Laura Jeffrey Academy Music

Welcome back!

Students will have music Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week.

I will be sending home a registration form Monday asking if your student will be in General Music/Choir or General Music/Violin for 2009-2010 music. It is important that this is returned to me by Friday, July 17 so that I can start organizing scheduling logistics.

Student scholarships are available and will provide students with a violin, book, and lock. Scholarship information is also being sent home Monday. Scholarship essays are due Friday, July 17. Late applications will not be accepted.  

This week in music we will be learning a new piece for our concert which is a medley consisting of four popular tunes from the sixties. As always, we will be working on sight-reading, posture, and breath support for singing. We will also be listening to Imagine by John Lennon and discussing the lyrics and how they relate to the social culture of the sixties. 

Each music class is in charge of a different aspect of the concert. I have asked girls to start bringing in props and cardboard to paint decorations. Please do not let them bring in anything valuable or sentimental to your family because I cannot assure the security of all items. We will be researching, planning, and creating things that support our music this week!

This week students will have music Tuesday and Thursday. We will be learning a new song for the concert and working on the three we have already learned. We need to refocus on posture and breath support and will spend some time this week on those two elements.

Students have been making great progress reading and sight-singing music in tune! We will continue to work on developing this through exercises. 

We will also be learning and singing Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan and having a shared inquiry discussion about the lyrics.

Blowin’ In The Wind

This week students have music Tuesday and Thursday.

Tuesday we will keep working on the two songs we started last week and we will discuss the things we discovered about the 60’s. We will begin talking about social and political events of the time.

Thursday we will learn a new piece and discuss all the details for the showcase and decide how we can divide duties. The girls are hard at work learning and being creative!  

Welcome to 4th Quarter! It is going to be a busy few months. As much as I want to surprise you all with a fantastic show, I know students will need your help and support this quarter so here it is: we are preparing for an end of the year showcase featuring music from the 1960’s! Students will not only learn and perform 2-part music from this decade but will also plan and implement the event including costumes, artwork, and ambiance.

We will also be studying non-violent protest music from this time influenced by Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement. This will include lyric analysis and shared inquiry discussions.

This week we will get the choir back up and singing! We are starting two songs (I will at least try to keep which ones secret!) and students will be doing some independent research on the culture of the 1960’s to prepare themselves for our big adventure.

Last week we finished final assessments for polyrhythms and the students made a small portfolio with all of the worksheets they completed this quarter, a self-assessment of learning targets and habits of scholarship, and a paragraph describing some ways that music are culture are related.

This week students will have music on Tuesday and they will be finishing Fiddler on the Roof. I have told students that they may bring a snack as long as the room stays clean! They all did great work this quarter! 

This week students will be performing and teaching the class the polyrhythm that their group composed and notated. I am looking for development in the skill of playing independently within an ensemble as well as the ability to listen to one another in order to notate each part.

We will also be learning and playing the game Gumban Taryeong  from Korea, which will be our most difficult to date due to the 6/8 meter, language, and complex moves ending in a tug-of-war!

Due to MCA testing students will only have music on Thursday this week. Students will however, come to music class on either Monday or Tuesday instead of PE to accommodate our needs to complete testing. I am planning on showing a movie during this time because the PE classes are not the same classes that I teach music. I am looking for an appropriate movie that is somewhat musical. Let me know of any suggestions you may have.

Last week students worked in groups to symbolically notate the polyrhythm their group composed. Thursday will be the last day for students to practice, notate, and discuss how they will be teaching the rest of the class their polyrhythm.  

Last week students began improvising polyrhythms in groups of 4 to 5. Having students create and sustain their own rhythm demands good listening and focus while playing. This week students will continue to work ingroups to create a polyrhythm they would like to use for their project.

This week we will also be learning about and performing Latin perucussion music. I will introduce bongos, claves, maracas, and the guiro!  

This week in music we will be learning another game from Thailand and discussing Thai music rituals, instruments, and types of music.

I will be introducing our next big project in class on Thursday! Students will be working in groups of 4-5 students to compose and notate their own polyrhythm that they will teach to the class. Students will begin by having one student keep a steady beat and another make up a rhythm that has windows (musical space) in it for others to add to. Students will then improvise complementary rhythms until they create rhythms they like together and would like to use. Once a group has finalized their polyrhythm they will work together to create a symbolized notation of the piece (not exact musical notation). Finally they will teach the class!

The helpful hints for playing rhythm complements we have discussed are:

* Leave space for others (windows in your music)

* Play different patterns than other players

* Play in the holes

* Play above or below

* Play different tone colors 

Last week students went on a musical journey through the world! I was pleased with the presentations and enjoyed dancing from Ireland and Puerto Rico, instruments brought in from Ghana, a performance on the cello, and traditional clothing worn from Thailand and Oramia.

This week students are working on a new and challenging polyrhythm as well as improvising rhythmic completments. Students will also learn about Thailand through a chanting game!