Week of April 25th. 2016

Keyboards and Fun with Miss Jessica Fogle!

Students loved hearing Miss Jessica Fogle (AKA, Jessica in the Rainbow) playing the keyboard and singing her storybook, "Lily the Pink Giraffe with Rainbow Spots!" In case you missed it, Jessica was our special musical guest at this year's Love of Literacy Pizza Plus Books event at Loutit Library. See the video of her performance from this past March here!

The children loved it so much that we wanted to invite Jessica back to share her musical talents with our group. In the book, Jessica sang about diversity, body-positivity and acceptance, and the kids colored some of her hand-illustrated images. They also danced to the keyboard at different tempos and pitches, and played a good old game of freeze dance! A great time was had by all.

Are you interested in starting your child in piano lessons? Five is a great age to do so, and if you are looking for a wonderful and skilled teacher, Jessica is a great choice! As an award-winning songwriter and a well-respected instructor in Grand Haven, Jessica offers students in-home piano lessons on Wednesdays and Thursdays. She has over 8 years of experience and both a Bachelor's degree in music and a Masters of Fine Arts. Her unique, adaptable and compassionate teaching methods make her a great choice for students at this age. Thumbs up and approval from Miss Chantal--a colleague of many years in the private music lesson industry. =)

Interested in contacting Jessica? Here's how:

www.JessicaFogle.com

jessicafogle@hotmail.com

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) What instrument did Miss Jessica play in music class? 

The keyboard!

2) What kind of animal was Lily? A pink giraffe!

Week of March 24th, 2014

CLARA SCHUMANN

In honor of Women's History Month, Joyful Noise music students today celebrated the music of German born Clara Schumann, a very talented and famous female composer and pianist. She lived during the romantic era of classical music (she was born in 1819) and wrote many beautiful arrangements like the one linked below! 

Today, students discussed what her life was like, how she wrote songs on piano, and listened to her music while coloring a picture of her and a grand piano.  We also explored the keyboard and discussed the difference between white (natural)  and black (sharp and flat) keys, and what letters of the alphabet named the keys. I also discussed that it was challenging for Clara to be a female composer at a time when women weren't considered typical musicians. We discussed how that has changed in our modern lives, along with other roles (such as firefighters, police officers, and other things).

Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Piano and Violin, op. 22

This student made a "scary" face to show that he was playing "dark" sounds on the keyboard.

For him, that meant low, and jarring sounds created on the left side of the keyboard. When I asked what

"dark" sounds represented, he told me "leopards, lions and scary things." Love it!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD TODAY ABOUT MUSIC

1. What were some of the special things about Clara Schumann, the piano player? She lived in Germany; she played piano by candlelight sometimes; she was a woman composer which was unusual at that time; her father was a piano teacher!

2. What are the black keys on the piano? Sharps and flats

3.Did you color a picture of a piano today? For two year olds and up!

Is your child an infant or toddler? Ask if they played the keyboard! (Yes, they did!)

Week of September 2nd, 2013

SKIT-SKAT-DOO-BOP-BWAH-DOO-DOO!

Students had a great time learning about scat today with a little vocal practice (we had fun singing the scale with animal sounds, take a listen here: AnimalWarmups.mp3) and watching some amazing videos of the Queen of Jazz (and scat!), Ella Fitzgerald! Check out the youtube videos I shared with the children today of her alone as well as with Mel Torme.

I think the kids had a great grip on the idea of how to scat, and they found it to be a lot of fun! Check out one of our students giving scat a try here: Scatting Practice.mp3. We even tried a "scat circle" with our older students, who joined hands and took turns scatting a little in "solo" mode.

All students also enjoyed singing songs and experimenting with the keyboard today! Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday!

(Scatting starts at about 1:30!)