Friday, October 30, 2015

October News

"To Stop the Train" round
Featured: Parmenter 5th grade chorus
This chorus loves a good challenge! They decided to do this round in 6 parts dividing each part by row. Can't wait to see what they'll do next!

"Staccato/Legato" audiated
Featured: JFK 4th grade chorus
Students here were asked to audiate the whole first part of their new chorus song and only sing the last note. Sorry! You'll have to wait for the concert to hear this one!


"Old Abram Brown" round
Featured: JFK 5th grade chorus
This was a really spooky new round I tried this year. While we didn't have time to really polish this idea before filming I wanted to show what the 5th graders came up with in performing their round. Elias had the idea to mix up the parts so that everyone had a different part next to them (very advanced for elementary chorus!) and Shaw had the idea to use movement to show the phrasing of the piece. Check it out!

"All Through the Night"
Featured: Franklin and other New England Music Teachers
A couple of Fridays ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a professional development day with other Franklin music staff that focused on fostering the arts. (Although according to Mrs. Trottier, her K class was debating if I had retired:) Here is what happens when a bunch of Elementary Music teachers get together! If you look closely you might be able to see Franklin music teachers: Mr. Barrett, Mr. Gustafson, Mrs. Fuller, and Mr. Sansoni. I helped create the form of this piece and was the videographer of course!

OUR FIRST CELEBRITY SINGERS!

JFK 3rd

JFK 4th

JFK 5th
Parmenter 5th
Q: What's a celebrity singer?
A: A celebrity singer is a student in chorus that demonstrates great effort, leadership, and focus. They also show great singing technique such as good posture, vowel shapes, pitch, breathing, etc. Sometimes I also pick a student whom I feel has shown great improvement. With the help of the educational assistants and celebrity singers from the previous week, I try to chose one boy and one girl per week. Some weeks I can't help myself and pick more!

Q: Where did this idea come from?
A: I wanted to show students that anyone can join and love chorus and become a singer. It's not just for a certain type of person, everyone was born to sing! I began thinking about celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Beyonce, Matt Damon, Theodore Roosevelt, etc. that were all in chorus when they were younger. Sometimes the best singers are the people you would least expect!

Q: What can I do to help?
A: Never tell your child they can't sing! Also be careful about how you joke about your own singing. We're all born with the right equipment to sing. Some of us unfortunately just never learned how to use it!
OCTOBER'S MUSICIAN OF THE MONTH
While Yo-Yo Ma just celebrated his 60th Birthday, here he is at the age of 7 making his musical debut for John F. Kennedy! 

Friday, October 2, 2015

Thank you!

If you are reading this you are following my blog! Yay!:)

It was so nice to meet so many great families the last couple of weeks at Parmenter's curriculum night and fall social and JFK's open house! Thank you for signing up for my blog! Enjoy two little sneak peeks of some of the fun in the music room! 

Pumpkin Patch (Grades K and 1)
Featured: Mr. McCarthy's K class
Students are working on chanting with a steady beat!



Notes of the Treble Clef (Grade 4)
Featured: Mrs. Adams' Class
Students are learning to read the notes on the treble clef staff!