Green Turtles #10

NEED TO KNOW

Green Turtles #10: Your Green Turtles are mastering the finger placement for both the red and yellow chords and they are amazing!

CAREFUL FINGERING: Some students are playing the red chord with 1-3-5 and the yellow chord with 1-2-5 every time! Yay! Some students are sliding their 3rd finger down to play yellow with 1-3-5. (Totally understandable because red is 1-3-5 and we drilled red for 9 long weeks before we added yellow!) And some are so focused on playing 1-2-5 for yellow that they play the red with 1-2-5 as well. The good news is that they can restructure their hand and get muscle memory for a 1-3-5 red and a 1-2-5 yellow chord fairly quickly with some conscientious practice. Now's the time to do it! 

PRACTICING: Some Green Turtles are practicing like rock stars, and some are getting frustrated with practicing. If practicing is becoming a struggle, there are some ways to turn it around. The first idea is to change the wording. Use the word "play" rather than "practice." "Practicing" is a chore, but "playing" is fun. Here is a link to an LPM podcast episode that talks about some other ways to make it fun. I'm not naive enough to think that this will magically make at-home play wonderful, but it definitely gives some places to start. Let me know if you need more support. Some kids want to practice, but it's both physically and mentally overwhelming and more frustration hits. If this is the case for your student, restructure the expectations so they can succeed.

GOOD TO KNOW

RED-YELLOW CHORD TRANSITIONS: When playing songs with chord transitions, it's important that the whole hand NOT lift completely off the keyboard between chords. If that happens, students have to start over with figuring out where their hand should land. Instead, remind your student that for the red to yellow transition, ONLY the thumb should slide (1, 2, 3, 4, move your thumb and nothing more) using fingers 1-2-5 for the yellow chord.

BUNNY'S BIRDHOUSE: The rat-tat-tats in Bunny's Birdhouse help with independent finger movement, where each finger must press down to play a melody. It is important that the other fingers NOT lift way, way up off of the keys (fly-aways!) Try to play with each finger gently sticking on its key, so that the hand stays in C position.

Also, while practicing the rat-tat-tats, the top note is on the 2nd line of the treble clef. We know this note is Huggie G (prepare yourself for many hugs while discussing Huggie G!). When practicing, you can sing the rat-tat-tat parts as "2nd Line, Middle C, 2nd Line again," or "Huggie G, Middle C, Huggie G again," or "5-5-5, 1-1-1, 5-5-5-5-5," or "Sol-Sol-Sol, Do-Do-Do, Sol-Sol-Sol-Sol-Sol!" The options really are limitless! Sol or G should be played with finger number 5 (pinky) and the middle C with finger number 1 (thumb). The ending is a Sol-Fa-Mi-Re-Do played with descending fingers 5-4-3-2-1.

TURTLE SHELLS: We've been practicing our intervals based on Middle C, but intervals can be played ANYWHERE on the keyboard! Any two keys right next to each other are a 2nd, a skip with one key in between the two notes creates a 3rd, and skipping two keys creates a 4th. They can play a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th anywhere on the keyboard. They are pros at this!

FUN TO KNOW

Aaron Copland was born in 1900 and was intregal in helping to define a style of classical music that was truly American. He celebrated American life through music, using folk tunes and American themes throughout. Although some people like to fancify the ballet's name, Rodeo is pronounced "ROH-dee-oh," and not "roh-DAY-oh." Hoedown from Rodeo has been used in commercials, movies, TV shows, and was even in the opening ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Check out this blogpost for more about Copland, Rodeo, and Hoedown.

Green Turtles #9

NEED TO KNOW

Green Turtles #9: I love having moms, dads, grandmas, and grandpas come to class! It's fun to show off the things we've done and the new things we're adding.

YELLOW CHORD: It's time to color the yellow chord onto your Chord Helper! Hooray! Here is a picture showing which flaps to color yellow. 

Here is what the Chord Helper looks like with the yellow on the keyboard.

And here is what the stickers look like if you're using stickers instead.

YELLOW CHORD CONTINUED: FINGER NUMBERS ARE IMPORTANT!! Play the Red Chord with 1-3-5 and the Yellow Chord with 1-2-5. Again, it is essential that fingers 1, 2, and 5 are used to play the Yellow Chord while 1, 3, and 5 play the Red. In case you didn't get it from class or this paragraph yet, here it is again: THIS IS IMPORTANT!

