Request Week

I love it when things start to click in music class! This week we were really rolling along in our ukulele class because the students are invested and continue to return and work hard each week. We got to jam out together playing Yellow Submarine, and a new song called High Low. This song we learned on the glockenspiel and the ukulele, and then we had a jam session with uke, glockenspiel, and guitar! The students requested that we play a game from our first week together. Requests are my favourite thing because it shows that we are connecting and the classes are making a positive impact!

In Sync

Last week at Nellie's we had a lot of fun during the instrument jam. With summer on the horizon, we sang Hot, Hot, Hot! by Buster Poindexter and the kids quickly caught on to the beat. It was a really fun moment when we all strummed and drummed the beat together in sync!

Sunshine and Self Love

Today we sat outside for music therapy and everyone shared how much they appreciated the sun. We shared one good thing that happened to us this week, and moved to playing instruments and dancing to music suggested by the participants. We then sang Simply the Best and wrote our own versions of Simply the Best. One of the participants shared that she wanted to sing her version for the group, and she dedicated her version to one of the staff members. She then shared how grateful she was for the community and that she was sad she would be leaving soon. The participants provided support and affirmed that she would always belong to the community, even if she was moving away. We closed the session with the first part of a poetry writing exercise using song lyrics.

Astronauts, Blast Off!

Upon arrival for our music class today, I was welcomed by an excited group of kids who hugged me and promptly raised their hands when I asked “who’s ready for music?”. They were listening to Zoom Zoom and I had to make sure to include it on the set list!

They requested songs and we had a blast with Sleeping Bunnies and other requests. As it was a rainy day, we also sang Trees Need the Sun, in which we list all the things that help trees grow big, like the rain, the sun and the earth - and Thunder Pounding.

We ended on a high note with Zoom Zoom as our movement song and Twinkle Twinkle for the parachute time!

Energy and Excitement!

An active and engaged group of 11 participants filled the room with joy on our music session this week at Robertson House. Looking forward to the jam and asking about the instruments bag from the beginning of class, they all had lots of fun as we danced around the room and sang together.

As expected, the jam was a huge success with The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Two Little Black Birds was also a highlight as we got silly together with the birds in the song and their funny names and actions.

New Location!

We were in a different room today, which was a bit cozier but had more natural light and better acoustics. The same group was there, excited as ever to sing. The division of younger and older kids is working well with this group, and all of them regardless of age are excited for all the movement songs. After an exhausting day of rain and air quality warnings, it felt so relaxing to have some time to just sing as a group.

A Bit of Everything

This week's class I brought out the singing bowl as the Instrument of the Week, and the kids were enthralled by it! We also sang about spring flowers and all of the different seasons in the year, and then finished off with an interpretive dance to Let it Go from Frozen, by request!

Moving On

This week's class at Arise was bittersweet as we were saying goodbye to a family who've been participating in class enthusiastically for months now. This was their last class before they transfer to independent living. We sang about the days of the week, played a unique instrument called the Cabasa, had a rousing jam, and then a fun parachute dance party. Big hugs were had by all as we then said goodbye to each other.

Magic Music

Today we had a smaller group, which ended up working out great because there were enough glockenspiels for each of the kids. We took the melody from one of their favourite songs, and after singing it on its own, we converted it to solfege, and then the kids took turns trying to find the melody on the glockenspiels. Once we had the melody, we had some exploration time on the instruments. Then we started learning about magic numbers in music: 1, 3, 5, and 8, to explain octaves and chord roots and harmony. The kids were genuinely curious in trying to solve the musical puzzles of finding the intervals above their chosen notes. It was amazing to see!

Singing About Love!

In our music class this week we learned about how important it is to keep love in mind, to share it, and to act with love in everything we do.

As usual, the kids were super excited for music class; we had a few new participants as well. One of the highlights of the class was the song Love Grows. We learned some sign language with the song and had a conversation about love itself.