Green Turtles #14

NEED TO KNOW

Green Turtles #14: Your green turtles are amazing! I'm proud of each of them and their work with the chords. They all know how to play the Red, Yellow, and Blue chords with the correct fingers. Sometimes they need finger reminders, but they fix it quickly. I'm so proud!

CELEBRATION DAY: Lesson #15 next week is Celebration Day! It's not a normal lesson, and is a whole bunch of fun fun fun! It IS a parent day, so come with your student and celebrate everything you have done this semester. 

You can of course come during your regular class time. The setup is an open-house type, so if it works better for your schedule that day, you can come anytime that I have classes that day and do the activities. It will be available from 2-2:50, and again from 4:10-5:00 (and if that time between classes from 2:50-4:10 is best for you, just let me know and I can make that work too!). 

And yes, bring your bag and books. Some of the activities will come out of there. Some of the games we do that day will stay in my classroom, and each student will get a bag with a few games in it to take home. Which means if your student can't be there, you can have a mini Celebration Day at your house! Let me know and I'll have an activity bag ready for you to pick up. 

YELLOW ARROWS: In Green Turtles, we learned all the chords with the right hand. In Yellow Arrows, we'll transfer those skills to the left hand! So exciting! Classes will resume after the holidays on Wednesday, January 14. Your student will get their class materials that day, with a class calendar taped into the front of the workbook. You can also check out the class calendar now or anytime in the "Calendar" section of the website.

GOOD TO KNOW

CHORD TRANSITIONS: Look ma, no eyes! We practiced playing the chord transitions with eyes closed and they did great! I want them to know that their brains and fingers know the chords and to trust themselves to play. They can start playing without their Chord Helper if they'd like, although they can continue to use it if it helps them.

HOLIDAY SONGS: The holiday songs in the back of the songbook are great practice to reinforce chord transitions, and they're also just a lot of fun to play! These songs will add cheer to the holidays and festivities and they will help solidify the transition between the red, yellow, and blue chords with the right hand. Here are more holiday songs that your student can play with the red, yellow, and blue chords.

RELIGIOUS SONGS WITH THREE CHORDS: One of my studio parents sent me this link to a collection of lead sheets with the lyrics of a slew of religioius songs all accompanied by the Red, Yellow, and Blue chords. They're marked with the "real" music names for these chords, which we will learn in the Orange Roots semester. But you can help your student color the Roman numerals so they can read them! I=red. IV=blue. V=yellow. Heads up that the songs might not sound the same as the originals with only the three chords, but it'll sure be close enough to enjoy! Here is the link!

FUN TO KNOW

When we play rhythm games in class, we focus on staying together and listening to each other. Here's an NBA commercial that showcases dribbling the ball with some mad music skills. Watch the focus and laser-beam-eyes that they are using! It's so fun to watch that I send this link every year. I love this one!