Recorder mania!

Yes, it's that time again. Each 3rd and 4th grader was given a school recorder on Monday. The Official Recorder Passing-Out Ceremony was accompanied by applause as each student selected their instrument for the year. Returning recorder players impressed the novices with a rendition of "Cambiano," the students' favorite song from last year. During staff meeting, I heard students practicing the song out on the playground, and sounding pretty darn good! Music to my ears.

We have a wide range of recorder skill in our class, so we are beginning with basics of tone production and recorder care. While this may not be the most exciting stuff for our more advanced recorderistos and istas, it offers an opportunity for the experienced to polish their basic technique while letting the novice players try out basic technique. Students will have opportunities to form small groups at their experience level to work on more advanced repertoire as well.

To support home practice and music reading skills, I've ordered an instructional book and CD for each student to borrow. I've found that the easiest way to play an instrument well is to listen to someone else play it well, so selected a method with recordings of each song available. Each song also has an accompaniment track to make practicing more fun (and more rhythmically accurate). Students will receive their books in the next couple of weeks.

If you'd like to enhance your child's playing interest and ability even further, I'd suggest looking into recordings by professional artists, such as Michala Petri and the Pro Arte Recorder Ensemble. The recorder is not only for schoolchildren! It's a genuine musical instrument with a 900-year history. It's a simple instrument to learn to play, but difficult to learn to play well. Good luck on the journey! Those high notes can be ear-splitters ....

What *is* inside a maraca?

Monday in K-2 music, we began each class with a song and dance to give students practice in keeping a steady beat, singing, and being a community. The 1-2 classes seemed to really enjoy singing “Sally Go ‘Round the Sun” and requested it again on Wednesday.

We then explored the world of handheld percussion instruments to prepare for studying percussive possibilities in "Our Backyard." Each student got to choose a handheld percussion instrument, from triangles, cymbals, jingle bells, Claves, Zills, Guiros, a Shekere, and an Agogo. Students put themselves in groups based on the sounds of their instruments, then discussed why their instruments might sound similarly. The kids made many insightful observations about the relationship between instrument sounds, their construction, and vibrations. For example, in Susan’s class, Noah noticed that the small cymbals sounded dramatically different at close range and exclaimed that he could “hear the vibrations.” He then proceeded to demonstrate for every child in class. This led to a discussion of vibrations and distance from our ears. In Elaine’s class, Ella decided that maracas were filled with shells because they sounded so much like her Shekere, which has shells on the outside. I refused to sacrifice my maracas to science, and the students decided they could find out from the instrument makers. Both classes could hear the difference between sounds made with metal and wood, and that differently-sized instruments made different pitches and volumes.

Kindergartners drew their instruments first and were able to categorize instruments with some assistance. They absolutely loved experimenting with the instruments and all show improvement in their ability to keep a steady beat and follow a conductor. I’m impressed! Kindergartners’ favorite rhyme this week was “Little Bo Peep”—almost every child was able to recite it by the end of class. Kindergartners also experimented with finding their “head” voices by making high and low “siren” sounds; sorry to those of you that heard this experiment carried on at home; rest assured that it is the first step toward your child singing in a clear, on-pitch tone.

Hello!

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year. My name is Cara and I will be your (or your student's) musical tour guide during your Summers-Knoll journey. Keep your seatbelts loosened and be sure to get your head, hands, and feet outside of the vehicle.

I'm excited to begin my first year teaching within the Summers-Knoll community. I've been meeting with the other fabulous faculty for the past few days, and we have such wonders planned ... just you wait.

During the "Our Backyard" theme, students will be encouraged to take a closer listen to the aural environment of SK. We will be sharpening our ears through deep listening activities in and out of the classroom. Also, we will explore how existing musical works have been inspired by composers' natural (and unnatural) surroundings. Finally, we will create our own music and movement pieces inspired by the flora, fauna, sights, and sounds of our SK community. I can't wait!