5TH GRADE RECORDERS & ORFF

Students in 5th grade are continuing their independent study on the recorder. However, our students also have the option to learn their music on an orff instrument (xylophone, metallophone, or glockenspiel) when in class. Students are not able to take orff instruments home.

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

Hot Cross Buns

We begin with one of our simplest songs as a refresher to make sure we're playing with good technique and are comfortable with reading the notes on the staff. We'll only use the notes B, A, and G in this song.

Yellow Ring

Gently Sleep

We'll really solidify our B, A, and G notes, along with our articulation patterns, while learning to play music in a different style - one that is much slower and requires more breath control and focus on tone quality.

Orange Ring

The Boat Song

We're adding in the low E note this time with a Chinese folk song called 'The Boat Song!' This song was originally called 'Fukien Boat Song,' often sung as a lullaby about the gentle rocking of a boat on the sea. Fukien is a group of Chinese dialects, including Amoy and Taiwanese and is spoken in the southeastern province of China and in Taiwan!

Green Ring

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Everyone knows the melody to this song! We're using it to work on adding back our low D and low F# notes, in addition to focusing on B, A, G, and E. This song is a lullaby, remember? Take is slow and play it with the best tone that you can - gentle, warm air is the key to making the recorder sound great.

Purple Ring

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

How about another classic kid song? You'll be using B, A, G, low D, and low E. Though this song seems super simple, you'll need to make sure you hit all of the rhythms correctly AND get a proper transition between your G's and D's in the middle of the song to earn your ring. Keep the air warm and gentle and your fingers pressed down firmly while you focus on the right rhythms and a great tone.

Blue Ring

Peace Like A River

In this classic African American Spiritual, you'll focus on reviewing the notes you already know : low D, low E, G, A, and B. While you play, you'll have to work on your breath control to breathe at designated times and play music using new rhythms - isolated eighth notes - as well as ties to create sounds longer than 4 beats. (Remember a tie is like an addition sign - you add both of the notes together without stopping in between).

Red Ring

Down In The Valley

Keeping things simple, we'll play a piece of music in a new time signature 3/4, meaning we'll only have 3 beats in each measure instead of 4. This song is a classic American folk song that was written over 100 years ago! One of the most well-known versions was done by Burl Ives! Click here to listen to his rendition of Down In The Valley!

Brown Ring

Ode To Joy

You're almost finished! Ode To Joy was written as poem in 1785 and Ludwig van Beethoven set it to music in his 9th symphony in 1824 - setting it as a universal anthem for freedom and unity. This rendition of the simple melody will add in two new notes : high C' and high D' and will also review notes that you've learned in previous songs.

Black Ring

Arirang

This is one of the most widely known Korean folk songs. This song only utilizes 5 notes (also known as the pentatonic scale) but will require a lot of attention to articulations, slurring, and rhythm accuracy. Our most challenging song, this is the final piece in our recorder curriculum. 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 - if you choose. She also has other music for you to work on, should you choose to further your playing skills and take on new challenges.

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)

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

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??

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)!

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