5/6 Rock Band -

The band rehearses ...

Rock cello...look at that focus!

5/6 graders got to visit Oz's music environment again this week. This time: rock instruments! Students took turns playing various guitars and drums, as well as singing. Oz taught us a song that outlined the chords of a 12-bar blues progression, and off we went! Students were also able to play "Hound Dog" using the same progression. The distorted guitar effect was popular, as were drum and conga solos. Such fun! We will be having a special guest in the 5/6 music classes for the mont

Guitar and bass jam.

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Classical Indian Music a Huge Hit

3rd-6th graders saw an amazing performance by Zakir Hussain and his Masters of Percussion on Thursday. Mr. Hussain presented the 2,000-year-old tradition of Indian classical music in a way that was fresh, engaging, informative, and even funny. The show opened with a back-and-forth vocal improvisation between Mr. Hussain and his Ghatam (clay jug) player, nicely paralleling our studies of rhythm syllables and question-and-answer improvisation techniques in music class. I will admit, they were a little better at it than we are as of yet.... Here's a clip featuring Mr. Hussain in a similar performance:

Students were also thrilled by the bansuri, or Indian bamboo flute, played by Rakesh Chaurasia:

Not to mention the dancing drummers of Manipur:

The musicality of the performers was just amazing. Wow. The students were overwhelmingly positive about the experience and may have discovered a whole new genre of music to explore.