Embedded Files
January ❄️
January ❄️
IMG_1383.MOVInstrument families
Instrument families
We learned about the four main instrument families: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. We also learned about keyboard instruments and how they are sometimes put in the strings or percussion families.
In this video, Hannah from 8th grade performs on her flute. She demonstrated to the students how her instrument works.
Oscar from 7th Grade showing the class how his trumpet works.
Everyone got a chance to play the snare drum!
Mr. Archibald is a school parent who plays drums at our School Masses. He showed the students his electronic drum set one day after Mass. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the class wanted to become a drummer after watching him play drums!
We also discussed what the conductor's role is in an orchestra. To finish off our unit, we listened to "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Liszt. Students analyzed the piece and wrote down the instruments they heard and various elements of music (such as tempo and dynamics), described the piece with a "mood" word, and discussed how Liszt was inspired to write this piece from hearing gypsy music back in his home country of Hungary.
Our prayer song for the month was "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)."
December🎄
December🎄
In December, we put the finishing touches on our Christmas Concert music. The students did so well at the concert! They did a great job in particular with learning all of the Spanish for "Campanas de Belen." We watched our Christmas Concert videos during class.
November 🦃
November 🦃
IMG_1135.MOVSong Maker compositions
Song Maker compositions
Students composed their own music using a website called Song Maker. They were given some guidelines for their project--for instance, they had to use certain bass notes and create patterns in the melody. They could manipulate the other elements of music as well (such as the tempo and the instrument sounds). Students presented their projects to the class.
Students have been focusing mainly on their Christmas Concert songs. We focus on learning the words to the song and accompanying movements and instrument parts, of course, but we also learn about the historical background of each of our songs. Students explain what they remember about the history of their concert songs on a worksheet, and I pick a few of the best writings to be read at the concert.
Our prayer song for the month was "America, the Beautiful."
October 🎃
October 🎃
Boomwhacker Compositions
Boomwhacker Compositions
Students worked in small groups to compose their own music based on the notes of the major scale. They learned to think like composers -- they were required to edit their composition in some way after the first draft, and the composition had to end on the note "do" to make it sound like it was finished.
IMG_1017.MOVIMG_1032.MOVIMG_1030.MOVIMG_1031.MOVOther topics we covered this month:
Other topics we covered this month:
We listened to music from the movies E.T. and Star Wars and wrote about how the dynamics (volume) and the instruments in the music affect the mood.
Students learned to sing the round "Music Alone Shall Live."
Students began composition projects on the website Song Maker...more on that next month!
Our prayer song for the month was "Hail Mary: Gentle Woman."
September 🍎
September 🍎
During our first Music Class of the year, they learned a song from Nigeria called "Funga Alafia." The title translates to "welcome" or "blessings."
Our first unit was on the major scale. Students learned all the notes of the major scale. We listened to the song "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music. We have practiced singing the major scale as a class and have been working on listening to each other as we sing. In the video here, students were working in groups to arrange the Boomwhackers in the order of the major scale notes.
Our prayer song for the month was "We Are One Body," which is our school's theme song for the year.
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