Yellow Arrows Lesson 10

Our recital is coming up in a few weeks – be sure your kiddo is confident with their Red, Yellow, and Blue chords in the RH & LH. All of our songs are built on the RYB chords, so these really need to be solid! Please sit with your child a few times this week and review each chord, be sure they are in the proper position, and using the proper fingers. Then watch them play each song on their practice sheet and make sure they are using the chords properly. Some students can play the chords fine alone, but when they are put in a song the student panics and messes the fingers up. Habit is everything – they need to be familiar with how the chords feel so next year when we are transposing music they can do it without any trouble.

Here is a play list of videos you and your child can use to practice EVERY DAY this week. It is 12 minutes total.

Celebrate Connections

A few ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!

• One day this week, have Mom or Dad be the student. Show them where to place their hands, what chord/note to play, how to look up at the notes, and YOU point to each note as they play. Watch for nice bubble hands! Sometimes being a teacher is the best way to prove that you’ve learned something!
• Play your piece backwards. Start on the last measure and work your way to the front.
• Play through your piece replacing Mr. Rests with a “shh”

The Wheels on the Bus sing Melodic Patterns
Melodic patterns are found in every song. How many Sol-Mi-Do’s and Sol-Sol-Do’s can you hear in this version of a favorite childhood song?

I Gotta Shake
Get ready to play the rests in this silly song! Our fingers must rest from playing or holding down the note when we see a quarter rest sign. 1st say ‘sh’ or ‘rest’ while playing. Then play again hearing the rest inside while playing the silence in the song.

How to Skip
Keep skipping with fingers 1-3-5 in the RH saying the middle anchor notes. Play the LH separate while singing 1st the chord color and 2nd the melody with this favorite song. We will put hands together soon!

Tinga Layo
Duet time with shakers! Invite your child to play the chords on the piano while you or a sibling play shoot-the-bug-bug rhythm with a shaker. Switch! Make your own shaker with rice, beans, pennies, small beads, etc. in a plastic egg, empty spice container, or baby food jar. Shake away!

Charles Gounod was born in 1818 in Paris, France. His mom was a piano teacher and his father was an artist, so he started receiving music instruction very early in his life. He attended excellent musical schools. By the time he was 21, he was receiving awards and prizes for his compositions. He also taught other musicians, most notably, Georges Bizet. Today people still recognize his songs, O Divine Redeemer, Ave Maria, and Funeral March for a Marionette (our current puppet show known as March of the Gnomes!) Can you hear the kings heavy down beat in this recording?

For my convenience, I have preloaded content for the whole semester. I will update each future post with specific time-sensitive info before I send the link each week. If you choose to read ahead you might see details that don’t apply to your child’s class. For this reason I do not recommend reading ahead. Thank you!