Prelude II Blog
Greetings, Prep 2 Families,
Thank you for another great week in Prep 2 Chorus! The children are sounding lovely and learning so much as we experience many musical concepts through song and play. Please continue to encourage your child to listen to our recital songs at home, as our performance season is approaching!
Recital Season is Coming! Please Purchase Concert Attire Here:
Rehearsal Recap for Monday and Tuesday (Jazmine and Katie)
- The children revisited the beautiful Israeli song, Shalom, Chaverim, which we sang while dancing in a circle. The singers then split into two circles and sang in lovely 2-part harmony.
- The children played the fun Halloween song and game, Trick-or-Treat, with each child bouncing the ball to the half-note beat and singing their favorite candy. After they had their turn to sing, they went to the percussion circle and switched between keeping the beat and the rhythm as we sang and played.
- The children played a number of fun and spooky Halloween Rhythms, which featured ti-ti (eighth notes), tah (quarter note) tiri-tiri (sixteenth notes) tiri-ti (sixteenth and eighth) and Ta-ah (half note). The singers then arranged the rhythms and created an ostinato which we maintained while singing Trick or Treat. It sounded great!
- We did a number of vocal warm-ups, including Vocal Explorations with Otis the Owl, Cat Sounds, and Mama Made Me Mash My M and M’s.
- The children clapped and chanted a “mystery rhythm” which also featured a new rhythmic idea, “synco-pah.” After recognizing the song as Ah, Poor Bird, the children derived the solfege in e natural minor. My class sang the song in 2-parts with a lovely ostinato, and Jazmine’s class played it with the glockenspiels!
- We reviewed Ocho Kalendikas, particularly verse 3 – the children loved translating the words and discovering that “pastelikos” means “pastry,” and “”almendrikas” means “almonds.” I think singing about these delicious holiday treats made us all very hungry!
- We also reviewed Jamaican Noel and the children learned movements for this, which are not only fun but also help the children learn the words more quickly. Please stay tuned for a video of the movements to be posted soon!
- My class had a great time reviewing Piglet’s Christmas after deriving the refrain in solfege and Jazmine’s class did the same with Dormi, Dormi.
- Jazmine’s class had fun creating Halloween tunes in e-minor pentatonic, as well as revisiting There Was an Old Woman.
- My class had a great time creating sounds and music as we read the classic Halloween tale, Old Devil Wind. We also used e-minor pentatonic to play as the book said “It is a dark and stormy night.”
Action Items
- Apart from reviewing all the activities above, please be sure your child is listening to these songs at home:
Good Night
Ocho Kalendikas
Jamaican Noel
Dormi, Dormi
Dear Prep 2 Families,
It was lovely to see the children again after 2 weeks, and we made the most of it with some Halloween fun.
A reminder to parents: Your children will need a uniform for our December recital. If you have not already gotten it, please get it as soon as you can. They tend to sell out, and I don’t want anyone to be left scrambling at the last minute. Thanks!
Here is what we did today:
- We played the fun Halloween chase game Witch, Witch, and then the children derived the melody in solfege.
- We threw a ball to each other for Bounce High, Bounce Low, which will soon help them feel strong beats in songs and understand 2/4 time. In the meantime, the children put the missing note on our tone ladder.
- We played the game Go Round the Mountain, where we found different ways to move to the beat. Then the children identified that the notes in the song are Mi, Re and Do.
- We listened and moved to Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt, and felt the tempo changes.
- The children made mini-compositions on the tone ladder while the other children sang them back.
- We sang My Paddle, and they learned 2 new notes: Low La and Low Sol. They were able to sing the song on solfege as well as with the words.
- The children helped me sing There was an Old Woman and gave me a rousing BOO! at the end.
- We finished out class with the fun game Old Roger Is Dead.
Several Children expressed interest in wearing their Halloween costumes to class next week. They are welcome to do so, but it is not required. Please no major makeup, and I will be asking children to take off any masks they might have.
Thanks, and see you next week!