Hello, my good friends of the 5th Grade Chorus. Today, May 18, 2020 was to be the date of our final concert. I am sad that we will not be gathering in the high school auditorium to perform our final concert of the year in front of an audience of nearly 1,000 parents, families and friends. You were getting SO GOOD at singing our songs, and we would have added solos, small groups, and percussion instruments to our music. We would have had announcers for the songs and we would have been dressed up in our finest clothes. Although it is very disappointing to consider all of the excitement we will miss tonight, PLEASE remember that you will have many such opportunities in future years to enjoy everything I described. So, though you may be sad now, know that you will get the chance again and again.

One more bit of news... You may have noticed that today's heading on this chorus page says, "The Final Word." There are two reasons for this. First of all, because this concert was to be our final event for the year, this will be my final entry for the year on this chorus page. ALSO, I am retiring from my position at Victor Intermediate School at the end of this school year. So, it is time for me to say goodbye to all of you. I really wanted to be able to say goodbye in person, but this health crisis (COVID-19) has prevented that from happening. So, to all of you: thank you so much for an awesome, fun year in chorus. You are talented, hard-working young musicians who have improved so much throughout the year. And you are really nice kids who have been respectful, funny and eager to learn. Please stick with chorus for a long time--it's great fun and so rewarding. Finally, be well; I wish you all good things always!

Sincerely,

Mr. Labman

PS I will leave our songs, etc on this web page in case you would like to have them. If you have chorus music at home, please bring it to school when you come to get your things. Thanks!

I am missing out rehearsal time together! Hope all is well with you and your family.

• I encourage you to continue to go to the links below for J W Pepper so that you may practice singing along with our current chorus songs. When you are on the site, go to the search bar and enter all of the information below for each song. When you see the song, click on the "listen" icon to hear it and sing along. Or you can click on the "view" icon to see the music. You should be able to look at the music while listening/singing. Remember to sing your particular part--alto or soprano.

• I have added some links to YouTube versions of a few of our chorus songs.

• Also, you may check out some fun, new singing warm-ups below.

• NEW as of April 20: I have added another Sight-Singing example for you to try. It's below on our chorus page. I also added a few helpful hints.

• Hope to sing with you in person as soon as possible!

J. W. Pepper site:

I Love a Piano: Irving Berlin/arr. Don Besig & Nancy Price - Alfred Music Publishing.

Curiosity: Amy F. Bernon - Heritage Music Press

Haba na Haba: Jerry Estes - Shawnee Press

A Sailor's Life for Me: DONNELLY / STRID - Alfred Music Publishing

Link to J. W. Pepper:https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/welcome.jsp

Not available on Pepper: Duke's Place, I Just Love Latin Rhythms

YouTube links:

New vocal warm-ups:

Go to the website musicplayonline.com

Student log in - Username - snow Password - 2020

Directions for sight-singing examples below:

Use the "sight-singing" guide as needed to remind yourself of our solfege syllables for the music notes in the examples below. Also, it will be helpful to sing the syllables in the guide below (do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do) before you begin.

1. Clap and count out loud to learn the rhythm.

2. Speak (say) the solfege syllables.

3. Say the syllables using the correct rhythm

4. Sing the example using the solfege syllables.

WEEK OF APRIL 6:

WEEK OF APRIL 14: Hint... this starts on high "Do" and then moves downward.

WEEK OF APRIL 20: Hint... this example helps you practice the sound of "do" to "mi" and "mi" to "so."

Video Assignment for all Intermediate Musicians

Options for your video

1. Create a short video of you playing your instrument or singing (40-60 seconds).

• Play or sing something that you love!

  • Part of your favorite band, chorus, or orchestra song

  • Songs from movies or tv shows - Star Wars, Harry Potter, Frozen, Moana, Wizard of Oz, Sesame Street, Annie

  • Pop songs

  • Other genres - jazz, fiddle tunes, show tunes, etc.

  • Songs from your music lessons, music class, or your Suzuki songs

• Be creative kids!!!! You are trying to inspire others to join an ensemble, get them excited, show them fun, show them pride, show them joy!

• Wear something that shows what activities you are involved in - could be a sports jersey, Scouts shirt, Victor gear, Orchestra or Rhythm Machine shirt, etc.

• If you have a sibling, consider playing or singing together.

  • All of our musicians in grades 4-12 are participating in this project and seeing families make music together is awesome!

2. Talk or write about one of the following topics:

• Why did you choose to be in Band, Chorus and/or Orchestra?

• What do you think is the coolest thing about your instrument or singing?

• Why do you keep playing your instruments and/or singing?

• What does being a part of the music program mean to you?

(You can submit written statements for the questions instead of doing a video, if you choose)

How to Submit your Video

Please email your submissions to your music teacher by May 15.

Here are some links to help you with uploading and submitting your video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa79HVAAbX4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxVrjtUw0MQ

Thank you so much for helping us with this project! Videos and responses submitted will be selected for use in the final project by a committee of music teachers. While we will not be able to use every single submission, we are hoping to have a wide range of students/ensembles/instruments/voices represented, to really showcase all the wonderful things that our music department has to offer….so the more the better!