Embedded Files
Students in 4th grade are just beginning their independent study on the recorder. They will have the opportunity to learn up to 9 different songs this year, as listed below. Each song is listed below in order from least to greatest difficulty. Below these videos is a link to a YouTube channel with popular music 'play-alongs' that allow students to work on their dexterity and finger skills without reading sheet music. Further down are links to Blooket games that students can play at any time to practice their pitch-identification skills.
There's also a note from Mrs. Sanders to all of the grown-ups that are encouraging our students to practice!
Spending a little time each day on music will help students to improve quickly and achieve more throughout our study of the instrument this school year. Happy practicing!
White Ring
White Ring
Ba Ba Oo La LA
Ba Ba Oo La LA
This is a super silly song that only uses the notes A and B. Be careful . . . this one might just get stuck in your head!!
Yellow Ring
Yellow Ring
Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns
This song uses the notes B, A, and G and is probably one that your older siblings (or maybe even your parents) learned when the first played the recorder.
Orange Ring
Orange Ring
DC Jive
DC Jive
This song also uses the notes B, A, and G but teaches us the meaning of the letters 'DC' in music : Da Capo. Play along to find out what that phrase means!
Green Ring
Green Ring
Hawaii 6-0
Hawaii 6-0
We're still using just the notes B, A, and G! Don't be fooled by all of those slow-moving half notes and the 8 measures of rest at the beginning. The ending of this song is a tricky one that will take lots of practice to get right. Remember that a dot on a note adds half of the value back to the note so a dotted half note will get 3 beats!
Purple Ring
Purple Ring
Sir Binko Larch Leads The March
Sir Binko Larch Leads The March
Keeping with our B, A, and G notes, we're kicking the tempo up and keeping our fingers moving quickly through note transitions. This one moves at a brisk marching pace so do your best to keep up and play with a staccato (separated) articulation style with energy.
Blue Ring
Blue Ring
Level Up
Level Up
We're giving you some options on this song! We're sticking with B, A, and G notes only for one final song before we start introducing new notes in our next piece. You'll see two notes stacked on top of one another! YOU get to choose which note you would like to play : B or G?? Will you be able to play through all 4 levels?!
Red Ring
Red Ring
Miss Mary Mack
Miss Mary Mack
We're still going to use B, A, and G but now we're learning how to play our high C'! This song looks scary at first but it's actually quite repetitive. You'll play the entire song 4 times and learn how 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th endings work in music to save composers a lot of ink and paper!
Did you also know that there's a hand-clapping game that goes to this song too?
Brown Ring
Brown Ring
Recorder Buddy
Recorder Buddy
We're not learning any new notes with this song - still sticking with B, A, G, and our new note, high C'. However, we're cranking the tempo up to nearly 160 beats per minute!! You'll need to slow this one down to practice and then slowly increase the speed until you get it back up to 160. After this song, you'll definitely be good buddies with your recorder!
Black Ring
Black Ring
Overdrive
Overdrive
This song looks easier than our brown ring but you'll be learning three new notes on top of high C', B, A, and G : you'll learn high D', low E, and low D. You'll also be learning about slurs in articulations, and need to recall how repeat marks and rests work. You'll have some complex rhythms that you'll need to work out too, along with ties! There's a whole lot going on in this piece, making it the most challenging one of the year - and your last one. After this, you'll see Mrs. Sanders for your Teacher Assistant Badge where you'll then be able to assist her with helping your classmates learn their music and achieve their rings too!
RECORDER PLAY-ALONGS
RECORDER PLAY-ALONGS
The link below will take you to a YouTube Channel by Mr. Row, an elementary music teacher from Houston Texas. Though our students won't be assessed on any of the material on his YouTube channel, I use a lot of it for fun and for students to engage with their instrument in a way that takes music theory out - just using our hands and working on finger dexterity so we can spend more time making music just for the fun of it! Click the icon below to explore and play today.
BLOOKET GAMES (PITCH PRACTICE)
BLOOKET GAMES (PITCH PRACTICE)
Click the icon above to practice using the EGBDF acronynm to remember the notes on the lines of the staff.
Click the icon above to practice using the FACE acronym to remember the notes in the spaces of the staff.
Click the icon above to test your knowledge of all notes in the lines and spaces of the treble clef staff.
Click the icon above to practice identifying whether a note is in a space or on the line of the staff.
A NOTE OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO OUR GROWN-UPS FROM MRS. SANDERS
A NOTE OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO OUR GROWN-UPS FROM MRS. SANDERS
THEY'RE STILL TEACHING RECORDER IN SCHOOLS!?!
THEY'RE STILL TEACHING RECORDER IN SCHOOLS!?!
Learning to play recorders is almost a rite of passage. In fact, elementary-aged students have been learning recorder in schools since the early 1900's. The recorder was introduced into the education system by the German composer, Carl Orff; you know, the guy who wrote Carmina Burana! His teaching methods focused on rhythm, movement, and creative thinking to make learning music more fun for younger minds. He thought that if children could sing the notes they were playing, they may better understand the basic concepts of music theory. The recorder is ideal because it's simple, easy to play, and is similar to the vocal range of small children. For over 100 years, the recorder has been the first instrument that children have learned to play all over the world.
BUT THEY'RE SO LOUD! WHY NOT TEACH SOMETHING ELSE??
BUT THEY'RE SO LOUD! WHY NOT TEACH SOMETHING ELSE??
Recorders are affordable for nearly every family and there are so many benefits to learning to play!
It teaches fine motor skills, hand dexterity, and finger placement.
It's good for brain development as children must learn to coordinate their breath, their fingers, and their tongue all while reading pitches and rhythms, recalling fingering patterns, and playing with a steady beat and good tone.
Students learn the value of problem-solving, teamwork, perseverance, and discipline by being self-reflective, figuring out their own mistakes, helping provide feedback to their classmates, working hard to pass off their next piece of music even when they get stuck, and continuing to work hard when the music becomes more and more challenging.
Teaching recorder has been a practice in early music education around the world for decades because it is so effective. I'm so excited that your Cardinals are a part of this learning process and can't wait for them to share with you what they've learned (after we've discovered how to improve our tone quality)!
Teaching recorder has been a practice in early music education around the world for decades because it is so effective. I'm so excited that your Cardinals are a part of this learning process and can't wait for them to share with you what they've learned (after we've discovered how to improve our tone quality)!
Page updated
Report abuse