First grade students learned and read about Sergei Prokofiev's fairytale, "Peter and the Wolf." It is spoken by a narrator and accompanied by an orchestra. Each character in the story represents an instrument and has a musical theme:
- Bird: flute
- Duck: oboe
- Cat: clarinet
- Grandfather: bassoon
- Wolf: French horns
- Hunters: woodwind theme, with gunshots on timpani and bass drum
- Peter: string instruments
Ask your first grader to share the story of "Peter and the Wolf" with you. We will continue studying this story next week with a listening map .
Second graders will be learning about the four instrument families over the next month. Musical instruments are grouped into families based on the sound that they make. This week, we learned about the percussion family.
Percussion
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Percussion instruments make sounds when you hit it, shake it, or scrape it. For example, a drum or tambourine makes a sound when you hit it. Maracas make a sound when you shake them. Guiros make a sound when you scrape them. Other percussion instruments include tambourine, triangle, bongo drum, cymbal, cowbell, and cabasa.
Our third grade students had some very specials visitors this week. Four musicians from the Lexington Symphony came and taught the students about the instrument families. For many students, it was their first time seeing a violin, viola, clarinet and tuba at such a close range. The performers engaged our students with the sounds of their instruments and played familiar tunes that put a smile on each of their faces. On Thursday, Jan. 17th, the students will get an opportunity to watch and hear the whole orchestra perform. "Fancy" attire is strongly encouraged!
Fourth and Fifth grade students continued to learn and build chords on a special instrument called Tone Chimes.
Tone chimes are a type of hand bells made out of light-weight aluminum. When played, they create a long, clear, resonating tone. Both grades learned how to properly play the tone chimes. To produce a clear sound, the arm that is holding the tone chime is brought back to the ear in a circular motion. The wrist snaps as it comes back to the start position. The snap brings the clapper into contact with the chime tube, thus producing a resonating sound. We will continue to play the tone chimes next week to a very famous music. Stay tuned!
Chorus began again this week! Our theme for our spring concert is.................
"The Four Elements- Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth."
The fourth graders learned "Rhythm of the Rain" and the fifth graders learned, "The Wind."
Have a wonderful weekend!
Tone chimes are a type of hand bells made out of light-weight aluminum. When played, they create a long, clear, resonating tone. Both grades learned how to properly play the tone chimes. To produce a clear sound, the arm that is holding the tone chime is brought back to the ear in a circular motion. The wrist snaps as it comes back to the start position. The snap brings the clapper into contact with the chime tube, thus producing a resonating sound. We will continue to play the tone chimes next week to a very famous music. Stay tuned!
Chorus began again this week! Our theme for our spring concert is.................
"The Four Elements- Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth."
The fourth graders learned "Rhythm of the Rain" and the fifth graders learned, "The Wind."
Have a wonderful weekend!
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