The Gang’s All Here!

We had two students on the Zoom call today, and they were both enthusiastic and inquisitive. We did a bit of catch-up for one, which was a good chance to review what the other had learned from last week. Getting everyone up to speed was quite quick, and we were making sounds on the recorder in no time. The kids are great at holding and sustaining notes, and were focused during our breathing and counting exercises. I’m excited to go over more music theory terms with them in the coming weeks. Since one student has previously had some piano lessons and is a little more familiar with musical terms, I phrased things as questions for him to answer and reinforce his knowledge, while new concepts were made clear for the other. This helped to engage both in the learning. I’ve challenged the kids to come to class with reflections on “musical moments” throughout their weeks, as they were a bit shy to talk about their own musical preferences, but hopefully by the end of the session they’ll be hearing music everywhere.

Singing to the Top!

Our student at Ernestine's was very excited to sit down for their second lesson. Singing major scales with the xylophone is a highlight! This student had fun decoding the notes on the page of the song of the week, Elevator. They played each note and we sang the song together. Singing from the first floor all the way to the top. Zoom! This student is excited to learn more about musical notation. When asked how they feel during check out, they replied, "confident!" I am confident we will have more fun next week.

Major Scales and F Chords

The vocal students at Arise were all smiles as we warmed up our voices singing tongue twisters and major scales. Each student patiently took their turn at singing up the scale "A Big Black Bug, Bit a Big Black Bear" (try it ten times fast while singing!) The group the learned a new piece of music focused around the Major Scale in C. It is a pleasure to sing with these students.

The Ukulele students are still working on mastering how to tune their instruments. This turns out to be a difficult task while learning virtually. It has not put a damper on the students' spirits. They carry on with a focus on proper fingering for the F and C chords. One student is particularly interested in playing Hawiian music so each week we press on one step closer to that goal!

Sounding Musical on the Ukulele

In this week’s classes, we learned how to read chord charts, and play our first chord on the ukulele. We experimented with some musical ways to practice our C chord and learned that there are a great variety of songs we can play with it.

Students were encouraged to practice the C chord during the week, playing it to a steady beat or even singing along to some simple songs. I also recommended the online game Beat or No Beat in order to get them familiar with identifying musical pulse as they have fun.

Both classes had two students and a staff member attending.

The Magical World of Ukulele

This was our student's first ukulele lesson ever! It was a lot of fun showing them the parts of the instrument and the main things we need to know in order to play music with this awesome instrument, such as numbering the fingers on the left hand and the fretboard. Two students and a staff member attended the class.

One of the students appears to be more comfortable strumming with his left hand. I suggested that he try with his right hand for a week and we will re-evaluate on the next class. The reason I suggested that is because he will have much more access to right hand instruments than left-handed ones. When I first started learning guitar as a kid, I would also intuitively strum with my left hand and was told by my teacher that since I didn’t know how to play yet, it could be a good idea learning with my right hand instead. I did and nowadays I can play 95% of the guitars everywhere. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out. If they prefer playing left-handed position, we will adapt the chords and the structure.

Xylophone Solos!

The two vocal classes at Stonegate CHC started off today and they were lots of fun! With four enthusiastic children in the first class, and one in the second, the children loved introducing themselves with the ice breaker "two truths and a lie." It brought on a lot of giggles! They also enjoyed warming up their voices and speaking silly tongue twisters. The xylophones were particularly a hit, with the first group insisting that each participant get a chance to showcase their xylophone playing skills one at a time. Next week we'll explore more of "Snowman Joe," our first song activity.

Beginning the "Epic Adventure”

It was such a pleasure to meet my first recorder student today! He was very comfortable over zoom and wasn’t shy about sharing during the check in. When I asked him about his the music he likes, he had many favourites, but decided that the through line between all of them was music that sounds “epic”. The recorder isn’t often thought of as the most “epic” instrument, but that just leaves room for exploration and learning! I explained to him that the decidedly epic theme song of The Mandalorian uses a bass recorder, which he was very excited about. We spent some time getting comfortable with the parts of the recorder and proper posture and technique, and by the end of the class he was making long sustained notes. Looking forward to seeing more of his musical curiosity!

A Great Start!

Today at Arise YWCA we started classes for both Ukulele and Vocal lessons. The students patiently navigated the technical difficulties that inevitably happen the first week of a new virtual lesson. Each student was happy to interact and eager to get started. We shared our favourite songs to sing, and the ukulele students are already playing a 'C' chord! Of course time flies and the lessons finished. We are all looking forward to next week!

Getting to know the ukulele

The highlight of our first ukulele classes of our winter session was getting to know all of the parts of the instrument and numbering our fingers on the left hand and the frets on the ukulele fretboard in order to understand the chord charts and how to play notes and chords.

Show and Tell and SING!

What a warm welcome I received when I signed on to Zoom! Larissa and Anna, leads at the Stonegate Terrific Toddler program, were on top of their game, ready to make music with all members of their program! Because of their careful prep work every parent was thrilled to engage in the program and get moving and dancing with their littles. A true highlight of the program was inspired by group show and tell! During show and tell I asked each child to share their favourite song and we all sang these songs together. It was a wonderful way to keep the children actively engaged through our computer screens! Thanks for the inspiration Larissa and Anna!