"One Night in Bethlehem"

Come and join us at Christ Lutheran on Thursday, December 19th for our annual Christmas Program. The program this year is entitled, "One Night in Bethlehem", and includes all students, PK-8. The program begins at 6:30 p.m., and will be followed by refreshments in the Fellowship Hall, provided by PALS. Come out and kick off the Christmas season with friends and family as our school tells the story of the birth of our Savior!

Below is a copy of the handout that was sent home with all students, and includes specific information regarding the program:

“ONE NIGHT IN BETHLEHEM”

It’s that time of year! Our annual Christmas program is quickly approaching, and your students have been working very hard in preparation. The program will be held on Thursday, December 19^th at 6:30 p.m., and students are asked to arrive no later than 6:00 p.m. We will also have a run-through of the program that morning at 8:15, which will be open to parents and friends who are unable to come for the 6:30 program. The dress code for the evening program will be “church attire.” Please, no jeans. If you have specific dress code questions, you may email me with them.

The program is a large part of your student’s Music grade for the quarter, and is a mandatory event. Any unexcused absence from the program will result in your student’s grade dropping at least 2 letter grades. I need to know of any potential absences as soon as possible, and will only be excusing family conflicts or emergencies.

As the program draws near, it is important that each student is prepared for their part. For some students, this involves the memorization of lines. Please work with your child in order to have their lines memorized.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at pwalter@clutheran.org. Thank you all for your help and support!

                                                                                                             In Christ,

                                                                                                        Paul Walter

Music Room Updates

Here are a few additions to the Music Room for this year:

 

 

Welcome back!

I can't believe it is almost time for school to start! Summer seems to have flown by. I can't wait to see all of you and to start this new school year. Here are a few upcoming dates for your calendar:

Music Exploration Night (4th-6th grade): Tonight from 5:00-6:00
Ice Cream Social: Tonight at 6:00
Jr. High Orientation: Monday, 8/12 at 6:30

I hope to see you all at these events!

-Mr. Walter

Music Journals 3/4-4/8

Here are the songs that we have listened to and written about in our journals, starting with the week of March 4th:

1. "The Fire" - The Roots, feat. John Legend (Rap/R&B/Hip Hop)

2. "Se La Face Ay Pale" - Guillaume Dufay (Renaissance)

3. "More Than A Feeling" - Boston (Classic Rock)

4. "Der Holle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Opera/Aria)

5. "Helplessness Blues" - Fleet Foxes (Indie Folk)


1. This piece by The Roots allowed the students to be exposed to a rap song that involved a collaboration between different artists. The Roots are a rap/hip-hop group that incorporate the use of instruments in order to create their beats, as opposed to using a computer. This is done mainly through the use of the drum kit. John Legend is an R&B/soul singer. We were able to discuss the differences between rap and R&B, as well as to discuss the term "hip-hop" as being used to encompass the culture that this music comes out of.

2. This piece by Guillaume Dufay comes to us out of the Renaissance period of music, which is a term used to define the period from approximately 1350 to around 1600. The term, "Renaissance" is French for "rebirth." We were able to discuss the main instrument in this piece, the Lute, and talked about the evolution of the instrument and how it is related to our modern day guitar.

3. More than a Feeling is a piece that involves multiple electric guitars, as well as acoustic guitar, drums, voice, electric bass, and people clapping to provide more percussion. The students were able to compare and contrast this type of rock song to the songs that are popular to us today.

4. This piece is an extremely famous Aria from Mozart's opera, "Die Zauberflote" (The Magic Flute). We talked about the plot of the opera, as well as the definition of an "Aria" as a solo melodic piece accompanied by an orchestra. We also watched a clip of this Aria being sung. I have provided the link to that clip below. The aria itself begins around the 2:11 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzFi-7H9TKs

5. Helplessness Blues is a folk song by The Fleet Foxes that is a newer piece of folk music. The term "Indie" is being used to describe popular music that is "less main-stream," as the term indie is an abbreviated form of "Independent." Independent music originally meant music that was made by artists and was marketed/produced without help from an agent or record label. The term indie has come to describe the type of music that sounds like independent music, but may not necessarily be independent. The song has two sections: the first being more folk-like, while the second section has a more rock feel to it.

