Hello, musicians! This week's post brings us to the end of this crazy time learning music from home. I've terribly missed you all! I'm really looking forward to the time when we can be together again.
No Google form for this final week. Please just take a look/listen to the videos below.
The brass family is a favorite of mine because the has the instrument that I play, the euphonium. Additional brass instruments are the trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba. All of which you will see below. First please see the video below about how brass instruments produce their tone.
The next video will feature four different brass instruments in addition to some percussion. There are two pieces of music. The first is titled Fanfare for the Common Man written by American composer Aaron Copland. I would bet that many of you have heard it before, but just didn't know the title. Following is another brass fanfare by American composer Joan Tower titled Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman. Both are wonderful pieces and really neat to listen to.
Notice the differences in how the instruments are played. The trumpets, French horns, and tubas all have valves that help the musician play different pitches. The trombone, however, has a slide that the musician can use to make the instrument longer or shorter to produce lower and higher pitches. Please enjoy these two great brass pieces.
Unfortunately, the euphonium isn't often used in "orchestral" brass like the instruments above. It is, however, utilized in bands, brass bands, and as a solo instrument. Here you'll see a solo euphonium player accompanied by an ensemble of low brass musicians. It is a really neat piece of music that showcases what the euphonium can do. I love it! Please enjoy.
Hello, musicians! I hope you were able to get outside this past weekend and enjoy some of the beautiful weather. This week we'll be exploring the string family of musical instruments. Strings, perhaps more than any other family of musical instruments, has a place in many cultures around the world. It would be impossible to try and go through all of them here, but I hope you enjoy learning about some of them here!
As always, please feel free to send me some Chrome Music Lab or Incredibox creations if you have some free time. I love listening ton them!
There are four standard string instruments used in orchestras around the world. They are the violin, viola, cello, and bass. These instruments are played in one of two ways. The musician either uses a bow and draws in across the strings to produce the sound or the musician uses their fingers to pluck the strings. Plucking the strings in called pizzicato. Below is a video of a string quartet (four musicians) that consists of two violins, a viola, and a cello. (We'll see the bass in the next video.) They are playing a cover of the Taylor Swift song, "Shake It Off." Hope you like it.
Bluegrass Strings
Country music isn't always my first choice when finding music to listen to, however I absolutely love bluegrass music! I never get tired of listening to it. Bluegrass music uses mostly string instruments: the violin (fiddle), mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar, and bass. The mandolin has eight strings and the musician strums and plucks the strings much like a guitar player does. The banjo usually has five strings and is strummed in a similar way. Most of us are familiar with the guitar, bass, violin. Each instrument will take a solo in the video below. I hope you like listening to some bluegrass music!
Sitar
Not that the other instruments are not, but I just think the sitar is so COOL! It has a very recognizable sound and is native to the country of India. Standard guitars have six strings whereas Sitars can have up to 21 strings. Here you'll see the sitar paired with another Indian percussion instrument called the tabla. Take a listen! It's such a cool sound!
Erhu
Our last string instrument takes us to China. The Ehru is a bowed string instrument. It has two strings and can be heard in many different styles of music in China ranging from traditional folk music to pop and rock. Interestingly, sound box (the part that is sitting on the musician's lap) of often covered in python skin giving the Erhu it's distinctive sound. Please take a listen!
Hello musicians! Great job last week with your Incredibox songs. They were so cool! Below are a couple examples of what you submitted to me. I loved them!
This week's music activities are in two parts. Part 1 is to continue to experiment some more with Incredibox. Try different sounds, muting and unmuting different parts, and substitute one sound for another. You can use last week's Google forms to submit a new song for me.
Part 2 will be exploring different musical instruments. This week's focus will be the woodwind family. Below is a picture of some of the woodwind instruments.
There are many others, but these ones will get us started. Some instruments play higher sounds, some play medium sounds, and other play low sounds. We will explore the instruments starting with those that high sounds and move to those that play low sounds. At the bottom of this post you can find the links to this week's Google forms for K-2 and 3-5. I hope you enjoy learning about the woodwind family this week.
Flute/Piccolo
The flute and piccolo play some of the highest sounds. There is a small hole at the end of each instrument and the musician blows air across it much like someone blowing air across a glass bottle or jug to make a sounds. Please take a look at the video below of a musician that plays the flute and beatboxes at the same time. It's really cool!
Recorder
All fourth and fifth graders learn to play this instrument, however the instrument itself very old having been in existence since the 14th an 15th centuries. It sounds similar to a flute, but the instrument goes into your mouth instead of resting on the outside of your mouth. Please take a look at the really cool recorder video below.
Oboe
The oboe (and the bassoon later on) are unique in that they use two pieces of wood to make their sound. It's called a double reed. Due to the coronavirus, musicians from around the world have been experimenting with multitrack video recording. That is when one musician plays many different parts of a piece of music and then combines those parts in a computer. This video is an oboe player playing four different parts from the movie Monsters Inc.
