Yellow Arrows #3

NEED TO KNOW

Yellow Arrows #3: Your kids are doing great! I appreciate their laughter and excitement when they come to class. They are absorbing so much! 

LEFT HAND CHORDS: Next week we will add in the left hand yellow chord! Use this week to get the left hand red-blue chord transition solidified. Your students should be getting to the point where they can play this transition with their eyes closed. Once they are smooth with that, try it hands together! That's tricky because the RH fingering is different than the LH. Be sure the muscle memory is solid in each hand separately before combining them.

    RIGHT HAND: {Red 1-3-5} {Blue 1-3-5} {Yellow 1-2-5}

    LEFT HAND: {Red 5-3-1} {Blue 5-2-1}

CLASSES FOR FALL: If you haven't yet, please let me know about your student's schedule for the fall.

T-SHIRTS: I buy Let's Play Music T-shirts for all of my first year students. If you would like a shirt for your 2nd or 3rd year students for $11, I will include them in my order. I will ask your 2nd year student to wear their shirt at the end-of-the-year recital, so if they've grown out of them, consider this your heads up that you'll need one. (If you are a transfer student and didn't get a shirt from your last teacher, let me know.) If you'd like to order, fill out this form and venmo me $11. If you don't venmo, you can bring a check to class or include it with the next tuition installment. 

GOOD TO KNOW

CATERPILLAR SONG: Wow! Our caterpillars are getting smoother and steadier! Way to go! Make sure that fingers are staying on the keys when it's not their turn to play. I sometimes call this "glued" to the keys, or "no flyaways!" That way the fingers will be ready to go when it is their turn.

TURTLE SHELLS: This week we played the "Turtle Shell" intervals with both hands at the same time! Using fingers 4&5 (left hand) is tougher than using 1&2 (right hand). Before playing, warm up with "Where is 4? Where is 5?" and then have your child play the interval (a 2nd) with fingers 4&5. Repeat for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Get out the finger twister game we used at Celebration Day (if you don't have it still but would use it, let me know so I can get you another one, or you can make your own here). This game will absolutely help to reinforce the finger numbers and strengthen those fingers.

LOVE SOMEBODY: We LOVE when our parents play along with us! Share love with your student while playing the melody or chords an octave higher. Have your student teach you the "lovely" game that accompanies this song! 

FUN TO KNOW

We love our "Girl's Curly Hair" Treble Clef and "Father's Strong Arm" Bass Clef! I love finding them all around us!

Yellow Arrows #2

NEED TO KNOW

Yellow Arrows #2: Your Yellow Arrows are doing so great! It is amazing to me to see how much information they have in their cute little heads! I love it!

LEFT HAND BLUE CHORD: Color your Chord Helper with the bass blue chord, and/or put the stickers on the correct keys. Help your student to remember to use 5-2-1 as fingering for the LH blue chord (just like the RH yellow... 1,2,3,4, move your thumb and nothing more!). Here is what it should look like! There is also a great visual on page 58 of your workbook in the Reference Section.

 

KEEP IT UP WITH THE RIGHT HAND: Make sure your student is comfortable moving between the three chords (red, yellow, blue) in their right hand. We use this skill all the time, and if they have to slow down to remember it, it will frustrate them! Use the RH chord helper to remind them, then take it away and show them they are learning it. Help them enjoy all the new left hand stuff they're learning by making sure the right hand is solid!

CLASSES FOR FALL: I know we just started Yellow Arrows, but I'm getting my schedule outlined for fall classes. Here are a few questions about your students' schedules that will help me set classes to be the most beneficial for you. Registration opens in March!

GOOD TO KNOW

CELEBRATING CONNECTION: A few ideas for playful practice this week include acting out the Robin Hood song, and using marshmallows, raisins, LEGO, toy cars, or any other small treat or toy to mark intervals and chords on the keyboard. 

BLOCK AND BROKEN: Reading music uses reading skills: we start at the left side of the page and move to the right. Sitting to the left of your student will make it so as you help guide, you're not blocking the notes that are coming up. In this song, help them get three steady beats in each measure. You could do this by singing "1-2-3, 1-2-3," or "red chords plays do mi sol" or "red-2-3, do-mi-sol" to the beat. I always do a mashup of these during class.

SNOWFLAKES ARE FALLING: Brrr it's cold outside! Warm up inside your home by playing this ostinato on the tone bells. Sing starting on D, "Snowflakes are falling, falling very gently." Then play A, G, F, E for "down, down down down." (This song is in a minor key. To be able to use the bells we put it in d minor, so our engraved solfege syllables don't match up... just go with the note names on this one!) Keep singing the lyrics then repeating this DOWN pattern until you're feeling toasty inside. Then finish the song by playing a final DOWN on the D bell. Try it in a round with the recording!