PRACTICE HELP: In your practice outline, it says to practice Halloween is Coming, and has an optional "put hand in F position to practice with vocal track on CD #13." Here is what it means. We play "Halloween is Coming" in the key of C, and use the C Major red chord and the c minor red chord to accompany. It's in C on the practice and performance tracks (28 and 29). But they put the fancy singalong track in the key of F (supposedly the range is better for kid's singing voices). If your kid is happy with the practice/performance tracks and doesn't want to play with the fancy version, just let her keep playing in the key of C. If she wants to play along with the fancy singalong version, the key of C will sound funky. She'll need to move her hand so her thumb is on F with a finger on each key, and play the same pattern. 1-3-5 for F Major, then move finger #3 down to the black key for f minor. Again, this is just for fun. We won't be playing in F again during 2nd year, but we'll learn how and why we can move DO to F and play in F Major in 3rd Year!

CELEBRATE CONNECTION: During your practice time, put a small mirror by your music, and sing to yourself! Mix it up... try going out of order on your practice list, starting at the last song and moving to the top.

TUITION: Thank you for getting your tuition in on time! It helps me so much! If you didn't get it in, I'll send a request/reminder.

GOOD TO KNOW

CHORDS IN PIECES: We've been singing this one since Red Balloons, and now we're diving deeper. Chords in Pieces is simply each block chord BROKEN into the three separate pieces or notes. The homework assignment for the week is to show each of our chords with broken pieces.

ROW ROW ROW: As you're ROWING along this week, keep a slow and steady beat to really SINK in the Yellow Chord! Remind your Turtle 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. The goal is to keep fingers in contact with the keys, so they know where they are.

SUPER TURTLES: If your student is chomping at the bit for more music they can play, here is a link to some of the 1st year songs that they'll be able to play in C position. This will be a great exercise in sight reading, and will make Echo Edna very proud. They'll need to watch for baby steps and skips, and use the finger numbers for extra guidance. If your student doesn't want to do extra stuff, he doesn't need to. This is just in case your kid wants to do more!

FUN TO KNOW

"Hoedown" might be my favorite of all the puppet shows. Do I say that about all of them? I really mean it on this one! Usually our puppet show stories are different than what was originally intended, but "Hoedown" is the actual name of this piece! It comes from a ballet called "Rodeo" and was written by the American composer Aaron Copland in 1942.

* Here is a link for printable mini puppets of the Hoedown Puppet Show.

* Here is a link for printable coloring pages for the Hoedown Puppet Show. These coloring pages are also in your songbook. If your student wants to color them there, go ahead! We won't be using those pages specifically in class.

Green Turtles #8

NEED TO KNOW

Green Turtles #8: Your Green Turtles are speedy! They are getting so comfortable playing the red chord, Sol Fa Mi Re Do, and their intervals! I am so proud of their hard work. Next week is going to be fun because we are going to learn the YELLOW CHORD!

SONGBOOK MARKING: Sometimes our songbooks will be workbooks and we'll write in them in order to help solidify the concepts. Check out page 15 of their songbooks! We colored the chords so it will be easier to play them in the future. They're learning how to recognize the chords now, and will learn how to play them all in the next few weeks. A more detailed explanation for chord shape and color is in the "good to know" section. If your student wasn't in class this week, help them color their chords. Here is what page 15 should look like now. 

CELEBRATE CONNECTION: Try experimenting with dynamics. Play the first measure of a song piano (soft), then the next measure forte (loud), then piano, then forte, and so on! Or record a song your student loves to play in order to share with grandparents or cousins!

PARENT DAY AND TUITION DUE: Next week is a parent day, so you get to be there when they learn the yellow chord!! Hooray! The third tuition installment is also due. I'll send an invoice later this week to remind you. If you don't get one, it means you've already paid for this portion. Thank you!

GOOD TO KNOW

PRIMARY CHORDS SONG: Your students are learning to recognize chords by their shape! The key is to look for where the 3rd is in the chord. If you check out their songbooks on page 15, you'll see that we identified and colored the chords. Writing in music books helps solidify the ideas, and we will be doing it a lot more.

* A SNOWMAN shape is built with two 3rds. In home position (where we will be playing throughout 2nd year), our Red Chord is snowman-shaped.

* A TOP-HEAVY shape is built with a 3rd on top (it's the 3rd that identifies the shape!) and a 4th on the bottom. The Blue Chord is top-heavy in home position.

* A BOTTOM-HEAVY shape is built with a 3rd on the bottom and the 4th on the top. The Yellow Chord is bottom-heavy in home position.

During 2nd year, we will drill these chords corresponding with these colors and shapes to help solidify playing in tonic (home) position. But they'll also see that all the colors (the function of the chord in the song) can be any shape with inversions. And we'll play them that way in 3rd year!

Home position: In the key of C, where we'll be playing all 2nd year, "home position" is with your thumb on middle C and each finger on a key. When we change keys in 3rd year, "home position" will be with the thumb on the note of whatever the key center is (C in the key of C, F in the key of F, G in the key of G), and each finger on a key.

