5th Grade Music
September
Conversational Solfege Unit 1 - Review and Practice
Readiness
Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Cut the Cake
Conversational Solfege - Rote
Patterns Set 1A
Conversational Solfege - Decode/Familiar
Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Cut the Cake
Conversational Solfege - Decode/Unfamiliar
Simple Simon
Obwisana
Conversational Solfege - Create
Reading - Rote
Patterns Set 1A
Reading - Decode/Familiar
Patterns Set 1A
Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Cut the Cake
Simple Simon
Obwisana
Reading - Decode/Unfamiliar
Patterns Set 1B
Good King Wenceslas
Button You Must Wander
Trepak
Simple Simon met a pie-man going to the fair.
Said Simple Simon to the pieman "Let me taste your ware."
Said the man to Simple Simon "Show me first your penny".
Said Simple Simon to the pie-man "Sir, I have not any".
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
Cut the Cake
A singing, moving, running game!
Clap your hands together
Give yourself a shake
Make a simple circle
Then let's cut the cake
October
Miss White Had a Fright!
Decoding rhythm patterns from text
Creating ostinati on pitched and unpitched percussion
Miss White had a fright in the middle of the night!
Saw a ghost eating toast halfway up the lamppost!
Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Tunefully singing this 2 bar song in unison and in cannon
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 as a body percussion canon with special attention to dynamics and phrasing
Pumpkin, pumpkin, round and fat,
Turn into a jack-o-lantern just like that!
Have You Seen the Ghost of John?
Decoding familiar and unfamiliar rhythm patterns
Tunefully singing in unison and in canon in a minor key
Beatfully accompanying on pitched percussion instruments
Artfully performing this song with sensitivity to dynamics, phrasing, & timbre
"Skeleton Dance" with Boomwhackers
We will also decode the rhythms in these pieces
November
Begin working on music for Celebration of Winter Holidays
The 5th grade gets to learn the story of King Wenceslaus who took in and fed the poor on the Feast of Saint Stephen. We'll learn the song and accompany ourselves on pitched percussion instruments.
In the slide show to the right you can check out all of the songs we'll learn that we usually perform all together in the gym. I'm going to have to get creative this year but, in any case, we'll learn the music.
Nutcracker Fun!
We'll use body percussion, classroom instruments, and Boomwhackers to accompany these pieces:
"Trepak" and "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky
Bonus - "Deck the Halls"!
December
Continue working on music for Celebration of Winter Holidays
Boomwhacker Fun
Moving Expressively
"March of the Children" from the Nutcracker Ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky
The movements are fun but it's also a great way study musical form
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.
Du- de Du Du-de Du)
Through the woods and through the snow - Drum / Clap hands
(Du-de Du-de Du-de Du)
Always playing, never stopping - Bells/Feet
(Du-de, Du-de, Du-de, Du-de)
Funky Veggies
A great way to practice independent rhythmic parts as well as ensemble playing
Beginning Treble Clef
Floor staff for lines, spaces, and letter names
Spaces: spell FACE going up
Lines are: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
"The Noble Duke of York"
Review, sing, and dance!
February
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)
I Have...Who Has...
A game to reinforce steady beat and rhythm patterns in 4/4 time
"Hungarian Dance No. 5" by Johannes Brahms
We'll use body percussion and classroom instruments to accompany this piece. Also focuses on tempo changes.
The Grumpy March
Rob Amchin version of Grumpy March - a bit more complicated
Creating
"Rock, Paper, Scissors" - Composing, accompanying, and performing our own pieces using rhythms from CS Unit 1 (quarter note, eighth note pairs, and one beat rests).
March
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?
"When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
Beatfully accompanying this Boomwhacker piece in 6/8 meter
Decoding familiar patterns in 6/8 meter
Tunefully singing the minor melody on note names and identifying home pitch/tonic and dominant pitch
April
The Cup Game
A few more before we say goodbye to Boomwhackers...
Alligator Pie
This rhyme is so versatile it takes us through rhythmic decoding, phrasing, moving to 4 beat patterns, and creating our own B sections using pie rhythms as a starting point.
Alligator pie, alligator pie
If I don't get some I think I'm gonna die
Take away the green grass, take away the sky, but
Don't take away my alligator pie
May
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
Boomwhackers are back!
We'll try out some Columbian rhythms as we keep up with some songs from Encanto
June
Extra Materials...
Working With Pitch
We'll use Boomwhackers to play melodic lines and chords
Working With Pitch
We'll use Boomwhackers to play melodic lines and chords
Get started making music on Incredibox!
This video will give you hints to create your own Hip Hop beat!
Untitled: May 8, 2020 4:49 PM.webmThe link to the left takes you to Incredibox.com where you can start playing around with the free demo. :)
Click on the page to the right to see:
How Kandinsky Saw Music:
A music and art activity for anyone to enjoy!
Kandinsky & Music
What? You haven't checked out Incredibox yet?
The link to the left will let you hear a track that I laid down today. I selected the 8 layers I wanted, muted them all, then added them one by one to my recording. If you don't want to download the app or join or whatever, even the free online version will let you record and share your own track.
What are you waiting for? Go!
Boston Symphony Orchestra Home School
Basses, Beasts, and Chopsticks
This video begins with a 14 minute exploration of the amazing variety of sounds that can be made on a string bass. The techniques are very funky, difficult, and nothing Mozart or Bach would've used! We also meet two young composers who were asked to compose pieces especially to feature bass players and the music looks and sounds unlike anything you've ever seen before. The last 30 minutes of the video let's you hear the pieces. One is called "Beast Fights" and brings the listener into the world of ancient Rome and the horrible fights and spectacles you might have seen in the colliseum. The other is called "Kalesa Ed Kaluca" and features 7 basses each doing crazy stuff all at the same time. If you get tired of the sounds, be sure to skim ahead just to see how cool the music looks that the musicians are playing off of. It is amazing!
Do you love to create art?
Using any media you'd like (markers, paint, string, pencil, chalk...) create a picture as you listen to any one of these 20 pieces of music. They are all pieces by amazing composers and each one has a different feel depending on the instruments, tempo, style, and mood.
Feel free to create as many as you'd like! If you’d like to share your art with Mrs. Westhaver, be sure to include the title of the piece(s) you listened to in your email. I'd love to add art to my webpages!
Chrome Music Lab
So many fun things to play with here! Experiment like crazy!
Spend some time creating beats and melodies, or experiment with pitch and sound waves using instruments and even your own voice!
I'll add part two of this video series next week!
Getting Started With Rap
A cadence is a rhythm pattern which is:
usually (but not always) 8-16 beats long
usually (but not always) a pattern that repeats
This video will get you started and give you a feel for putting your own rhythm over a steady hip-hop beat. We already do this in music class when we keep a steady beat and put words or rhythm patterns over it.
Think about a rapper or hip-hop artist that you really love. Using the tag sound "boom", try to mimic their cadence.
Try out other tag sounds, or invent your own! There are some examples towards the end of the video.
Bim Bum
A Hand Clapping Game
We did this song last year at one of our Wolf Pack Gatherings. Do you remember it? Better yet, can you keep up with it as the beat goes faster and faster?
Have fun!