Friday, May 22nd

See you at the parade!

May God bless you, keep you and make His face shine down upon you! It's been a joy having you in class! Jesus loves you!

Tuesday, May 19th

ASSIGNMENT:

Go to the Music Genres page. Scroll down to where it says, "Secular Stars who have become Christians." Read all my comments carefully. Listen to the music examples. On Wednesday, you will have a quiz over this material. The questions can either come from my comments or the music itself! Get to it!

Monday, May 18th

Your ASSIGNMENT for today, firm:

Contact 3 of your friends in class using whatever media you usually use to stay in touch. Tell them to make sure that all their music assignments are turned in up through Wednesday of last week. Here is the main music web page. They just need to click on their grade for their page of assignments.

https://sites.google.com/sfdsschool.org/sfds-music/home?authuser=0

The time to catch up is now. I have a new assignment that I will post tomorrow.

Once you have contacted 3 friends with the reminder to catch up on music assignments, email me telling me so, and I will give you a 100 in the gradebook.

Friday, May 15th

The little project I'm working on for you is taking me longer than I thought it would. I'll try to have it ready by early next week. So, enjoy your weekend! See you on Monday. As a good preacher used to say all the time, "You don't have any problems. You just need Jesus!"

Thursday, May 14th

Nothing for you today...check back tomorrow (Friday) for a little assignment...nothing big!

Wednesday, May 13th

Go to the Music Genres page for this week's genre experience. You're going to love me for this. I posted two nice Country and Western songs for you to listen to. I know C&W may not be everyone's favorite type of music, but I wanted to show you that no matter what kind of music you love, there's a Christian version of it. Every year when I ask students to go to the white board with a marker and list your favorite radio stations, almost everyone puts 104 KRBE or Sunny 99.1. Occasionally someone will be bold enough to put 89.3 KSBJ (Christian Pop), or they might put KILT 100.3 (Houston Country station). I just want you to always remember, no matter what kind of music you listen to, that there is a Scripture in the Bible that says, "Everything was created by Him and for Him." (1 John 1:3) So, music was created by God, and it's original / best purpose is to be used for him. So, a musician you love sings a song...good (maybe). Musician you love sings a song about Jesus...best. :)

Tuesday, May 12

You are going to visit two pages on this website today. First, go to the 1950's page from the menu above to view this week's history...what was going on in the world and U.S. during this time period. After reading the highlighted areas and my comments as usual, I will take you to a second page on this website to view the music clips of the fifties. I placed a link to it at the bottom of the 1950's page, so as you finish reading, you can go right to the music. I hope that's clear. If you have any questions you can email me! Have fun! I think you'll enjoy the clips from this week. I think they are all vids, not just the music.

Monday, May 11th

Vocab 6

1. pizzicato

2. pianissimo

3. pentatonic

4. overture

5. opus

6. opera

7. octave

8. oboe

9. nocturne

10. natural

Friday, May 8th

In college they call it giving your students "a walk." I guess because they get to walk away from class without doing anything. I'm giving you a walk. Enjoy your Friday. Enjoy your weekend. Remember in all this mess, God is in control & Jesus cares about you!

Thursday, May 7th

Go to the "Music Genres" page and take a listen to the two new songs I posted there:

1. Peter White plays the Jazz standard Deja Vu on classical guitar

2. Phil Driscoll plays a Christian Jazz piece called He is Jehovah on the trumpet

For a grade: after listening to the two pieces, despite one song being secular and the other Christian, tell me something unique and striking, that these two songs have in common that adds to their beauty and listenability, their "entertainment value."

Wednesday, May 6th

The second half of the 1940's is up. Go there. Read the highlighted areas. Read my short comments. Listen to a 1948 Rhythm & Blues masterpiece. Enjoy your Wednesday. Remember Jesus loves you.

Tuesday, May 5th (Happy Cinco de Mayo!)

Since I made two assignments due on Monday, you have today to finish them up. We'll do some more history tomorrow.

Monday, May 4th --- Vocabulary 5

1. resolution

2. reprise

3. Renaissance

4. refrain

5. reed instruments

6. ragtime

7. quintet

8. quartet

9. presto

10. prelude

Friday, May 1st

You have a new assignment in Google Classroom:

Music Theory - Quiz 3 Know Your Notes and Rests

Wednesday, April 29th

Go to the "Music Genres" page. Listen to the song by Jake Shimabukuro. Read my notes. There is a way to get a free 100 on your next test. Give it a shot!