FUN TO KNOW

Our Pirate Ship puppet show comes from Brahm's Hungarian Dance #5. Check out this rockin' arrangement with a piano duet and a drumset! I love the performers in this clip. They are seriously having so much fun making the music!

Yellow Arrows #1

NEED TO KNOW

Yellow Arrows #1: It was so good to see you and your students back in class! I hope everybody had a great break and is ready to get back to real life!

CHORD HELPERS: A majority of the students were able to play all three chords (red, yellow, blue) with their right hands without using a Chord Helper during class. They should be able to go without the Chord Helper (or stickers for the right hand) at home as well. If they still need the Chord Helper for the right hand, it's okay. Remind them that the Helpers are like training wheels on a bike, and they are about ready to play without them now. Like training wheels, however, if they need them, still use them, and work towards being able to take them off. Clipped into your yellow workbook, there is a Chord Helper for your left hand, as well as some dot stickers if you prefer those! So exciting! Cut the Chord Helper out and use it with just the red portions for this week, or put the red stickers on the LH area. I will always have the red foam dot on Middle C on the keyboards they use in class. I suggest they keep the foam dot on your Middle C at home to help them find their place on the keyboard. Let me know if you want another one. Here's a visual of what it should look like with either the Chord Helper or the stickers!

YELLOW ARROWS MUSIC: There is a lot of fun new music for Yellow Arrows! Make sure your have access to it on the app. I have CDs for those who requested them, but totally spaced passing them out. I'll send them next week.  

TUITION: Thank you to those who paid tuition on time! If you didn't get it in, I'll send a reminder.

GOOD TO KNOW

LEFT HAND: This semester we will focus on strengthening our left hand finger muscles! Playing Bubble Hands (Where is one, one's your thumb...) in numerical order on the keyboard is a great way to strengthen and reinforce finger numbers. Thumb is 1, Pointer is 2, Middle is 3, Ringman is 4, and Pinky is 5. LH pinky is on bass C. After your child is confidant with the finger numbers in order, mix it up to cement this concept with the Left Hand.

TURTLE SHELLS: Playing Turtle Shells with the recorded track with ALSO help strengthen those fingers. Look closely at the printed music and it will help you know what finger numbers to play. It might feel backwards compared to the right hand, but your student's brain will figure it out very soon.

CATERPILLAR SONG: The proper hand position for this technique song is Middle C Position where both thumbs SHARE Middle C. This week, you can start by playing hands separately, or jump in like we did in class with hands together. But be sure and go SLOWLY, singing finger numbers until they get the hang of this 5-finger pattern.

ONLINE CLASSES: The online video of the first class of each semester is available for free on YouTube. If you missed class this week, or would like to check out what the "makeup videos" are like, check it out here!

FUN TO KNOW

Our Pirate Ship puppet show comes from Brahms' Hungarian Dance #5. Here is a link to the printable mini puppets, and here is a link to a printable coloring page. There are coloring pages in your songbook that we won't be using in class, so go ahead and color those if your student wants to!

The world of music opens up a little more with each concept we learn. And so does the world of music humor! Here's a fun look at the Girl's Curly Hair TREBLE clef and the Father's Strong Arm BASS clef, both of which are in charge of a STAFF!

Tuition Guidelines Review

Tuition Information

At the beginning of each semester, I send out an invoice that includes the entire tuition that will be due for that semester. If you look at the invoice, you will see that it is broken down to four payments, each due at a different date throughout the semester. This semester the dates are January 9/10, February 6/7, March 5/6, and April 9/10. These dates are also marked on your class calendar (inside the front cover of your student's workbook). (Lessons #1, #5, #9, and #13... I do it this way because those are the lessons that parents attend during 2nd and 3rd year classes. When I started teaching, most people were paying by check, and it made sense to have it due on days parents attended. I've just stayed with that schedule because it makes sense to my own brain.)

TIMEFRAME

*You can pay all of the semester tuition at once and not have to deal with it any more after that.

If you pay it in full, I'll send a receipt that you've paid and you won't get any other invoices throughout the semester.

*You can pay in installments and not have to pay it all at once. 

If you pay it in installments, you'll get a receipt recording the portion that you've paid for, and you'll also get another invoice the week before the next installment is due. 

METHOD

You can pay with:

*a check in class

*through Venmo (@MusicAdventureswithPaigeMoore)

*with a card through the Wave app with the link on the invoice. 

It honestly doesn't matter to me which way you pay, but because so many folks ask, I do pay a fee when I am paid through Venmo or Wave. If you pay by check, there are no fees. 

PROBLEMS

If something seems off with the payments and/or receipts, let me know and I'll recheck the details on my end. I'm quite careful, but I'm not perfect!

THANK YOU!

I appreciate more than I can express when folks pay tuition on time. It makes it so I can focus more on your kids and their music!