FUN TO KNOW

Learn more about Vivaldi and bees in this blogpost specific to our Spring Bees puppet show! The embedded videos on the blog is broken, but here is the link to Vivaldi's "Spring" with sand art, an here is a link to the Classic Mickey Short where Mickey leads his band while everybody follows him no matter what (this actually uses the music to the Fox Hunt puppet show from Blue Bugs)! 

Green Turtles #7

NEED TO KNOW

Green Turtles #7: Great playing this week! Your students are getting so much more comfortable at the keyboards! I love seeing their C positions, firetruck dings, and red chords! Next week we'll start on the c minor chord!

SOUNDTRACK: Using the recorded music will make practice so much more fun and effective! It helps your Green Turtle to play in tempo and sound like a rock star! Tracks 19-47 on the Green Turtles album on the app are all play-along tracks, and many of the songs have both a "Practice" track and a "Performance" track. The main difference is speed. Using them will give your student structure and a satisfying ensemble feel. If you're having issues with the app, check out this section of the website on app troubleshooting and features. If having a CD copy would help you, let me know and I'll get one for you! Or you can download the tracks at this link and use them however you want. 

CELEBRATE CONNECTION: Put sticky notes covering different sections of the song, and number them 1-6. Roll a die and remove that numbered paper. Play that section! Keep rolling, removing, and playing until you can play the whole thing! You can also take your songbook to a couch or the floor and sing along with the song while pointing to the chords and music in your songbook.

HOMEWORK HELP: This week's homework is identifying our red, blue, and yellow chords by their shape in home position. We identify chord shapes by their intervals. Most triads (three-note chords) are made of up 3rds (stacked up nice and neat) and 4ths (with a little gap between), and the kids are learning to recognize chord shape by looking at where the 3rd is. We've worked on the red chord for a few weeks (two different 3rds, stacked up nice and neat all the way which we call snowman shape), and this week's class is the first that we've talked about what the blue (3rd on the top, so top-heavy) and yellow (3rd on the bottom, so bottom-heavy) chords look like. Check the Reference Section of your student's workbook on page 70 for a visual of this concept, and remember that we're looking for the 3rd.

GOOD TO KNOW

THREE BLIND MICE: We can play a MI RE DO! This repetition is great for strengthening fingers and training ears to hear a melodic ostinato! Plus we're asking them to watch the music with laser beam eyes as they play and adding in rhythm (specifically bug-bug-slu-ug). Playing with the accompaniment track and singing along with make this even more valuable. If you play the guitar or ukulele, get your C chord ready to have a jam session and sing along! 

HURRY HURRY DRIVE THE FIRETRUCK: Your students are doing so awesome on playing their sol-fa-mi-re-dos! I'm so proud! Now is the perfect time to make sure they are strengthening the fingers so all of their fingers stay close to the keyboard while playing the other keys and don't "flyaway." 

FUN TO KNOW

We keep talking about "laser beam eyes," watching each note on the music while we play it with our hands. The goal is to keep eyes on the book, glancing at the fingers only when needed. This not only helps to draw the correlation between what is written and what is played, but also helps the students to be great sight readers. But be careful with your powerful laser eyes!

Green Turtles #6

NEED TO KNOW

Green Turtles #6: These first few months of Green Turtles are the most intense of the whole curriculum! Sitting at the keyboard and trying to control fingers is so hard and quite frankly taxing on these little bodies! But they are totally growing and learning and getting stronger and they are exactly where they are supposed to be.

HOMEWORK HELP: This week's homework is identifying and then writing Middle Cs. Remember, "Middle C, Middle C, has its own line like seriously."

CELEBRATE CONNECTION: Add some fun to this week's play time by seeing if the student can stand on one leg while the parent plays through a whole song. Then try the other leg! Play "air piano" by playing on the lid of the piano or a table instead of an actual keyboard.

INSTAGRAM: If you Instagram, be sure and follow @letsplaymusic_official. There are lots of tips and motivations, as well as freebies and giveaways. 

 

GOOD TO KNOW

FIRETRUCK: Hurry, hurry, we learned to play a SOL FA MI RE DO! We introduced the concept of using each finger on the keyboard separately (rather than playing the entire red chord or intervals). This is a new concept and can be tricky. But we can do hard things! There are two recordings of this song on the app. The first is a "practice" track, which goes more slowly. The second is a "performance" track, which is faster. When you play the song on the app, let them do the actions from their seat at the keyboard, then get their hands in C position and play the "ding ding ding ding ding!" You can alternate singing "Ding ding ding ding ding" with "Sol Fa Mi Re Do" or "5-4-3-2-1" or even "5 notes stepping down!"

INTERVALS ARE TURTLE SHELLS: For some insight on intervals and why we spend so much time recognizing them both on the staff and with our ears, check out this blogpost. 

FUN TO KNOW

Our "Spring Bees" puppet show is from Vivaldi's Four Seasons concertos. I always think it's just a little silly when we do "Spring" in September and October...