Week of January 23rd, 2017

CYMBALS!

We had fun with cymbals this week! My apologies for a little bit of a scatterbrained January; my impending maternity leave combined with some crazy snow days/school closings has really done a number on music class the past few weeks! However, we enjoyed getting back to a bit of a rhythm for my last class with the children (Miss Holly will continue classes for February) and learning about cymbals this week!

How do cymbals work? We learned that by hitting them together or with a mallet, the metal vibrates, and a sound rings out! Larger cymbals make lower sounds, while smaller cymbals have a higher pitch! And, in the case of our cymbals, our small finger cymbals have the longest decay--meaning that the sound lasts for a long time, even when it is continuing to ring almost inaudibly. We tested this by carefully holding a ringing finger cymbal next to our ears!

The children got a chance to try out the hand cymbals at different volumes, and they practiced "muting" the cymbal by pressing it against their body to immediately quiet the vibration!

We also read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" in younger classes and enjoyed "Jack and Jill", my funny bird puppets!

I found this neat video on making a cymbal "sizzle" below if you'd like to share an extra bit of learning with your children this week!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD!

1.) How do cymbals create sound? Through vibration!

2.) How can you mute a cymbal? By touching it, which silences it. We did this by putting the cymbal against our body!

Week of January 2nd, 2017

TRIANGLES!

This week in music class, we enjoyed learning all about the "triangle", a musical instrument from the idiophone category. Idiophones are instruments that create sound through the vibration of a string or membrane. We learned today that triangles vibrate and are made of metal. When we hold them by their string, they can vibrate freely when we hit them with the metal "striker." We worked on tapping each of the three sides, as well as using the striker in a circular motion on the inside of the triangle, like a dinner bell!

Check out the pictures and song lyrics below. Also, check your cubbies and email this week for an important announcement about my maternity leave!

Hope you've had a wonderful holiday season and enjoy! 

PS--due to low holiday attendance on Monday, toddler and four-year-old classes have been rescheduled for later this week!

1,2,3

To the tune of "Three Blind Mice"

1,2,3 (Hitting sides of triangle)

1,2,3

Sides you see

Sides you see

The triangle makes such a lovely sound!

Raise it up high and then towards the ground (Raise triangle high and low)

Make your striker go round and round it, (Go around triangle with striker in circular motion)

1, 2, 3.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) How many sides does the triangle have?

2) What is it made of?

3) Do you like the sound the triangle makes?