Tuesday, April 28th

Go to the 1940's page on this website. Read the pages, my comments and listen to the music clips from 1940-1945.

Monday, April 27th --- Vocabulary 4

1. secular music

2. sacred music

3. sackbut

4. rondo

5. Romantic Time Period in music

6. ritardando

7. Rhythm & Blues music genre

8. rhythm

9. rest

10. resonate

Wed - Thur - Fri

There is a quiz set up in Google Classroom over the 1920's and 1930's. That is your only assignment through the end of this week. It is open book, open note, open music website...whatever you need to perform the quiz and make a 100 on it. God bless you today, and give you peace!

Monday, April 20th --- Vocabulary Assignment

1. tablature

2. syncopation

3. symphony

4. swing

5. staff

6. staccato

7. sousaphone

8. soprano

9. sitar

10. sharp

Friday, April 17th

Go to the 1930's page. Go to the 2nd half and finish it.

Thursday, April 16th

Check the Music Theory page for your assignment.

Wednesday, April 15th

Since today is "musical instrument day," please click on the MUSIC GENRES link and view the YouTube video I have posted there for you. As you watch and listen to Rafael Scarfullery perform the classic Christian song What a Friend We Have in Jesus, notice that he makes full use of the entire neck of the guitar. If you watch a person play and they never move their hand away from the first three frets of the neck, you know they are a beginner. In true classical guitar style, he is playing both the melody and accompanying chords, or at least harmony notes all the way through the piece. His left hand moves back and forth a lot. He is not nervous. He is doing that to get a slight tremolo, or "wave" (trembling effect) to the sound to make it more appealing to listen to, kind of like a vibrato in vocal music. He is in a basic classical guitar stance, seated in a high chair or stool, with his left foot on a foot rest. This allows the left leg to be higher so that the curve of the guitar can fit nicely to give him the best positioning. He has his music slightly off to the side with a mic in front. This is the way to do it, and it sounds beautiful. During the entire piece, I only heard one dud note. He does a very nice job. When I was in college, I used to have to play pieces like this for my "Final Exam" for the semester. I also played in the HBU Jazz Band. We'll take a look at jazz and other genres as we move along in the semester. You do not have to send me anything, but I might ask a question on a quiz about classical guitars. It's only 3:13 long. Take a look and enjoy. And by the way, what a friend we have in Jesus for real!

Tuesday, April 14

Welcome back, young people! Hope you enjoyed your Easter break. For today, just make sure you have visited the 1930's page and viewed the first half of that decade. When we finish the entire decade, we'll have a little quiz on the 1920's and 1930's, either late this week or early next week. Just check the top of this page daily to keep up! Thanks...miss you guys!

ASSIGNMENT due Monday (4-6-20)

Vocabulary ---

1. trumpet

2. troubadour

3. trombone

4. triad

5. tonic

6. time signature

7. timbre

8. theme

9. texture

10. tenor

ASSIGNMENT due Friday (4-3-20)

The assignment is on the new "Music Theory" page on this web site. The worksheets are also uploaded to Google Classroom for easy printing.

ASSIGNMENT for Tuesday & Wednesday (3-31 & 4-1)

Finish the 1920s

Go to the 1920s page on this site...scroll down to Tuesday / Wednesday assignment and go to the end. You are now done with the 1920s. You do not need to turn anything in, but read and study the info carefully. We will be having a quiz soon, and all the info from the 1920s is fair game.

ASSIGNMENT for Monday, March 30th:

Vocabulary -- Google each word like this, "musical definition _______________" and then type in your vocab word. The reason being, some musical definitions are way different though the word is the same. For example, if one of your words was "accidental," when you look it up, it might have a picture of someone falling off their bike, right? In music, it means "musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural." So if you tell me accidental means when someone does something by accident, you'd be way off.

You may copy and paste the definitions into a Google doc and share it with me (grahamr@sfdsschool.org). If you type in "graham" it should populate for you. All middle schoolers should know how to do this, but if you have issues, just email me. This will not take you long and will be an easy 100. The main usage for you will be that it will be a nice study sheet for you when we have a vocabulary quiz!

