music 

It's been so lovely to walk around the school and hear students singing some of the songs we are rehearsing in music classes! Some are even making up their own funny verses which is fantastic!

I am also so impressed with the lovely and talented voices which have joined the choir already. For those interested (Grades 3 - 6), we meet every Tuesday at 11am in the Music room, unless it is a wet day timetable. We are currently working on 2 songs - "Motown Medley" and "Dare to Dream". I am really looking forward to preparing for our first performance, which will hopefully be towards the end of this term at Assembly. Stay tuned!

In Music classes over the past 2 weeks, we have been having fun, playing, dancing, singing, listening and learning about styles of music and composers. 

F/1 students demonstrated their cool movement skills by improvising creatively to "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (Mozart) and "Blue Suede Shoes" (Elvis Presley).

We learnt a new song called "The Upside Down, Inside Out, Back to Front Song" (sung to the tune of Botany Bay). We all love the parts when "I polished the floor with my pizza", "my tomatoes are learning to walk" and "my ipad can suddenly fly".

Grades 2/3 have been amazing while practising silence! Playing an 8 beat rhythmic pattern, followed by 8 beats of silence can be quite challenging, but students are doing a great job at listening and concentrating in order to achieve this. We have had some fantastic solo performances in class with a few students even presenting their own made up lyrics.

Grades 4/5/6 are expanding their knowledge of different styles and forms of music and have listened to Strauss, Beethoven and Glenn Miller, discussing instruments played and the specific periods of their music. Students loved "In the Mood" and many recognised "The Blue Danube Waltz", "Fur Elise" and "Ode to Joy".

We discussed the meaning of 'ostinato' and listened to one of the most famous percussive ostinatos in "We will Rock You". Did you know there are no instruments introduced in that piece until after the 1 minute mark, when a single sustained guitar note comes in before breaking into the incredible solo?

As part of working on the keyboards, marimbas and guitars, we have started to look at the structure of major scales and chords and listened to the different sound of a minor chord.

Our new song is "Lanterns" by Birds of Tokyo and this will eventually be played as an ensemble piece, along with "Count on Me".