Updates from Step the Beat Music Fundamentals

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Step the Beat Update from Musical Chairs
Greetings to all Step the Beat Parents,

Our young musicians made new discoveries in Notes, Rhythm and Beat, Instrument Exploration, Staff and Melody and Dynamics during their Winter Session. Step the Beat students are working with the Kodayi method, using tambourines, xylophones, roll-up 36 key keyboards, rhythm sticks, drums and various large staffs and notes manipulatives to build the musical foundation that will lead them to Step into Piano, and then instrument performance, while having a lot of hands-on fun. Read below for details on what we learned January-February. Beginning with next session, we will send you monthly updates of what we're working on to keep you in the loop with your child's musical development. 


Musically Yours,

Miss Lynn
Calendar
Register Now for Spring Session

Starting March 14.... Step the Beat Spring Session!   The current session ends on March 11. I encourage you to sign up for Step Into Beat Spring Session. Use the following link to enroll your child for the Spring Session of Step the Beat.



Miniature dachshund puppy wearing a mortar board hat for graduation.
Graduating to Step into Piano

If your child has had a year of Step the Beat, and can stay focused on 5-10 minutes at a time with a piano keyboard, we encourage you to 
sign up for Step into Piano Spring Session. Use the following link to enroll your child for the Spring Session of Step into Piano.

Funny conductor in musical concept
Learning About Rhythm

We reviewed 4 Beat Rhythms as a warm-up activity for each lesson, with children taking turns being the Rhythm Conductors. The Conductors lead us in playing Steady TAs (quarter notes),  Bouncy Ti-Tis (eighth notes) and Shhhh!-Rests (quarter rests), using either our clapping hands, tapping feet, tambourines, drums or rhythm sticks. Most importantly, the Rhythm Conductors write different 4-beat rhythm combinations for us to read and then play. Sometimes, the Rhythm Conductors play a 4-Beat rhythm combination for us to write what we think we heard!



Understanding the Staff

We practiced our Staff Exploration (for the Treble Staff) to make sure did not forget our basics: a staff has 5 lines and 4 spaces, and it's used for writing musical notes. Line 1 is at the bottom; Line 5 is at the top. Space 1 is at the bottom; Space 4 is at the top. 
We worked more deeply on the 5 Line Notes, E-G-B-D-F (with our chant "Every Girl and Boy Deserves Fun"): we learned Line Notes skip from line to line, and we practiced placing them on the correct line, reading them on a staff, matching them with their line numbers, and best of all, matching them and listening to them on the white keys of the piano keyboard!
We similarly worked more deeply on the 4 Space Notes (with our chant "1-2-3-4 Spaces Say FACE in Space"): we learned Space Notes also skip from space to space, and we practiced placing them on the correct spaces, reading them on a staff, matching them with their space numbers, and best of all, matching them and listening to them on the white keys of the piano keyboard!



3d rendering conceptual image Colorful piano keyboard.
Musical Notes and Melody

We did an activity to trace the "music roller-coaster" for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We followed the melody with our voice, our hands tracing stepping up or down the staff, or leaps up or down. We followed the melody on the piano keys, marked with stickers, our finger tapping its way up or down side-by-side notes (stepping) or leaping over notes, or repeating notes. And we followed the melody written with musical notes on the staff.


Classmates singing together standing with microphone isolated
Singing, Tempo and Dynamics

We used our familiar vocal warm-ups of high 'head voice' sounds and some low 'diaphragm supported' sounds with Owls, and Snowballs, Sirens and Grumpy Bears, and Snaky Hiss for breath support work. We worked on Bingo, Old MacDonald, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, with children taking turns as the Song Conductor to guide us with a steady beat (at a fast tempo or a slower one), with Forte or Piano, and adding Crescendo (soft to loud) or Decrescendo (loud to soft) directions. 


Instrument Exploration

Using the book Zin Zin Zin A Violin, we discovered String and Brass instruments from the Orchestra. F or example, what a violin vs a cello, or a trumpet vs a trombone looks like, where they sit in the orchestra, what they sound like, and we mimed how to hold them and play them. We even played Charades for others to guess what instrument we were miming.


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Next Session in Step the Beat

We will continue our games with the rhythm, musical notes and the staff; we will develop our ability to write and read notes and rhythm independently; we will discover Woodwinds and Percussion instruments in the orchestra. Children will receive a classical music sampler CD that we will explore in class to appreciate sounds, texture, color, dynamics, tempo in musical compositions.



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