3rd Grade Music
September
Name Games
All de People Like Bananas!
I Was Going to Kentucky
Beat and Rhythm Practice
1, 2, 3 Aleerie
1 - 2 - 3 Aleerie- Conversational Solfege - Decode/Familiar
Patterns Set 1A
"Johnny Grim"
"1, 2, 3 Aleerie"
- Conversational Solfege - Decode/Unfamiliar
Pattern Set 1B
"Yankee Doodle"
"Ms. White Had a Fright"
- Conversational Solfege - Create
Various techniques
- Reading - Rote
Patterns Set 1A
7.Reading - Decode/Familiar
Patterns Set 1A
"Johnny Grim"
"1, 2, 3 Aleerie"
"Yankee Doodle"
8. Reading - Decode/Unfamiliar
Patterns Set 1B
"Twinkle, Twinkle"
"The Bridge of Avignon"
Listening "The Crane"
9. Writing - Rote
"Yankee Doodle"
10. Writing - Decode/Familiar
"Twinkle, Twinkle"
11. Writing - Decode/Unfamiliar
"Twinkle, Twinkle"
12. Writing - Create
Various Techniques
"Yankee Doodle" Template
Feeling the pulse
"Can Can" from Offenbach's opera Carmen
We'll tackle this with body percussion and various instruments - some home made and some from my music room.
Omochio Tsukimasho
Omochio tsukimasho, Omochio tsukimasho
Petanko, petanko, Petan, petan, petanko
O konente, o konete, O kone, o kone, o konete
(Up) Ton, ton, ton. (Down) Ton, ton, ton
(Up and down) Ton, ton, ton, ton. (Up) Ton, ton, ton
October
A Spooky Arioso!
Questions and answers on neutral syllables (ghosts and owls!) paying attention to tonic and dominant (sounding complete or incomplete)
Miss White had a fright in the middle of the night. Saw a ghost eating toast halfway up the lamp post!
Pass the Pumpkin Round the Room
Tuneful - we will sing the melody in unison
Beatful - We will continue to work with our familiar rhythm patterns as we learn and perform this piece
Artful - we can be expressive with our voices as we read and echo the beat patterns
There Was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones
Tuneful - A classic tale that offers an excellent chance to create beautiful vocal tones on "ooh"
Beatful - We will accompany the piece with assorted ostinati on resonator bells
Artful - How can we use our faces, our bodies, and our voices to create the eeriest performance?
"Skeleton Dance" from Disney
We accidentally wound up using Boomwhackers instead of body percussion and it was so fun!
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg
(We never got to this in 2021)
We'll tackle these with body percussion and classroom instruments, paying special attention to changing dynamics and tempos
"Los Machetes"
This Mexican folk dance was adapted for social distancing A fun introduction to mariachi music too!
Beatful - we will perform this dance while keeping a steady beat with our "machetes"
November
Begin work on music for our Celebration of Winter Holidays
3rd grade focuses on the jewish festival of Hanukkah. Students will also be learning several other songs that are performed by the whole school at a huge assembly in the gym.
You can check out all of the wintery fun in the slideshow to the right. Look for history, and origins, lyrics, and links to the music!
It's Hanukkah!
The Maccabeat's cover of "Dynamite" is a. huge crowd pleaser every year and I didn't want you all to miss out! We'll also check out a song that uses Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" and a version of the "Hanukkah, O Hanukkah" from the show Glee.
Simple Song - Echo
"Che Che Kolay" is a favorite and offers the opportunity to explore elements of musical expression including dynamics, tempo, and timbre.
Working on Steady Beat
"Over the River and Through the Woods" we'll sing and accompany this seasonal song with jingle bells
December
Fun with Boomwhackers!
Great for recognizing melodic lines, patterns, and form. Did I mention fun?
Moving Expressively to Music
Several pieces from The Nutcracker Ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky
March of the Children, Waltz of the Flowers, and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
January
Conversational Solfege Tonal Patterns - Familiar
These patterns use the solfege syllables Do-Re-Mi and we will practice them together in class.
"Hot Cross Buns"
This song use the solfege syllables Do-Re-Mi. We'll review this tune, decode the rhythms, decode the solfege syllables, and perform the melody on resonator bells. Eventually we will notate the song onto the treble clef.
"I Have Lost My Closet Key"
First we'll review the melody and the differences between phrases 1 and 2 then we'll play the game! This song use the solfege syllables Do-Re-Mi. We will decode the rhythms, decode the solfege syllables, and perform the melody on resonator bells.
Moving/Paying to a Steady Beat
Song of the Sleighbells - 1952
Not too fast, not too slow - Maracas /Swish hands.
Through the woods and through the snow - Drum / Clap hands
Always playing, never stopping - Bells/Feet
Funky Veggies
Great practice for individual rhythmic lines as well as making music as an ensemble with 3 different parts and patterns
Simple Song - Echo
Bill Grogan's Goat
Beginning Treble Clef
Floor staff for lines, spaces, and letter names
Spaces: spell FACE going up
Lines are: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
The link above takes you to Note Names game for practice :)
February
Treble Clef
Spaces: spell FACE going up
Lines are: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Note Names games for practice:
Review and Practice ~Treble Clef
We'll use our virtual xylophone to practice patterns on the treble clef
BINGO too!
