Yellow Arrows #13

NEED TO KNOW

Yellow Arrows #13: THANK YOU for sticking it out and getting to all the parent days this year! I know it's hard to schedule, but it makes such a difference! I love having you attend and letting your kids show off to you during class. 

UPCOMING CALENDAR:

Wednesday, April 22: Lesson #14: Regular kid-only class

Saturday, April 25: End-of-Year Recital (see details below) 

Wednesday, April 29: Lesson #15: Celebration Day with parents (like in December, this will be an open-house drop-in style)

TUITION: Thank you for getting your tuition in! I appreciate it! If you didn't get it in, I'll send you a request/reminder. 

REGISTRATION: Thank you for getting your registrations done! Third year is going to be amazing! If you haven't registered yet, here is the link to get it done!

LET'S PLAY IT AGAIN: The Let's Play Music company has developed a summer camp curriculum to review concepts learned during the second year of Let's Play Music. While I may do a summer camp one day, I haven't been organized enough to plan that far ahead this year. Let me know if there's interest though and I'll see if it comes together easily! It is set up so that even without a teacher-led camp, you can purchase the digital printable student book and have a bunch of activities to do at home on your own. Check it out here. 

END-OF-YEAR RECITAL: Our End-of-Year Recital will be held on Saturday, April 25 at 5:00pm at the church on 5900 Castle Drive. We are not a performing group, but we will take an opportunity to celebrate the things your kids have learned and do it in a fun way! Invite your family and friends for a fun evening. 

Recital Practice List:

Trash*Fish*Pop:

We'll talk about harmony and then we'll sing it. The whole group will do all parts, then each kid will get to decide which "team" to be on and sing that part. 

C Song:

I'll ask students questions, then we'll sing it.

Robin Hood: as written on page 1

Everybody! We'll do this three (or four depending on how I end up setting things up) times to allow each student to play it. (sing when you're not playing)

Challenge Song:

Each student will have the chance to show off by themselves on the keyboards. They can choose to play anything in the Green Turtles or Yellow Arrows songbook. Whatever they want to!

Pirate Ship Puppet Show

We'll do this Puppet Show with scarves.

If you can't be there, know that it will be okay! The purposes of Let's Play Music happen during classtime, and the recital is just a bonus!

GOOD TO KNOW

HOMEWORK HELP: THIS OLD MAN: How exciting to see the culmination of the last two years of chord study when writing the accompaniment for this song! We use our ears to hear what sounds correct, then use our staff knowledge to write the correct chord on the staff. This is what we did in class. The homework is to finish the second line. As always with chord-adding, let your student add in the chord they like best even if it's not what you think should be there.

SCALE MIX-UP: You can play scales anywhere on the keyboard! Begin on any C. Choose to play OUT & IN or IN & OUT. Play each hand separate with various bugs. So many possibilities!

FUN TO KNOW

Did you notice the path of Artemis II was a Treble Clef?!?

Have the practice blues set in? Try opening up their Green Turtle Shells Songbook and show them that they can play all of the chords in the left hand while playing the melody with the right. Celebrate their progress! 

Jazz up practicing by making sure your student's practice tank is full, and here are some ideas of how to ask them to "play it one more time..."  

Also, here is a link to the Let's Play Music podcast episode where they talk about making piano practice fun and successful. 

I understand completely both as a musician and as a parent how difficult (and emotional!) practicing can be. More than anything, just keep going. Know that whatever time you and/or they spend will make a difference.

Yellow Arrows #12

NEED TO KNOW

Yellow Arrows #12: I am so proud of your students. They are absorbing so much, and learning how to do hard things.

PARENT WEEK/TUITION DUE: Next week is Parent Week, and the last tuition payment is due. I'll send out invoices this week, and I'll see you in class with your students next week!

END-OF-YEAR RECITAL: Our End-of-Year Recital will be on Saturday, April 25 at 5:00. It will be held at the church at 5900 West Castle Drive. We are not a performing group, but we will take an opportunity to celebrate the things your kids have learned and do it in a fun way! Your 2nd Year students will wear their LPM shirts and black/denim bottoms. The performance outline is listed below. 

Recital Practice List:

Trash*Fish*Pop:

We'll talk about harmony and then we'll sing it. The whole group will do all parts, then each kid will get to decide which "team" to be on and sing that part. 