Vocabulary (3-30-20)

1. zither

2. xylophone

3. whole note

4. waltz

5. vivace

6. violin

7. viola

8. vibrato

9. variation

10. unison

ASSIGNMENT for Friday, March 27th:

They told us to go light on you for Friday, so all I want you to do is go to the 1920s page on this site, scroll to the bottom, read what I wrote and view the 3 short video clips. There is nothing to do for a grade today, but be forewarned, the information that is shared will be fair game for a quiz, such as the Vitaphone and the developments in the film industry. Enjoy your weekend! Hope you and yours are doing well.

Weekly routine:

Monday: Vocabulary

Tuesday: Music History

Wednesday: Listen & Critique (audio or video file)

Thursday: Music Theory

Friday: Quiz or other activity

On-Line Office Hours: 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.

5:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Assignments Due: 9:00 p.m. the day assigned

• I will check emails and communications periodically throughout the day. If you're doing your assignment after the posted office hours, I usually get on the computer around 5:00 p.m. for a couple of hours. That would be a great time to send an email if you have a question. I understand that you have a full workload of core classes, so I don't intend to burden you down with long-lasting music assignments. The load will be light, but take it seriously and do the work. This is a class at your school and you will be graded. The quizzes are not as easy as you might think.

• Unfortunately, under our current circumstances, guitar and ukulele playing are not an option. Some of you may have instruments at home, but not all. Some of the Wednesday videos or Friday activities can be learning guitar technique or some such. We'll see how that goes.

• Please keep in mind this semester in music that the Bible states in Colossians 1, "All things were created by Him and for Him." So even though we may love rock, jazz, country, classical or some other genre, music was originally created by God to give us an outlet, a way to show our love for Him through praise and worship!

Thursday, March 26th Assignment

Do a little research for me on musical notation. You may look up the information on the internet. Answer the following questions for me. You may just email your responses.

1. Name the four most common notes in music.

2. What are the two most commonly-used clefs?

3. What are the main four voices in a choir?

4. Make a list of as many genres of music that you know (example Jazz). What is your favorite?

5. At the beginning of a piece of music (top left on the treble clef) there are usually some numbers, like a 3 sitting on top of a 4. What do those numbers signify?

Wednesday, March 25th Assignment

Take a look at this song, How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin. If we were meeting in person, Wednesday would be our day to play guitar. If you have an instrument of any kind at home that you can play chords on, piano, guitar, ukulele or mandolin, try to play through the song. I will add pictures of the chords on guitar. If you have another instrument, I can share those chord positions with you. I'm still learning the On-Line ins and outs. I will try to post a video. If not, we'll work around it.

Here is a video of Chris Tomlin singing it live. He's using a capo on his guitar, but that's unnecessary for you. Just play the chords as they are. Where the word "slide" appears, you have the option of doing one of two things. You may play a D chord. But the more beautiful (and easier) option is to leave your fingers in the Am7 position, but slide everything up two frets. If I can post a video of myself doing this, I will. But enjoy Chris first!

Tuesday, March 24th

ASSIGNMENT:

The focus of our music history segment will be music in the United States from 1920 going forward. We will get as far as the semester will allow. The idea is to look at what was going on in the U.S. and the world during the time, and how it affected music and entertainment. Before you say something like, "Mr. Graham, old music is boring," let me tell you that in each semester so far this year, the music history part of the course has ended up being the favorite for most students. The discussions were lively. It will be interesting to see how all that translates to an On-Line course. Maybe we can have a discussion over on Google Classroom for a participation grade...hmm. Anyway, the book we're going to browse through will be the decade timeline book series by Gail B. Stewart. The first will be the 1920s. I will post several pages, tell you what I want you to read on each page, and then make a comment about it. For your assignment, read the pages, read my comments, and then go over to our Google Classroom and make a thoughtful comment. Keep it positive and on topic. "Cool" or "interesting" is not what I'm looking for. You may make more than one comment or respond to someone else's comment, but again, keep it upbeat and positive. People from 100 years ago were intelligent, capable of great accomplishments, capable of loving and hearing from God. Some of their great achievements led to other things that you enjoy in modern times. Things we take for granted now and give no thought to, were developed originally by people in the last century...electricity in the home, TVs, phones, cars and much more. Almost all good things are developed over time. You'll see this in music as well. Even rap music was developed. It was not an overnight thing. Click on the 1920s button below. See you on the discussion!

Monday: no assignment...On-Line school begins Tuesday.