The Silent Beat

Today at Ernestine's we broke down the basics of reading music. Using our Beat Buddies (a stuffed animal) we started counting the beat of each note - whole note, half note, quarter note. Then we discovered the "silent beat" - aka rests! Together we worked through cue cards showing different rhythms. My student was quick to pick up reading each card solo and playing the rhythm before I had a chance to give a demo!! So we jumped into a new song. We read all of the rhythms then played the rhythm with the notes on our xylophone! Zippity-do-da! We have started reading music!

Growing in Confidence

This week we started off with the check-in question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Then, after some warm-ups and tongue twisters, we continued our learning of Do a Deer, and Under the Sea. The children were more confident in singing these songs for each other one at a time this week. I asked them what they would like to learn next and How Far I’ll Go, from Moana, was the winner.

The Key of C

This week we finished learning all the main chords in the key of C. We practiced our strumming and talked about some of our favourite artists and songs. We practiced our chord in C with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Final Class for this Mama-to-be!

This was my final week with the Arise group before another teacher takes over for my maternity leave, and it was a fun last class to go out on! We played with rhythm sticks, making letters and animal shapes with them and tapping to different rhythms, pretended to be in a kitchen party in the song All Around the Kitchen, and had a fun jam session to the classic Don’t Worry, Be Happy. For the parachute I played Jackson Five’s ABC, and the kids had a blast as always. Some older children in the shelter came to assist with the parachute at this time as well. 

Fun With Actions

This week we learned more of Do Re Mi, (or “Doe a Deer” as it’s sometimes called,) with the first class, and continued practicing it with the second. In the second class we also started learning Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid, and the group loved it. Once again we came up with some physical actions to help us remember the lyrics, and had a lot of fun with them! Another highlight included trying out tongue twisters again and having each kid perform them back for us.

Endings and Beginnings

We wrapped up the 4 pm session this week with students performing their song of choice for the group. We had a mix of Snowman Joe, Do Re Mi, and Twinkle Twinkle. At the end of the class the students were excited to tell everyone about their long weekend plans, and we finished off with a fun informal chat. The 4:45 pm class was the start of a new session, and included a new student. This new student was very enthusiastic and eager to show us his newly acquired go-kart, his drawings, and also told us about his favourite musician, Michael Jackson! We learned Do Re Mi together, and came up with physical actions to help us remember the words. Having an extra ten minutes in this class really helped us dive deep into learning the lyrics and gave us a good amount of time to practice the song. The 40-minute model works well!

Zoom! Zoom! Laugh!

Our student at Ernestines is so enthusiastic and extremely capable of understanding new music ideas and techniques. This student is also 6 years old, so has varied interests, and lessons never go according to plan but are always fruitful and a lot of fun! Today this student came wearing a cape so we decided to sing Zoom Zoom Zoom and fly to the moon. At the end of the song I launched a nearby teddy bear into "outer space" and my student erupted with laughter. It was so joyful and infectious!

Leaps and Bounds!

Today was the final lesson of our first six-week session of music classes with the students at Arise. The musical talents of our students have improved leaps and bounds this session. All students show confidence in their ability using their instruments. Everyone is focused on making progress while also having a lot of fun. We are all looking forward to the start of next session.

Talking About Music and Reviewing our Chords

This week we reviewed the chords we learned in our first session, and talked about our favourite artists and songs we want to learn on the ukulele. We also tuned our instruments together to make sure we all know how to use a tuning app, and talked about the importance of learning simple songs at first, in order to master our chord changing and strumming.

Reviewing our Chords

In this week's class we reviewed our main chords and practiced some strumming together. We also spoke about the importance of learning simple songs at first, in order to master chord changing and strumming. In that spirit, we started learning the song You Are My Sunshine.