The Goat Rodeo Sessions

This week's music journal focused on a bluegrass collaboration between four virtuoso musicians. The Goat Rodeo Sessions is the name of the collaboration featuring Chris Thile (mandolin), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Edgar Meyer (upright bass), and Yo-Yo Ma (cello). Thile and Ma are both very famous in the music industry, as both were regarded as child prodigies on their respective instruments. This collaboration resulted in an album under the name of Goat Rodeo Sessions, featuring the song "Attaboy," which is what the students listened to and watched in class. Below is the link to the live recording session of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-31e8Nlujw

The Beatles

This week in our music classes, we have been talking about the 50th anniversary of The Beatles appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show", first introducing America to the music of The Beatles. In order to celebrate this anniversary, our music journal for the week has been "Love Me Do", which was the first single recorded by The Beatles and reached number one on the charts in America. The students have also watched the following documentary, which talks about The Beatles beginning in Liverpool and how they got their start:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3jO1OAEPzo

*Note: Minutes 4:16-5:14 and 22:35-23:31 were skipped over in class due to inappropriate content

7th and 8th Grade Music Projects

Our 7th and 8th graders are currently working on their music projects for this year.

The 7th graders have been assigned a composer from either the Baroque, Classical, or Romantic era of music. They are to research the lives of their composers and write a short research paper on what they learn. The paper will include facts about the composers' personal lives, as well as their musical backgrounds, famous works, etc. Along with the paper, they will be creating colorful and creative posters to about their composers to present to the class. You will be able to see these posters on Fine Arts Night in the Spring.

The 8th grade are currently working on an interdisciplinary project that spans the subjects of English, Art, and Music. The students have selected a painting and are required to create a one-page short story on their painting. They have been encouraged to be as creative as they want! They will also be selecting 3 different pieces of instrumental music to accompany different parts of their stories, in order to convey a certain mood or emotion. Some of the stories will be selected to be presented at Fine Arts Night in the Spring.

Boomwhackers!

For the past week, our classes have been using boomwhackers to explore reading music, as well as the concept of pitch. A boomwhacker is a hollow plastic tube, that is played by hitting against a hand, or by hitting against the ground. Each boomwhacker is a specific pitch or note. In 4th and 5th grade, we practiced playing music with the boomwhackers, by reading sheet music specifically assigned for the tubes and their pitches.

Our Kindergarten and first grade classes have been using the boomwhackers to differentiate between pitches that are high or low, as well as to train their ears by matching pitches played on the piano to pitches being played on the boomwhackers.
The 6th graders are currently in the process of composing their own music with the boomwhackers as a part of an in-class group assignment.

Composer of the Month (February)

Our composer of the month for the month of February is George Gershwin. Gershwin was born on September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York. He became interested in music at a young age after hearing his brother, Ira (whom he would collaborate with later in life) practicing the piano. At the age of 16, George went to work at a music publishing firm where he would write songs for singers, vaudeville performers, and producers. He wrote many popular works throughout his life, including Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess (an American opera), and I've Got Rhythm. He was a very influential jazz composer, as well as a prolific concert pianist. His life was tragically cut short on July 11, 1937 from a brain tumor.

Our Music Journal for this past week in class was Someone to Watch Over Me, which was composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin.The version that the classes listened to was performed by Ella Fitzgerald, although there are other versions, including one by Frank Sinatra.

Hymn of the Month (February)

Our Hymn of the Month for the month of February is "Christ Be My Leader." The text was written by Timothy Dudley-Smith, and the tune is Irish.

1) Christ be my Leader by night as by day; 
Safe through the darkness, for He is the way. 
Gladly I follow, my future His care, 
Darkness is daylight when Jesus is there.

2) Christ be my Teacher in age as in youth, 
Drifting or doubting, for He is the truth.
Grant me to trust Him; though shifting as sand,
Doubt cannot daunt me; in Jesus I stand.

3) Christ be my Savior in calm as in strife;
Death cannot hold me, for he is the life.
Nor darkness nor doubting no sin and its stain
Can touch my salvation: with Jesus I reign.