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Greetings, Prep 2 Families!
Recital Season is coming! Please invite friends and family to this special afternoon that showcases many of the fun and enriching musical activities your child has been doing all semester, along with some lovely holiday songs. These will all take place in the Parish Hall at their usual rehearsal location, Foothills Congregational Church, Los Altos.
Please see here for all the details:
Monday Prep 2: Recital on Monday December 5th at 4:00. Sign up for the potluck HERE.
Tuesday Prep 2: Recital on Tuesday December 6th at 4:00. Sign up for the potluck HERE.
Thursday Prep 2: Recital on Thursday December 8th at 4:30. Sign up for the potluck HERE.
All children are expected to be in full Cantabile uniforms.
Please Purchase Concert Attire Here:
Rehearsal Recap (Monday and Tuesday Prep 2)
- We started class with the fun and engaging Shaker song and dance, Mince Pie or Pudding.
- We learned a new version of the familiar American folksong, All ‘Round the Brickyard, while dancing in partners.
- The children brushed up on their rhythms with some fun Holiday Rhythm Cards! They also took turns arranging the rhythms in different orders, to create a nice ostinato while they sang A Mince Pie or Pudding one more time.
- We did a number of fun vocal warm-ups, including Thanksgiving Vocal Explorations, and “I Love to Sing,” which allowed the children to select new activities to sing about!
- The children took turns composing short melodies on the e minor tone ladder, before sight-reading the rhythm and solfege of a “mystery song,” this time on the staff. They worked out that it was Ah, poor bird!
- The children reviewed the dance for Ah, Poor Bird, and then worked on singing it as an ostinato, thus creating 2-part harmony.
- We reviewed three of our recitals songs: Good Night, Ocho Kalendikas and Jamaican Noel. The children worked on creating a more gentle and sweet sound in Good Night, whilst the other two required more focus on the lyrics and motions.
- The children played the circle/improvisational game What Shall We Do Till the Turkey’s Roasted?
- Jazmine’s class also worked on Dormi, Dormi and started learning a fun dance to Jingle Bells!
Action Items
- Please be sure to review all the songs with your child this week – particularly the words, which they can speak or sing whilst listening to the music. They are sounding lovely, but many are still trying to remember the words, particularly the songs in foreign languages. We really appreciate you working on this with your child to ensure a wonderful and positive experience in our recitals! The songs they should be reviewing are:
Ocho Kalendikas
Good Night
Dormi, Dormi
Jamaican Noel
Thursday Prep 2 (Emily’s Rehearsal)
Dear Parents,
With just a few weeks to go until our recital, I am starting to prepare the children to stand and sing like good choristers. They were doing a great job yesterday, and i was very impressed with how well they knew their music.
- We started our class with the clapping and circle game, I Let Her Go-go, and then sat in our chairs to do some vocal warm ups. I showed the children how to explore using their voices in different ways using vocal shapes, and then they each had a turn to lead. They also shared their favorite activities in the exercise “I love to. . . “
- Next, we made up verses for the song Rain, Come Wet Me, and then we figured out the melody and added the notes to the tone ladder.
- We improvised on the tone ladder, and then learned the sound of low so-do, which led us to our next song, Al Citrón, a stone passing game from Mexico.
- We did the dance Dance Josey, derived the rhythm of the first two lines and added bar lines. We learned about what 2/4 time looks like.
- We looked at the music for Good Night, and saw that it was also a 2/4 song. They did a wonderful job singing that song!
- We finished the class by learning the dance Cedar Swamp. The children are learning to swing their partners.
- PLEASE NOTE: Please have children bring their folders containing their music for remaining weeks of class. The pieces they need are: Good Night and Piglet’s Christmas.
Thank you and I will see you next week!