Clarinet
The clarinet has one reed the vibrates against the mouthpiece to produce its tone. Below is another example of multitracking where the same musician plays different parts and puts them together in an app on a device. Here you'll see three clarinets that are the same and one that is different. The larger instrument is called a bass clarinet and is twice as large as the typical clarinet. Please enjoy some music from the Disney movie Up!
Saxophone
The saxophone is a hybrid instrument. Adolph Sax wondered what would happen if you tried to combine a brass instrument and woodwind instrument into one. The result was the saxophone. Saxophones use reeds to make their sound. The wood vibrates against the mouthpiece as the musician blows air to produce a tone. The four most common types of saxophones are soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone, all of which are in the video below.
Bassoon
The bassoons are the low voices of the woodwind family. They use a double reed like the oboe does. Bassoons stand about 4 feet tall, but are almost twice that long. At the very bottom of the instrument there is a loop or "turn around" which makes it much longer that it appears. Below is a video of a bassoon quartet playing some themes from Star Wars!
Happy Monday, musicians! I absolutely loved listening to your Chrome Music Lab songs last week. They were so cool! I had been in a kind of rut lately and they really lifted my spirits. Thank you!
This week we are going to experiment with another web-based music resource called Incredibox. It gives you the opportunity to think and create music like a beat boxer does. Below are two videos and links to Google forms where you'll be able to send me your Incredibox beats. Your directions are:
1. Experiment with the different sounds in Incredibox.
2. Create a song (or songs) that you like.
3. Record that song(s).
4. Send me a link to your song via Google Forms.
Hello 5th grade musicians and families. I'm sure that many of you have started thinking about next school year and what electives you'll have the opportunity to choose. I would strongly encourage each of you to give one of the music classes, band or choir, a try in middle school!
The wonderful music teachers at the middle schools have created some informational videos and documents for you. Please take a few minutes to watch and read about some of the great musical experiences you can have in middle school. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me or one of the middle school music teachers. We're all happy and eager to help!
May the 4th be with you! As an unabashed Star Wars junkie, I'd be remiss if I didn't share a bit of Star Wars music with you today. The soundtracks to this film franchise are as recognizable, if not more so, than the characters themselves. John Williams was the composer for all nine films. Below are some of the most iconic musical themes from the saga. Side note, the series finale of The Clone Wars and The Rise of Skywalker both drop today on Disney+. I can't wait! Below are few of my favorites. What are some of your favorite Star Wars musical moments? Leave me a comment below!
-Edit-
It's movie night at the Shouldices and we're watching The Rise of Skywalker. I hadn't seen it since it was in the theaters and had forgotten that John Williams actually has a cameo in this film! It's very short, just a few seconds, but wanted to to let you all know in case you have to time to watch. Below is a screenshot of the cameo and it occurs at 48:35 in the film. Cool!
Hello all! I absolutely loved listening to the songs you created last week in Chrome Music Lab. They were so cool! Below are a few examples that were submitted from last week.
I'd like to leave this activity open for another week and invite you to adjust the "settings" in Chrome Music Lab. Last week, I gave you an introduction to how the app works, but there are some settings that will allow you to experiment with different sounds. Below is a video of how that works.
5th Grade Families - This is the time of year when my wonderful music colleagues from the middle schools would be coming to the elementary schools to discuss the possibilities of joining band or choir next year in sixth grade. Please click here for a blog post regarding music classes in middle school.
For everyone - I also created another post this week for all grades that you can find here. Today is a May the 4th, a day that Star Wars nerds like myself adore. Take a look to hear some of my favorite Star Wars music!
Hello all! I originally posted this activity for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students last week and then I heard through the grapevine that many of my younger friends also enjoyed it so I decided to give you all a shot at it, too. It's a really neat app that lets you be the composer. Below are two videos and a link to the app. I hope you have fun creating your own music this week!
Chrome Music Lab - It works great across most web browsers on a computer or Chromebook. I believe it will also work on tablets, but I haven't tried it on that yet. It might be difficult to use on a smartphone as the screen will probably be too small.
I also created another post this week for all grades that you can find here. Today is a May the 4th, a day that Star Wars nerds like myself adore. Take a look to hear some of my favorite Star Wars music.
Hello fifth grade families! This post if just for you. My wonderful colleagues at the middle schools created this video to get you all excited about the possibility of joining band next year in 6th grade! Band is a super fun class where you get the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument. The band teachers are at each school are:
The links above will take you to each teachers' contact info.
I'd like to strongly encourage each and every student in fifth grade to consider joining one of the music classes in middle school next year. I started playing my instrument in sixth grade (100 years ago!) and music has been a large part of my life ever since. It can be a life-long hobby that you'll always enjoy!
The band teachers created this video to get you excited about sixth grade band. I know they're eager to answer any questions you may have. I'm also happy to help out in any way I can. Please consider band in middle school! I promise you'll love it! Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks about joining band in sixth grade.
