Lesson 5

Thank you for coming to class this week! Be sure to practice keyboard letter names with the Alphabet Pieces Game. Remember that students should be using the visual cue card in the back of their songbook, rather than counting up to find their notes.

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

• Blink with each note/chord you play in the bass clef (LH).
• Close your eyes, and run your finger over your music then stop and open your eyes. Start from wherever your finger landed and play through to the end.
• Knock on the wood/plastic of your keyboard when you come to Mr. Rests.

Homework: pp. 12–13 Students fill in keyboard letter names and identify notes.

Bass C and Treble C
The 3 C’s are in a family; they have different first names and the same last name! We’ve known Middle C since last semester. This week we introduced Bass C: 2nd Space in Bass Clef is Bass C! AND Treble C: 3rd Space in Treble Clef is Treble C or 1-2-3 treble C! These anchor notes on the staff will help orient us as we expand our keyboard skills.

C Major Scale
Now that we know where Treble C is on the keyboard we can play the C Major Scale going DOWN. The technique is exactly like the Left Hand, but instead playing it with the Right Hand! Practice this SLOWLY to ensure correct fingerings and bubble hand position. 1) Begin with RH finger number 5 on Treble C. (This is the C right above middle C.) 2) Play Do, Ti, La, Sol, Fa using fingers 5-4-3-2-1 with a rounded bubble hand. 3) To play Mi, POP finger number 3 over thumb. 4) Reset the BUBBLE and proceed to play Mi-Re-Do with finger numbers 3-2-1.

I am Robin Hood
Shoo-oot the Ar-row, Waa-atch it fly---, teaches us how to feel and play the dotted quarter eighth note pattern right on target. To feel this rhythm more accurately dance with the music, stomp out the rhythm with hands and feet, or even sit them on your lap and bounce your knees up and down to the rhythm while chanting the song together. Mix up practice with this song by playing the bass clef 5th an octave lower to really sound like a deep drum!

Hickory Dickory Dock
This song introduces parallel motion by following a steady beat through a metronome (a tick-tock is what we call it in class).

Mr. Rest
Could you believe all the musical symbols Old MacDonald had on his musical farm? A rest, though played with silence, is a very important aspect of music. Mozart said, “The music is not in the notes but in the silence between.” Rests are powerful!

Playing the Alphabet Pieces game every day will help us solidify keyboard geography by learning the names of ALL of the white keys. Enjoy playing this game with its theme and variations!