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Music Notes from Bee Tee!
As I planned this year's spring activities in the Orff program at Oak Knoll, I found a phrase from Carl Gustav Jung that I would like to share with you.
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the object it loves."
- Carl Gustav Jung
This quote perfectly describes the Orff program and its curriculum and goals. Orff is about experiencing and playing. It's about loving what you do and turning this love into fun and creativity.
And so with the New Year, we continue to play, sing and dance in the music room.
The Kindergartners continue to explore the steady beat, and simple rhythmic patterns through singing games and movement improvisation. They are learning to respond to various tempo changes and be able to identify them as fast, slow, faster and slower. In December, the students sang winter songs and did movement improvisation with scarves to the song "Dancing Snowflakes."
First grade students are doing a wonderful job on the Orff instruments. We've been playing mallet games to learn how to hold and play with the mallets in order to bring out the best sound from the Orff instruments. The students have also learned to use both simple and broken
borduns (accompanying patterns) as accompaniments to songs they learn in class.
Second grade
students continue to work very hard on their winter music. They have been choreographing dances, and improvising movement with partners and in a group to the songs and music they sing and listened to in class. Mark your calendar, as we will be presenting the students' work in the form of a suite entitled The Snowman on February 13.
Students in the third grade are preparing to learn to play the recorder this semester. They are having a fun time learning how to read music notation by playing music-reading games with partners and are finding how easy it is to identify and read music in the treble clef.
Fourth grade students in the Orff ensemble are busy exploring music from Japan. They are learning about the unique sound of the music: for example the Asian influence of the metallophones (gongs, temple blocks and cymbals). The students studied a haiku poem that was specially arranged for alto/soprano recorders and the Orff instruments. They also learned the famous Japanese folk song, "Sakura" also orchestrated for Orff instruments and alto and soprano recorders. Right now, they are playing a Taiko drum piece and playing it in various musical forms on hand drums. All these activities will be weaved into a musical production and performed later this semester.
Fifth grade students in the Orff ensemble are learning music from different historical periods and cultures. So far, they have learned two songs from Africa; from a suite called Songs from Gahu. These songs introduce the concept of solo singing through call and response. They are also learning concepts of "off-beat" and syncopation through a song from Mexico called "Cha-Cha-Cha," and are performing multiple melodic patterns on instruments. The fifth graders are also working on two songs from the British Isles: "Scarborough Fair" and "Lullaby" from the Isle of Man.
And last but not least, we are all excited about our 4th and 5th grade production of The Wizard of Oz to be staged at the end of March. The response to this production has been overwhelming and we would like to thank all the students for participating in the auditions and to the parents for their support.
Bee Tee
"Experience first, then intellectualize"
- Carl Orff
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Music Notes from Ms. Knight
In Ms. Knight's band class, the 4th graders are building on the fundamentals they learned in the beginning half of the year. We are continuing to work on note reading and will be learning some more notes this year. Soon we will be preparing the music for our Spring Concert. The 5th graders sight read a few pieces and have decided on some for our Spring Concert and Clap Out. One of the pieces, "Junkyard Jam" is very technical. It will stretch the ranges of some of our players and their rhythmic level. We will also involve some of the 4th graders (from Ms. Knight's 4th grade class) to help with the extra percussion parts.
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Music Notes from Mrs. Chiet
In all of Mrs. Chiet's classes, we have spent the first half of the year working hard on our fundamentals: playing position, bow hold or embouchure, and many more crucial basics. The beginning K-2 students are now learning left-hand technique and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is just around the corner! Students in the upper grades and K-2 students in their 2nd year of playing are exploring more challenging songs that we will be polishing intensely prior to our Spring Concert. 4th grade students are working earnestly on note-reading and 5th grade students are conquering tuning, harmony, and advanced playing techniques. I am constantly proud of the hard work the children are doing! I can't pass up this opportunity to remind everyone that focused home practice is critical. A little time every day is a solid investment that will pay dividends in May when everyone performs on Portfolio Night. Happy practicing!
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