Music Class Update 4/12

It's been awhile since I've posted about what we're doing in music class. Our instrument units in 7th and 8th grade are winding down. 8th grade will be testing on their guitar unit this next Tuesday, 4/16. The 7th graders have been watching my all time favorite musical, "Newsies," which won best choreography at the Tony Awards this past year. The kids really seem to like the movie. We will be starting our new units in Jr. High in the next couple of weeks. 

7th grade will be introduced to their end of the year project, which will be a research paper on a composer. I will be assigning each student a composer from either the Baroque, Classical, or Romantic Period. The students will then have time in class (and outside of class) to research their composer, write a short paper, and then present on their composer. More details to come in the next couple of weeks.

8th grade will be starting a project that will tie Music, Art, and English all together. With the help of Ms. McKnight, I will be assigning each student a piece of art work. With the art work as a starting point, the students will be composing a fictional short story based off the art work, which they will read to the class. While they are reading the story, they will have 3 parts throughout where they will incorporate music in order to change the mood/meaning of the art work and of the story. More details to come in the next couple of weeks.

Kindergarten and First Grade were able to try out one of our Music iPad games, called "Blob Chorus." In the game, there are three blobs and a King Blob. The first three blobs take turns singing a certain pitch, all of which are different. The King Blob then sings one of the pitches that was sung, and the student has to select the blob that sang the same pitch as the King Blob. If they get it right, they get more points. If they answer wrong, the blob explodes! Some students were able to add more blobs as the game went on. This activity focuses on helping the students differentiate between different pitches.

4th and 5th grade are finishing their unit on Harmony, in which we have talked about counter-melodies, descants, partner songs, rounds, and canons. In this unit the students have practiced singing harmony over a melodic line. Students have also had the chance to play different percussion instruments in order to accompany the class in song. It has been a lot of fun!

6th grade finished their unit on Harmony and have begun work on a Guitar unit. The school has acoustic guitars for the students to use, but if you own an acoustic guitar, then they are more than welcome to bring that in on Monday's to use for music class.

Our ensembles are continuing to work hard as we prepare all of our music for Fine Arts Night! The event will be on Thursday, May 16th at 6:30. It will start with a short PALS meeting, followed by our musical groups. Then after the concert, there will be beautiful art work, done by the students, hanging all over the school for you to walk around and see. Refreshments will also be provided. Come out and enjoy a night of great music and art!

Hymn of the Month - April

The Hymn of the Month for the month of April is "Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia." The hymn is relatively new to our Lutheran hymnal, with the text being written in 1938. The music comes to us from Tanzania, which is a country in eastern Africa. This hymn is used during the season of Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The hymn has five verses, as well as a refrain which comes after each stanza.

Refrain: Let us sing praise to Him with endless joy
Death's fearful sting He has come to destroy
Our sin forgiving, alleluia!
Jesus is living, alleluia!

1. Christ has arisen alleluia.
Rejoice and praise Him, alleluia.
For our Redeemer burst from the tomb,
Even from death, dispelling its gloom.

2. For three long days the grave did its worst
Until its strength by God was dispersed.
He who gives life did death undergo;
And its conquest His might did show

3. The angel said to them, "Do not fear!
You look for Jesus who is not here.
See for yourselves the tomb is all bare;
Only the grave cloths are lying there."

4. "Go spread the news: He's not in the grave;
he has arisen this world to save.
Jesus' redeeming labors are done;
Even the battle with sin is won."

5. Christ has arisen; He sets us free;
Alleluia, to Him praises be.
Jesus is living! Let us all sing;
He reigns triumphant, heavenly King.

Music Journal 2/25-3/1

Our journal in music class this past week was a little different. The entries from the past two weeks were "In the Still of the Night," by The Five Satins, and "Houdini," by Foster the People. This week in class I showed a video of both of these songs and had the class compare them by making a list of how they were similar and how they were different. The classes came up with great answers and were able to see how much live music has changed in just a span of 60 years!

Here are the links to the two videos:

"In the Still of the Night" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBT3oDMCWpI

"Houdini" (disregard any inappropriate ads on the page. I had the video full screened so that the ads were not visible) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vM09sBrFI

Chamber Choir Musical Offering- Sunday 2/24

This past Sunday, the Chamber Choir sang, "Pie Jesu" as a musical offering in the 8:00 am service here at Christ Lutheran. Below is a link of some of the members of the choir singing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaNxL2zqNEM&feature=youtu.be

Music Class 2/25-3/1

We have had a great week in Music Class!

