Orange Roots Lesson #4

 
Teacher Tidbits

Parents attend next week.We started working on chord inversions this week. Use the red stickers in your child's homework booklet to help them easily jump from inversion to inversion. Starting on Middle C, put 6 red stickers on your keyboard at home as shown on Lesson 4 of your student manual. The stickers should be placed on middle C, middle E, middle G and treble C (the C above middle C), treble E and treble G. Please, please make sure your child is using the correct fingers listed in the book. Additionally ensure they use the correct finger on their Cadence Blues (and any song with chords). I saw a few students playing a 3(middle) finger when it should be a 2(pointer) finger. 

• F Major Scale--RH fingerings (pinky promise you won't use your pinky) here's a video help
• eighth and sixteenth note distinction "A caterpillar looks like two beetles it seems...(fill in the blank)
• John Jacob... help video here
• 2nd set of rhythm flashcards can be unbanded this week
• LH broken chords in Cockles and Mussels here's a quick video help

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Purpose in the Play

Inversions / Mixed Paint
We actually HAVE played our yellow and blue chords in inversions--we just didn't realize it. We are now ready to take a root position chord and 'invert' it. This just means re-arranging the pieces. The chord is still CEG, but C moves to the top, then the E moves to the top, then the G and you are in root position again. We will play Old Paint in a new 'Mixed' up way to help us hear that it's still a red chord no matter matter if it is in root position, 1st inversion or 2nd inversion. No matter what the shape or order is, it just has to retain the same 'pieces' (in this case C-E-G) for it to be a red (C) chord.

Click on the video link above to make sure you are setting up your red stickers correctly to be able to play this song with ease.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(music)#Inversions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(music)#Root_position
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(music)#Inversions

New World Symphony
Our Let's Play Music students have created harmony in many different ways in 1st and 2nd year. Now in 3rd year we have the unique opportunity to play as an ensemble in class to produce harmony and a much fuller sound than they can accomplish playing by themselves. By listening to the CD, the children are provided the opportunity to model and to audiate the music in their heads as they practice.

Our Bugs are So Fun! (new verse)
A few of our songs from our purple CD have upgraded to our orange CD--with some new lyrics! The new verse in 'Our Bugs are So Fun!' will help us to learn to count those tricky 'beamed' rhythms that include eighth notes and sixteenths notes! If counting in this new way seems tricky, I have attached a parent help that dissects the lyrics to Our Bugs are So Fun! with visual examples and simple explanations to help.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_note
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_note

'Our Bugs are So Fun' Theory Page is attached

Making Musicians
Check out this young group of musicians experiencing the value of playing as an ensemble. Your student will recognize this piece as our very own Largo from New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak.

Our Bugs are So Fun Theory Page