Term 4 2016

While classes will not have weekly Music during Term 4, groups will still be working hard especially coming up to end of year performances. Please have a look at the group pages to see what they have been doing.

All Danced Out

Room 6 have been amazing dancers and singers all term! They finished Music for the term singing about te manu in beautiful voices with great actions as usual.

Ukulele Experts

Tui classes have learnt the parts of the ukulele and how to read a tab. They have chosen the way they like best to strum and have been practising simple strumming patterns that use ta, ti-ti, and za rhythms. They have learnt to play the chords C and F. They can play and sing Bow Wow Wow and Rain Rain Go Away on each chord. Then we played On Top of Old Spaghetti with half of the class playing the C parts and the other half playing the F parts. They were amazing at remembering when to come in, at keeping the strumming going evenly, and SINGING! We do some ukulele gymnastics to keep our fingers nimble for playing - racing through some combination of rest position, ukulele salute, Z chord, C chord, and F chord without getting tricked. Rest position is how we hold the ukulele when we are not playing...here is Room 12 relaxing in the rest position before playing the next song.

Everyday Movements Become Dance

Piwakawaka classes have been improvising dances from a series of images which show everyday movements. They have been concentrating on keeping to the beat while discovering different ways to represent the movements. Room 2 have been amazing at doing this; they use lots of energy and co-ordination.

Elbow Cross and Stomp and Swing

 

Jazz Hands and Hug a Giant                             Marching Machine

 

Raise the Roof                                        Wobbly Knees and Flick Kicks

 

Twist

 

Room 1

This week the Kahu dancers (previous post) had some competition from Room 1 who learnt the Animals on the Plains of Africa dance very fast. They danced with energy and were great at remembering the representation of each animal and part of the story.

Quickly ready to dance every time

Kahu Barn Dancers

Room 10 and 11 students who were not on the ski trip joined together for a western flavoured afternoon with some country ukulele tunes (using the chords C and F and some extended to include G) and barn dance style movement. They were a little hesitant at first but soon they were stomping their way around the circle in PERFECT time.

Good Afternoon Room 3

Room 3 continue to pitch match with their singing greeting; as a group they are especially good at this and sing with a beautiful tone.

Their hand signals help them to remember their pitches...here they are showing stages of the descending so mi re do they were singing.

Room 5's Folk Dance

Room 5 have been combining a series of moves and working to stay together as a group by completing each move after a set count. They were amazing at remembering whether they were part of group 1 or group 2 and moving accordingly and got back to their starting positions quickly and correctly every time. Threading the needle was tricky but they worked together to figure it out.

Looking for Animals on the Plains of Africa

One of the dance styles we have been inspired by has been African circle dance. We observe the strong beat as well as representing different rhythms in our movements. Room 4 were great at telling the story of looking for animals on the plains of Africa and used energy to depict our search and each of the animals we found.

Ready to begin

Silly ostriches

Sneaking lions...

...that roar

Room 10 Compositions

A few groups from Room 10 decided to perform their compositions...I have no idea how they have remembered these from Term 2, Week 6...well done!

Room 11's Three Part Compositions

Kahu classes finished Term 2 by creating three part compositions using the C major pentatonic scale. The aim was to have a melody, ostinato, and bordun or bass line. We ran out of time to perform last term so groups revisited their scores this term and showcased their different interpretations.

Practising

Performing

Substituting in a rhythmic ostinato

When our learning finishes a bit early the best way to fill time is to pack into the music room and enjoy a class member's musical talent

Kereru's Three Little Pig Compositions

Before the holidays Kereru classes were working on composing a melody to represent a character from the story The Three Little Pigs. Here they are ready to perform in their groups...

Room 8

Room 9

Room 7

Room 4's Last Melody

Room 4 finished their pitch learning by choosing a tuned percussion instrument to learn the Mary Had a Little Lamb melody on. We started by clapping and playing the rhythm because they are already experts at reading rhythm notation. Then we concentrated on recognising B, A, and G on the stave...this was more tricky but soon most of the class memorised which note was coming next and were able to play.

Term 3 2016

Term Three in Music is all about UKULELE and DANCE! We will focus on tempo and dynamics as we learn strumming patterns and chords. Our aim will be to enjoy playing and singing some simple songs together and we have some great resources thanks to the amazing Jeremy Hantler from Edendale Primary. We will use half of our Music time to get moving and explore some different dance styles. Considering how to use our bodies, spaces, time, and energy will be our basis as we learn and create dances. 

We will begin the term by finishing some marimba/tuned percussion activities as students have asked for the opportunity to do the things we ran out of time for due to Arts Festival practices. I am so happy they have been so dedicated to their pitch and tone colour learning!