Pk-1st grade have been learning about the Woodwind Family of instruments. K and 1st grade took a tour of "Woodwind Land" and visited instruments that are apart of the Woodwind Family last week, and continued their learning this week as they colored woodwind instruments while listening to Woodwind Quintet music by Mozart. Pk will be visiting Woodwind Land in their class on Thursday.



















2nd and 3rd grade continue their journey through Recorder Karate, as the songs they are encountering to earn their belts are getting more and more difficult. They are all doing a great job, and some have already earned their orange belt. Way to go!

4th-6th grade have been learning about "Harmony" and the different ways that we can create harmony, whether it is through countermelodies, partner songs, rounds, canons, or descants. They have been practicing singing in parts together in class.

Our 7th and 8th graders are continuing their work through their respective instrument units. The 7th graders are moving right along with their piano unit, as they have begun to play music placed in both staves. The 8th grade has advanced to learning notes on the first three strings of the guitar, reading music that deals with those strings, and are approaching the lesson where they will learn guitar chords.

Hymn of the Month (February)

The Hymn of the Month in the month of February is, "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name." The students will be learning verses 1,3, and 6 in music class so that we may sing this hymn together as a school in chapel.

1. All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name! let angels prostrate fall;
    Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all.
    Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all.

3. Ye see of Israel's chosen race, Ye ransomed from the fall,
    Hail Him who saves you by His grace and crown Him Lord of all.
    Hail Him who saves you by His grace and crown Him Lord of all.

6. Let ev'ry kindred, ev'ry tribe, on this terrestrial ball
    To Him all majesty ascribe and crown Him Lord of all.
    To Him all majesty ascribe and crown Him Lord of all.

Music Class 1/28-2/1

We have had a great week in music class! Our week began on Sunday with the Christ Kids Choir singing in the 8:00 service here at CLCS. What a great way to kick off National Lutheran Schools Week! On Monday we had a special chapel service, where we sang "It's Cool in a Lutheran School." I only hope that the kids like this song as much as I do :)

Throughout the week, different classes visited Briarwood Nursing Home to volunteer. Our 4th, 5th, and 6th graders visited on Tuesday and sang, "Peace Like a River," and our Preschool visited on Wednesday and sang, "Jesus Loves Me," as well as "Alligator Pie" for the residents. They received many compliments for their work!

Our Journal piece for this week was, "Prelude No. 2" by George Gershwin. We discussed what a musical prelude is, as well as the influence that George Gershwin had on American music in the early 20th century. I chose this piece primarily for our 7th grade, seeing as they are in the middle of their piano unit :)

Our 7th and 8th graders seem to be enjoying their instrument units (7th-piano, 8th-guitar), and are making great progress! The iPad app that the 7th grade is utilizing for piano is called, "Virtuoso" and is working great! The students are able to use a duet option that allows them to share iPads with two keyboards on them. I am also rotating students onto the real piano so that they are able to practice on the real deal. The 8th graders are moving along well on their guitars. I will try and take a picture this week so that I can share their learning experience with you!


4th and 5th grade discussed "counter-melody" this week, and practiced singing different parts together. We discussed the difference between a counter-melody and harmony, and the class was divided into four groups to sing all of the different parts of the song, "Our Melody." It worked out great!

Kindergarten and 1st grade led chapel for us on Wednesday and performed the hymn, "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light." What a great joy it was to hear them sing and talk about being children of God in their chapel message! In their music class this week (as well as PK) we read the book, "Freddie the Frog and the Thump in the Night." This is a newer children's music book that helps children learn the names of the notes on the staff. Freddie is a Frog that lives on the far north side of Treble Clef Island, and the book takes the children on Freddie's adventures with his best friend, Eli the Elephant (who lives at the bottom of the staff). We can't wait to hear what other adventures the two friends will share!

Our 2nd and 3rd graders are continuing their hard work in "Recorder Karate!" Many students have already passed their first song, "Hot Cross Buns," and have earned their white belt! The next song is, "Gently Sleep," and the students will earn a yellow belt for their completion of this song. They are having a great time learning how to take care of their recorders, as well as in practicing how to read music. Keep up the great work!









That is all from Music class this week. I pray you all have a safe and blessed weekend!

-Mr. Walter

Journal for this past week: "Prelude No.2" by George Gershwin (American Classical, Blues, Jazz, Easy Listening)

Music Class 1/22-1/25

Music Class this week:

PK- We will continue working on our classroom songs, and students will have the chance to try and play the trumpet!

