Week of March 21st, 2016

The Piccolo!

This week in music class, we learned about the tiny woodwind instrument, the piccolo! I showed children all of the parts of the piccolo (the head and body joint, the wax used for putting it together--which looked like chapstick--and its velvety case). I also explained that woodwinds require air to create sound, and demonstrated the type of air technique that is used to create high pitched music from the piccolo.

I played some sheet music for the children and passed that around as well, and they were able to touch the piccolo's keys and explore how it works. They enjoyed hearing familiar tunes from this instrument and also reviewing presto and largo. Additionally, we had fun with the lollipop drum singing monkey songs, and played with a fun noisemaking toy.

Check out the extender questions below to keep the piccolo conversation going at home! =)

One of our infants from last week thought the stir xylophone and "presto, largo" was totally hilarious. SO cute--take a peek!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) What two colors was the piccolo? Black and gold

2) Did the piccolo make a low sound or a high sound? A high sound!

Week of March 16th, 2015

THE PICCOLO!

This week in music class we learned all about this beautiful woodwind instrument with thirteen keys--the piccolo! The children learned that woodwind instruments need air blown through them to create sound, and we experimented with the keys on the piccolo, and how they move. I also showed them how to put the two pieces of the instrument together, and how the cork grease (which looks like a tube of chapstick!) lubricates the joints as you put them together.

We discovered that the piccolo is just like the flute, only smaller, and more high-pitched! We also learned that the piccolo can be made of wood or metal (mine is made of metal, but higher quality piccolos are often made from wood, or a mixture of both).  Piccolos usually play the melody of an arranged piece of music in a group setting, like an orchestra.  

Beyond the instrument, I also showed children how a music stand works, and explained a little to them about how I read music (I played Vivaldi's "Allegro" for them with sheet music on a music stand). We passed around the small velvet hard case that the piccolo goes in, and threes and up also watched an excellent video from Gudrun Hinze (first piccoloist for Gewandhaus Orchestra of Germany) playing a Daniel Dorff song entitled "Tweet". It really reminds you of lovely birds--check it out below!

Additionally, the children enjoyed coloring a piccolo information sheet. Look for that in cubbies, and don't forget to check out the video of the two's class below, as well as your weekly extender questions!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) Does the piccolo sound high or low? (Very high!)

2) How many keys does the piccolo have? Thirteen!

3) What is the piccolo made of? Metal or wood!