C Song:

I'll ask students questions, then we'll sing it.

Robin Hood: as written on page 1

Everybody! We'll do this three (or four depending on how I end up setting things up) times to allow each student to play it. If your student doesn't want to play it, they don't have to. (sing when you're not playing)

Challenge Song:

Each student will have the chance to show off by themselves on the keyboards. They can choose to play anything in the Green Turtles or Yellow Arrows songbook. Whatever they want to!

Pirate Ship Puppet Show

We'll do this Puppet Show with scarves.

If you can't be there, it will be okay! The purposes of Let's Play Music happen during classtime, and the recital is just a bonus!

Registration for Fall: Thank you for getting your registrations in! If you haven't finalized it yet, here is the link to get that done.

GOOD TO KNOW

Tinga Layo: In class this week, we drew in the 'bulls eye' and 'arrow feather' to create a stylized calypso accompaniment in your student's songbook. I also added an arc of color to show what chord they are playing at what time. Check it out on page 23! If your student wasn't there or didn't have their book, here is a visual of what it should look like!

 

Hickory Dickory Dock: Tick, tock, let us rock, while playing in parallel motion! This is tricky business! Playing the same note together with both hands at the same time means playing with different fingers, which is surprisingly difficult. I didn't get to this in the 2:00 class, but the after-school class did a great job at it. Almost everybody got it!

FUN TO KNOW

Vladimir Horowitz, multiple Grammy-winning Ukrainian-American pianist and composer, is considered one of the greatest pianists of all time. "The difference between ordinary and extraordinary," he said, "is practice." The obvious-ness reminds me a little of The LEGO Movie: "I know it sounds like a cat poster, but it's true!"

Yellow Arrows #11

NEED TO KNOW

Yellow Arrows #11: Thank you! Thank you for getting your registrations in for next year, and for being a part of my studio! I appreciate you!

REGISTRATION FOR THIRD YEAR: If you haven't gotten registered for the fall, please do so! Here is the link for that. It helps me more than I can tell to have my classes for fall set before classes end this spring. Also, once classes end, the supplies for fall 2nd and 3rd year classes will ship from the LPM offices to me. If you register after that, there will be an additional fee from the corporate office.

END-OF-YEAR RECITAL: Our End-of-Year Recital will be held on Saturday, April 25 at 5pm. Second year students will wear their LPM shirts with denim or black pants/skirts/leggings. Among other things, each student will get a "piano spotlight" where they can play whatever they love to play on the keyboard. There are a lot of options in class, including the Caterpillar Song, How to Skip, Primary Cadence, Scale in and Out, Tinga Layo, and even things from the Green Turtles songbook. Basically whatever they love to play! Each student will also get to play Robin Hood if they want. We'll talk about these in class and get everybody ready to go!

We are not a performing group, and the recital is more of a celebration of what we’ve learned rather than the pinnacle of the year’s activities. If your child can’t (or doesn’t want to) participate, is really no big deal. What we do in class is the real payback. With that being said, it would help me to know what folks are not planning on attending so that I can know what to expect for that day. Thank you!!

GOOD TO KNOW

SCALE IN AND OUT: This technique is teaching contrary motion, where the same finger numbers play together, moving in opposite direction. RH pinky (5) begins on Treble C and LH pinky (5) begins on Bass C. Play and sing IN the major scale with fingers 5-4-3-2-1-(POP)3-2-1. Both thumbs will land on Middle C. Then play back OUT using fingers 1-2-3-(POP)1-2-3-4-5. Here is a video of this skill from the online video lesson series.

OH WHEN THE SAINTS: MARCH, 2, 3, 4! We can march with our feet AND our fingers! A marching chord is a type of stylized chord that will make this song sound much more like a march. Play the bottom note of the chord alone, then the top two notes (interval) together and VOILA! The fingers are marching! March around the house as your child plays marching chords with this energetic song!

TINGA LAYO: I've had some questions about the "shoot-the-bug-bug" directions in the practice for this one. Here's a quick video to explain it!

FUN TO KNOW

With spring in the air, your blooming musician can hop on this life-sized keyboard to practice the music alphabet in the sunshine!