K/1- We had a great time coloring brass instruments and listening to brass music last week! We will work on the hymn that the students are singing for chapel next week. We will also do dictation review on our white boards, reviewing notes, note lengths, the treble clef, and rhythms.

2/3- Our recorders came in last week! We covered the basics of the recorder (hand position, playing technique, care) and we learned the first 3 notes (B,A,G). The first song we are learning is "Hot Cross Buns." Once students master this song and play it for me individually, then they will receive their white belt! We will practice the song together in class, and then students will get a chance to individually practice and test.

4/5- NO CLASS

6- NO CLASS

7- We will be working with the iPads again this week. We have downloaded a new piano app called, "Virtuoso." We will work through piano exercises in the book as a class with the iPads, and students will receive a chance to use the real piano to play the songs.

8- We will begin our guitar unit this week. We were supposed to begin it last week, but had too many students missing due to the weather. Each student will be provided with a guitar and we will discuss the basics and start to work through our Guitar book.

Each class will also learn the song, "It's cool in a Lutheran school," in preparation for National Lutheran School's Week!

Journal for the week: "Sounds of Silence," by Simon and Garfunkel (folk/rock)

Music Class: 1/14-1/18

Here is what is being covered in Music this week:

PK-1: We will continue talking about the Brass Family, and will be working on Brass coloring sheets. Kindergarten and 1st grade will also continue to work on their song that they will be performing in chapel at the end of the month.

2-3: We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our recorders and our recorder books! If these arrive during the week, then we will start our recorder unit on Thursday. 

4-5/6: We will continue our work in our books. 4-5 will be doing activities based on the Mexican folk song, "La Cucaracha." We will learn the Spanish words for the song, and students will have a chance to play band instruments along with the song. 6th grade will be learning the country song, "On the road again," by Willie Nelson. We will talk about "harmony" and will learn to sing harmony along with the recordings.

7th-8th: Having completed music worksheets this past week, we will begin our piano (7th) and guitar (8th) units. Our 7th grade will utilize the school's iPads and the piano apps that we have installed, so that everyone has a piano to use. Our 8th graders will take advantage of the school's guitars for our unit. We will be learning the basics of these instruments, as well as the techniques involved in reading and playing music.

Music Journal for the Week: "The Rite of Spring," by Igor Stravinsky (orchestral, symphonic, 20th cent.)

Music Journal last Week (1/7-1/11): "Ain't Nothin' Wrong With That," by Robert Randolph and the Family Band (rock, funk, soul, r&b)

Hymn of the Month

Each month of this school year, our students have been learning different hymns that we sing together as a school in chapel every Wednesday. Our hymn for this month is entitled, "Let All Things Now Living." The tune is called, "The Ash Grove," and is the same tune used for the hymn, "Sent Forth by God's Blessing." The text for the two stanzas we are learning is as follows:

   1. Let all things now living, a song of thanksgiving
       To God the creator triumphantly raise
       Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
       Who still guides us on to the end of our days.
       God's banners are o'er us, His light goes before us,
       A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
       Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
       As forward we travel from light into light.

   2. His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
       And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
       The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
       The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
       We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
       With glad adoration a song let us raise
       Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
       "To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"

What a great hymn to start off the year! In this season of Epiphany, we give thanks to God for the gift of his Son as our Savior, the gift of rebirth through the waters of Holy Baptism, and for the gifts that He continually showers upon us in our everyday lives.

Wecome Back!

First and foremost, I just want to thank all of the students, teachers, and parents for a very successful Christmas Program. CLS is an amazing place where we can come together as a community to celebrate the birth of our Savior, and this year's program felt like the perfect start to our Christmas season, and the perfect end to our semester.

Our music classes this semester have some exciting things in store! In 2nd and 3rd grade, we will begin a new recorder curriculum called, "Recorder Karate." Students will learn how to play the recorder and the basics of reading music, and will be rewarded throughout the unit with Recorder Karate Belts!

Our 7th graders will be starting a unit on piano, in which we will utilize the school's iPads and iPad apps in order to teach our students the basics of piano. Our 8th graders will start a unit on guitar as well, in which the will learn the parts of the guitar, and the basic fundamentals to reading guitar music.

While all of these exciting things are happening, our Kindergarteners and First graders will be taking a tour of "Brass Land" in order to continue learning the different families of instruments. They will also be preparing special music for their chapel service during National Lutheran School's Week at the end of this month.

I am very excited for this coming semester, and I look forward to the learning that will take place!