL-FA? MI and RE eating cookie DO!” A catchy phrase to remember the new melodic pattern we are learning. Our big goal is to 'HEAR and Recognize' and also to 'SEE and Recognize', and then PLAY the melodic patterns. We will begin playing Sol Fa Mi Re Do next week!

Sally Go Round
This is a fun game to play at home! Emphasize all landing together on BOOM! It is the whole body experience of the same kinesthetic energy that it takes to lift the hand and come down on the beat when you play a song.

We are training the ear to hear layers of sound with the aquatic piece, Solfege Seafriends. By studying each individual part, we will be able to hear them distinctly even when they are played together. This is a great skill that a lot of adults haven’t yet acquired yet! Check out this fun example of harmony.

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!