December 14, 2011
This week we have been playing the xylophones. We have a good set of “Orff style” instruments. (See if your child can tell you about the soprano, alto, bass xylophones, contra bass bars and glockenspiels.) These are made so that the tone bars can all be removed. The ‘wrong’ notes for a given song can be set aside and only ‘good’ sounds are produced. After some ‘mallet madness’ where we rotated frequently to give each student a chance to play each instrument, we are using xylophone patterns to accompany songs. Students have also been examining the form or structure of the songs, as different instruments are used in different sections.
Our stretching music has been from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. So far we have heard: The Chinese Dance and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. There has been discussion of the story and ballet in general. Older children will see a video of a New York performance before we break for vacation. Younger children will play some singing and moving games so we can continue to practice 'steady beat.'
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I must say Sam has come home and talked about the instruments and getting to watch the Nutcracker. I think he liked saying Nutcracker more than anything. But he said the music was very cool.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he enjoyed it!
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