"Hungarian Dance No. 5" by Johannes Brahms
This one is so fun because of the many tempo changes. We'll try to do all 4 colors at the same time!
Blue - clap
Yellow - pat lap
Red - stomp foot.
Green - cross arms over chest
Moving to Music
"The Noble Duke of York" - we'll learn the song and look at the form ABCC
We'll also learn the longways folk dance which is very lively and always a hit!
March
Vocal Exploration
Imagine being able to see the sounds that you make!
Moving Beatfully to "Stars and Stripes Forever"
Star = quarter note (Du)
Stripe = half note (Du-u)
Eagle = 2 eighth notes (Du-de)
Purple Heart = 2 eighth notes and a quarter note (Du-de Du)
Quarter = 1 beat rest
Conversational Solfege Unit 4
Rhythm patterns in 6/8 time
Du-da-de - 2 beats per measure with 3 pulses per beat
"Fish in the Sky" - a non-sensical poem
Oh, my! Fish in the sky!
Shoes on the ceiling and trees walking by!
Reaching up low, bending down high,
Ev'rything seems to be wrong, right?
"I Have Lost My Closet Key"
First, we'll review the melody and the differences between phrases 1 and 2 then we'll play the game!
This song uses the solfege syllables Do-Re-Mi. We will decode the rhythms, decode the solfege syllables, and perform the melody on resonator bells.
Moving to Music
"The Noble Duke of York"
Review, sing, and dance!
"Alabama Gal"
"Heel and Toe Polka"
This is a new dance in circle formation
"Great Big House"
A fun folk song with an awesome dance for us to attempt...
Mr. Potato Head
1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4
Poor Mr. Potato Head, he fell onto the floor. Oh, no!,
5, potato, 6 potato, 7 potato, 8
Put him back together now. I just can't wait!
Boomwhackers are back!
We'll try out our skills with the Columbian rhythms of Encanto
April
A Sailor Went to Sea
A favorite from last year that tests our memories and coordination
A few more before we leave Boomwhackers behind...
Recorder Karate!
This slideshow has all of the songs we are learning to earn our karate belts. There are usually two options for each color belt and students may learn whichever they prefer. To earn a belt students must play the song with the correct notes and the correct rhythms. The recordings in the slideshow can help you. Please DO NOT test if you aren't completely ready to play for me. I won't pass anyone onto the next level until they show me they are ready. You WILL have to work for your belts.
Students may test in 3 ways:
Play the song for me during our class time
Come to school at 8:10 on Wednesdays or Fridays to practice and play before school begins
Record a video of yourself playing the song and share it with me by email (awesthaver@longmeadow.k12.ma.us)
Songtale in Compound Meter
"Sweet Betsy from Pike" 1856
I've always loved this song which tells of the trials of brave and resourceful pioneers crossing the new world in search of gold - or, at least, a better life - in California. I like to think it has a happy ending but who knows?
This song will help us practice moving and feeling a 3 beat pattern in groups of 2
2-35 Sweet Betsy From Pike.m4aUtah State Music Org.
Instrumental version
May
Exploring 6/8 Meter
Purple Light
A lovely echo song in 6/8 time will give us plenty of decoding to do
Song Tale
"I'm in Love With a Big Blue Frog"
A favorite from my own childhood, this was on Season 1 of the original Muppet Show! A fun, silly song but it shares a message of acceptance and encourages us to not let anyone tell us who we can love.
June
Simple Songs
"Johnny Grim"
Down by the Bay
"The Easy Winners"
A rhythmic play Along with music by Scott Joplin
Extra material
"Deck the Halls" on Boomwhackers - recorded December 8 and 9, 2021
Boomwhackers are not the most sensitive or musically expressive instruments (especially in the hands of kids! :) but they are fun and easy to play.
Making music with these pitched tubes requires concentration, a feel for the beat of a song, and a sense of melodic direction to make a song recognizable. Most of the kids chose to use 2 different Boomwhackers so they were attending to 2 different pitches! The kids are following a video that presents rhythmic patterns we have worked on this semester as well as pitch letters laid out in melodic lines. This is an excellent way to transition to reading real music notation.
Familiar Song
"Yankee Doodle"
We'll learn this song, move our bodies to it, and then decode the rhythm patterns that make up the melody/lyrics of the refrain. We'll also look at the form (AB) and learn to conduct a two beat pattern.
What have we been up to?
3D "Deck the Halls" Boomwhackers3A "Deck the Halls" Boomwhackers"Let It Go"
Making snowman chords on our Boomwhackers
"Bim Bum"
This hand game gets faster every time you start again. Can you keep up?
Turkey On a Hill
Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Tunefully singing this 2 bar song in unison
Developing inner hearing by singing specific words only in our heads
Aurally decoding and notating the rhythm of the text
Beatfully using body percussion which correlates to the rhythm of the text
Artfully performing on body percussion with special attention to dynamics and phrasing
Pumpkin, pumpkin, round and fat,
Turn into a jack-o-lantern just like that!
Introduction to
Bucket Drumming!
