2nd and 3rd Ukulele Tuning and Music!!

Hi all.

Second and Third grade students are learning their first one finger chord change song this week - Coconut!!

So many have asked me to tune their personal ukuleles. I don't mind doing this for any of  my students, but it will not stay in tune for very long - especially since it is a new instrument with new strings that need to settle in. Here are some links for tuning ukuleles. Just use your ear and turn carefully up to the correct pitch. Students should be watched if you allow them to try to tune so they do not turn too far and break a string. Starting at the top string with the neck to the left, the pitches are G, C, E, and the bottom string is A. The G will be higher than C - a quirky little thing about the ukulele.

How to tune that thing:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl7uzySXUSw
Pitches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_p_rL9XnDs
Website: http://ukutuner.com 
App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ukulele-tuner/id327762565?mt=8 (Ukulele Tuner App)

In class, students are playing the C Major and C7 chords along with the actual recording. The timing of the song does change at one point and the chords aren't exact....more like a ukulele étude on changing one finger chords, if you will.

With the left hand on the neck and the right hand strumming with their thumbs, students will play 8 - C Major strums on the beat and 8 - C7 strums on the beat. What does that mean? Here you go!

The C Major chord is played with the third finger (ring finger) on the bottom string, in the third space (fret) from the tuners. Strum 8 times slowly with the thumb.

                              

The C7 chord is played with the first finger (pointer) on the bottom string, first fret. The C7 chord is played like this







Here's the recording on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LxC3M-Yngs

** I can't be held responsible for any inappropriate advertisements that may pop up on YouTube or other sites. 

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have questions. 
Maybe you should learn how to play, too!

Native American Music Projects - Upper Campus

The links below will be used by student groups at the Upper Campus to do research as they become Scholarly Experts on their assigned topic. We will begin working on these in class next week. Students may access these links at home and in class to prepare for their portion of the presentation or to learn about the other topics being explored in their music class. I am extremely proud of how mature and empathetic the students have been about the struggles faced by Native Americans and have been quite impressed with their knowledge and ideas!

Native American Music Projects

Kindergarten and 1st!

Kindergarten and 1st grade music have been off to a wonderful start this year!

Kindergarten has been practicing keeping steady beat through the use of body percussion, student-lead dancing, playing musical name games, and singing folk songs from various cultures. We've been learning about the different types of voices - whisper, speaking, shouting, and singing - and when it's appropriate to use each. Kindergarten classes have also been doing vocal exploration to learn how they can raise and lower their voices to sing through the use of fun activities like sirens and vocal rollercoasters. We've also been introduced to handheld percussion instruments like maracas, tambourines, claves, and triangles.

The next few months will include daily singing to get our musicians practice with matching pitch and singing with good technique and posture. We'll do a lot of exploration of sound and begin looking at how music is present in everyday life and how music can be used to relate to characters and actions in stories. We will likely be doing a unit on Camille-Saint Saens' Carnival of the Animals in which different animals are represented by different instruments and movements of the piece. We'll also work a lot with listening maps to get the students thinking creatively about how sounds can relate and symbolize things in every day life!

First grade has been learning a lot about rhythm through moving, dancing, and playing instruments. They're being introduced to "Ta," "Ti-ti," and "Shh." as ways to vocalize simple rhythmic ideas. We've even begun basic composition through the use of colors.

The next few months, we'll introduce the students to the class set of African drums so they can begin practicing these rhythm songs and ideas in a really fun and exciting way. Eventually, 1st grade will be performing their own songs and compositions on the drums, Orff
 xylophones, and other handheld percussion.

All music classes have also done a bit of an art project in our front hallway, so if you haven't seen it, come by the music room, take a look, and say hello!




It's been a fantastic first few weeks; all the parents and staff have been so kind and welcoming, and I'm very excited for the rest of this year. If I haven't met you, please don't hesitate to come by and introduce yourself.

Go GLOBE!

Brian Gay

Music Field Trips - 2015-16

SAVE THE DATES!

Oct. 28, Third Grade: Science of Sound, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall. 9:00-11:30 (lunch at school)

Oct. 29, Fourth Grade: Aly Camara (Master Drummer from Guinea and GLOBE parent), Spivey Hall at Clayton State University. 9:30-1:15 (Lunch at CSU)

Feb. 10, Fifth Grade: Classical American Roots, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall. 9:00-11:30 (lunch at school)

Mar. 10: First and Second Grade: Music with a Purpose, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall.  9:00-11:30 (lunch at school) 

Kindergarten's trip will be announced soon. I will send out the first round of permission forms and the plan for the Oct. trips soon.

Upper Campus is ROCKING!

The GLOBE Upper Campus

Music Classes

Students at the Upper Campus have accomplished quite a bit in music this year. Through last year's implementation grant, we were able to purchase five iPads to use in our music class. As the students will begin composing their own "theme songs" for the GLOBE SUPERHERO TEAMS during Enrichment Fridays, we used our first few weeks exploring the music composition app, Garage Band.

In our first lesson, students used "smart instruments" to create an 8-bar composition. They recorded a drum beat and then had an opportunity to explore the bass, keyboard, guitar, voice, sound effects, and learned to name and save their work. Many students downloaded the program when they got home ($5.00 on the App Store for iPad/iPhone) and continued to create their own compositions. There are also free online composition programs and apps for those who use Windows.

The next project is to explore the basics of melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, texture, dynamics, and form. We used the Garage Band keyboard to play a C Major scale and build the I, IV, and V triads. They were getting it! We moved into the 12-bar blues form and discussed that as long as the rhythms fit and the harmony matched throughout all the instruments, the possibilities were endless. We played the form as a class on the smart keyboard and then students set off to create their own 12-bar instrumental blues using a variety of instruments. We will spend this week finishing those compositions and sharing with our classmates. I CAN NOT WAIT to hear them!

My hope is that we will be able to apply our basic understanding of chords when we start learning guitar at the Briarcliff location.

What a fun start to our best year ever!

MUSIC

 AT GLOBE! 

Hello GLOBE Family!  

WELCOME BACK!!

Second and Third Grade Parents: This school year is already off to a musical start. Our 2nd and 3rd grade musicians spent their first week reviewing the expectations in the music room and jumped right into some beat and movement activities. We learned a little about form and folk songs by singing "Shoo Fly" and performing a circle dance that helped us discover the two distinct and repeating sections of the song. The class closed with a steady beat name game (I must admit that was probably more for me than it was the kids, with all of those names to remember!). We are also practicing our first round, which will be our first "real" song on ukelele - "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". Over the next several lessons, we will continue our exploration of folk songs from several countries through singing, games, playing instruments, movement, listening maps, and on our new favorite instrument....THE UKULELE! Many folk songs I had hoped to teach are simple to play on the ukulele, helping us tie it all together. 

First Day - They were SO excited!

Third graders will order recorders soon.  I will take care of the order for everyone - you and I will    both be happier if we order quality instruments that have a nice tone. I am looking forward to creating class ensembles using all of the instruments we use in class voice, African drums, xylophones, ukulele, recorder, hand-held percussion. By the end of the year, third graders will be able to read and perform simple melodies, have a basic understanding of how harmony, rhythm, melody interact to create music, and will develop greater musical independence in preparation for band, orchestra, or chorus at the upper campus next year. I am so excited about what the future holds!

If you would like to purchase an inexpensive ukulele for your child ($30, includes book, instrument, soft case, extra strings, play-along and instructional CD and DVD), check out this deal on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Yourself-Ukulele-Complete-Starter/dp/B004ZKY10Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440304614&sr=8-1&keywords=alfred+ukulele